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November 2,
2023
CRIMINAL DEFENSE • DUI
ACCIDENTS-INJURY
T! IF LAW
OFFICE OF
NICOLE L.
McArthur
Check out the Classifieds on Page gB
706-253-9000
PHS Softball trip to Elite 8 breaks 18 year drought
Ally Long reaches on a fielder’s choice, batting in a run.
The Nettes Softball Team has not
been to the Elite 8 in Columbus in 18
years. The Nettes’ trip to Columbus
started on October 24th with an
amazing school and community
sendoff. The Nettes coaches and
players want to thank the community
for the support they were shown dur
ing their state playoff run. The sup
port from this community is ab
solutely overwhelming. Thank you to
the Pickens County Sheriff’s Depart
ment and the City of Jasper Police
Department for the best escort. Thank
you to Pickens County Fire Depart
ment and the City of Jasper Fire De
partment for the water cannon and
escort help. Thank you to Pickens
High School staff, band, and student
body for sending us off in style as we
left the building. Thank you to JMS
staff and students for making signs
and cheering for us on our way out of
town. Thank you, Pickens County,
for the support. We felt the support as
we traveled to Columbus.
The Nettes’ first game was on Oc
tober 25th against Morgan County.
Pickens got on the board in the 1st in
ning when Skylar Weaver singled to
score Ally Long. Morgan County
fired right back in the bottom of the
1st, scoring 4. In the top of the sec
ond inning, Pickens answered back.
After singles from Jaedyn Thomure
and Hannah Parks to lead off the in
ning, Charli Fendley singled driving
in Thomure. Ally Long reached on a
fielder’s choice allowing Parks to
score. In the top of the fifth inning,
Lexi Grizzle tied the game at 4-4
with a home run. In the bottom of the
fifth inning, Morgan County scored 3
runs. PHS fought back in the top of
the 6th with a home ran from Hannah
Parks and a single by Lexi Grizzle
scoring River Becker making it 6-7.
Pickens piled up 11 hits in the
game. Lexi Grizzle led Pickens at the
plate going 3 for 4 including a home
run. Ally Long and Hannah Parks
each had multiple hits to lead Pickens
at the plate. Lexi Grizzle took the loss
for Pickens. The starting pitcher went
6 innings, allowing 7 runs on 5 hits,
striking out 3, and walking 5.
October 26th started with the
GHSA Softball Open Ceremony.
There was a large crowd on hand to
welcome the girls into the 1996
Olympic Stadium. All 64 teams from
around the state took part in the cer
emony. The Nettes next game was
against Jackson. In the top of the sec
ond inning, the Jackson Red Devils
got on the board scoring 1 run. Jack-
son extended their lead scoring 2 runs
in the top of the 3rd inning. Pickens
fought back in the bottom of the 6th
when Ainsley Jones grounded into a
fielder’s choice which scored Ally
Long. Jackson scored 3 in the top of
the 7th to lead to a 6-1 win.
The trip to the Elite 8 in Columbus
wrapped up the Nettes incredible sea
son.
The 1st annual “Tip-Off Classic”
The 1st annual “Tip-Off
Classic” was well attended
on Thursday. Folks that pur
chased a 10K Raffle Ticket
enjoyed early admission and
a tasty BBQ dinner served up
by the PHS Dragons and
Nettes Basketball players.
Attendees that enjoyed free
general admission watched
girls and boys teams from
7th-Varsity participate in an
intersquad scrimmage. At
halftime, teams of boys and
girls competed together by
grade in a 3 point contest
with the sophomore class
taking the title. Senior Caleb
Keith outscored other com
petitors to capture the title in
the Slam Dunk Contest.
The event wrapped up
with a drawing for prize bas
kets and the final give away
of a $10,000 prize. Tyler &
Amy Mitton stood midcourt
and celebrated as their num
ber was pulled for the big
prize.
Slam Dunk Contest
winner Caleb Keith
Dragons edge out White County
39-37 in huge region win
Georgia Christian
Athletic Association
ICJ
The North Ga. Christian Academy athletic depart
ment congratulates Payton Beaver on her three peat
GCA A State Cross Country Championship.
PAT deflections, misses key
to game
The Pickens Dragons football team got a huge
region win last Friday on the road at White County.
The Dragons defeated the Warriors 39-37 in a
back and forth hard-fought game. The game began
with the Dragons receiving the opening kickoff
and driving down the field inside the White 35
yard line. On 4th and 7 QB Sam Streicher found
Landon Poole on a screen pass from 32 yards out
for the first Pickens TD of the game. The PAT after
was blocked and the score would stand at 6-0.
White responded by driving down the field and
punching in a TD of their own, successfully mak
ing the PAT. The score was now 7-6 in favor of
White. The following offensive possession by
Pickens ended in a tipped pass that was intercepted
by the Warriors, giving them a short field to work
with. They would capitalize on this and go score a
touchdown to make it 13-6. The PAT was blocked
by Hunter Dimauro, this would prove to be a major
factor later as the game progressed.
The next possession for the Dragons was a big
one. Senior RB Miguel Salto ripped off a 66-yard
run for a touchdown, the PAT by Charlie Gibbons
was good and the score was tied at 13-13. On the
following defensive possession the Dragons forced
a Warrior turnover on downs and took over on of
fense at the Pickens 42 yard line. On the first play
of the drive Streicher found McCord Purdy for a
long 42 yard pass putting the ball deep in White
County territory. Three plays later Streicher found
Purdy again for a 7 yard TD, the PAT was good
and the score was now 20-13.
On the next kickoff the Pickens special teams
Photos continued on Page 8B
2nd Grade Dragons head to
Super Bowl - Again
The 2nd grade Dragons football team made it to the play
offs this year. They are the returning Super Bowl campions
from last year.
They play Gilmer County this Saturday, November 4th, at
Fannin County high school at 10:30 a.m.
The boys have worked hard since July practicing long
three days a week practices, and are currently first place (6-
1) in the league for Mountain Athletic Conference (MAC).
Players and coaches bottom to top, right to left: #1
William Bail, #2 Patrick Griffin, #3 Dalton Cail, #4 Cooper
Goldsmith, #5 Zayden Bridges, #6 Clayton Thompson, #8
Maverick Reeves, #9 Jace Nunn, #10 Sawyer Phelps, #11
Ryley Beck, #12 Brayden Pritchard, #13 Luke Weaver, #14
Noah Russell, #15 Parker Muse, #17 Caleb Lindsay, #18
Levi Blalock, #31 Blaise Moseley, #32 Braxton Lawson,
#33 Knox Norton, #40 Ryker Pinson #42 Jamie Hamrick
,#43 Blaine Massey, #44 Lawson Davis, #49 Jace Bryan,
#50 Jace McFarland, #52 Brantley Costello, #53 Elijah
Stoecklein, #54 William Goble.
Coaches: Assistant coach Blake McFarland, assist coach
Zach Phelps, head coach Montavious Bridges Assistant
coach Brent Pritchard, Assistant Coach Josh Bail, Assistant
coach Cody Reeves, Assistant coach Ryon Thompson.
Racing Across America
Race Recap - 2023 Xfinity 500
By Alex Korowotny
Racing Sports
Correspondent
As we head to Phoenix
Raceway to decide the
champion next week, let’s
go over what happened in
Martinsville and who the
Championship 4 drivers are.
The race started at 2:08 PM
with Truex on pole. He was
one of the drivers that
needed to have a great
points day to make the Final
4. Despite that, his team
mate Hamlin, who also
needed a good points day as
well, took the lead on lap
48. The 1st caution flew on
lap 104 for Burton and
Bowman spinning out after
getting each other. The race
restarted on lap 112 with
Hamlin still leading. He
would keep the lead to go on
and win Stage 1. Stage 2 of
ficially started on lap 141.
On lap 194, a new playoff
driver would see his way at
the front and his name was
Ryan Blaney. After the next
caution for Newman spin
ning out, Hamlin would win
the race off pit road to retake
the lead. On the next restart,
Blaney got the lead back
and went on to win Stage 2.
Stage 3 officially started on
lap 271 with Blaney still
leading. After a few more
cautions coming out, the
race would get flipped on its
head with drivers like El
liott, Lajoie, and Jones stay
ing out while other drivers
like Almirola and Larson
only took fuel. Due to how
the tires did not wear out for
a while during a green flag
run, this would be very ben
eficial to all drivers now
having good track position.
On the next and last restart
of the race, Elliott would
lead the race for 77 straight
laps until Almirola took the
lead on lap 412. With just 23
laps to go, Blaney, on 4
fresh tires, would take the
lead from Almirola and go
to win at Martinsville! So
the 4 drivers that are in the
Championship 4 are Larson,
Bell, Blaney, and Byron.
As for how fall Mar
tinsville was this year, it was
the best race run at Mar-
Continued on Page 5B
Sports
Fanatic
By
Tommy
Gartrell
Columnist
Who Is
Trustworthy?
November is upon us, and
the first official College
Football Playoff (CFP) rank
ings dropped on Tuesday
evening after my press dead
line, unfortunately.
Does this first ranking
mean much?
Not particularly...
With only five undefeated
teams left in the Power Five
conferences, you might think
that the road to the playoffs
looks clear. In reality, these
competitors face their tough
est challenges over the next
five weeks. We already know
that one of them cannot re
main unbeaten because
Michigan and Ohio State go
head to head in the regular
season finale.
Which of these five un-
beatens do you truly trust to
reach the CFP though?
Many analysts love
Michigan (8-0) and call the
Wolverines the most domi
nant and complete team.
They have not played any
body though.
Michigan’s best win was
over Rutgers, at best a mid
tier team in any conference.
With lackluster performances
in each of the past two play
offs (shut out once and gave
away a game to TCU which
was beaten by 58 points in
the championship), a date
with two top ten teams (Penn
State and Ohio State) in the
final three games and con
stant distraction by NCAA
investigations, I am not buy
ing these Wolverines.
Florida State (8-0) nar
rowly survived Boston Col
lege, Clemson and Duke. The
Seminoles’ path to the play
off looks the easiest of the
five undefeated teams, but
they in turn look like the
weaker of the bunch.
Louisville could realistically
upset them in the ACC
Championship Game, but I
actually trust FSU to reach
the playoffs.
Washington (8-0) really
does not have an “easy” op
ponent left. The Huskies play
three ranked squads (USC,
Utah, and Oregon State) and
their in-state rival Washing
ton State to close the regular
season. If they survive those
contests which I doubt, a re
match with Oregon and a loss
awaits them in conference
championship.
Ohio State (8-0) got the
tunning game working of late
and has overcame adversity
in some close ballgames
against quality opponents.
The only legitimate obstacle
between the Buckeyes and
another playoff berth is
Michigan at “the Big House”
on November 25th. I trust
OSU’s resume, experience
and depth more than any
other Big Ten team.
Georgia (8-0) rounds out
the top five. With dominant
victories over Kentucky and
Florida in their last two
games, the Bulldogs just
keep improving. Never mind
that three of the last four op
ponents are ranked. UGA
rolls. Even a loss can’t keep
these Dawgs out of the con
ference title game and noth
ing keeps a one loss SEC
Champion out of the CFP.
Out of the remaining un
defeated teams, I expect three
of them to lose a football
game yet. Such an occur
rence brings half a dozen one
loss teams hack into the play
off conversation and adds far
more weight to conference
championships which holds
our attention.