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SPORTS
DawsonNewscom
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
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Tigers start season with scrimmage
Game vs. N. Forsyth is Friday
By Bob Christian
bchristian@dawsonnews.com
“2018 - Welcome to the
Grind.”
With that simple mantra the
Dawson County High School
Tigers are back for another sea
son.
With the school year already
underway, the excitement of
football has begun to show up
everywhere. Conversations in
grocery stores, offices and liv
ing rooms begin to reference
Friday nights. Whether it’s a
comment on the possibility of a
championship this year, or what
the games do to traffic, it seems
like football becomes the talk
of the town.
“It’s game week,” Coach
Bradley Fowler shouts during
an Aug. 3 practice. “Game day
is coming.”
The excitement is contagious
as players run contact drills,
gap drills, tackling drills and
route drills. The sounds of pads
and bodies colliding fill Tiger
Stadium, and all that is missing
now is a cheering crowd.
“It really is a next-man-up
system” said Head Coach Sid
Maxwell. “We try to emphasize
that by running everybody
through every drill. Offense,
defense, doesn’t matter.”
Although he does not antici
pate many game scenarios that
would require a player to play
on both sides of the ball, after
back-to-back seasons as the
regional runner-up the focus is
on the fundamentals of football
and teamwork.
“If the situation comes up,
we need to be able to handle it,”
Maxwell said.
See Football 12B
Bob Christian Dawson County News
The Dawson County High School football team practices
gap and tackle drills Aug. 3.
Photos by Bob Christian Dawson County News
Carly Lamb outruns the play during the season opener against White County Aug. 6.
Lady Tigers fall in season opener
before a beautiful 5-3-6
double-play involving
Drake, Henson and
Williams ended the inning.
The Lady Tigers showed
the first signs of life in the
bottom of the third, putting
runners into scoring posi
tion, but they were unable
to bring them home and
left two stranded to end the
inning.
As the game moved into
the fourth, both pitchers
settled down and each team
uneventfully retired their
side.
Moving into the top of
the fifth down by three, the
game began to take on a
‘now or never’ tone for
both teams, and it showed
in what was to be the most
exciting inning of the
game.
The Warriors opened
their half of the inning with
a deep double to center
field, and quickly brought
the runner home on another
infield error from the
See Softball 12B
By Bob Christian
bchristian@dawsonnews.com
In the 2018 season open
er for both varsity and
junior varsity teams, the
Dawson County High
School Lady Tigers softball
team took to the diamond
at Jack Waldrip Field on
Monday for a game against
the White County Warriors.
With returning senior
Maggie Schandera taking
the mound for the Tigers,
and a defense that features
five players from last year’s
roster, expectations were
running high among the
fans and coaches.
“It feels good to have this
many girls back,” said
Head Coach Jimmy Pruett.
“But this is the first game,
and we have to consider
nerves a part of that today.”
If any member of the
DCHS team was nervous
as the Warriors came to bat
in the top of the first, it
didn’t show as the Tigers
quickly gathered up their
three outs and ran off the
field for their turn at the
lumber.
“This is a game of little
things,” Pruett said as the
team gathered round for the
final pep talk at practice
last week. “And little things
have a way of turning into
big things very fast in this
game.”
These turned out to be
prophetic words as a con
troversial call by the
umpires led to the first run
of the game being pulled
off the board and the end of
the first inning.
Carol Drake, having
reached base on a single,
stolen second and moved to
third on a passed ball,
crossed the home plate as
the result of a sacrifice fly
off the bat of Schandera. As
the team celebrated and
prepared to continue the
inning, there came the call
from third base.
“The runner didn’t tag.
Runner is out.”
As both pitchers found
their grooves the second
inning flew by with both
Grade Vaughn won the
coveted Corn Cob
award after the season
opener Aug. 6.
teams ending their time at
the plate by strikeout.
The top of the third,
according to the fans and
parents gathered around the
stadium, is when “the
wheels came off.”
Cobbling together a
series of singles and taking
advantage of the first of
eight errors committed by
the Tigers, White County
put four runs on the board
DCHS volleyball
program starts
its third season
By Bob Christian
bchristian@dawsonnews.com
Although she brushes off credit for creating the
Dawson County High School Volleyball program, stat
ing “there were a lot of people involved” from the
school district down to the parents and the girls them
selves, Head Coach Tanya Porter has been the pro
gram’s driving force during these early years.
“We kind of did it backwards,” Porter said about
starting with a varsity level team in 2016. “I’m glad
that we did because I think it generated the interest we
needed to build on during the year.”
Despite a disappointing opening season, interest was
indeed generated, and a junior varsity team was fielded
for the 2017 season. This addition brought Dawson
County into full competition in the northeast Georgia
region as the last county to participate at both levels in
high school volleyball.
“Now that it’s here it really drives itself,” Porter said
about the growth of the program. “There was a strong
community interest. We are just really excited to offer
the girls an opportunity for something new. We’ve
never had a [volleyball] program before.”
The expansion of the program has shown no signs
of slowing down as Porter recently announced the for
mation of a third team, the C team. Incorporating mid
dle school students into the program for the first time
See Volleyball 12B
Senior makes Georgia
All-State cheer team
From staff reports
Nicole Mulkey, a senior at Dawson County High
School, recently earned a spot on the Georgia All-
State cheer team.
Mulkey was one of 16 athletes to earn a spot on
the team over 138 applicants.
The Georgia Cheerleading Coaches Association
selected the Top 40 athletes to compete on Aug. 4.
The competitors were judged 25 percent on applica
tion, 25 percent on interview and 50 percent on per
formance.
According to Coach Kim Fleming, the perfor
mance included all elements of a competition rou
tine: jumps, tumbling, stunting, cheer, chant and
dance.
The Cheerleader of the Year will be selected on
See Cheer 12B
Player of the Week!
Chloe Bennett
DCHS junior Chloe Bennett, a player on
the varsity volleyball team, has “shown a
sincere desire to improve, and has really
been working on her game,” according
Head Coach Tanya Porter. Practicing
three times a week with a personal
trainer, as well as attending all voluntary
sessions over the summer, Bennett is
determined to make an impact on the
court this year.
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ryan Glass
DCHS senior and football
wide receiver Ryan Glass
was recently placed on the
BlitzSportsGA.com pre-season
player to watch list. Glass is
looking to build on last years
768 YD, 8 TD campaign.
Entertaining multiple offers
to take his game to the next
level, Glass is intensely focused
on the 2018 season and his
academic goals.
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