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Barrow News-Journal
Award-winning local sports coverage
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Phone: 706-367-5233
Fax: 706-367-8056
sthompson@barrownewsjournal.com
Section B
★★★★
SOFTBALL ROUNDUP
AHS, WBHS hope for strong second half after early ups and downs
By Scott Thompson
sthompson@barro wne wsj ournal. com
There is still roughly half of a regular
softball season to go and a healthy amount
of region games left for Apalachee and
Winder-Barrow to play more consistently
at the level their coaches believe they’re ca
pable of. Still enough time to work through
some inexperience and be try to be hitting
on all cylinders when postseason time ar
rives, but the urgency remains with play
off positioning on the line in the next few
weeks.
“Like we thought it would be going in,
our region is a very tough and talented,”
said Apalachee coach Allan Bailey, whose
team improved to 8-6 overall and 3-3 in
GHSA 8-AAAAA play with an 8-0 region
win Tuesday night, Sept. 14, at Clarke Cen
tral, as freshman Autumn Matherly and
sophomores Ryleigh Sapp and Alyssa Wili
er combined for a shutout in the circle.
The Wildcats have been on a back and
forth run of late, losing their region opener
to Eastside 10-2 before shutting out Green
brier 7-0 on Sept. 7. In a home doublehead
er against Jackson County on Sept. 9. the
Wildcats got a strong pitching performance
from Matherly and Wilier and timely hit
ting in a 3-2 win in the first game before
costly mistakes did them in late in a 9-7
extra-inning loss in the nightcap. Then on
Monday, Sept. 13, after jumping out to an
early 3-0 lead at Loganville, the Wildcats
couldn’t hold an explosive Red Devil of
fense at bay in an 11-3 setback. And then
came Tuesday’s win, as they evened back
up their region mark.
Apalachee has also run into poor luck
along the way. The Wildcats already en
tered the year knowing they may take a
few early lumps in trying to replace grad
uated ace pitcher Emily Hodnett along
with underclassman Katelyn Flanders, who
transferred. They suffered another blow in
the first game of the Jackson County dou
bleheader last week when junior catcher
Samantha Woody, a key cog in their state
semifinal run last year, suffered an arm
fracture while colliding with freshman
third baseman Desiree Trudel who made
a spectacular diving grab on a popped-up
bunt attempt. Freshman Jordan Turner has
for now replaced Woody, who’s expected to
miss the rest of the season, and is the latest
newcomer the Wildcats are having to rely
on in a key position.
See Softball, page 2B
Photo by Scott Thompson
Apalachee’s Alyssa Wilier rounds third and scores on an RBI double by Tiyara Wing
field during the first game of a GHSA Region 8-AAAAA doubleheader against Jack-
son County on Sept. 9. The Wildcats won the game 3-2.
FOOTBALL WEEK 5 PREVIEW
BOYS’ BASKETBALL
The road to Damascus
Photo courtesy of Regina Logan/
Bethlehem Christian Academy senior wide receiver Ty Whiting catches a touchdown pass during the Knights’
come-from-behind 28-27 win at Augusta Prep on Sept. 10. The Knights will try this week to improve to 5-0 when
they visit Southwest Georgia Academy.
Knights gear up for long trip to SWGA,
‘probably the toughest team we’ve seen’
By Scott Thompson
sthompson@barrownewsjournal.com
Bethlehem Christian Academy and
head coach Bruce Lane will gladly take
the 4-0 start they’re off to, and they’re
hoping to make it 5-0 this week. But to
achieve that, they’ll have to persevere
through the final and longest leg of a
five-game road trip to open the season
and what Lane believes will be the
toughest test the 2021 Knights have
encountered to date.
BCA will travel well over four hours
Friday, Sept. 17, to the far southwest
ern corner of the state to take on South
west Georgia Academy in Damascus.
The Warriors are officially 3-0 on the
year and are coming off back-to-back
21-20 wins over Macon-East Mont
gomery Academy of Alabama and
Central Fellowship Christian Acade
my after being credited with a forfeit
victory over Baconton Charter in the
first week.
“They graduated some really good
kids with a pair of good running
backs, a receiver and a big lineman
who were all all-state caliber players,”
Lane said of the Warriors, a perennial
power in GISA Class AA who went
8-4 last season (including a 66-29
thumping of BCA in Bethlehem) and
reached the state quarterfinals. “But
they were also very junior-heavy so
they return a lot of guys. They know
to win games and are more of a storied
program than we are right now. Lots
of state championship and playoff ap
pearances, and they’re looking toward
continuing that.
“They’re a very physical, very dis
ciplined team and don’t make a lot of
mistakes. Size-wise, I think we match
up a lot better with them than last year.
At the end of the day, I feel really good
about our ability to go down there and
compete.”
See Football, page 2B
Watson announced as
new BCA head coach
By Scott Thompson
sthompson@barrownewsjoumal.com
Bethlehem Christian
Academy’s boys’ bas
ketball team will have its
fourth head coach in as
many seasons for the 2021-
22 campaign, but it’s a fa
miliar face on campus.
The school has tapped
Rusty Watson to take over
the varsity program this
season and recently made
the official announcement.
Watson was junior-varsity
head coach and a varsity
assistant last winter under
Kevin Hall, who has since
departed the school after
going 9-12 in his only sea
son with the Knights, who
reached the state playoffs
before a first-round loss
at Bulloch Academy. He
came to BCA during the
2019-20 school year, when
he was head middle school
boys’ basketball coach and
led the Knights to an 18-2
finish, a region champion
ship and a state title.
Watson, who is also cur
rently the offensive coor
dinator and quarterbacks
coach for the BCA varsity
football team, began his
coaching career at North
Oconee in 2017 while still
in college and also was part
of the Titans’ basketball
and baseball staffs.
“Through my assistant
coaching last year, the boys
and me have developed
a special bond, and I am
looking forward to what the
future holds for our basket
ball program,” Watson said
in a school news release.
“I love the administration
at BCA. (Athletic director
Tim) Early and (BCA high
school principal and assis
tant football coach Rod)
Robinson have taken me
Submitted photo
New Bethlehem Chris
tian Academy varsity
boys’ basketball head
coach Rusty Watson is
pictured with his wife.
under their leadership to
mentor me and mold me
into a great coach and lead
er. (Head of school Rhonda
Whiting) has a great heart
and vision for BCA, and I
believe in her 100%.”
Watson, who said he’s
had a love for all sports
since a young age, gradu
ated from Colquitt County
High School and later grad
uated from Liberty Univer
sity in 2018 with bachelor
degrees in political science
and history. He said his
coaching philosophy at the
helm of BCA will be “to
build young men and to
teach them how to handle
adversity with great matu
rity.”
“I really look forward to
working with these guys
day in and day out, growing
together during the work,”
Watson said. “I believe
hard work pays off; we just
don’t always know when
the hard work will pay off.
I believe if we follow God,
work hard, and keep grow
ing then BCA basketball
will be successful.”
CROSS COUNTRY ROUNDUP
WBHS boys win at Franklin County; Rogers finishes second for Lady Doggs
Four Winder-Barrow boys’ cross country
runners finished among the top 14 Satur
day, Sept. 11, as the Bulldoggs came away
with the team victory at the Franklin Coun
ty Pridelands Invitational in Camesville.
The Bulldoggs finished with 66 points
to place first out of 11 teams, well ahead
of second-place Loganville (90 points).
Junior Daniel Laird finished fifth overall
(17:51.87) out of 103 runners. Senior Brian
Gaddy (18:19.98) finished seventh, junior
Kyle Kehoe (18:33) was ninth, and senior
Noah Boyd (18:52.78) placed 14th. Athens
Christian sophomore Nathan Smith was the
individual winner (16:54.24).
In the girls’ race, Winder-Barrow junior
Matilee Rogers finished second overall out
of 65 runners (21:41.91), coming in behind
Habersham Central freshman Audrey Ho-
tard (20:22.74). The Lady Bulldoggs did
not factor into the team standings as they
only had five runners compete in the varsity
meet.
Winder-Barrow is scheduled to be back
in action Sept. 25, when it hosts Apalachee
and Barrow Arts and Sciences Academy for
the annual Best of Barrow meet on the Bull
doggs’ home course behind Russell Middle
and Winder elementary schools.
While BASA was off last week,
Apalachee’s boys finished seventh out of 11
teams and the Lady Wildcats were ninth out
of 11 teams at the North Hall Invitational
on Sept. 9.
Apalachee senior Austin Sigman finished
12th overall out of 98 runners in the boys’
race (18:08.30), while younger brother, ju
nior Luke Sigman, finished 20th (19:03.50).
Junior Averie Akin finished 11th out of 74
runners in the girls’ race (22:01.20) to lead
the Lady Wildcats.
Chestatee brought home the boys’ team
win, while East Forsyth’s Alex Arrambide
crossed the finish line first (16:27.50).
North Hall won the girls’ team title and had
the individual winner in Clodagh O’Bryant
(19:22).
Apalachee will host the fifth annual Ap
ple Hawkins Invitational on Saturday, Sept.
18, with the boys’ varsity race beginning
at 8 a.m. followed by the girls. BASA will
also be competing in the event.
o