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Wednesday, September 7,2022
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3B
VOLLEYBALL
Lady Tigers finish 2nd at Coal Mountain Classic
Rio White Dawson County News
Abby Felkai prepares for a kill in Tuesday's match against
Gilmer County.
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
It’s been a busy past week for
the Dawson County volleyball
team, who played a dozen
times in that span and have won
13 of its last 15 matches.
Head coach Tanya Porter’s
squad capped off a whirlwind
week with a pair of region wins
against Gilmer County and
Lumpkin County on Tuesday,
Aug. 30, improving their over
all record to 16-5.
“They have rallied around
each other for the cause of us
winning,” Porter said. “That’s
been at the forefront of their
minds and it has made all the
difference in the world.”
Before Tuesday, the Lady
Tigers played a total of six
matches in the Coal Mountain
Classic on Saturday, Aug. 27,
winning against a variety of
opponents before falling short
in the final against class 6A
powerhouse North Forsyth.
In that tournament, Dawson
defeated 6A teams Grovetown
and Creekview before winning
a three-set thriller against 7A
West Forsyth.
After staving off region foes
Lumpkin and White County,
the Lady Tigers fell to host
team North Forsyth, who was a
state semifinalist last season.
Prior to the Coal Mountain
Classic, Dawson had won three
of four matches during the
week.
All told, half of the dozen
matches played were against
teams in higher classifications
— all part of Porter’s plan of
having her team perform at
their best.
“We are competing at high
levels against very good com
petition,” Porter said. “I’m
proud of how well we are
responding.”
The team’s high level of
communication has given them
versatility, with Abby Felkai
and Megan Roche collecting
points and Abby Clouser and
Kirklyn Porter helping set up
those kills.
The matches against Gilmer
and Lumpkin showed the
team’s consistency — regard
less of substitutions during the
game.
Dawson got out to a quick
lead against Gilmer, taking the
first set 25-7. Players such as
Maggie Allen and Eva Bishop
also helped contribute to that
success as the team won the
second set 25-13 to sweep the
match.
Against Lumpkin, the Lady
Tigers faced a stiffer challenge
but continued to display their
teamwork, winning 25-12,
25-19.
The close second set showed
the team’s focus during a
comeback attempt by Lumpkin,
with Dawson’s players increas
ing their volume with each
point.
“They did a really good job
of paying attention to the game
and executing the gameplan,”
Porter said. “So far, we are
matching up really well with
even the best teams in our
region. It’s exciting and gives
us something to look forward to
come postseason.”
In addition to their 16-5 over
all record, the Lady Tigers are
currently undefeated in region
play at 6-0. The team will take
a short break before playing a
pair of matches on Thursday,
Sept. 8, against White County
and Gilmer.
Franklin, Tenn. reminds me of friends, a man named Timothy
It had been a long day. Not a
particularly tiring or stressful one.
It was the kind of day where so
much happened so quickly that,
later you ask, “Did that happen
yesterday? Or before?”
We were in Nashville for the
fourth time in weeks. This time,
though, rather than being in
downtown, we were in the
enchanting town of Franklin.
Franklin was a smidgen of a
place when I first came to know
her years ago. While she has now
become famous as a hip place to
live, then she was primarily built
on antiques and ancient memo
ries.
It was the site of one of the
bloodiest Civil War battles.
Confederate General Hood lost
six generals and the battle to the
Union, and, essentially, the War.
Many buildings from those years
still stand.
In the 20th century, the town
became known primarily for one
man: Every Sunday, before a
NASCAR race - in
the years when peo
ple still cared stub
bornly for stock car
racing - the melodi
ous voices or either
Barney Hall or Eli
Gold (now the
incredible play-by-
by announcer for the Alabama
Crimson Tide; I adore him and his
voice), would say, “Starting on the
pole, ladies and gentlemen, please
make welcome from Franklin,
Tennessee - DARRELL
WALTRIP!”
The stands erupted in cheers
and boos for there was no in-
between when it came to DW.
You loved him or hated him. I
remember once that his wife,
Stevie, my dear friend, began to
weep softly over the hate.
Driver Cale Yarborough’s wife,
hugged Stevie and instructed,
“Honey, don’t cry when they boo.
Cry when they don’t. That means
they care.”
A few years ago, Tink
and I sat with the Waltrips
in a little steak house in
downtown Franklin.
Darrell, retired from rac
ing, is a well-respected
businessman with several
car dealerships in town. He
was giving Tink a history
lesson on the battle and the build
ings still standing.
He pointed to the street that ran
alongside the restaurant. “They
say that blood ran like a creek
down that street.”
Years earlier, the Waltrips’
daughter married in a small
Presbyterian church, so old, that
during the war days, it had been
converted into a hospital. I had
joined them a few times for
Sunday morning services. That
night, I sat in the simple, beautiful
service, lighted only by candles,
and I thought of the lives that had
been saved there - literally and
spiritually.
This leads to that recent day in
Franklin. It was 9:30 p.m. and we
were all ready to call it a day well-
done. Our friend, Cindy, was tak
ing us back to our hotel after din
ner when, suddenly, she asked,
“Have y’all got 15 extra min
utes?”
Out of courtesy only, we said,
“Yes.”
Franklin has a church on every
comer. She took us to a 19th cen
tury brick church called St. Paul’s
Episcopal, decorated with marvel
ous stained windows. It is
unlocked 24 hours a day.
We entered quietly. The altar
was beautiful with one of the
most stunning crosses I’ve ever
seen.
On the front bench, a man
coughed in the darkness. Then his
dog - a support animal - stretched
noisily. We walked to the altar.
Turning to leave, we saw the man
who bore a striking resemblance
to the photos of Jesus we often
see. Except his dark, long hair
was matted to his head and his
face, deeply lined and calloused,
held not a fragment of hope.
“Do you mind if I pray with
you?” I whispered.
He didn’t look up. “Please.”
I held his unwashed hand and
prayed.
“I’m Timothy,” he said at
“Amen.”
“One of the Apostle Paul’s
favorites,” I replied.
“My other name is James.”
“My favorite book of the
Bible.”
He was dirty and “likkered up”
a bit. He whispered, “I lost my
son in 2005.”
Then I knew how a man named
after two Biblical giants had
stumbled onto the wrong path,
one that had also drawn his blood.
Ronda Rich is the best-selling
author of What Southern Women
Know About Faith. Visit www.
rondarich.com to sign up for her
free weekly newsletter.
RONDA RICH
Columnist
Photo courtesy of Ty Overmyer
A close-up of Overmyer's trophy.
FROM 1B
Fishing
secured his third win of the
year at the recent event —
battling adverse conditions
along the way to earn over
$7,000.
“A lot of hard work went
into this, and it really paid
off,” Overmyer said to
MLF after his win.
“Knowing the lake really
helped me a lot fishing in
these tough conditions.”
He was raised around
Lake Lanier and is familiar
with its features, crediting
his passion for fishing to
his father, who was a tour
nament fisher in the 1980s
and 90s.
His successful weekend
was assisted by co-angler
John Duvall of Madison,
Georgia.
The pair were able to
work in tandem to throw
topwater baits and catch as
much as they could.
“It was a slow bite, but it
was the right bite,”
Overmyer said. “My co
angler and I threw the top-
water baits in tandem and it
would trigger the fish to
come up and eat. It helps
when you’ve got someone
else throwing one, too.”
Overmyer is a longtime
resident of Dawsonville,
having played varsity bas
ketball for DCHS before
continuing in the sport at
Abraham Baldwin
Agricultural College and
Newberry College in South
Carolina.
Although he no longer
plays basketball, Overmyer
has been able to continue
his competitive desire
through bass fishing.
With his win coming at
the final regular-season
event for the Bulldog
Division, Overmyer is
looking forward to his next
event — at Lake Hartwell
on Saturday, Sept. 17, for
the Palmetto Trail. The
championship for that trail
will be at Lake Lanier in
October.
FROM 1B
NASCAR
The remainder of the
race provided plenty of
entertainment, which
included Elliott’s
Hendrick Motorsports
teammates.
Kyle Larson had an
equally strange and resil
ient night — at one point
running four laps down
over halfway through the
race before grinding his
way back to a 12th posi
tion finish.
William Byron, who
had just one top-10 finish
in the previous 18 races,
had a bounce-back race by
winning Stage One and
finishing in eighth posi
tion.
One turning point of the
367-lap race came during
a green-flag pit stop cycle
with around 100 laps left,
when Kevin Harvick’s car
caught fire as he drove out
of pit road. The resulting
caution would shuffle the
field and cause previous
contenders to take longer
to regain track position.
But the most shocking
turn of events came within
the final 35 laps, when the
two most dominant cars of
the night suddenly had
their nights end.
The No. 19 of Martin
Truex Jr and No. 18 of
Kyle Busch combined to
lead 203 laps of the race
but were taken out in suc
cession late in the race.
Truex Jr faced a loss of
power steering while
Busch had a blown
engine.
Coming in from right
behind those two to take
the lead with 23 laps
remaining was Erik Jones,
who had quietly put up a
solid night— finishing in
eighth and ninth at the end
of the first two stages.
While Jones would
eventually hold off a
determined Denny Hamlin
to win his third career
Cup Series race, the Petty
GMS driver’s victory
would mark a special
occasion for his No.43
car.
The win by Jones
marked exactly 55 years
to the day since the last
Darlington victory for the
legendary No. 43, when
Richard Petty won his
sole Southern 500 in
1967.
Elliott and the No. 9
team will look to rebound
at Kansas Speedway in
next Sunday’s Hollywood
Casino 400. The race is
scheduled for a 3 p.m.
start on the USA Network.
Photo courtesy of Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Chase Elliott spins after hitting the wall at the Cook Out Southern 500 at
Darlington Raceway on Sunday, Sept. 4.
