Newspaper Page Text
2B I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, December 19,2018
Dawson swimmers capture first win of season
By Bob Christian
bchristian@dawsonnews.com
The Dawson County swim
team traveled to Adairsville on
Dec. 13 to compete in a head-
to-head event against the
Wildcats of Woodland High
School out of Cartersville.
After putting together one of
their finest performances so far,
the Tigers emerged from the
event with their first win of the
2018 swim season.
“We have improved so much
in the last two months,” said
Head Coach Linda Sperin.
“Many swimmers are dropping
times each meet, and it’s won
derful to see them accomplish a
swim that they didn’t think they
could.”
With only seven members
returning from last year, it has
taken the team half of their
10-meet season to come togeth
er as a unit and capitalize on
their individual strengths.
“We have 20 swimmers and
seven were on last year’s team,”
Sperin said. “Three have expe
rience coming into the season
and 10 had never been on a
swim team and didn’t know
what to expect. Many of my
swimmers participate in other
sports and they are now gaining
the confidence in their swim
ming ability.”
The team followed up their
victory in Adairsville with the
Holiday Invitational that took
place at the Cherokee County
Aquatic Center on Dec. 14 and
featured four teams from across
north Georgia, in addition to
the Tigers.
Matthew Wood led the team
with wins in both the 100-yard
butterfly and 100-yard back-
stroke, as the Tigers posted
points in 16 of the 22 events.
“Devin Eichler had a strong
showing in the 500-yard freestyle
and he is cutting time off each
race,” Sperin said. “Ayla Miller
and Lindsey LeBaron are doing
well in the 50 and 100 free style
events. Isabelle Kinsey is doing
well in the 100 back-stroke.”
The team rounded out a tough
week of competition with an
event at Darlington High School
on Dec. 18 but results were not
available as of press time.
Photos by Bob Christian Dawson County News
Sixth grade quarterback Sawyer Bearden addresses the audience as he
thanks the coaching staff on behalf of his team at the 2018 Dawson County
Football Awards Banquet on Dec. 16.
Head Coach Sid Maxwell presents senior quarter
back SeVaughn Clark with the Golden Helmet
Award of the 2018 Dawson County Football
Awards Banquet on Dec. 16.
Bob Christian Dawson County News
Junior Sophia D'Oliveira forces her way inside
the defense of the North HallTrojans in a Dec. 14
matchup.
FROM 1B
Football
grader from now on in
addition to any awards
they may receive.”
After being handed his
dog tag, sixth grade quar
terback Sawyer Bearden
took the stage to thank
the coaching staff and
present them with cards
on behalf of the team.
“I liked being around
my friends,” Bearden
said. “We would practice
right after school to get it
done and we had a lot of
free time.”
Bearden’s father,
David, added his support
for the program that has
been put in place at
Dawson County as he
commented on the unique
balance between family
and football that has been
built over the last few
years.
“They would practice
right after school let out so
there was no need to drive
him around town, all we
had to do was pick him up
around five o’clock and
bring him home” David
Bearden said. “I feel that
he could step onto the
high school field, other
than the physical part at
the moment, and run the
offense and that’s really
the goal, to get them into
ninth and 10th grade hav
ing seen the same system
all the way through.”
The seventh grade team
was next on the stage as
Haymond presented the
team with their Mountain
Football League runners-
up trophies.
Jacob Baloga, who fin
ished his third year with
the Tigers program, talked
about his expectations for
next season while securely
holding his trophy to his
chest.
“It should help that we
have all seen the same
stuff,” Baloga said. “I just
want to do better than last
year.”
Closing out the first half
of the day’s event, eighth
grade coaches Ryan
Maledor and Trevor Duba
handed out small replicas
of the famed Vince
Lombardi Trophy to the
members of their team to
celebrate their Super Bowl
II victory and champion
ship season.
The event transitioned
into honoring the high
school level players with
the announcement and
presentation of 7-AAA
regional awards, varsity
letters and pins indicating
multiple years lettering in
the program.
After acknowledging
and thanking the parents,
volunteers and managers
that assisted the program
through the year, individu
al awards were presented
to grades nine and up.
Andrew Burt was
named the ninth grade
team’s Most Valuable
Defensive Player by
Coach Mike Massey and
Zach Holtzclaw received
the team’s Most Valuable
Offensive Player award,
presented by Head Coach
Kevin Grigsby.
Grigsby then presented
the Coaches Award to
Conley Dyer and the Top
Performer trophy went to
Braedon Hubbard. Cason
Hammond was named the
Most Improved player of
2018 by Duba.
Coaches Brent Cox,
Andy LeBlanc and Derek
Waters handed out awards
for the junior varsity team.
Isaiah Grindle took
home Most Valuable
Offensive Player, while
Kinkade Weaver nabbed
Most Valuable Defensive
Player honors.
In the Most Improved
category, Max Moon won
the award for offensive
performance and Trip
Caine won for his contri
butions on defense.
Maxwell presented “the
first and most important
award” for Academic
Excellence to senior
Ethan Cameron in
acknowledgement of his
4.0 or higher GPA
throughout the year.
Maxwell went on to
present the Iron Will
award to Walker Cox who
fought through a should
injury last year to return
this season only to suffer a
season-ending leg injury
during the year.
Presented by team vol
unteer and banquet emcee
Russell Davis, the Sandy
Walls Award is given
annually to a player who
gives extra effort with a
will to win while display
ing integrity and respect.
This year’s recipient was
Allen McLean. McLean
picked up his second piece
of hardware on the day as
he was also presented with
the 2018 Spirit Award.
The Golden Helmet
Award was presented to
senior SeVaughn Clark,
who stepped up and took
over the role of quarter
back this season and led
the team to a 10-2 record
and a second-round play
off appearance.
Eli Bearden and Wyatt
Haynes were presented
with Tiger Award for
offense and defense,
respectively, while Shawn
Thomas collected the
award from Coach
LeBlanc for Most
Improved player on
offense and Adam Maner
was named Most
Improved on defense by
Coach Cox.
One team member from
each unit was named as
the Top Performer of 2018
and mirrored the 7-AAA
first team awards
announced in early
December.
The special teams award
went to kicker Caleb
Bonesteel who connected
on 42 of 42 extra points
and went 5 for 6 on field
goals but was most valu
able for his skill with the
onside kick.
Leading receiver Ryan
Glass was the top per
former in the offensive
skill category and Justin
Butler picked up the
award for offensive line
man.
Jason Browning, with
31 total tackles, three
sacks and a fumble recov
ery on the season was
named the top performer
on the defensive line, and
the linebacker award went
to Brody Howell who put
• 16 Colors in Stock
•Delivery Available
(706) 265-3099
www.metalroofingsalesinc.com
82 Etowah River Rd.
Dawsonville, GA
together a season that
included 61 tackles and
2 interceptions.
Dahkota Sonnichsen
rounded out the top per
formers, winning the
award in the athlete cate
gory with his perfor
mance as the team’s kick
return specialist during
the year.
Two players were
named Most Valuable
Player on defense as
Logan Barnes and Zac
Baloga were acknowl
edged for their outstand
ing performances during
2018. Barnes led the
team in tackles with 115
and interceptions with
three and Baloga
anchored a rock-solid
defensive line getting to
opposing quarterbacks
for 10 sacks over the
season.
Kamara, in his first
and final year with the
Dawson County Tigers,
was named Most
Valuable Player on
offense after amassing
1,418 rushing yards and
17 touchdowns.
As “the player that
gave us the best chance
to win,” Clark was
named the team’s Most
Valuable Player by
Maxwell to finish up the
day’s ceremony.
In his closing
remarks, Maxwell once
again thanked the com
munity, parents, volun
teers and coaches, but
reserved a special com
ment for his teams.
“I will not score one
touchdown, catch one
pass, or make one tack
le,” Maxwell said. “The
players do all the work
and they deserve this
recognition.”
FROM 1B
Lady
down the North Hall
shooting game but result
ed in a series of early
team fouls that derailed
any attempt at momen
tum by Dawson County.
Maddie Anglin, sopho
more, and Anna Lowe,
senior, added points for
the Tigers in the first peri
od, but the North Hall
defense proved equally as
tough and the period
closed with a score of
14-12 in favor of the
home team.
The second period saw
an offensive surge
sparked by sophomore
Bella Henson as she
came off the bench to tie
up the game early in the
set and forced a collec
tion of turnovers that
fired up the Lady Tigers
and the crowd of fans.
Momentum once again
proved difficult to estab
lish as the game was con
tinuously interrupted by
the officiating crew, but
junior Sophia D’Oliveira
took full advantage of her
opportunities at the line
putting up 4 of her team
high 10 points from the
free-throw line.
Juniors Marlie
Townley and Rachel
Swafford, along with
sophomores Mariah
Benson and Shyla
Sheffield, all added
points to the board as the
Lady Tigers racked up 17
points in the period to
stay within striking dis
tance at the half, heading
to the locker room down
by 2.
Henson made her mark
early in the second half as
she opened the third peri
od with an outside shot
for 3 to briefly give
Dawson County the lead,
while Lowe, Sheffield,
and Benson tallied points
along the way.
North Hall’s Ansleigh
Ferguson proved to be
the deciding factor in the
third period as she found
success in driving the lane
against the Tiger’s defense
putting up 8 points and
drawing a series of called
fouls that fired up both sets
of fans and the coaching
staff on each team while
allowing the Lady Trojans
to extend their lead to
45-41 by the end of the
period.
Led by D’Oliviera, who
put up every one of her
team high 10 points from
the free-throw line, the
Lady Tigers attacked the
lane forcing the Lady
Trojans into foul troubles
of their own as they
attempted to slow the
Dawson County offense.
Lowe and Townley both
added buckets from under
the basket while Sticker
dropped another shot from
3-point territory as the Lady
Tigers finally managed to
outscore their opponent, but
the effort proved too little,
too late and the buzzer
sounded on a final score of
58-55 to give the Lady
Trojans the win.
The defeat marked the
first conference loss for
Dawson County this season
as they move to a 2-1
regional record (6-3 overall)
and increased the signifi
cance of the home game
played with regional rival
Lumpkin County on Dec.
18. Results were unavail
able as of press time.
The Lady Tigers will
wrap up the pre-Christmas
schedule with Alumni
Night Dec. 21 in a game
against the Pickens County
Dragons. Tip-off is sched
uled for 7 p.m. and former
players and cheerleaders
from every decade of
Tigers will be honored in
between the night’s games.
Any and all former
members of the Dawson
County basketball or cheer
programs will be able to
attend the games free of
charge and are encouraged
to send their name and
year of graduation directly
to Coach Chad Pittman at
cpittman @ dawson.k 12. ga
so that they may be for
mally recognized during
the celebration.
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