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2B I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, May 22,2019
Celebrating a
year of success
Dawson County track and field
teams host awards banquet
Above: Head Coach Arron
Haynes recognizes the 27
members of the team that
qualified for the state sec
tionals in 2019. Left:
Haynes and Assistant Coach
Eddie Roberts embrace
after Roberts announces his
retirement.
Photos by Bob Christian
Dawson County News
Above: The common area of
Dawson County High School was
filled to capacity with family and
friends in support for the track
and field team awards banquet.
Above, right:
"This team's
seniors have
raised the bar
and changed the
philosophy of
the program for
the better. It is a
testament to
their hard work
and dedication,"
Haynes said of
the team's 22
graduating
seniors (three
not pictured).
FROM 1B
Herrick
back-to-back undefeated regional sea
sons and leaving the program was a dif
ficult part of the decision.
“We talk about with our players all
the time that you want to leave things
better than you found it, you never want
to leave a program when the cupboard is
bare,” Herrick said. “For me, profes
sionally, I was looking for a new chal
lenge.”
His first challenge in taking over the
Tigers will be to recreate the high-pow
ered offense previously led by DCHS
all-time leading scorer Luke Chism who
graduated from the team at the end of
the season. Also lost to graduation were
Ahmad Kamara, a bruising force under
neath the net, and Trey Pruitt, an outside
shooter with the ability to drive the lane.
“I think there’s enough talent in place
to be extremely competitive in Dawson.
We did lose one phenomenal basketball
player, and a couple of other pieces,”
Herrick said. “But I think there is more
than enough talent to reproduce what
they did last year.”
Working closely with Assistant Coach
Will Anglin, the process of building his
vision for the Tigers began with the first
official team meeting on May 22 and
will continue through the summer with
regular work outs and minicamps.
“We’re setting up our pre-season
schedule already,” Herrick said. “We’ll
be in the gym every single morning,
every single afternoon during pre-sea-
son working with those kids. Really
focusing on skill development and not
focus on wins, losses or that kind of
stuff. Just putting in the daily work and
the results will take care of themselves.”
Herrick is a four-year veteran of the
United States Air Force, a graduate of
Berry College, where he was a two-time
All-Conference Basketball player and
holds a master’s degree from Georgia
Southern. Herrick lives in Gainesville
with his wife, Faith Herrick, and they
have two children, Cameron, 14, and
Kylee, 9.
“We’re in a place that we really want
to be, that’s what made this job even
more appealing,” Herrick said. “I’m
excited about the community; it’s a
small-town feel. We’re going to have
packed gyms three nights a week, and
we’re going to build not just a team but
a group of kids who really care about
each other, that are respectful and care
about the community. They’re going to
be proud of the product we put on the
floor.”
FROM 1B
Scrimmage
upright despite having plenty of dis
tance.
“Our defense looks good,” Tight end
and Halfback Coach Tony Kinjanko
said. “Still rusty on offense, but it’s the
first scrimmage of the season, for some
of these kids it’s their first taste of battle
at the varsity level. We saw a lot, and
now we know what is coming.”
Despite giving up a 57-yard touch
down early in the second half, the
Dawson County defense continued to
control the tempo of the game, nabbing
two more interceptions in the half and
forcing the Dragons into three-and-out
series on all but two possessions.
“We struggled where we expected to
struggle, and we struggled in some areas
we didn’t expect,” Linebacker Coach Greg
Baloga said. “But there were some areas
where we were way ahead of what we
thought. For example, I didn’t expect our
passing reads to be so good right now.”
The offense came to life for the Tigers
on the first drive of the second half as
sophomore quarterback Zac Holtzclaw
drove the team down field behind a
series of passes to senior wide receiver
Riley Herndon before handing the ball
to running back Will Whalen, who
punched it in from two yards out to give
the Tigers the lead.
Freshman quarterback Keegan Stover
took over under center late in the third
quarter to lead the Tigers on their sec
ond scoring drive of the half as he also
relied on Herndon to move the ball
down field but ultimately found junior
Tripp Caine for the touchdown.
“Knowing I had a young quarterback
in the backfield I knew I had to be
explosive on the field,” Herndon said.
“It’s my job as a senior, to pump him
up, get him ready to play.”
Returning kicker Caleb Bonesteel
demonstrated his power and launched a
47-yard field goal to bring the final
score to 16-10 and set the expectation
for another successful year.
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46 Blue Ridge Pkwy,
Dawsonville, GA 30534, US
(706) 265 2065
