SPORTS
DawsonNewscom
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
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Elliott claims regular season Cup title
Driver loses race lead late, finishes in fourth place
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
Under normal circumstances,
securing the regular season
points championship would be
cause for celebration — even
without winning the race itself.
But the final few laps of pole-
winner Chase Elliott’s race at
this season’s Go Bowling at the
Glen had him looking much
more forward to next week than
expected.
Watkins Glen — the venue
where Elliott won his first
NASCAR Cup Series race back
in 2018 — had him feeling as
comfortable as ever after win
ning his 13th career pole on
Saturday to gain prime position
for winning his fifth race of the
2022 season.
But with Elliott in the lead
during a caution restart with five
laps to go, his Hendrick
Motorsports teammate Kyle
Larson had the inside line and
pushed Elliott out of the way,
moving him out of contention for
the lead and helping give Larson
the victory.
While Elliott clinched the reg
ular season title — earning him
self an additional 15 playoff
points — his reserved post-race
press conference showed a desire
to move on from the incident.
“There is nothing I can do
about today now,” Elliott said.
“[Fll] offer congratulations [to
Larson] and get excited for next
week.”
He would finish the race in
fourth position — his 17th top-
10 and 10th top-5 finish of the
See Elliott 13B
Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Chase Elliott, in the Kelly Blue Book paint scheme for Sunday's
race at Watkins Glen, led all drivers with 29 laps in the lead.
Starting off with a victory
Rio White Dawson County News
Dominic LeBlanc celebrates after scoring the second of his two touchdowns against Jackson County.
Tigers win their season opener through third quarter barrage
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
Down 14-6 to Jackson
County halfway through
the third quarter, the
Dawson County football
team needed a spark to turn
around a home opener that
had gone stagnant.
Two minutes — and 22
points later — they were
suddenly leading by two
scores and in control of the
game.
A combination of
improved offensive execu
tion and a determined
defense catapulted the
Tigers to a lead they would
not give up, winning 28-21
on Senior Night to begin
the 2022 season.
“It’s always [about] stay
ing in the race,” head coach
Sid Maxwell said. “When
you’re playing your first
football game, you’re going
to have a lot of unknowns.
The boys played hard.”
Seniors from the football
team, cheer squad, march
ing band and color guard
were all recognized before
the game and were given a
walkthrough on the field.
Soon after the visiting
Panthers opened the third
quarter with their second
touchdown of the game,
the Tigers responded in
kind with a deep touch
down pass from Davis
Glass to Dominic LeBlanc.
Having missed an extra
point earlier in the game,
Dawson County attempted
and failed a two-point con
version and the score stood
at 14-12.
But after Jackson County
was forced into a punting
situation on their ensuing
possession, a botched snap
sailed through their own
end zone, resulting in a
safety and tied game.
The Glass to LeBlanc
connection would immedi
ately be used again, with
the two finding each other
for a touchdown pass on
the first play after gaining
post-safety possession.
“It just takes one or two
[passes] to help you get
ahead and that’s what hap
pened tonight,” Maxwell
said. “We [had to] grind it
out.”
Now in the lead,
Dawson’s defense
increased the pressure on
Jackson’s quarterback on
their next drive, forcing a
bad pass that was intercept
ed and returned for a touch
down by Christian Webb.
After that whirlwind two
minutes of game time, the
game would settle down
and the Dawson offense
would revert to the running
game to help bum time off
the clock.
Jackson County would
score one more touchdown
before the game ended but
the Tigers defense stood
firm to keep them in the
lead.
Before the offensive out
burst in the third quarter,
the defense had been the
main storyline of the game.
With the exception of the
two plays that resulted in
Panthers touchdowns, the
Dawson defense had been
constantly placing pressure
on the opposing quarter
back, forcing multiple early
turnovers with several more
close calls.
By the end of the game,
the Tigers had forced three
interceptions and two fum
bles.
“I thought our defense
really did a good job,”
Maxwell said. “I think we
had more turnovers this
game than we did all last
year. Our secondary did a
See Tigers 13B
Local business
shows support
at Chamber
golf tourney
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
Droves of golfers representing many local businesses
participated at the 26th Chamber Golf Classic at
Chestatee Golf Club, put together by the Dawson
County Chamber of Commerce and with Northside
Hospital Forsyth as the presenting sponsor.
Pleasant weather, a lunch provided by the
Dawsonville Chick-fil-A and plenty of free merchan
dise from the many sponsors helped make this year’s
event another example of the county’s thriving business
environment.
“We are overwhelmed by the support that our busi
ness community gives for our annual golf tournament,”
Chamber President and CEO Mandy Power said.
“Events like this would not be possible without our
amazing volunteers and community participation.”
A variety of businesses had tents set up on the course
with informational pamphlets and promotional offers,
including Bamboo Car Wash, Salt MedSpa and
Modem Woodmen of America.
Other sponsorship categories included the platinum
sponsor, hospitality sponsor and eagle sponsor.
“There were many businesses out on the course sup
porting our golfers including our Platinum Sponsor
Medical Plaza 400,” Power said. “Our event continues
to grow [and] we added a golf ball sponsor this year
[in] Alex Williams from Modem Woodmen.”
The golf tournament had four categories that would
result in an award at the end — first and second place
gross score, first and second place net score, longest
drive and closest to the pin.
Coming out on top for the gross and net score were
See Golf 13B
Rio White Dawson County News
Golfers prepare for the shotgun start to the
Chamber Golf Classic.
GRHOF class of 2022 full of
state’s storied racing history
Rio White Dawson County News
The six inductees stand together for a picture
after the ceremony's conclusion.
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
The state of Georgia’s
storied history of local,
regional and national rac
ing was once again high
lighted at the induction
ceremony for the Georgia
Racing Hall of Fame’s
class of 2022.
Six individuals were
chosen based on their
contributions to racing
and dedication to the
sport during the course of
their lives.
Those inductees were
Phil Coltrane, Randy
Couch, Henley Gray, Ed
Massey, Billy McGinnis
and Dale Singleton. Each
inductee had a dedicated
video highlighting his
career.
Hosted by WSB Radio
traffic anchor and fill-in
NASCAR pit reporter
Doug Turnbull, the induc
tion ceremony also fea
tured introductory
speeches by GRHOF
Director Cindy Elliott and
Dawsonville mayor Mike
Eason.
The late Coltrane, orig
inally from Free Home,
Georgia, was represented
by his son Jerry at the
ceremony.
“He always had a real
knack for being able to
See Racing 13B
Player Of
The Week!
Dominic LeBlanc
The Player of the week is
Dominic LeBlanc, who caught
two touchdown passes in
the football teams win over
Jackson County.
Sponsored by:
706-216-0992
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
