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DawsonNewscom
Wednesday, August 3, 2022
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Late-race carnage catches Elliott at Brickyard
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
Despite a pair of top-5 stage
positions and a late chance to
secure a sixth consecutive top-2
finish, the road course chaos in
the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard
caught up to Chase Elliott late in
the race. He would finish in 16th
position.
During a race filled with
major accidents and spin-outs
that culminated in a second
career Cup Series win for Tyler
Reddick, Elliott was initially
able to move up the board quick
ly in the first two stages as the
caution flag was not brought out
due to cause.
But four major incidents
toward the end forced the yellow
flag out each time and altered
strategies for each driver. While
Elliott initially benefited from
the restarts, he was eventually
involved in a major accident that
took him from second place to
out of contention.
In NASCAR’s second edition
of the road course race at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway,
Elliott looked to be in solid posi
tion for most of the race, quali
fying in eighth position.
The Dawsonville native had
an eventful first stage, joining
many other cars that spun in the
tight turns. While he had his
incident with only a couple of
laps left in Stage One, he man
aged to straighten himself out in
time to finish the stage in fifth
position.
After his car was assessed to
have no considerable damage
after hopping a corner curb,
Elliott got right back out and
gradually moved up the board
after his first pit stop.
He narrowly avoided a slew of
major incidents in Stage Two,
particularly in Turn 1 where the
cars would go up to four-wide
and create major bottleneck
points.
Finishing Stage Two in fourth
position, Elliott had shown the
speed necessary to compete with
some of the top cars of the day.
The final stage would display
the climactic moments of the
race, with a pair of major inci
dents within the last few laps
See Elliott 13B
Photo courtesy of Kristin Enzor/USA Today Sports
Chase Elliott makes a pit stop during the Verizon 200 at the
Brickyard on Sunday, July 31.
DCN hosts 2nd annual Fall Media Day
Braves face trade
deadline, push
for division title
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
The 2022 MLB season
has reached the 100-game
mark for most teams,
with the Atlanta Braves
sitting at a 59-41 record
and three games behind
the NL East division
leading New York Mets
as of Thursday, July 28.
After weathering a
rough first 50 games that
resulted in a 23-27 record,
the Braves have been one
of the strongest teams in
the league, posting a
36-14 record that includ
ed a 14-game winning
streak.
At this point in the sea
son, the focus for the
team is catching the Mets.
The most recent set of
games have seen ups and
downs that showed where
the team has progressed
as well as which areas
need improvement if the
team is looking for anoth
er playoff run.
There are four positions
where the Braves could
use an extra boost head
ing into the postseason —
starting pitcher, outfielder,
relief pitcher and second
baseman. The higher-ups
in the organization will
have plenty to mull over
before the trade deadline
on Aug. 2.
A need for one addi
tional consistent starting
See Braves 13B
Photos by Altura Social
Head football coach Sid Maxwell talks about his team's progress at the DCN Fall Media Day.
3 things we heard, 3 things we learned at the event
XC team looks to
make progress
with junior class
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
The Dawson County
News hosted its second
annual Fall Media Day to
highlight the five Dawson
County High School sports
teams that will be compet
ing this fall.
Here are some of the
important takeaways from
the interviews with coach
es and players from the
football, cheerleading, vol
leyball, softball and cross
country teams.
Three things we
learned:
1. Football ready for
new-look offense, region
changes
Head coach Sid
Maxwell has been keeping
his team focused on its
day-to-day progress this
summer while knowing
that the offense will be
evolving as the season
goes along.
With the team prepared
to bring out its first new
starting quarterback in
three years, Maxwell has
entrusted a strong senior
class to help keep the team
grounded while the offense
faces a learning curve.
“I’m really blessed this
year to have such a strong
senior class,” Maxwell
said. “They all work well
together and they make
others around them better.”
One of those seniors
who will be working with
prospective starting quar
terback and sophomore
Davis Glass is wide receiv
er Doug Pagel, who is also
helping lead a young
receiving corps.
Fellow senior Kade
Moledor, normally a
defensive player, will be
joining the committee of
running backs behind
Glass.
The Tigers will also play
two new teams in Region
7-3A — Pickens County
and Wesleyan. For
Maxwell, his approach
toward these teams will be
much the same as it is with
any other team.
2. Cheer team looking
to repeat as state cham
pions
There is little doubt as to
the goals of the Dawson
County competition cheer
team, led by head coach
Kim Fleming. Looking to
repeat as state champions,
the team is just as prepared
and confident this summer
as they were last season,
according to Fleming.
“The stunts we are doing
now are just as difficult —
or more difficult — than
the ones we did last year,”
Fleming said. “We have a
great team [with] lots of
talent.”
While the team lost three
seniors from last season’s
squad, including a pair of
All-State selections, the
current group of five
seniors is ready to carry on
the standard of excellence.
An element to the team’s
success has been its mental
discipline. For Fleming,
minimizing distractions
during competition is the
key to accomplishing that.
“When we get to a com
petition, I keep them sepa
rated from the crowd,”
Fleming said. “We stay
focused.”
3. Volleyball looks to
use depth for state play
off run
Assistant volleyball
coach Audrey Goode has
been observing the rapid
growth of a team that is
looking to make a deep ran
in the state tournament.
A group of six seniors
will lead a team that has a
well of underclassmen
depth that has been steadi
ly growing from the youth
levels since head coach
Tanya Porter helped estab
lish the program.
Seniors Abby Felkai and
Emerald Sallee are two
players taking initiative
and leading drills during
summer practices.
“When we split up for
positions, Abby takes the
whole setter group and
does a lot of drills with
them,” Goode said. “We
call on [Emerald] a lot to
lead our whole defense on
the back row because she
plays such a big role in
that.”
Last season, the team
had a 20-win regular sea
son before facing an early
exit at the region tourna
ment. This year, the team
is aiming to progress fur
ther.
“Communication on the
court is one of the most
important things we need
to work on,” Goode said.
“This is probably the most
talented group of girls
we’ve had in the program.”
Three things
we heard
1. Softball team much
younger than last season,
but small senior class can
help the team grow
“I think it’s important
for those older kids who
have been here to just be
the example and settle the
nerves of some of the
younger ones,” head coach
Justin Rickett said. “When
we played at South
[Forsyth] the other day, it
made a huge difference on
the younger kids on how
relaxed they were to have
the [seniors] there.”
2. LeCave looking to
bounce back from injury
to lead cross country
“I just got back maybe
two weeks ago [from inju
ry],” LeCave said. “Since
then, I’ve been trying to
slowly get back into it and
run more and more every
day. I’m really trying to
motivate myself and push
myself as much as I can
this summer.”
3. Adams looks to lead
defensive line and help
boost confidence of
young QB Glass
“I think it makes [Glass]
more comfortable when he
has a confident defense
behind him,” lineman
Cade Adams said. “If he
knows that the [other]
offense isn’t going to be
much of a challenge, he
doesn’t feel pressured to
put more points on the
board.”
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
Dawson County
Tigers Cross Country
Head Coach: Jonathan
Tinsley, second season
Boys finish last year:
Third in Region 7-3A,
llth-place finish at
State Championship
Girls finish last year:
Fifth in Region 7-3A
Key Returners: Anna
LeCave (Jr.), Tyler
Tangel (Jr.), Jules
Phillips (Jr.), Chase
Cofield (Jr.)
The junior classes of
the Dawson County
boys and girls cross
country teams will be
tasked with leading their
group of runners head
ing into this season.
Last year, the boys
team finished third in
Region 7-3A before just
missing out on a top-10
finish at the state cham
pionship.
While a core group of
seniors graduated from
that team, the current
group of juniors have
the experience of learn
ing under those athletes
and are looking to rapid
ly improve individual
times to help the Tigers
compete for a region
title.
See XC 13B
Player Of The Week!
Cade Adams
The player of the week is senior
Cade Adams, who helped lead the
football team during their first full
week of practice.
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