SPORTS
DawsonNewscom
Wednesday, October 5, 2022
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Dominant D helps Tigers blank White Co.
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
Late in the second quar
ter of Dawson County’s
hurricane-adjusted
Thursday night football
game at White County, the
threat of a scoreless first
half loomed for both
teams.
The Tigers defense had
done their part — inter
cepting the Warriors’ quar
terback on his first pass of
the game and bringing on
unrelenting pressure.
Knowing they needed a
spark, the offense went all
out.
Offensive coordinator
Andy LeBlanc drew up a
hook-and-ladder play that
had Dominic LeBlanc
catch a Davis Glass pass
before shoveling the ball
over to Matt Bennett, who
took it 48 yards to the end
zone with six seconds left
before halftime.
“Coach LeBlanc made a
great call that sort of broke
the game open,” head
coach Sid Maxwell said.
“It was hard for [White] to
take that into halftime...so
I think that helped change
the momentum a little bit.
Then we came out and did
a good job.”
While that play would
get the offense going for
the rest of the game, the
story of the night was the
stifling defensive display.
All components of the
defense were working
well, with the line holding
the Warriors to 88 yards of
total offense while the sec
ondary caught four inter
ceptions.
See Football 12B
Kevin
Haymond
(54) and
Cade
Adams
team up to
sack the
White
County
quarter
back.
Rio White
Dawson County
News
Photo courtesy of Chris Graythern/Getty Images
Chase Elliott celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 at
Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, Oct. 2.
Elliott wins at Talladega, moves on to next playoff round
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
“It was a wild last couple
laps.”
Chase Elliott sat in fifth
position as a final post-cau
tion restart loomed with
two laps remaining at the
Round of 12 playoff race at
Talladega Superspeedway.
He chose the inside line
and took off like a rocket as
the green flag waved. Then,
he made his first move.
On the very first turn,
Elliott found space beside
him to move into the out
side line, placing himself
into third position in front
of Erik Jones.
The No. 43 Chevy of
Jones would help push
Elliott as the Dawsonville
native battled Ryan Blaney
and Michael McDowell for
first.
By the time the white
flag waved for the final lap,
Elliott was running side-
by-side with his old friend
Blaney.
Little separation existed
in the first two turns as the
roar of the crowd swelled
in anticipation of a tightly-
contested finish.
Blaney and Elliott fought
for every inch coming
down the backstretch, with
McDowell giving his own
considerable push to
Blaney.
But it was Elliott who
made the final move, get
ting just far enough ahead
of Blaney to shift slightly
to his left and create a
three-wide race into the
final turn.
Elliott then briefly
moved in front of Blaney,
all but sealing his victory as
a final passing attempt by
Blaney to Elliott’s right
proved too late at the
checkered stripe.
“Moments like that you
have to really have to cher
ish and you guys are what
makes this special to me,”
Elliott said to the raucous
crowd filled with many of
his supporters. “These
things are so hard to win.
You’ve got to enjoy them
and just appreciate every
one’s effort today.”
Though Elliott led only
10 laps at the YellaWood
500, he ran near the front
all day and won Stage Two.
It was a much-needed
performance for the No. 9
team, with the previous
week’s race at Texas end
ing early with a second
DNF of the playoffs.
But any frustrations from
the previous race were
ameliorated by a trip to vic
tory lane at Talladega,
which punched him a ticket
to the Round of 8 and
marked his fifth win this
season.
Elliott said after the race
that the push by Jones
played a part in finding just
enough time to pass by
Blaney — with the final
margin less than 0.05 sec
onds.
“I wasn’t super crazy
about being on the bottom
and fortunately I got just
clear enough off [Turn] 2 to
slide up in front of Erik,”
Elliott said. “He gave me
some great shoves, obvi
ously a team Chevy partner
there.”
With the win, Elliott also
shot up to the top of the
playoff points standings
with one race remaining in
the Round of 12. Hendrick
Motorsports teammate
Kyle Larson is also cur
rently within the top 8.
Fellow Hendrick driver
William Byron is currently
the first man out and is 11
points behind the cutoff
line, while Alex Bowman
suffered a concussion after
crashing at Texas and did
not race at Talladega.
Blaney — who won
Stage One at Talladega —
is now second in the stand
ings but is still looking for
his first win of the season.
The cutoff line currently
has a tie between Chase
Briscoe and Austin Cindric.
The No. 9 team will look
to continue their success at
the Charlotte Motor
Speedway Road Course
next Sunday at the Bank of
America Roval 400. The
race will air at 2 p.m. on
NBC.
Rio White Dawson County News
Abby Felkai smashes the ball against Gilmer
County onThursday, Sept. 8.
Player Of
The Week!
Kenny Nelson
The player of the week is
Kenny Nelson, who had two
touchdowns against White County,
including a pick-six.
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A wild, close finish
Felkai making
most of her final
season at DCHS
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
When senior volleyball player Abby Felkai came
down to Dawsonville from our northerly neighbors a
little over a year ago, she quickly made close bonds
with the teammates with whom she would spend the
rest of her high school career.
She also rapidly established herself as the team’s
offensive metronome.
A setter by trade, Felkai is accustomed to elevating
those around her while also providing a consistent
source of scoring chances.
But this year, she has fully embraced a role as the
team’s primary middle hitter and scorer. As much as
her skills stand out, her ability to help push the team
through challenges has played just as vital of a role in
the team’s growth this season.
That tenacity was much needed when the team
See Felkai 12B
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