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The True Citizen, Wednesday, September 22, 2021 — Page 13
©SPORTS
Bears off to 2-
BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
The Burke County Bears
went on the road last Friday
to face a competitive North
Augusta team in what proved
to be an old-fashioned hsthght
that lasted for four quarters and
beyond.
Burke County led for most
of the night but failed to put
the Yellowjackets (SC Region
5-AAAA) away, allowing them
to tie the game in the fourth
quarter at 27-27.
Two possessions later, with
just under five minutes to play,
North Augusta looked poised
to score again with a first and
goal from the Bears’ five-yard
line. A fumble from the wildcat
formation, however, recovered
by Burke County, would set the
stage for overtime.
Burke County had the first
possession of overtime on the
Yellowjacket 10-yard line.
Junior quarterback Marshall
Flowers ran virtually untouched
into the endzone to put the
Bears up 33-27. The point after
attempt by sophomore Blake
Burden was blocked however
and North Augusta would now
get their chance.
Facing a third and 10 sit
uation, the Bears’ defense
swarmed to the ball as they
had done for most of the night,
causing a fumble. Burke Coun
ty was able to recover and seal
their victory 33-27.
Burke County head coach,
Eric Parker, never one to place
too much emphasis on any
single win or loss, admitted it
was nice to come away with
two hard fought wins in their
first two games of the season.
“It feels good to be 2-0,” he
said. “Any mistakes or issues
we have, which we have plenty
of them, we can fix them and be
in a good mood about it.”
Defensively, Parker said
those issues were what he
called “too many busts on
defense.”
“We had somebody on the
field either not doing what
they were supposed to do,
or they weren’t doing it with
the same amount of energy or
enthusiasm that they needed to
and that usually comes from
fatigue,” Parker said.
“You can always, always
get a little better tackling,” he
added. “I thought as we got
tired, the tackling went from
being pretty good to not so
great.”
“On offense, we’re still just
a little bit out of rhythm but I
have to keep reminding myself
it was only our second ball-
game so you’re still operating a
little bit like you do in August,”
he said.
North Augusta scored on
its opening drive with a 65-
yard touchdown pass. The
Bears would answer on the
Yellowjackets’ next posses
sion when senior Jeremiah
Whitfield scooped up a fumble
and returned it for the Burke
County’s first score of the
night. Burden’s point after tied
the game at 7-7.
The Bears would march 65
yards on their next possession
and score on a 9-yard run by
Flowers. Burke would score
again on a 32-yard run by ju
nior Jaylen Golphin to put the
Bears up 20-7 with just over 4
minutes left in the half.
The Bears would allow
North Augusta enough field
for their Division 1 committed
kicker, senior Drew Stevens, to
complete held goals of 42 and
50 yards just before and after
halftime. Those scores pulled
the Yellowjackets to within one
touchdown, allowing them to
get back in the game.
“I thought we were in a posi
tion to force our will on them.
We went up 20-7 and got a
EBA faces Southland Friday,
preps for Homecoming week
After a bye week, the Spar
tans (1-3) return to the football
field Friday night in a non
conference home game against
Southland Academy.
The Raiders, who hail from
Americus, also hold a 1-3
record. Last season, they de
feated Edmund Burke 28-8.
After Friday’s matchup,
EBA will begin a week of
Homecoming festivities before
hosting Glascock County on
Oct. 1. The Panthers are cur
rently 0-3. Last season, the
Spartans defeated them 46-15.
Homecoming spirit week
days include Monday, Pajama
Day; Tuesday, Camo Day;
Wednesday, Jersey Day; Thurs
day, Color War (Neon); and
Friday, Freaky Red and White.
Brentwood defeats
Lady Spartans 8-0
From Staff Reports
The Lady Spartans of Ed
mund Burke had one game last
week, traveling to Sandersville
where they were defeated by
Brentwood Academy, 8-0.
Brentwood’s Lady Eagles
are currently ranked third in
the AA standings in the state.
Coach Larry Keller said Ad
dison Riggs “pitched a good
game, only giving up three
earned runs as the Spartan
defense committed a number
of miscues to allow five un
earned runs.” Keller went on
to say that the offense was led
by freshman third baseman
Darcy Rich, who had 2 singles
to up her team-leading average
to 304.
“We have struggled all year
generating runs and Tuesday
was no exception,” Keller said,
adding that the girls will head
to Milledgeville Thursday for a
twin bill against John Milledge
Academy. On Sept. 28, they
host Thomas Jefferson for
Senior Night. “We will honor
Alaina Boulineau and Avery
Wallace. Come out to see the
Spartans.”
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0 start
three and out and made a big
mistake with the muffed punt.
That just kind of gave them life
and they were able to keep it
moving and score and get their
enthusiasm and confidence
back. I feel like if you’re going
to be a good team, whenever
you get a chance, you go ahead
and try to break a team’s will,”
Parker said.
Eldrick Williams scored
late in the third quarter for
Burke County; however, North
Augusta answered two plays
later to make it 27-20 before
their fourth quarter score to
tie the game before the end of
regulation.
Parker attributes his team’s
late game stumbles to just not
being in game shape at this
point in the season.
“We got winded,” he said.
“You’re going to run your
sprints and run your drills.
You’re going to practice hard
but there comes a time when
you’ve just got to get in game
shape, and you do that by
playing.”
The Bears are now 2-0 and
will travel to south Augusta
this Friday, Sept. 24, to face
fellow Region 4-AAA foe,
Cross Creek (1-3).
“We’ll probably be pretty
heavily favored in this game,
but you still have to go and play
it,” Parker said. “Coming off
two emotional wins, the thing
we have to do is go ahead and
do what we do. We’ve really
got to work on the fundamen
tals. We’ve got to work again
on the conditioning. Under
standing that everybody has a
job to do, and, on every snap, I
need to be doing my job really,
really well. It not only prepares
you for your next opponent, but
it helps you get better. We’re in
a situation now where there are
no more off weeks. We’ve got
to get better as we prepare.”
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The junior QB went 10 of 16 in passing attempts for
112 yards and rushed for 64 yards on 12 carries and
one touchdown. Flowers also scored the winning
touchdown in overtime to defeat North Augusta.
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