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706-253-9000
B
Section
October 26,
2023
See Marble Festival Road Race Results, Page 2B
Nettes head to state championship
The PHS Nettes softball team is set to play this year’s state championship tournament.
The Nettes’ regular season play
clinched the team a spot in the state
tournament. Pickens 3rd seed finish
sent them to the Region 5 #1 seed at
Sandy Creek Super Regional.
On Monday, Pickens opened play
against Region 6 #2 seed LaFayette
in Game 1. The Lady Ramblers
opened the scoring in the first with a
homer, scoring two runs. In the top of
the third inning, Pickens answered
back when Lexi Grizzle tied the
game with a homer, scoring Ally
Long. The game went into extra in
nings. In the top of the eighth inning,
Ally Long hit a 2-run home run, scor
ing Jaycee Beck who was running for
Madelyn Johnson. Pickens beat
LaFayette 4-2 in Game 1. Ally Long
and Lexi Grizzle each collected two
hits in the game. Hannah Parks and
Madelyn Johnson each had hits in the
game.
Lexi Grizzle earned the win for
PHS. Grizzle gave up five hits and
two runs over eight innings, striking
out six, and walking one.
Game 2 sent the Nettes back to
Sandy Creek to face Region 8 #4
seed Monroe Area. Pickens trailed by
as many as five runs, but mounted a
late comeback for an exciting win.
Monroe Area set the tone by starting
the game with a home run on the first
pitch. Monroe Area extended their
lead to 5-0 over the next several in
nings. In the bottom of the sixth, the
Nettes battled back to score seven
runs on eight hits to take a 7-5 lead.
The biggest blow of the inning was a
double by Charli Fendley that drove
in two. Ally Long went 2 for 3 at the
plate to lead Pickens in hits. Charli
Fendley led Pickens with two RBIs.
Lexi Grizzle earned the win for Pick
ens in relief of Cheyenne Coleman.
Grizzle surrendered five hits and one
run over 5 and two-thirds innings,
striking out eight, and walking three.
Game 3 for the Nettes was the
Championship match-up. Lafayette
emerged from the loser’s bracket
needing to defeat Pickens twice to
advance to the Elite 8. The Nettes
just had to win one of two games.
LaFayette got on the board in the bot
tom of the first inning. The Ramblers
added to their lead in the third inning
and the Nettes could not catch back
up. Lafayette ran away with the
game, 13-0 setting up a final and de
ciding game to advance in the play
offs.
Pickens got on the board in the
first, reversing momentum from the
previous game. The Lady Ramblers
battled back to tie the game as it got
into the later innings. In the sixth,
Skylar Weaver doubled with the
bases loaded to put Pickens up 7-3
and needing only 3 outs to advance.
Lexi Grizzle finished the last inning
1-2-3 and the Nettes celebrated earn
ing a trip to the Elite 8 in Columbus
for the first time since 2005.
The Nettes started their play in the
Elite 8 with Morgan County on
Wednesday, October 25th at 11.
Dragons pounce on West Hall 35-12
photo/Robin Dunn
Charlie Gibbons goes horizontal to put a hit and a "hurry” on
the West Hall quarterback.
Last Friday the PHS football team
took on the West Hall Spartans in the
2023 homecoming game, which was
also the last home game of the season
at Dragon Stadium. The Dragons
came out with a 35-12 victory over
the Spartans, keeping their hopes of
a postseason berth alive. There were
big plays made on offense, defense,
and special teams.
The game began completely op
posite of how the Dragons would’ve
liked, with West Hall scoring on a
long touchdown run from their run
ning back. The PAT after was no
good and the Spartans were up 6-0.
Fortunately the Dragons quickly re
sponded by driving down the field on
some hard runs by senior RB Miguel
Salto, and timely passes from QB
Sam Streicher to Ezra Faber and Mc
Cord Purdy. The drive was capped
off by a 6 yard TD run from Salto.
The PAT by Charlie Gibbons was
good and the Dragons were up 7-6.
On the following defensive series
linebacker Oscar Rivera forced a
fumble at the Spartan 45 giving the
Dragons excellent field position.
photo/Robin Dunn
Hayden Jones gets on his "giddy
up " on the kickoff return.
Pickens capitalized on the field posi
tion by driving down inside the red
zone on runs by Streicher, a pass
from Streicher to Isaiah Williams,
and was capped off by a 10 yard TD
pass from Streicher to Hayden Jones.
The PAT by Charlie Gibbons was
good and the score was 14-6 in favor
of the Dragons. West Hall received
the following kickoff and drove
down the field on a 14 play drive that
resulted in a missed field goal and
gave the ball back to Pickens with 3
minutes left in the first half. The
Dragons started off the drive moving
the ball effectively but stalled out
around mid-field and elected to go
for it on 4th down, turning the ball
over to the Spartans. The Dragon de
fense rose up and made a big play
with 20 seconds left in the half when
Ezra Faber intercepted a pass on the
Pickens sideline. The Dragons ran
the clock out and went to half time up
14-6.
The second half started prosper
ous for the Dragons as they took the
ball and went down the field into the
West Hall red zone. Unfortunately,
the drive stalled and the Dragons
kicked an unsuccessful field goal.
West Hall took over at the 20 yard
line and was initially stopped until
they received some help from a
penalty on the Dragons. They con
verted a 4th down into a first and
continued driving down the field
until the West Hall RB slipped out of
some tackles and reverse field for a
28 yard TD, making the score 14-12.
The Spartans went for two and
were stopped by the Pickens defense,
keeping the score at 14-12.
The Dragon offense took the field
and quickly moved down the field
thanks to a 37 yard and 31 yard com
pletions from Streicher to Jones. Stre
icher ran it in from 1 yard out, the
PAT from Gibbons was good and the
score was now 21-12.
The Spartan then started driving
down the field until they were
stopped on 4th down by the Pickens
defense at mid-field giving the ball
back to Streicher and the offense.
Streicher continued to deliver the ball
to Faber, Jones, and Purdy on timely
passes. From 10 yards out Salto ran
into the end zone for his second TD
of the game. The PAT was good and
the score was now 28-12.
On the following series Faber in
tercepted his second pass of the game
and gave the ball to the Dragon of
fense deep in West Hall territory.
Streicher and the offense quickly
marched into the end zone capped off
by a 1 yard run.
The score was now 35-12 Drag
ons with under 2:30 to play.
On the following possession West
Hall turned the ball over on downs
and gave the ball back to Pickens.
The Dragon offense bled the remain
der of the time left out on runs by SR
Trevor Eilers before electing to not
run a final play from the 1 yard line
and go ahead to shake hands at mid-
field. The final score was 35-12 in
favor of Pickens.
The Dragons travel to White
County this Friday in their 9th game
of the season and another critical re
gion match up. Come out to Cleve
land, GA and support your Pickens
football team.
Sports
Fanatic
By
Tommy
Gartrell
Columnist
Just Time
The Atlanta Falcons (4-
3) stand atop the NFC
South following a 16-13
road victory against
Tampa Bay (3-3) on Sun
day afternoon. With two
division wins against no
losses, the defense contin
ues to save an all too often
clumsy offense.
Atlanta’s defensive
unit ranks among the best
in the NFL. The Falcons
rank fourth in total de
fense and fourth in pass
defense, and although
they rank 11th in run de
fense, opponents have
scored only one rushing
touchdown against them.
Quarterback play hand
icaps this team though and
of late, turnovers by the
quarterback have hurt.
The fans and the press
have become particularly
loud in light of quarter
back Desmond Ridder’s
three fumbles versus the
Buccaneers and three in
terceptions in the previous
ballgame.
Certainly, the excessive
turnovers are reasons for
concern but not outrage.
Most of these situa
tional mistakes are coach-
able therefore correctable.
Remember, Ridder has
started less than a dozen
pro football games in his
career. He simply needs
time to learn his craft in
the NFL.
I can remember a kid
named Troy Aikman suf
fering through a few mis
erable seasons in Dallas in
the early years of his ca
reer. Even Peyton Man
ning called his famous
retired NFL quarterback
father to say “nobody is
open up here.” Plus, at 45
years old, the Tom Brady
who retired was much bet
ter than the Patriots’
rookie named Brady.
Ridder ranks 19th in
the league in passer rating
and there’s 30 teams with
more than 30 quarterbacks
Tip-Off Classic
Thursday
The Pickens community is invited to at
tend the first “Tip-off Classic” at PHS on
Thursday, October 26th. The event will
start promptly at 7 p.m. with a performance
by the Varsity Competition Cheer Team.
Basketball players from the 7th-12th will
be introduced and will participate in an in
tersquad scrimmage. Admission is free and
concessions will be available. The evening
will also feature a 3 pt competition and
Dunk contest.
Door prize baskets will be raffled off
and the event will end with the drawing of
a $10,000 prize from one the 10k ticket
holders. Come out and meet the 2023-2024
Dragons & Nettes.
on this list. He is not hor
rible and his ability to
scramble and run the foot
ball makes him a dual
threat guy.
Yes, these turnovers
are maddening consider
ing the overall talent on
offense, but just give this
kid time.
Racing Across America
Race Recap - 2023 4EVER 400
By Alex Korowotny
Racing Sports
Correspondent
After going from a 1.5 mile race
track last week, the NASCAR Cup se
ries returned to Homestead-Miami
Speedway last weekend, and it showed
why it deserves to be the championship
race again.
The race started with Truex Jr. on
pole. The race would see multiple lead
ers early on with Wallace, Truex,
Byron, Keselowski, and then Larson
leading in the 1st stage. After the first
set of green-flag pit stops, Keselowski
took the lead from Byron due to pitting
early, but Larson, with how good he
normally is at Homestead, took the
lead on lap 54. Larson went on to win
Stage 1.
Stage 2 started on lap 86 with Lar
son continuing to lead. He pulled away
to a 5-second lead over Keselowski in
second place. After the next set of
green flag pit stops, Larson’s car
started to really fall off and after hav
ing trouble with lap traffic, Blaney
passed Larson with three laps left in
Continued on Page 4B