SPORTS
DawsonNewscom
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
facebook.com/dawsonnews
twitter.com/dawsonnews
Dawson football schedule finalized
Tigers continue rivalry with N. Hall
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
With summer practices in full
gear, the Dawson County football
team has finalized its schedule for
the upcoming season.
A number of schools in north
ern Georgia will be in new classi
fications and regions heading into
the next school year, with a few of
those schools set to face the
Tigers.
Familiar foe North Hall will be
reclassified as a 4A school but
will at least remain on the football
schedule as an important date for
the team and community to have
circled.
This fall, the Tigers will travel
to play the Trojans on Friday,
Sept. 2.
A week earlier, DCHS will visit
Suwanee to face head coach Sid
Maxwell’s previous team,
Lambert.
The matchup will be the first
time Maxwell faces the
Longhorns since joining Dawson
County in 2015.
A potentially exciting local
game will be on the cards in early
October, when newly reclassified
Pickens County will make the
trek over to Tiger Stadium.
The previously 4A Dragons are
now also one of two newcomers
to Region 7-3A along with
Wesleyan School in Norcross.
Wesleyan made the switch from
Class A Private Region 5 and will
host the Tigers on Friday, Oct. 14.
The other two non-region
games include the season opener
on Friday, Aug. 19, at home
against 6A side Jackson County
and a home game against fellow
3A side Stephens County on
Friday, Sept. 9.
Those two teams played each
other last season, with Stephens
coming out on top 29-12.
Rounding out the schedule will
be the remainder of the Region
7-3A matchups, with home
games against West Hall and
Gilmer County and away games
against White County and
Lumpkin County.
Rio White Dawson County News
The Tigers defense lines up during the spring game last
month. They will face two new teams in Region 7-3A this
upcoming season in Pickens County and Wesleyan.
From fishing to the farm
Dawson County High grad becomes award-winning pig shower
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
Who said a pig couldn’t
be man’s best friend?
That is certainly the
case for 2022 DCHS
graduate and outgoing
FFA president Freddie
Jenkins, who in just two
years became both a care
giver and competitive
shower of pigs.
Having placed at coun
ty, state and national
events, he has rapidly
become an important
member of Dawson
County’s agricultural
community.
Before his junior year
of high school, Jenkins
had never so much as
stepped in a pen or dealt
with farm animals on a
regular basis.
In fact, the self-
described ‘preppy kid’
was an accomplished
fisherman and had placed
third at a state-level event
as a freshman.
But everything — from
his clothes to career path
— changed when Jenkins
met FFA advisor Keith
Pankey.
“Keith really took his
time and loved this kid
and was devoted to help
ing him grow in the agri
cultural field,” Freddie’s
mother Sandra Jenkins
said. “The direction of
[Freddie’s] life totally
changed once he got
involved [with FFA].”
The first encounter
Freddie had with Pankey
was a humorous sign of
how different his future
experiences would be.
When Pankey told the
neatly-dressed Jenkins to
hop in the pig pen at the
barn behind DCHS, he
quickly realized his
pearly white tennis shoes
were no match.
But by the next day,
Jenkins came prepared.
With his dad’s boots, a
pair of jeans and a hat in
tow, the rest was history.
While he would eventu
ally become most accus
tomed with pigs, the first
animal he learned how to
properly look after was
an affectionate cow
named Spade.
Donated by Brett
Fausett, Spade was the
first animal the Jenkins
needed to bathe, trim and
build a relationship with
in preparation for show
ing.
“Spade was an absolute
teddy bear,” Jenkins said.
“If I didn’t show up to the
barn one day, she would
not eat her food and go sit
in her comer. When I got
there, she would stare at
me, get up and run
straight for the fence
toward me.”
Soon after that, he
began his career with pigs
by working with Drew
See Jenkins 13B
Photos courtesy of the Jenkins family
Freddie Jenkins poses with his pig Tank after winning first in class at the
Georgia National Junior Livestock Show.
Boys basketball
hosts scrimmage
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
The Dawson County boys basketball team hosted
a scrimmage game against Denmark on Thursday,
June 16, giving head coach Todd Cottrell an early
look into the potential lineups for next season.
A week after their first scrimmage of the summer
on the road at South Forsyth, the Tigers hosted the
Danes for a 5 p.m. matchup.
Although no official score was kept for the game,
each team was given an athletic challenge by having
to repeatedly switch scoring sides during each
15-minute period.
“Overall, I am very pleased and excited about our
progress this summer,” Cottrell said. “Our skill level
has dramatically improved. We are beginning to
understand our concepts better and are starting to
react and play instead of thinking so much. “
Offensively, the early catalyst for DCHS was ris
ing junior Caden Reed, whose spot shooting gave
the Tigers some breathing room against a lengthy
Denmark side.
While the Danes were defensively strong inside
the arc early on, the Tigers gradually worked their
See Boys 13B
Girls basketball
holds youth camp
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
Head coach Will Anglin and the Dawson County
girls basketball team hosted a youth camp from
Monday, June 13, to Thursday, June 16.
Anglin has kickstarted his tenure as head coach
with several events for his team, including a team
camp at Georgia College, scrimmages at North
Georgia and Suwanee Sports Academy, and the
youth skills camp held at Rock Creek Park.
The youth camp included one-on-one and group
activities, led by the staff and players of the Lady
Tigers.
With all but one player returning from last sea
son’s team, they all had a chance to show their lead
ership skills at the camp and strengthen the relation
ship between the high school team and the younger
players.
Throughout the camp, the coaching staff also
helped organize and lead drills. These included new
staff additions Nichole Green and Calli Watson,
who worked with esablished coaches Natosha Beary
and Carly Anglin.
See Girls 13B
Dawson alumnus graduates
from Ivy League university
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
Four years after being
the first athlete in
Dawson County
High School his
tory to be accept
ed to an Ivy
League school,
Dennis Pyetsukh
recently graduated
from Brown
University in
Providence, Rhode
Island.
Now, he’s got his sights
set on law school.
Pyetsukh and his fami
ly moved to Dawsonville
when he was four years
old. He subsequently
attended county public
school all the way up
through his time at
DCHS.
At three years old,
Pyetsukh started playing
on Parks and Recreation
soccer teams, and he
began playing
travel soccer at
eight, according to
a 2018 DCN arti
cle. Among other
early athletic
accomplishments,
he’s competed in
the Disney Cup
International soc
cer competition against
players from over 20
other countries and won
accolades as a national
tournament and league
champion.
Pyetsukh was recruited
by Brown to play soccer
during his junior year of
high school, and he began
attending the university
and playing in Fall 2018.
Academically, he chose
to study business eco
nomics and finance.
Just like at DCHS, he
played as a forward for
all three seasons of his
time with the university’s
men’s soccer team (one
season was canceled
because of the COVID-19
pandemic).
As an athlete, some of
Pyetsukh’s favorite mem
ories have been scoring
against Niagara
University’s team during
a Brown home game,
with local fans cheering
on the Brown Bears.
Pyetsukh said all Ivy
League-level soccer was
generally competitive, but
it was especially worth it
to travel to Columbia
See Ivy 13B
Pyetsukh
Abby
Samples-Slaton
The Player of the Week
is Abby Samples-Slaton,
who helped the girls
basketball team hold a
youth skills camp.
Player Of The Week!
DAHLONEGA
DUNKIN
DONUTS
Industrial Park Rd.
We’ve Gone Green! M-F: 8:00 - 5:00
“We will be here when you need us. ” 130 Industrial Park Rd, Dawsonville
Dawsonville’s Premier Collision Center
