About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (May 2, 2018)
SPORTS DawsonNewscom Wednesday, May 2, 2018 facebook.com/dawsonnews twitter.com/dawsonnews Tigers advance in state tourney Dawson County beats Jackson County 4-0 to move on in soccer playoffs By Colin Ochs cochs@dawsonnews.com The Tigers entered Friday’s first-round playoff matchup at Jackson County High School having yet to win a game away from Tigers Stadium this sea son. That didn’t matter. The Tigers were ready to go from the start, defeating Jackson County, 4-0, to advance to the second round of the Class AAA state tournament. “If I only have road wins in the playoffs, I’m happy with that,” Coach Derek Waters said with a smile. “These guys did such a great job pulling togeth er tonight.” In addition to their road woes, the Tigers (6-7-1) had a habit of getting off to slow starts this season. Giving up early goals and having to play from behind in most of their games. Neither of those were an issue Friday night as Waters and the coaches empha sized the importance of a strong start during their week of practice leading up to the Jackson County (6-11) game. “That was the message,” said Waters about starting strong. “(The coaches) talked to the guys all this week...We talked to them about (starting strong). “The playoffs are a new season. See State 12B Photos by Colin Ochs Dawson County News Freshman Molly Muenchen splits the Monroe Area defense in the LadyTigers first-round playoff game at Tigers Stadium on April 26. Muenchen would score six goals on the night, tying her own school record. Lady Tigers soar into Sweet 16 By Colin Ochs cochs@dawsonnews.com Dawson County freshman Molly Muenchen was at it again, this time scoring six goals in the Lady Tigers’ 8-1 win over Monroe Area at Tigers Stadium in the first round of the Class AAA state tournament April 26. The six goals ties her own school record for most goals scored in a sin gle game, which was set earlier in the season against West Hall. Also join ing Muenchen in the record books was sophomore Katie Clouse, who tied the school record for most assists in a single season when she set up Muenchen’s third goal in the 27th minute. “I’m proud of them and the way they come out and played,” said Coach Chess Hamby. “They got after it. They played hard and a lot of girls stepped it up more so than I’ve seen all year, so now I know they can do it. They got to do it next week too.” Clouse and junior Ruthie Pittman both scored unassisted goals, while Muenchen’s six goals were assisted by five different players. Two from sophomore Sam Floyd and one each from Clouse, Pittman, sophomore Molly Kitchen and junior Rachel Rajczak. Dawson County (12-2) started fast, not seeming to have any playoff nerves, as Muenchen scored her first goal less than a minute into the con test. It was 3-0 Lady Tigers before lightning struck, literally, delaying the game for 30 minutes after playing just 15. “The weather played a big factor,” Hamby said. “I told the girls to just roll with the punches because we don’t know what the weather is going to do and how long we were going to play and if we were going to get out there and play the full 40 minutes of each half, so that was a real stressor there just in itself. “I don’t know if there’s a blueprint on what to do during a weather delay. You get nervous about it because you don’t know what the girls are going to do. I’ve learned our girls play better when they’re just relaxed and if they tense up and you stay on them, try to get them to sit down and rest, they don’t respond well to that, so you just kind of let them do their thing and then come back out and hope they’re ready to go.” After the delay, the Lady Tigers and Lady Hurricanes (10-8-1) both scored a goal apiece to close out the first half with Kaila Horton scoring Monroe Area’s lone goal in the 34th minute. The second half started much like the first for Dawson County. Muenchen scored two goals within the first ten minutes and it was smooth sailing for the Lady Tigers into the Sweet 16 from there to face No. 1 Westminster (13-4-2), accord ing to Eurosport Class AAA rankings, in the second round on Tuesday. Results were not available as of press time. “This is what it’s all about,” Hamby said. “If you’re going to go win a championship, you got to go beat teams like Westminster.” Trio of track athletes make state finals By Colin Ochs cochs@dawsonnews.com Dawson County High School juniors Carlos Keller, Frankie Muldoon and sophomore Jenna Lecours will be headed to the Class AAA Track and Field State Championships thanks to their performanc es at the Class AAA state sectionals (Regions 2, 3, 7 and 8) on Saturday at Greater Atlanta Christian. Keller finished second in the boys’ high jump (6’4”), while Lecours placed third in the girls’ 3200-meter run (13:01.8) and Muldoon fin ished third and fourth in the girls’ 1600-meter run (5:29.06) and the girls’ 800-meter run (2:30.24) respectively. The top-four finishers in See Track 12B DCHS senior earns acrobatic scholarship Alford first athlete at school to do so By Jessica Brown jbrown@dawsonnews.com Dawson County High School senior Sara Alford made history April 18 when she became the first athlete in the history of the school to earn an acrobatic and tumbling scholarship. “Right now in NCAA, 37 colleges and universities compete in this and it’s one of the fastest growing sports in NCAA,” said Athletic Director Grady Turner. “This is a rising sport which you’re going to hear more and more about in the future so we’re very, very pleased and honored that Sara is going to be going on to do it.” Alford will be attending Limestone College in Gaffney, South Carolina in the fall where she plans to pursue a degree in athletic training. Since she was in the fourth grade, Alford has pursued her passion for gymnastics at the Dahlonega School of Gymnastics, competing and going to state competitions every year. “Being able to put it all out on the floor and just go hard and do your best,” said Alford about her favorite part of gymnastics. “You only have one shot to get it all right.” But tumbling and acrobatics wasn’t always the easi est for her. Two of her coaches who have followed her journey since elementary school, Shannon Hageli and Andrea Aliucci, spoke highly of Alford’s dedication to the sport. See Alford 12B LadyTigers' golf team advances to state tourney By Colin Ochs cochs@dawsonnews.com The rain didn’t slow down the Lady Tigers as the Dawson County girls golf team qualified for the Class AAA state tournament with a fifth-place finish in the Area 3-AAA tournament April 26 at Highland Walk Golf Course in Franklin County. Heavy rains last Monday and Tuesday forced offi cials to delay the tournament, but the Lady Tigers were still able to punch their ticket to the state tournament, shooting a 313 led by defending Area Champion Sydney Morgan, who shot an 86 en route to a fourth- place individual finish. Union County was crowned Area 3-AAA champions with a 254 team score, while host Franklin County fin ished runner-up with a 284 followed by Hart County at 288. Also qualifying for the state tournament was Lumpkin County. The Lady Tigers will close out their season on May 21-22 at Chateechee Golf Club in Hart County as they look to better last year’s 11th place finish with a strong performance at the Class AAA state tournament. Player of the Week? Nathan Blythe Senior Nathan Blythe scored two goals, including the game winner, in the Tigers first round play off win at Jackson County. It was Dawson County’s first win away from Tigers Stadium all season. 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