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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.
