About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 2019)
Wednesday, February 13,2019 dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 5B Spring teams ready for season openers DCHS sports schedule February 13 - February 19 Feb. 13 V Tennis at N. Forsyth JV Tennis vs. Fumpkin County Baseball vs. Chestatee Feb. 14 5:55 p.m. VG Soccer vs. Creekview 5:30 p.m. VB Soccer vs. Creekview Feb. 15 7 p.m. VB Soccer at Murray County Feb.18 V Tennis vs. Gilmer 7 p.m. VG Soccer vs. W. Hall 5:30 p.m. VB Soccer vs. W. Hall Feb. 19 JV Tennis vs. N. Hall 7 p.m. Baseball at Prince Ave 5:30 p.m. By Bob Christian bchristian@dawsonnews.com The Dawson County High School spring sports season got underway this week for the varsity and junior varsity baseball, golf, soccer, tennis and track and field programs. Baseball After a week of tryouts in early February and a tough couple of weeks of practice, the varsity base ball team has begun to take shape as they prepare to start their season with a home game against the Chestatee War Eagles at 5:55 p.m. on Feb. 13. After losing several starters to graduation, Head Coach Dwayne Sapp is faced with the prospect of a rebuilding year and his outlook on the opening game reflected his con cerns for the team’s pros pects in the 2019 season. “It is a very young group with not a lot of varsity experience,” Sapp said. “We are still trying to find the right combina tion of players that will give us the best opportu nity to compete with the top teams in the region.” Golf Official tryouts for the Dawson County golf team began at the Chattahoochee Country Club on Feb. 11 after the student athletes spent the last two weeks putting together paperwork and working on their swing. The West Hall Invitational at Chateau Elan on March 2 marks the beginning of the season and the Tigers are sched uled for nine tournaments in the month of March. Soccer The varsity soccer sea son kicked off on Feb. 5 as the Tigers hosted Forsyth Central in the season opener for both teams. In the early game, the Fady Tigers fell 3-0 to a “very fast and athletic” team, according to Head Coach Chess Hamby. “I think we played bet ter than the score would indicate,” Hamby said. “We missed a few scoring opportunities that could have kept it close, but I'm proud of the girls.” The boys team fared a little better in an evening game with the Bulldogs as they lost the season open er by a final score of 3 -1. Senior Ethan Cameron accounted for the team’s only point with a header into the net late in the second half. “It was tough match from the starting whistle. Our defense and keeper battled admirably the entire game,” Head Coach Patrick Muenchen said. “We held them to 1-0 at half but they were able to put in two more before we were able to answer.” Track and Field Over the last two weeks, the track and field team has been whittling down a larger than usual group of athletes into a competitive roster as they prepare to start their sea son on March 2 with the Eagle Invitational at East Jackson High School. “At this point, we do have an overall roster,” Assistant Coach Charles Beusse said. “We are still in the process of deciding who will actually com pete in each event.” FROM 1B Girls was presented with a game ball to acknowledge her having scored 1,512 points in her career. Sticker surpassed Tarla Tanner to claim the second slot on the Fady Tigers’ all-time highest scoring list. Sticker fin ished the tournament with 1,564 career points and is clos ing in on the school record of 1,604 points, a record held by Sheyenne Seabolt. The Fady Tigers then ran into a brick wall defense from North Hall on Feb. 8, which stopped the Fady Tigers in their tracks with a71-43 loss. After the loss, Head Coach Steve Sweat summed up the disappointment felt by him and the Fady Tigers. “They played better than us, bottom line,” Sweat said. The team faced off against Cherokee Bluff less than 24 hours later and leveraged that heartbreak into one of their best offensive performances of the season. The Fady Tigers opened the game with a 27-10 first quarter score, fueled large ly by the interior play of junior Marlie Townley. Townley accounted for four of her six rebounds and 8 of her 14 points to lead the Fady Tigers both offensively and defensively through the first period, giving Sticker plenty of time to fine tune her 3-point shot as she found the net twice from the arc to close out the period. Because of an earlier injury, Cherokee Bluff played without one of their key players, and her absence showed as the Fady Bears continued to strug gle on offense during the sec ond period. Sticker, in addition to her hot hand from the outside, aggres sively challenged the Fady Bears in the key to extend the Fady Tigers’ lead to 46-21 as the teams headed into the lock er room. Sticker continued to lead the Fady Tigers’ charge after half time as she scored from all over the floor. Sophomore Maddie Anglin and freshman Ella Siuta added to the tally with a 3-pointer apiece and Dawson County looked to have the game com fortably in hand as they entered the fourth period. It took three periods for Cherokee Bluff’s offense to come together but the team found its identity in the opening minutes of the final period when senior Chelsea Reece came off the bench for the Fady Bears and lead a 10-0 run to cut Dawson County’s lead in half with six minutes left on the clock. The final few minutes felt like anybody’s game, but Dawson County began to pull away toward the end of the period as Townley once again went to work on the boards to give the Fady Tigers the edge and secure the win, 77-61. In post-game ceremonies, two members of the Fady Tigers were honored by Region 7-AAA as junior Sophia D’Oliveira was named a mem ber of the All-Region team and Sticker was honored as the 2018-19 Region Player of the Year. The win secured the Fady Tigers a 20-win season as they finished with an overall record of 20-8 (9-3 regional) and a berth as the third-seeded team from Region 7-AAA in the GHSA state tournament that begins Feb. 15. Sweat was obviously pleased with his team’s performance, but his thoughts had already turned toward the challenges his team faced in the upcoming tournament as Dawson County prepared to face the Region 6-AAA Coahulla Creek Colts in the first round. “We did play much better on Saturday. Blessed to be back in the state tournament,” Sweat said. “We watched some game film over the weekend. Now we will start putting a plan together to use against them for the win.” Above: Junior Marlie Townley goes up and over a Fannin County Rebel in the opening game of the Region 7-AAA tournament Feb. 6. Left: Senior Anna Lowe fights for a rebound against Fannin County. Photos by Bob Christian Dawson County News FROM 1B Daytona Chase used to win his first race at Watkins Glen,” Pirkle Jr. said. “It kind of completes the set because the one on that far comer came from the car Gober Sosebee used to get all his wins, and the one up front is from Bill Elliott’s car.” For a true taste of racing history, the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame is a must-see location and visitors will soon be greeted with a more visible and informative section honoring the highlights of Dawsonville’s new NASCAR hero, Chase Elliott, as the museum moves dozens of trophies, plaques and other pieces of memorabilia into dis play cases in the entrance way and along the exterior of the building. “All of his stuff was kind of in the back of the building and, after last season, we wanted people to know we were proud of Chase,” hall of fame president and curator Gordon Pirkle said. Pirkle also owns the Pool Room and is father to Pirkle Jr. “As soon as I can get a car of his, I’ll have it out there too.” NASCAR’s history, and a good chunk of the history of “The Great American Race,” can be traced to the back roads of Dawson County, and nobody knows that better than Pirkle, who has been amassing his collec tion for well over 40 years. “I think you can trace 32 Daytona wins to this tiny town,” Pirkle said. “A lot of those were on the old Beach Course, of course.” As he went on to explain the connection between Dawsonville and Daytona, Pirkle made sure to point out a modified 1939 Ford, the No. 50 Cherokee used by Dawson County’s Gober Sosebee to set the qualifying record in the modified division at the Daytona Beach Course in 1949. “That’s a record that will never be beat because they will never let anyone race on the beach again,” Pirkle said. He pointed across the museum to the Bill Elliott’s famous 1987 Coors Thunderbird and pointed out a similar distinction for the more modem vehicle. “That car set the speed record on the track at Daytona at just over 210 miles per hour,” Pirkle said. “That’s another record that will never be beaten since they added restrictor plates. Imagine that, two records from the same course held by two guys from the same town.” Pirkle also spoke to the impressive record built at Daytona by Chase Elliott in his early career. He pointed out the younger Elliott had won back-to-back poles in his first two years, being the youngest driver to win the pole at Daytona the first year, and then coupled the second pole with a victory in the Duel, making him only the third driv er in history to accomplish the feat. “He has always been on the edge of win ning at Daytona,” Pirkle said. “It’s only a matter of time until he does.” Elliott finished his day in Daytona with a sixth-place finish in the Advance Auto Parts Clash, and will race again in the Gander RV Duel at 9 p.m. Feb. 14. WANTED Soldier A FUREVERHQME Foxy Loxy - DOB: 6/1/13 WEIGHT: 57 LBS Soldier is a sweet and loving boy, although he tends to want to be by your side than any where else. He can be very choosy with other dogs, therefore a meet and greet would be highly recommended. He walks fairly well on a leash but could use some more attention on pulling. Come see if this boy is right for you. DOB: 7/5/13 WEIGHT: 47lbs Foxy Loxy is one of out sm artest and loyal fur babies. She listens well and walks okay on a leash. She is shy with new people, but once she gets used to you and knows who you are, she will be glued to your side. After a nice walk she’ll sit right next to you while taking in her surroundings. Although she does great with people she does not get along with other dogs at all. Don't let that stop you from coming and saying hi. You may just fall in love. Fonn z^z ation Dawson County Humane Society 706-265-9160 | 633 Martin Road, Dawsonville adjacent to the Rock Creek Sports Complex Visit our RESALE SHOP & BOUTIQUE A " pl0 ““ ls Wed. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. | 54 S. Lumpkin Campground Rd. benefits the Humane Society AM Collision Specialists 706-216-0992 103 Industrial Park Road, Dawsonville Bradley M. Maple CPA, PC 706-216-2362 2390 Thompson Road Suite 100 Dawsonville Dawsonville Veterinary Hospital 706-265-8381
