About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 2022)
Wednesday, September 14,2022 dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3B Turnovers haunt Tigers in home loss to Stephens Rio White Dawson County News Sawyer Bearden makes a diving catch during the game against Stephens County. By Rio White riowhite@dawsonnews.com No matter how any two foot ball teams match up, one ele ment can turn the game on its head — turnovers. A couple of early miscues by Dawson County gave visiting Stephens County all it needed to estab lish an early lead on the way to a 38-10 defeat of the Tigers. With Walker Massey and Sawyer Bearden filling in at quarterback for Davis Glass — who had a minor injury but is set to return next game — the Dawson offense looked to establish the ground game as it did the previous week against North Hall. After a few rushes on the opening drive, an interception caught by the visitors on a contested pass by Massey set the tone for a challenging night for the Tigers offense. “Getting the two [early] turnovers definitely put us in the hole,” head coach Sid Maxwell said. “Davis got banged up last week so we tried to get other people involved. It didn’t quite turn out how we’d like but it’s a building process [and] a great opportunity to get reps for those guys.” Though the Tigers did strug gle to establish momentum during the first half, there were a few opportunities opened up through the field position gained by the return team. Elijah Smith had another pro ductive night returning kicks and punts while Christian Webb had a massive return of his own. Capitalizing on that field position proved to be a tall order against the visiting defense, who kept Dawson scoreless until deep into the third quarter. The remainder of the first half saw Dawson’s defense improve, despite giving up a second touchdown on a tipped pass that landed in the hands of a player far from who it was intended for. Proof of that improvement showed on the next Stephens drive, with the Tigers stopping the Indians on a fourth and goal attempt. But a second interception caught by the visitors gave them another scoring opportu nity that they would convert, putting the Tigers down three scores at halftime. To Maxwell, the defensive effort against Stephens was more competitive than Dawson’s previous loss against Lambert. “In this [game] we were actually in the area but we just didn’t come up and compete for the ball,” Maxwell said. “For the most part we were in much better position to make a play than the previous [game] against Lambert.” The Tigers would get on the scoreboard in the third quarter through a Dominic LeBlanc field goal following long pass es caught by LeBlanc and Bearden. But three more scores by the Indians would put the game out of reach before Dawson scored a late consolation touchdown on a pass from freshman Dylan Edwards to Declan Rhodes. Maxwell exuded calm when describing the tough night for the team and the challenges of the region schedule ahead. “Whenever you’re playing for the first time on Friday night and get your opportunity, you’re going to be nervous. You’re going to make mistakes and that comes with experience,” Maxwell said. “It was a chance for us to get people out here and build for the region play and that’s what we’re all about. We’ve got a lot of work to do.” The Tigers will be looking to regroup during the bye week before beginning their region 7-3A slate on Friday, Sept. 23, in a home game against West Hall. FROM 1B Bailey Bailey also currently leads the team with a .333 batting average and is joint-leader of the team with 12 hits. Head coach Justin Rickett said that Bailey’s contributions have been an important part of the team’s overall recent improvements. “She does a very good job of controlling as much as she can from the mound — as far as helping people and making sure they’re in the right spot,” Rickett said. “The same way that they have confidence in her, she has confidence in them.” That reciprocal feeling is crucial for a Lady Tigers team that has gradually built its identity after the departure of several seniors from last year’s squad. Along with Bailey, the youthful offense has start ed to heat up as region competition continues. Freshman Sadie Dotson has a dozen hits so far, freshman Bryce Greenwood has 10 hits with five doubles and sophomore Ace Cochran also has 10 hits. Bailey noted that the team has been laser- focused on fundamentals during practice and that she is impressed with how far the freshman and soph omore players have come. “We’ve been working on everything,” Bailey said. “The younger players are finally starting to step up and they’re working really hard.” With around 12 games left to go, the team is look ing to inch its way up the region 7-3A standings and play sound fundamental softball in preparation for the region tournament. Rickett believes that Bailey’s influence on the team — both as a player and leader — will contin ue to be important. “The last four or five times out [pitching] has been really good. As good as she’s been since I’ve coached her here the past two years,” Rickett said. “She’s done a really good job of supporting her teammates, getting excited when they make good plays and not getting dis couraged when mistakes are made.” FROM 1B NASCAR He now sits in a crowd ed middle section of the playoff standings — just eight points behind fifth- place Ryan Blaney but just two points ahead of ninth-place Ross Chastain. The race finished with all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers fin ishing in the top 11, with Alex Bowman in fourth, William Byron in sixth and Kyle Larson in eighth. Bubba Wallace, in the No. 45 car in place of Kurt Busch, held off car owner Denny Hamlin for his sec ond career Cup Series win. Elliott would be one of the drivers to congratu late him after the race. The No. 9 team will be headed to Bristol Motor Speedway next Saturday for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race to improve its position in the playoff standings. The race will begin at 7:30 p.m. on the USA Network. FROM 1B Rides for the children to have fun. “[AMP] allows us to have a controlled environ ment where we feel the children are really safe in the cars,” Forbes said. “They know exactly how to handle the drivers and know that we are taking children — that in some cases have fairly serious health issues — for rides.” While the ride-alongs were the highlight of the event, many volunteers helped put together a full day of fun that included a dance floor with a DJ, games for smaller children and a special appearance by TikTok artist Yvng Homie. The significance of the event and the overall effort put in by so many to run it proved to be impactful on the young patients who were being honored. “It means the world,” Fox said. “Not a lot of can cer kids can be the normal kid, so this day gets to have those kids be normal for at least one day.” One of the highlights toward the end of the event was an opportunity for some of the top donat ing individuals to take a ride around the track with a renowned Ferrari driver referred to as “The Pony.” This final feature capped off a day that cele brated those children who have had and continue to face cancer — and if only for a day — gave them a chance to ride carefree in the wind. Volleyball splits matches at Gilmer By Rio White riowhite@ dawsonnews.com The Dawson County volleyball team split its match es last week, falling to White County 25-12, 16-25, 7-15 before winning against host team Gilmer County 25-23,25-11. These results give the Lady Tigers a 17-6 overall record this season. Next up, Dawson will face Pickens County and West Hall in a tri-match hosted by Pickens on Tuesday, Sept. 13. There will also be a pair of matches on Thursday against Cherokee Bluff and Winder-Barrow, with the former hosting that tri-match. The team goes on the defensive against White County. Megan Roche goes for a kill in the match against White County. Photos by Rio White Dawson County News '/i 1 1 1J / Li i —— To see the thunder By Ronda Rich There is a scripture in the Bible. As far as I know, it is not in all translations of the Bible. But this I know for certain: It is in the King James Version. When I was 10 perhaps 11, Daddy preached the scripture from the rough-hewn pine pulpit in the tiny one room mountain church we attended. For all these years, it has clung to me like a small clump of red mud will cling to a pair of work boots. It is a story from the 40-year- journey of Moses and the chil dren of Israel. They were a trou blesome bunch and Moses defi nitely had his hands full as they complained of food and condi tions. They pushed the Lord’s patience. This is known for cer tain because the journey to the Promise Land should have taken only 11 days. Yet, it took 40 years and wore out many shoes while a generation of people died away and never saw the Land of Milk and Honey. The children of Israel, again being powerfully hungry for attention, wanted to hear from God directly. They were tired of hearing only through Moses. When God revealed Himself, it says in the 20th chapter of Exodus, “they saw the thunder- ings” and “they trembled with fear.” It was such an upsetting expe rience that the wayward pilgrims then said to Moses, “Let Him not speak to us lest we die.” It is the one and only time that I have ever heard that scripture preached or even mentioned in a sermon. I’ve carried it with me all these years and remember Daddy saying, “they SAW the thunder.” There are versions of the Bible that change the verb from “saw” to “heard”. It is a significant dif ference. One day, Tink was on a zoom call with several people while a heavy rainstorm fell. I was at the barn and was amazed at the booming clatter of the raindrops on the tin roof. Now, anyone who has ever been privileged to go to sleep to the sound of rain falling on a tin roof, talks about it with tremendous affection. The falling rain that day, however, sounded like the starting field of the Daytona 500. Our dog, Biscuit, sat in the corner of the barn, her big brown eyes wide, edging toward fear. “It’s okay, baby girl,” I said, bending down on my knees to comfort her. “God is watering the trees for us.” A bit later, back at the house, I wandered through the kitchen where Tink was having a serious business call. Suddenly, the loudest clap of thunder that I may have ever heard, shook the house. It felt like being slapped across the face. Someone on the other end of the Zoom said, “Wh—??” And, that was it. The call was gone. The Wifi had died. It is said that there is never lightning without thunder though sometimes the thunder can be so far away from the lightning, that you won’t hear it. But if you hear thunder, you will see light ning. No question. As far as we could tell, there was no lighting to be seen that day. Just one horrendous, stomp ing, clap of thunder. It brought back to mind, that sermon from my childhood years. Something that I knew, even then, was that I did not ever want to see: thunder. Every day this world grows a little more foreign. Strange things happen so often that either Tink or I will say, “I ain’t for believin’ that,” quoting our dear ly departed Ed Parks. There are things that I wish I could unsay, unknow, unfeel or unhear because they bring an unsettling to my spirit. On that recent day, I saw what a powerful clap of thunder can do. It’s frightening. I hope I never actually see the thunder. But I think, one day if I live long enough, I might. Just like the children of Israel. Ronda Rich is the best-selling author of What Southern Women Know About Faith. Visit www.rond- arich.comto sign upforherfree weekly newsletter.
