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Inside: • People 5B • Columnist O’Neill Williams on deer vacations 10B
Dragons blast Union 45-7;
rolling for big homecoming win
NO STOPPING THE DRAGONS AT HOMECOMING - Kadyn Hampton rushes past
a swarm of Panthers as part of a big night for the Dragons offense. PHS cruised to more
than 400 yards of offense. This week, the team has a bye.
Jessi Griffin cleans up the summer with silver at Junior
Olympics. She followed with gold at the Olympic Nation
als. And later this month it is off to Peru for the interna
tional Junior World Cup.
With the support of the Pickens County Sportsman
Club she has her sights down the road to the 2024
Olympics.
Making “Progress” one customer at a time
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over $10
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Last Friday the Pickens
Dragons football team took
on the Union County Pan
thers in their final non-region
match up. The game also
marked homecoming for
Pickens Fligh School. In re
sponse to this, the Dragons
put on a show beating the
Panthers 45-7.
The Dragons started the
game out full throttle and
came out hot. They forced
Union to go 3 and out on
their first possession and got
the ball at their own 30. On
the fourth play of the drive
QB Sam Streicher hit WR
Marcus Pike on a slant route
that Pike took 61 yards
across the goal line for a
touchdown. The PAT by Juan
Sanchez was good, making
the score 7-0. Pickens went
back out on defense and it
was more of the same, mak
ing the Panthers punt after 3
plays and gave the Dragons
the ball back on their own 35.
On the second play of the
drive Streicher again found
Pike wide open for 60 yards
and a TD. The PAT was again
good and the score was 14-0
Dragons.
Pickens forced Union to
punt again on the next series,
this time out of their own
endzone after a big sack by
Pickens youth shooter
right on target
photos/Robin Dunn
Pickens linebacker Trevor Morgan (#22) trips up the Union quarterback as part of the solid defensive effort that
held the visitors to only seven points. PHS limited the Panthers to minus 13 yards rushing and 61 yards passing.
LBs Trevor Morgan and would start the drive inside age on the ground, rushing
Mason Powell. The punt was the Union 20 yard line. Stre- for a 13 yard TD. The PAT
shanked and the Dragons icher this time did his dam- after was good and the score
was now 21-0.
The fourth series for the
Panthers was ended by a sack
by LB Conor Browning and
Union had to again punt out
of the endzone. This time it
resulted in a blocked punt
that was recovered by Powell
in the endzone for a Dragons
TD.
Continued on Page 3B
Emma Black brilliant on the rubber
for Nettes against SE Whitfield
Weaver leads Nettes to victory, drives in four runs
The Nettes played South
east Whitfield in the region
three-games series last week,
Sept. 14 and 16th.
The Nettes travelled to
Southeast Whitfield on Tues
day for a double header. In
Game 1, Emma Black was
brilliant on the rubber on
Tuesday, as she threw a no
hitter to lead Pickens past
Southeast Whitfield County
16-0. Black earned the win
for Nettes varsity. The righty
surrendered zero runs on
zero hits over four innings,
striking out five and walking
zero.
Skylar Weaver led the
Nettes to victory by driving
in four runs. Weaver went 3-
for-4 at the plate. Weaver
drove in runs on a double in
the first and a home run in
the third. PHS tallied one
home run on the day and 18
hits.
Ally Long, Cheyenne
Coleman, Skylae Weaver,
Hannah Grizzle, Hope
Buchanan, and Emma Black
each had multiple hits for the
Nettes. Long went 4-for-4 at
the plate to lead PHS in hits.
In Game 2, Lexi Grizzle
led things off in the pitcher's
circle for Pickens. The righty
lasted two innings, allowing
one hit and one run while
striking out one and walking
zero. The Nettes secured the
victory thanks to 16 runs in
the sixth inning. Emma
Black hit a homerun in the
sixth inning. PHS collected
15 hits. Ally Long, Mckayla
Kirchoff, and Hannah Griz
zle all managed multiple hits
in the game.
On Thursday, Southeast
Whitfield traveled to Dunn
Field to complete the region
series. Emma Black earned
the win for PHS. The pitcher
went four innings, allowing
one run on one hit, striking
out six and walking zero.
Pickens collected 11 hits on
the day. Mckayla Kirchoff,
Ally Long, Kayla Lubke, and
Emma Black each racked up
multiple hits for the Nettes.
Kirchoff led Pickens with
three hits in three at bats.
Pickens didn't commit a sin
gle error in the field. The
Nettes won 15-1.
Pickens will take on Her
itage this week in a three-
game region series. This
Thursday, September, 23rd
the Nettes will have a Pink
Out ceremony at 5 p.m. be
fore their 5:30 game.
Come out in your pink
and support a member of our
community and the Nettes.
Varsity volleyball falls
short at Rally on the Ridge
The varsity volleyball team had a hard week
last week, falling short to Cedartown, Northwest
Whitfield and Dawson.
The team competed in The Rally on the Ridge
Tournament at Fannin on Saturday where they
beat Fannin to play in the championship match
against Calhoun, finishing second in the tourna
ment. Lilly Wendt, Chelsea Lawson, and Josey
Copeland led the team with kills with assists from
Eva Stanley.
JV enjoyed a successful trip to NW Whitfield
with wins against Cedartown and Northwest
Whitfield.
Last week the C-team beat Cherokee Bluff and
Gilmer and suffered a loss to Dawson.
Sports
Fanatic
By
Tommy
Gartrell
Columnist
Cloudy
or Clear
After three weeks of the
college football season, is
anyone ready to name a na
tional champion yet? Ala
bama fans probably still
cling to that trophy for dear
life, but the landscape is
about as clear as mud.
Following a nearly lost
season in 2020, rosters are
larger and many players
stayed an extra year in
school because of the
Covid challenges and con
cessions by the NCAA
from the previous season.
Those factors add to the
clouds somewhat, and after
three weeks of play, the top
echelon of teams remains
hotly debated.
Without any doubts,
Bama #1 and Georgia #2
lead the playoff hopefuls.
Neither squad looks
perfect though.
Some of the big name
programs have already
been exposed, while sev
eral surprise teams
emerged or re-emerged.
For example: Oregon is a
sexy team after defeating
Ohio State in Columbus.
The Ducks do not appear
to have much competition
in the PAC-12 either.
Could the conference fi
nally get a member team in
the playoff again?
Ole Miss looks strong
with the current Heisman
favorite Matt Corral lead
ing the Rebels. On October
2, they get the Crimson
Tide, and that ballgame
should clarify a huge por
tion of the SEC west ques
tions.
Florida State is garbage,
and Miami is close to as
bad. Clemson could not
survive the Dawgs and
may not fare well in the pu
trid ACC either. North Car
olina could be the class of
the conference yet.
UCLA fans thought the
Bruins were a national
power again after beating
LSU, but in reality, it was
only paper Tigers with a
buffoon at the helm.
Texas might have sec
ond thoughts about a move
into the SEC since
Arkansas thrashed the
Longhorns. On the other
hand, those resurgent Ra-
zorbacks could be much
better than expected. For
mer Bulldogs coach Sam
Pittman certainly reformed
the hogs quickly regard
less.
Florida is evidently bet
ter than expected too.
Penn State tops the Big
Ten. Will it last?
How can we tell be
cause undefeated Michigan
hasn’t played any legiti
mate competition yet?
Then, there’s the question
of Michigan State. The
Spartans look tough under
former UGA assistant Mel
Tucker.
The Buckeyes are not
going away by a long shot
despite defensive deficien
cies. Don’t discount Iowa
or Wisconsin either.
Then, we have Notre
Dame and Oklahoma who
remain in the rankings, but
neither one of them looked
dominant in any of their
victories thus far.
And what do we make
of unbeaten Cincinnati?
Fans should have many,
Continued on Page 3B