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DawsonNewscom
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
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Four volleyball players named All-Region
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
A quartet of Dawson County
varsity volleyball players earned
spots on the All-Region 7-3A
teams, as announced during the
region tournament.
Heading up the first team
selections were seniors Abby
Felkai and Kirklyn Porter, while
second team spots were earned
by junior Meghan Roche and
senior Emerald Sallee.
“I was extremely pleased that
the girls that were selected for
All-Region for our team were
chosen,” head coach Tanya
Porter said. “They have consis
tently been leaders in stats as
well as on the floor all season
long. It’s always good to see
those type of players getting rec
ognized for their contribution to
their team.”
Felkai spent the past season
adjusting to a more scoring-cen
tered hitter role compared to her
previous role as the team’s main
setter. She had no trouble with
that adjustment, leading the
team in with 382 kills and 79
aces while also serving as a first
line of defense when receiving
serve — which also helped her
lead the team with 297 digs.
“I was grateful for my team
mates because ultimately, for a
hitter, the stats that you get are
based on the pass and the hit so
everyone kind of contributed to
it,” Felkai said.
Porter became the team’s
main setter after coming back
from a season out of the sport.
Her ability to consistently posi
tion herself well and accurately
angle the ball allowed her to be
an assist machine for the Fady
Tigers. She finished with 384
assists and 60 aces.
“I was very shocked, excited,
See All-Region 13B
From left to
right:
Meghan
Roche, Abby
Felkai,
Emerald
Sallee and
Kirklyn
Porter.
Rio White
Dawson County
News
GIRLS LACROSSE
Defense gets the job done
Rio White Dawson County News
The Dawson County defense lines up against the Gilmer offense. The defensive line helped limit
Gilmer to 7 points in theTigers' win last Friday.
Tigers down Gilmer, setting up showdown with Lumpkin
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
After coming off a high-
scoring affair against
Wesleyan, Dawson County
football’s vaunted defense
returned to its familiar
form against Gilmer’s
option offense in the regu
lar-season home finale for
the Tigers.
Neither team could find
the end zone in the first
half, but Dawson scored 17
points in the third quarter
en route to a 17-7 victory
that set them up for the de
facto Region 7-3A title
game against Fumpkin
County next week.
Whether it was the front
line pressure of Cade
Adams and Kevin
Haymond, the quick feet
Nelson or anyone else in
between, the Tigers
defense neutralized a usu
ally potent Gilmer rushing
attack.
“We did our reads and
keys, didn’t give up the big
play, and played responsi
ble football,” head coach
Sid Maxwell said. “Any
time you go play [against]
the option, it’s tough to be
disciplined. Coach Woodall
had them ready tonight. All
the way to the end they
were fighting every snap.”
Prior to the game, the
school recognized Staff
Appreciation Night, with
each senior football player
choosing a county staff
member who made an
impact in his life.
Coming into the match
up, Gilmer was in need of a
win after a turnover-laden
game the previous week in
an upset loss to Pickens.
Knowing that Gilmer’s
offense — which had aver
aged well over 200 rushing
yards per game this season
— would be hungry for
yardage, Dawson had no
intention of underestimat
ing the Bobcats.
Both offenses intended
to score early on, showing
aggression with fourth
down attempts in the first
quarter.
But both defenses were
up to the task and kept each
other scoreless for the
entire first half.
Just when the Tigers
needed a spark, they got
one courtesy of Kenny
Nelson, who took the
opening kickoff of the sec
ond half nearly 75 yards to
the end zone.
From that point,
Dawson’s defense would
keep Gilmer far back in
their own territory to set up
the Tigers offense with
good field position.
A 34-yard field goal by
Dom FeBlanc followed up
by a 39-yard touchdown
run by Elijah Smith put
Dawson up 17-0 with over
four minutes left in the
third quarter.
The Tigers would have
one additional scoring
chance early in the fourth
quarter, going deep into the
red zone. But a fourth
down stop by Gilmer
would give them a chance
to mount a comeback
attempt with over 10 min
utes left in the game.
While the Bobcats were
accustomed to gaining big
chunks of yardage with
their offense, Dawson pre
vented any of those large
gains from happening.
Gilmer would gradually
move down the field, but a
time-consuming drive left
less than one minute left on
See Football 13B
Elliot’s headache
at Homestead
makes next race
a crucial one
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
For over 200 laps at the Dixie Vodka 400 at
Homestead-Miami Speedway, Chase Elliott was com
fortably within the top 10 and had his sights on a top-5
finish.
But a caution during a lap 212 green-flag pit stop
cycle pushed back Elliott’s track position outside the
top 10 and placed him closer to the edge of the playoff
bubble. He would finish 14th.
Coming into the race at Homestead, Elliott was third
in the NASCAR playoff standings and 11 points ahead
of fourth-placed Denny Hamlin.
While Elliott and Hamlin each earned 31 points at
Homestead, Hendrick Motorsports driver William
Byron put himself into the top four of the playoff
standings after a pair of top-3 stage finishes gave him
42 points on the day.
Now, Elliott is just six points ahead of Byron head
ing into the penultimate race of the 2022 NASCAR
season at Martinsville — also the final race of the
Round of 8.
“We were playing defense all day but we were doing
a pretty good job staying near the top 5,” Elliott said
after the race. “When you have something like [the late
caution] happen to you and you get stuck ... that’s what
happens when you’re playing defense.”
Starting the race in third position, Elliott was racing
toward the back half of the top 10 until the first caution
of the race came out at lap 31.
A quick pit stop and strong restart allowed Elliott to
move up to fourth before sliding back again to finish
Stage One in eighth position.
Stage Two proved to be consistent for Elliott, who
had little variation of position and finished the stage in
See Elliott 13B
Jared East Getty Images
Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin race during the
NASCAR Cup Series Dixie Vodka 400 at
Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Meet Madelyn Lee, Dawson
County’s riflery maestro
Rio White Dawson County News
Madelyn Lee is a senior at DCHS and holds mul
tiple school records for the varsity riflery team.
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
Over the past several
years, Dawson County
High School senior
Madelyn Lee has become
both an astute precision air
rifle competitor and the
leader of the high school’s
varsity riflery team.
Starting out her career
with BB shooting through
her middle school 4-H
club, Lee later transitioned
into precision air rifle and
quickly became skilled at
the sport she now has the
opportunity to continue at
the collegiate level.
Just a year after starting
school-level riflery in
ninth grade, she made it
onto a club-level team
called Old Mill Rangers
based out of Griffin.
Now in her final year at
DHCS, Lee holds several
school records and has
been able to travel around
the country with her club
team.
While she has devoted
many years to her craft,
Lee now enjoys sharing
her knowledge with the
young but growing riflery
program at DCHS.
“That’s something I
really enjoy — I’ve always
Player Of The Week!
Abby Felkai
The player of the week
of Abby Felkai, who
led the volleyball team
offensively in their state
playoff battle last week.
We’ve Gone Green!
“We will be here when you need us.
Certified
Collision
Center
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DAHLONEGA
M-F: 8:00 - 5:00
130 Industrial Park Rd, Dawsonville
Dawsonville’s Premier Collision Center
See Lee 13B
