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2B I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, December 12,2018
Hurts gives painful lesson in win over Georgia
Much like most folks in this
area it hurt me deeply to watch
the Georgia Bulldogs lose to
Alabama in the SEC
Championship game. It hurt even
more to see that loss handed out
in the exact same fashion as the
Bulldog’s loss in last year’s
National Championship game.
It has taken me the better
course of the week to process the
game’s results, argue against the
flawed college play-off system,
and deal with the “yet another
Sugar Bowl” thoughts to realize
that I was missing out on one of
the greatest stories in college
football of not just this season,
but of any season.
After a season in which he
only saw, at most, one quarter of
action per game, (sometimes
less or none), Alabama quarter
back Men Hurts stepped back
onto the big stage, with only that
one quarter left to play, and led
his team to a come from behind
victory and secured his place in
the annals of sports.
For those that don’t recall,
Hurts was the starting quarter
back for every game of the
Crimson Tide’s championship
BOB CHRISTIAN
Sports writer
run in 2017 and led his team
through three quarters of the
title game until he was pulled by
Coach Nick Saban in favor of
newcomer, and then freshman,
Tua Tagovailoa at the beginning
of the fourth period.
At the time Alabama was
trailing and it appeared that the
Bulldogs were on their way to
pulling off the impossible win as
an underdog against the
Crimson Tide.
Tagovailoa did exactly what
he was called upon to do and, in
heartbreaking fashion, brought
Alabama back to tie the game in
regulation and win it in overtime
crushing both the dreams of the
Bulldogs and stealing the start
ing job from Hurts in the pro
cess.
Hurts appeared to humbly
accept the outcome in post
game comments when he indi
cated that he agreed with Coach
Saban’s decision and reveled in
the joy of winning the NCAA
National Championship.
As the off-season progressed
rumors surfaced that Hurts was
looking to transfer to another
school but in the end, he decided
to stay on with the Crimson Tide
and help guide Tagovailoa
through the intricacies of being
a starting quarterback.
While the swirl of Heisman
talk got louder and louder
around his young teammate,
Hurts quietly rode the bench and
finished out the games that
Tagovailoa had put out of reach
by fourth quarter, and there were
plenty of opportunities as the
Tide rolled over team after team
during the regular season.
The SEC Championship game
loomed as fans began to ques
tion the ability of Tagovailoa to
stay strong over four quarters as
he faced his toughest challenge
of the season in the Georgia
Bulldogs.
Under relentless pressure
Tagovailoa was unable to find a
solid rhythm and was eventually
forced out of the game with an
injury towards the end of the
third period.
The moment Hurts had been
waiting for had finally arrived,
his moment, and he made the
most of that moment as he
rolled out of the pocket to
extend plays, threw the ball with
pin-point accuracy, and covered
ground with his legs when need
ed and led his team in a come
from behind last-minute win to
propel the Alabama Crimson
Tide into the college playoffs.
In short, he played lights out
football and proved that he
could win on the big stage.
No matter how you look at
this story it is an incredible dis
play of the humility, grace, and
character that we should expect
from our finest athletes, and it
should be used as the example
of what a good sportsman and
teammate should strive to be
whenever such an example is
needed.
In fact, telling this story to my
daughter, who swims for
Chestatee High School, made
me realize how important these
lessons are for a young athlete.
After a less-than-stellar day of
swimming, Ann was feeling
down on herself and down on
her ability, which is a place that
any teenager knows well, and
athletes know far better. Like
any dad I cast about for a way to
make her feel better and put the
day into a positive light, and,
like any dad, I floundered.
I floundered, that is, until I
started talking about Hurts and
what he had done as an individ
ual and a teammate. Ann is not a
big football fan. I would venture
to say she is not a little football
fan either, but she is a good lis
tener, and as she listened to me
talk about the way in which
Hurts dealt with all the adversity
he faced over the year, and how
he rose up and seized his
moment when it came, not
knowing if it ever would, she
began to smile and things didn’t
seem as bad as they had just a
moment ago.
Too often we forget that the
biggest part of being on a team is
not what you can do to be better,
but it is what you can do for
those around you to be better.
Thank you, Men Hurts, for the
vivid reminder.
FROM 1B
Tigers
line and the field. The
Rebels continued having
difficulty with Dawson
County defense and the
game closed with a final
score of 70-21.
Four Tigers posted dou
ble digits to the scoreboard
as Chism led the team with
17 points on the night.
Gibson followed with 13
and Adkins and Reed
joined the club with 11 and
10 points respectively.
The Tigers then squared
off with the Greater Atlanta
Christian Spartans at
DCHS Dec. 7 in their first
meeting since last year’s
regional final, in which the
Spartans ended the Tigers’
season on their way to win
ning the state title.
Both teams opened the
game with an aggressive
play style and went point-
for-point in the opening
minutes, but a series of
turnovers gave the Spartans
the upper hand as point
guard Hunter McIntosh
was able to guide GAC to a
21-7 lead by the end of the
first period.
The Tigers offense
roared to life in the second
period. Led by Chism’s
aggressive inside play, the
Tigers scored from all over
the court as they put 22
points on the board.
Unfortunately, McIntosh
and Roy Dixon of the
Spartans were able to keep
pace with their red-hot
Bob Christian Dawson County News
Luke Chism, senior,
drives through the
defense for a shot
against Greater Atlanta
Christian on Dec. 7.
3-point game and GAC
held a 44-29 lead over
Dawson County at the half.
Chism dominated the
lane for 11 points during
the third period as the
Tigers narrowed the lead to
8, but the Spartans contin
ued to find success from
the 3-point line and man
aged to maintain their lead
as the period ended.
Down by 13 with one
period remaining, Dawson
County took their game to
new heights as the team
surged for 27 points in the
final 8 minutes. Chism
continued to work the
inside as junior Eli Burress
and sophomore Mason
Barnes, along with Gibson
and Reed, all finally found
success from the 3-point
line.
Despite the offensive
push, the Tigers still had no
answer for Dixon who con
tinued to light up the board
from distance and gave the
Spartans the edge they
needed to hold off the
Tigers by a final score of
82-75.
“We played really well
in the second half, espe
cially after getting behind
in the first half,” said Head
Coach Chad Pittman. “We
got off to a slow start and
you can’t do that against a
good team.”
The Tigers finished their
week with a non-regional
game against the Collins
Hills Eagles in the North
Georgia Report Dawson
County Shootout on Dec.
8.
With Gibson and
Burress out due to injury,
the Tigers needed someone
to rise to the occasion and
they got just what they
needed out of senior
Ahmad Kamara. During
the first period Kamara
consistently won the ball at
both ends of the court and
led the offense with 10
points in the period.
Adkins established the
outside game right away,
sinking the first of his six
3-pointers on the night and
Chism added points from
the free-throw line as he
drew multiple fouls trying
to establish his presence in
the middle.
Despite a late period
rally mounted by the
Eagles on a series of take
aways and the shooting
skills of Jabiri Smith, the
Tigers had opened a 29-12
lead by the end of the first
period.
Dawson County extend
ed their lead to 57-25 as
they spread the ball around
the court and posted points
with Kamara and Chism in
the lane and Adkins and
Burress from distance.
The Eagles opened the
third period with a more
aggressive defensive style
and used fouls to slow
down the Dawson County
offense, but they still had
difficulty hitting the net and
were unable to take advan
tage during the period.
The fourth period began
under a shortened clock as
Dawson County main
tained a 69-37 lead over
Collins Hill. An obviously
deflated Eagles team did
not put up much resistance
as the Tigers wrapped up
the game by a final score
of 90-43.
Adkins led the Tigers in
scoring for the night post
ing 25 points overall as he
went 5 of 5 from the line in
addition to his 3 point suc
cess. Chism backed him up
with 15 points, and
Kamara and Reed rounded
out the Tigers top scorers
with 12 points apiece.
The Tigers are scheduled
to travel to North Hall
High School for another
regional battle with the
Trojans on Dec. 14.
FROM 1B
Football
behind the line. Clark led
the Tigers deep into the
state tournament as he
passed for 936 yards and
nine touchdowns over 12
games while adding
another 857 yards and 15
touchdowns with his
legs.
Winning the special
teams player of the year
award and rounding out
the Tigers’ trio of all
region winners was soph
omore Caleb Bonesteel,
who connected on an
impressive 42 of 42 extra
points and went 5 of 6 in
field goals for a total 57
points on the season.
Also, recognized for
anchoring one of the
strongest rushing lines in
high school football this
year (at one point being
ranked number one in the
state), seniors Justin
Butler and Matthew
McCracken were named
to the 7-AAA first team
offense, while fellow
seniors TJ Wilson and
Ryan Glass, as the team’s
leading receivers, cap
tured their spots at tight
end and wide receiver.
Tigers sack leader Zac
Baloga, who dropped
opposing quarterbacks 10
times in 12 games, and
fellow senior Jason
Browning will represent
Dawson County’s domi
nant defensive line on the
7-AAA first team
defense. They will be
backed up by senior
Logan Barnes at defen
sive back who led the
team in interceptions
with three and total tack
les at 115.
Rounding out the first
team defense honorees
with two interceptions
apiece and a combined
107 total tackles are
senior defensive back
Noah Brock and junior
Brody Howell as line
backer.
Named to the 7-AAA
first team special teams,
sophomore Dahkota
Sonnichsen displayed his
talents across a wide
range of duties during the
season, racking up 395
yards rushing and 231
receiving while account
ing for six total touch
downs, but he was fea
tured most prominently
in the Tigers as a punt
returner and always
seemed to come up big
when the team needed it
the most.
With 13 players recog
nized overall the Dawson
County Tigers featured
the most players of any
team in the region to be
named as all-region
awards recipients or
region first team players.
The Dawson County
Tigers awards banquet
scheduled for Dec. 9 was
cancelled due to weather
and has been rescheduled
beginning at 2:30 p.m.
Dec. 16 at the
Performing Arts Center.
FROM 1B
Lady
quarter to win their first
region game.”
The second regional
game took place at
Dawson County High
School on Dec. 7 when
the Lady Tigers hosted
the defending regional
champs and state runners-
up, the Greater Atlanta
Christian Lady Spartans,
in a re-match of last
year’s regional semi-final.
Both teams opened the
game with an aggressive,
fast-paced play style and
they traded point for
point throughout the
opening period.
D’Oliveira put the Lady
Tigers up early with two
3-pointers in the opening
minutes, but a run of
turnovers allowed the
Lady Spartans to close
the gap and the Tigers
held onto a 1-point lead
by a score of 16-15 at the
end of the first.
The fast pace continued
in the second period and
began to favor GAC as
they took the lead early
and slowed the game
down by forcing a series
of fouls from the Lady
Tigers.
In an effort to spark the
offense, Coach Sweat put
Sheffield into the game at
the halfway mark of the
period and she made her
presence known immedi
ately, scoring on her first
play and leading the Lady
Tigers to a late period
rally to overtake the Lady
Spartans and send
Dawson County to the
locker room with a hard-
fought 35-26 lead.
The Lady Spartans
came back determined
not to go down without a
fight as they mounted an
all-out assault on the net.
With Kenedi Williams
leading the charge, GAC
outscored the Tigers
20-15 in the third period
to bring the lead back
down to a meager 4
points heading into the
final stanza.
The game turned phys
ical during the final eight
minutes as GAC played a
tight press defense and
Dawson County contin
ued to drive the lane.
Sheffield’s success under
the net continued as she
netted three more buck
ets to round out her team
leading 22 points, but the
Lady Tigers won the
game on the strength of
their free throw accuracy
as they went 13 for 17 in
the fourth period and 75
percent overall on the
game compared to a 47
percent rating from the
Spartans.
One point at a time the
Lady Tigers extended
their lead until the final
buzzer sounded and the
home team celebrated a
thrilling 75-67 win over
the GAC Lady Spartans.
“If this had been a
race, the siren would be
going off at the Pool
Room,” Sweat said.
The final game of the
week took place between
the Lady Tigers and the
Lady Warriors out of
White County on Dec. 8
in the Ford Phillips
Center of DCHS.
The Lady Tigers
opened at a fast pace
with Sticker pressing the
basket for 6 points and
Townley adding 6 of her
own. Anglin and Siuta
built on the lead as they
each added a 3-point shot
to the board and Dawson
County finished the first
period in the lead by a
score of 20-14.
White County found
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Dawsonville, GA
new life in the second
period and completely
shut down the Dawson
County offense limiting
the home team to a mere
4 points in the quarter.
Dasha Cannon led a
resurgent offense and
White County quieted
the home crowd as they
took a 28-24 lead at the
half.
Free throws yet again
proved to be the differ
ence as the Lady Tigers
went eight for ten from
the line during the third
period. Combined with a
stiffened defense Dawson
County whittled the lead
to a mere 4 points as the
final period began.
The Lady Tigers went
on a 9-0 run in the open
ing minutes to retake the
lead and Sticker proved a
force to be reckoned with
as she led the Lady
Tigers in an offensive
frenzy posting 12 of her
team-high 23 points as
Dawson County held off
the White County
Warriors to secure the
66-51 victory.
The Lady Tigers are
scheduled to take on the
Lady Trojans in an early
season battle for first
place in the region on
Dec. 14 at North Hall
High School.
A New Beginning
TRINITY CHURCH
of DAWSONVILLE
An Eco Presbyterian Church
“The most loving small church
I’ve attended lately.”
Isn’t it time you came back?
Firestation #2 Highway 53
Just Down from the Tractor Supply
Sunday School 9:30
Worship 10:30
Dr. Bob Strachan 706-216-5516
