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DawsonNewscom
Wednesday, March 30, 2022
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Coach Herrick joins alma mater N. Hall
Herrick spent the past three seasons at DCHS
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
Hall County Schools con
firmed in a press release on
Saturday, March 26, that
Dawson County High School
girls basketball head coach Eric
Herrick has accepted the same
position at his alma mater
North Hall.
The news was first reported
Friday evening by DCN sister
publication The Gainesville
Times.
Herrick spent the past three
seasons at DCHS, coaching the
boys team in his first season
before taking over the girls
team for the next two.
He found success with both
of the teams he coached, build
ing on the previous accom
plishments of the boys team
while helping bring the girls
team back to the state playoffs.
“Going undefeated in region
and winning the region champi
onship was a great memory
with the boys,” Herrick said.
“Also this year, winning in the
region tournament to secure a
state playoff spot was a big
accomplishment.”
The news comes just over a
month after the Lady Tigers
made their first state playoff
appearance since the 2018-19
Elite 8 campaign.
Herrick led the Lady Tigers
back to that position with a
young squad that balanced
strong offense in the paint with
a lively defense that helped
them obtain a 17-11 record.
Some of the best defensive
performances of the season led
to wins against strong teams
within region 7-AAA, includ
ing an overtime victory against
eventual region tournament
runner-up East Forsyth.
For all of the growth that he
has seen within the girls team
in the past two seasons, Herrick
See Herrick 16B
Rio White Dawson County News
Lady Tigers head coach Eric Herrick speaks with the team
during a timeout in the game at North Hall on Friday, Jan.
28. He will become the head coach of the Lady Trojans next
season.
Ryan leaves legacy like no other
Associated Press
Matt Ryan spent 14 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, earning the NFL MVP award in 2016 and leading his team
to an appearance in Super Bowl LI.
Falcons QB joins Colts after 14 seasons, trip to Super Bowl
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
Just four days after news
broke that Freddie Freeman
had officially ended his time
with the Atlanta Braves, the
Falcons announced that they
traded longtime quarterback
Matt Ryan to the
Indianapolis Colts for a third-
round ckaft pick.
The four-time Pro Bowler
and 2016 NFL MVP led the
Falcons to six playoff appear
ances in his 14 seasons in
Atlanta, including a trip to
Super Bowl LI following his
MVP campaign.
Ryan’s journey with the
Falcons has been one of
highs and lows, but his lega
cy in Atlanta will hold firm
for years to come.
Ryan helped lift Atlanta
out of the long shadow of the
Bobby Petrino and Michael
Vick scandals, taking over
the reins on day one.
Drafted in 2008 out of
Boston College, Ryan was
handed the unenviable task of
being the prospective starting
quarterback for a team that
had come off a 4-12 season,
whose longtime quarterback
was in prison, and whose pre
vious coach left the team dur
ing the previous season with
out so much as a verbal
notice.
Somehow, Ryan and first-
year head coach Mike Smith
combined with Michael
Turner, Michael Jenkins and
Roddy White to jumpstart a
previously immobile Falcons
offense.
On the first pass in the first
game of Ryan’s career, he
threw a 62-yard touchdown
pass to Jenkins. From that
point forward, Ryan would
cement himself as the fran
chise quarterback, winning
the 2008 AP NFL Rookie of
the Year award as well.
His first four seasons
would see three playoff
appearances, a first Pro Bowl
selection and the addition of
first-round draft pick Julio
Jones, who with Ryan would
forge one of the most formi
dable quarterback-wide
receiver duos in the NFL.
It was in Ryan’s fifth sea
son that he would establish
himself as a superstar quar
terback.
In 2012, Ryan threw for
4,719 yards, 32 touchdowns
and led the league with a
68.6 percent passing comple
tion mark. He did all of that
while leading the Falcons to
their first NFC
Championship game appear
ance since after the 1998 sea
son.
While the team fell short in
that game and would face a
brief rebuilding period, Ryan
continued to play as the best
quarterback not named
Brady, Brees, Manning or
Rodgers.
The high point of Ryan’s
career came in 2016, when
the Falcons put together all
the pieces necessary for a
deep playoff run.
In that season, Ryan would
set career-high marks in pass
ing yards, touchdowns and
completion percentage and
passer rating to lead the
Falcons to the Super Bowl
See Ryan 16B
Homer helps
Tigers avoid
sweep against
East Forsyth
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
A home run by Luke Mulberry highlight
ed a 13-4 win for the Dawson County base
ball team over East Forsyth on Thursday,
March 24, as the Tigers avoided a series
sweep and improved to a 12-6 record on
the season.
Mulberry’s solo shot encapsulated a
high-energy performance from Dawson
County, who scored nine runs in the first
two innings. After a string of runs scored
on singles and doubles, the team celebrated
the emphatic home run that contributed to
an already successful day.
See Baseball 13B
Chamber hosts
fourth annual
15K trail run
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
The Dawson County Chamber of
Commerce hosted the fourth annual
Mountain Madness 15k trail run at Fausett
Farms on Saturday, March 26.
With clear skies, cool temperatures and
strong winds, runners had the chance to face
a challenging course in good condition.
The trail totaled nearly 1,800 feet in eleva
tion and presented runners with unique geo
graphic challenges that included significant
changes of incline and decline.
Shortly after the hour mark, top finisher
Allen Bray came through the finish line after
wading through the final obstacle of a calf-
high stream.
“There’s obviously three really big hills
that you have to tackle, but even between
them, there are so much up and down little
punchy stuff,” Bray said. “It’s very hard to
get any kind of rhythm. When you think it’s
about to get easy, you turn the comer and it’s
See Madness|6B
Positive results at latest
Dawson High track meet
Rio White Dawson County News
Junior Emily Kurtz clears the bar during her pole
vault program. She finished in first place at
Tuesday's meet.
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
For the first time this
season, the Dawson
County High School track
and field teams hosted a
meet, facing off against
Lumpkin County and
Fannin County on Tuesday,
March 22.
The day began with field
events that showed prog
ress from both the boys
and girls teams.
“All of our field events
were greatly improved last
night,” head coach Arron
Haynes said. “Honestly [it
was] the best showing they
have had this year. We just
have a lot of maturing to
do with our youth.”
At the throwing events,
senior Olivia Martinez fin
ished second in discus for
the girls team while junior
Collin Robinson finished
sixth in the boys competi
tion, nearly hitting 100
feet. He has increased his
throw length by 15 feet
since the season’s first
meet.
See Track 16B
Dawsonville’s Premier Collision Center
Ethan Smith
The player of the week is
Ethan Smith, who won several
events across two track meets
last week.
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Certified
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706-216-0992
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