About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (March 30, 2022)
SPORTS DawsonNewscom Wednesday, March 30, 2022 facebook.com/dawsonnews twitter.com/dawsonnews 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. Sponsored by: n Certified Collision Center 706-216-0992 We’ve Gone Green! “We will be here when you need us. ” M-F: 8:00 - 5:00 130 Industrial Park Rd, Dawsonville Player Of The Week!
