Newspaper Page Text
Section
October 19,
2023
THLLAW
OFFICE OF
NICOLE L.
McArthur
See this week’s Classified Ads on Page 11B
CRIMINAL DEFENSE • DUI
ACCIDENTS‘INJURY
Dragons fall to Gilmer 35-24
Final home game this Friday
Hayden Jones hauls in a Stretcher pass for the TD.
This past Friday the Pick
ens Dragons took on the
Gilmer Bobcats in a region
match up. It was a hard-
fought game until the very
end with the Dragons falling
35-24.
The first quarter began
with Gilmer taking the ball
and driving down the field
for a touchdown. They took
advantage of several penal
ties from the Dragons and
capitalized on them. Pickens
received the kickoff follow
ing the touchdown and put
together a couple of first
downs before having to punt
back to Gilmer. The Dragon
defense stood up to the task
and forced the Bobcats to
punt the ball back to the
Dragons. Pickens took the
ball and drove down inside
the Gilmer 10 yard line. The
drive was led by a couple of
hard runs by Miguel Salto
and Sam Streicher. Unfortu
nately, the drive stalled in the
red zone and the Dragons had
to settle for a field goal by
Charlie Gibbons. The score
was now 7-3 in favor of
Gilmer.
The following possession
proved to be a pivotal one for
the Dragons. On second
down, safety Kael Deering
intercepted a tipped ball at
the Gilmer 37 and gave Pick
ens the ball back. The Drag
ons drove down inside the
Gilmer red zone again, this
time thanks to a pass from
Streicher to Hayden Jones.
Pickens was took full advan
tage this time and punched in
a score on a 3 yard run by
Streicher, making the score
10-7.
Unfortunately, Gilmer
was able to answer the Pick
ens score with a touchdown
of their own with only 5 sec
onds remaining in the half to
make the score 14-10 in
favor of the Bobcats.
Pickens received the sec
ond half kickoff and contin
ued to roll offensively. This
time they scored on a 70 yard
TD pass from Streicher to
Jones down the Pickens side
line. The PAT after was
blocked and the score was
now 16-14. The Gilmer of
fense took the ball and put to
gether a TD drive of their
own to make the score 21-16.
The Dragon offense got the
ball on the following kickoff
and started moving down the
field again. The Bobcat de
fense created a timely
turnover of their own and re
covered a Pickens fumble at
mid-field. The offense
chewed up the clock as they
moved down the field on the
way to another touchdown,
making the score 28-16.
Pickens was again able to re
spond and go score a touch
down on another pass from
Streicher to Jones, the Drag
ons went for 2 and were suc
cessful in the attempt, cutting
the score to 28-24 in favor of
the Bobcats.
Gilmer strung together
several first downs on the fol
lowing possession and even
tually punched in another
touchdown to make the score
35-24. The Dragon offense
went into hurry-up mode and
moved the ball down the
field deep into Bobcat terri
tory on passes from Streicher
to McCord Purdy, Isaiah
Williams, and Ezra Faber.
Unfortunately, the late game
heroics fell short after a Bob
cat defender recovered a low
snap on 4th down and sealed
the victory for Gilmer.
The final score would be
35-24.
The Dragons are back at
home this Friday against
West Hall in their final home
game. Come out and support
your Pickens Football Drag
ons.
Pickens Softball closes out regular season,
moves into playoff mode
Pickens hosted Dawson at Dunn Field on
Monday, October 9th. PHS got on the board
in the bottom of the 1st inning after Ainsley
Jones doubled and Ellie Hollis singled, each
scoring two runs. The Nettes added another
run in the 3rd after another hit by Ellie Hollis.
Pickens beat Dawson 6-2.
Ellie Hollis led the Nettes going 3 for 3 on
the night. Ally Long and Ainsley Jones each
collected multiple hits for Pickens. Pickens
turned two double plays in the game.
Cheyenne Coleman earned the win for PHS.
Coleman surrendered seven hits and two runs
over seven innings, striking out four, and
walking three.
On Tuesday, October 10th Pickens then
hosted Lumpkin at Dunn Field for their final
regular season game. The Nettes got on the
board in the bottom of the third inning after
Lumpkin committed an error allowing Charli
Fendley to score. Sklyar Weaver grounded
out with Ally Long scoring on the play. In the
bottom of the sixth inning, Cheyenne Cole
man singled, scoring Ellie Hollis. Charli
Fendley singled, scoring Madelyn Johnson
and Mary Scott Hulsey. Skylar Weaver hit a
fly ball, scoring River Becker. Ansley Jones
singled, scoring Charli Fendley with Lexi
Grizzle also scoring on an error. Ainsley
Jones stole home on a wild pitch that got
away from the catcher to complete the run
rule 9-1 victory.
Pickens turned a double play in the game.
Cheyenne Coleman earned the win for Pick
ens. Coleman surrendered five hits and one
run over six innings, striking out two.
After the game, the Nettes held a cere
mony to recognize their five seniors:
Cheyenne Coleman, Charli Fendley, Mary
Scott Hulsey, Ally Long, and Skylar Weaver.
The Nettes travelled to Tyrone, GA on Mon
day to compete in the state playoffs.
See Seniors Photo on Page 5B
Sharptop Showcase a Huge Success
The Sharptop Showcase
event was hosted by the PHS
and PJHS Cheerleading pro
grams. The first ever show
case included performances
from Pickens Youth Sideline
Cheer teams, Mountain City
Xletics Competition Cheer
teams, and PJHS and PHS
Game day competition
teams. The event also in
cluded senior recognition for
all PHS Competition team
members. Members of the
cheerleading community en
joyed a night of fun and cel
ebration of cheerleading in
Pickens County. Great job to
all athletes, coaches, direc
tors and parents.
On Saturday, October
14th the PHS Varsity Compe
tition Cheer Team competed
at the Creekview Classic at
Creekview High School. The
team placed 2nd in the 3A di
vision against Gilmer High
School, Oconee High School,
and Savannah Christian, the
current reigning state cham
pions. The team broke their
all-time high score record
with a 92.5, with less than 10
points separating them from
Savannah Christian who
placed 1st, and over 36 points
higher than the Gilmer Bob
cats. The team and coaches
were proud to see a huge
crowd of fans who came to
support them and hope to see
just as many supporters next
weekend at South Forsyth
High School (Oct. 21). For
updates, please follow Pick
ens Cheerleading on Face-
book.
PHS Volleyball ends season with 17 wins
Pickens Volleyball fin
ished 5th in regular season
region play leading into the
region playoffs.
Last week, our PHS var
sity team faced four seed
Lumpkin to open the region
tournament. The girls
played tough but ultimately
came up short, only winning
one of the three sets. Sydney
Wolfe led the team with 13
kills. Presley Williams and
Lilly Wendt each had four
kills. The re
gion volleyball tournament
is double elimination, so the
Nettes moved into the losers
bracket to face Wesleyan.
Wesleyan came out on top
and ended up coming out of
the losers bracket to win the
region tournament and a 1
seed headed into state. The
PHS girls were competitive
in the match. Sydney Wolfe
had seven kills, and Lilly
Wendt had three. Sophia
Derstine led the team in as
sists with 27 total for the
night.
This concludes the sea
son for the 2023 varsity
team. The team finished
with 17 match wins for the
season vs 21 match losses.
Pickens & Grinnin’
Invitational sees PHS XC
boys finish 2nd place
Best ever finish in
meet’s 6year history
The PHS boys’ varsity
team took advantage of their
home course Friday night at
the annual Pickens & Grin
nin’ Invitational by running
their best race of the season.
They came away with a 2nd
place finish in the boys var
sity race, which is the best
finish ever by a Pickens
team in the meet’s 6-year
history. Forty-five high
schools and over 1,700 reg
istered runners competed in
Friday night’s race.
(L-R): Joshua Lanford, Winn Rickenbaker, Ethan
Carlan, Sitae White, Luan Micltau, Jamin Martin, Ja
coby Stanley.
Sports
Fanatic
By
Tommy
Gartrell
Columnist
Big Loss
Georgia (7-0, 4-0) re
mains at the top of the col
lege football polls
following a 37-20 win over
Vanderbilt (2-6, 0-4) on
Saturday, but the Bulldogs
lost All-American tight end
Brock Bowers during the
ballgame.
Losing their most reli
able offensive weapon
looms large as UGA heads
into to meat of the sched
ule, and the timetable for
Bower’s return is unclear.
According to a press re
lease from the university.
Bowers suffered a high
ankle sprain which re
quired “tightrope” surgery
on Monday to stabilize the
joint. Initial news reports
indicate that recovery for
this kind of injury takes
four to six weeks.
The earliest return that
we can expect is for the
November 18th game at
Tennessee but Bowers
might not return during the
regular season at all. In his
absence, the Dawgs could
rely on sophomore Oscar
Delp and freshmen Law-
son Luckie and Pearce
Spurlin.
Georgia gets a bye
week break this week, but
rival Florida (5-2, 3-1)
awaits in Jacksonville on
October 28th. Therefore,
20th ranked Missouri (6-1,
2-1) and 13th ranked Mis
sissippi (5-1, 2-1) come to
Athens in successive
weeks.
Then the Bulldogs
travel to Knoxville for a
date with the 17th ranked
Volunteers (5-1, 2-1).
Bowers seemingly car
ried the UGA offensive to
victory at Auburn and
leads the team and tight
ends nationally with 37
catches for 575 yards. He
also leads the team with
four receiving touch
downs.
The 20 year old junior
is expected to be a first
round draft pick after he
leaves Georgia.
Could this injury dimin
ish his draft stock?
If so, with the substan
tial NIL money available,
would Bowers consider
staying in Athens for the
2024 season?
The situation spawns a
myriad of other questions
too, but chief among them
is “can Georgia continue to
win without him?”
v±\ Turkey
2k Shoot
Saturday, Nov. 4th
9 a.m. to ?
Four Mile
Baptist Church
Four Mile Church Road
(off Hwy. 53 E.)
Marble Hill
Proceeds benefiting the church
(Rain Date November 11th)
Racinn Across America
Race Recap - 2023 South Point 400
By Alex Korowotny
Racing Sports
Correspondent
The Round of 8 for the NASCAR
Cup series kicked off last weekend at
Las Vegas and it provided another en
tertaining race and a preview for what
the championship race could be.
Bell started on pole. He got passed
on lap 3 by the best car in the race, Lar
son. On lap 29, Bell took the lead back
after Larson’s car fell off on the long
run. After the first set of green-flag pit
stops, the first caution flew on lap 65
when Jones had a flat right-rear tire.
Everyone on the lead lap pitted, and
Larson, on four fresh tires, took the
lead back from Bell to win Stage 1.
Stage 2 started on lap 87. Hamlin,
after taking two tires during the stage
caution, got the lead and held onto it
for a while. After another caution came
when Hocevar lost a tire, Keselowski
got the lead off pit road and took his
turn leading for a while. On lap 145,
Bowman hit the wall off 4, allowing
Larson to take back the lead and win
Stage 2 because he took four tires dur
ing the caution while Keselowski took
two.
Stage 3 started on lap 172 with Bell
now the leader. With 58 laps left,
Briscoe spun out from 25th, leading to
the deciding moment of the race where
Larson won the race off pit road. Lar
son pulled away from everyone, but
Bell started to reel him back. On the
final lap, Bell got right to Larson’s
bumper, but it wasn’t quite enough as
Larson held him off to win at Vegas
and clinch a spot in the Championship
4.
This was another entertaining race.
With hotter conditions than in the
spring Vegas race, it led to more multi
groove racing with the drivers being
able to use the low, middle, and high
lane in the comers to make passes.
There were instances of dirty air play
ing an issue. For example, when Chas
tain tried to pass Bell for the lead in
Stage 3, it was hard for him to do so
even though he looked to have a better
car. Stage 1 started off really good with
a lot of passing and battles. Larson
took the lead from Bell and then Bell
took it back before the first set of green
flag pit stops was entertaining and
showed that tire wear was a thing in
Continued on Page 5B