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The Sylvania Times
Wednesday, August 17, 2022 - Page 9
SPORTS
It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up -Babe Ruth
Burton Kemp
Okay, so
the scrimmage with
AAAAAA Effingham
County got “weathered
out” last Friday. Yes
there is all of that
coaching stuff about
the scrimmage being
about getting better,
figuring out who is who
in the zoo before the
first game, getting the
first game jitters out
of the way, etc. All of
that is true beyond any
shadow of a doubt. But
a weather out was maybe
the best of all worlds for
the Gamecocks Friday
night. There are a lot of
reasons why that is true
not the least of which is
the health of our scant
numbers against their
horde of more than
too. With luck and the
momentum of a good
start to build confidence
we can maybe, hopefully,
possibly, feasibly,
conceivably, credibly
(do you get that I am
not making a finite
prediction) be playing for
the region championship
on November 3 when
we go to Metter. That
cannot happen with even
a couple of injuries. On
possibly a lesser note,
cancelling the scrimmage
in the midst of a 2.5 inch
monsoon style rain also
saved the outstanding
playing surface of Kelly
Memorial Stadium from
the horrible toll that
would have befallen it
with the event.
This is explained
elsewhere but you do
notice the headline
here I hope. The game
with the Georgia School
for Innovation and
Classics is Thursday -
tomorrow night. The
game is at 7:00. Also,
the middle school
football scrimmage with
South Effingham is this
afternoon, Wednesday
August 17.
Looking at
the Football Daily
predictions for our
region I was struck
by some interesting
numbers I had not
previously noticed.
Around the horn
OPENING THE 2022 SCHS
FOOTBALL SEASON, HERE
COMES GSIC THURSDAY
There are 32 teams
that make the playoffs
in each classification.
There are, I believe, 38
football-playing schools
in our Class A Di. That
means only six teams in
our entire classification
will not make the
playoffs (84% of teams
make the playoffs).
Compare that to the
fact that something like
18 teams will not make
the playoffs in Class A
D2 (64% of teams make
the playoffs). I find it
difficult to believe the
GHSA allowed this to
happen. There are 18 new
football schools in our
specific classification.
Except for Savannah
High, which was AAA,
all came from AA. All
of these AA schools
were replaced in their
previous classification
by larger private schools
that were previously in
Class A private.
In our class
there are four regions (1,
4,5, and 8) with just four
teams - 16 teams (50%
of the playoff teams) are
in the state playoffs. Our
Region 3 plus Regions 2
and 6 have five each and
Region 7 has seven teams
(three of the six teams
that do not make the
playoffs will come from
that region). Should we
make the playoffs (which
the Maxwell ratings
give us a 98.6% chance
of doing), we will play
either Crawford County,
Heard County, Lamar
County, or Temple). The
Maxwell ratings give
Savannah High just a
34.6% chance of making
the top four in our five
team region. Through
just plain mathematics
we have an 80% chance
of reaching postseason
to play one of those four
teams. The thing for us
to do is finish in one of
the top two positions and
be at home on November
11 for the closest school
in Region 4 is Knoxville
home of Crawford
County High School
which is 170 miles away.
A lot fewer
teams to keep up with
in our region and we
don’t play a region game
until October 14. But
this week our region
brethren are doing
this: Bryan County is at
Lincoln County, Metter
is at Swainsboro (a pair
of defending region
champions), Claxtonis at
Tattnall, and Savannah
High is hosting T. W.
Josey. Bryan County
and Metter are stepping
it up.
Speaking of
opening games - the
season that was 2021 for
our gridiron Gamecocks
was rough. It was rough
on everyone. We played
our scrimmage with
Effingham County and
then got shut down for
two weeks because of
Covid. Finally opening
the season on September
3 with AAA Hephzibah
after basically zero
days padded practice in
over three weeks, the
Roosters then played
AAA SEB who went 10-2
to the second round of
state and then ECI who
went 9-3 and to the
second round of state.
That 0-3 start turned
into 0-6. We did finish
by winning three of the
last four to make the
state playoffs.
Ron Duncan has
prepared a schedule that
hopefully has his troops
in a position to avoid
the horrendous start of
a year ago. Of course
some of those problems
had zero to do with the
schedule. Two weeks out
of school and practice is
just that no matter who
the opponent. This year
the first two opponents
are this week’s GSIC
who is playing its first
full season of varsity
football (remember that
second year Tattnall
County came in here
and won 28-26 in 1994)
and then Bacon County
who is coming off an 0-9
2021 campaign. Then
again, Bacon County
has already qualified for
the Class A Di playoffs.
Then comes a reborn AA
Westside who is coming
off a 9-3 campaign in
2021 that included a first
round upset of Vidalia.
UPSTART G.S.I.C.
HERE FOR REGULAR
SEASON OPENER
Burton Kemp
Sports Editor
After losing their scrimmage with AAAAAA Effingham County to weather last
Friday, the SCHS Gamecocks of Head Coach Ron Duncan will host the upstart
Georgia School for Innovation and Classics Patriots this Thursday night at Kelly
Memorial Stadium with kickoff slated for 7:00. This will be the regular season
opener for each team. While SCHS is in Class A Region 3 D-i, GSIC, a charter
school located in Hephzibah, is in Class A Region 8 D-2. The Richmond County
school is playing a nonregion schedule for the next two seasons and this is the
Patriots first full season of football.
The date and starting time have been changed from Friday as part of the GHSA
movement to have more games played on Thursday to confront a shortage of
officials. SCHS Principal Brian Scott said the game was moved in order to avoid
any chance of being part of any type lottery to decide what schools will play on
Thursdays. A lottery pick could put Homecoming or the Hall of Fame game on
a Thursday. At this point the last regular season game with Metter will also be a
Thursday contest, November 3, with a 7:00 start. No school night GHSA contest
may start after 7:00.
For GSIC the 2022 season will be an interesting one. In their first ten-game
regular season the team will play nine road games according to their GHSFHA
schedule. Over the past two seasons they have scheduled three varsity games each
season losing five and forfeiting one. One of their losses last season was to current
SCHS region opponent Savannah High. They have played several JV games.
Under Duncan, now in his 11th season at the helm of the Roosters, the Red and
White have won seven of ten opening contests but two of the three losses have
been the last two seasons.
M l
Freshman Maddison Mitchell lays down a perfect bunt in the
first inning against Statesboro. She sacrificed Julia Dews to
second who then scored on a single by Ashley Stanley (photo by
Ginny Atchley).
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Their first game with a fellow Class A opponent scheduled, the SCHS Lady
Gamecock softball team of Jim Randall Doyle saw their contest with Jenkins
County washed away last Thursday. As the week was, the team fell to defending
Class AAA Region 4 champion Harlem in Sylvania last Monday and then to
AAAAA Statesboro on the road last Tuesday. After two weeks action the Red and
White stood at 1-3 with all three contests against powerhouse, larger schools.
This week the team traveled to former region foe (now Class A D2) Portal
yesterday and hosts Statesboro this afternoon and Jenkins County tomorrow. On
Tuesday, August 23 current Class A Region 3A Di Claxton’s Lady Tigers will be
here for the region opener. Jenkins County is also now in Class A D2.
A trip to Statesboro on August 9 proved very disappointing as the team built a
5-3 lead heading into the fifth before a lightning delay of nearly an hour. After
the delay the Lady Gamecocks went three up and three down in the fifth while
Statesboro poured across 10 runs in their half of the fifth to end the game at 13-5.
Seven of the ten runs which came off of Pierce were
unearned. SCHS took a first inning lead when Ashley WASHED
Stanley singled in Julia Dews but Statesboro pushed continued on page 10
across three in the third to take the lead. The Red and
Senior centerfielder Amber Moore tracks down a fly
ball in Statesboro (photo by Ginny Atchley).
Freshman Alyssa Harper checks her swing in
Statesboro (photo by Ginny Atchley).
Thirdbaseman Ashley Stanley prepares to throw
across the infield to first against Harlem while
shortstop Julia Dews races to cover third and left
fielder Dailey Williams moves to back up any errant
throw (photo by Ginny Atchley).
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