Newspaper Page Text
The True Citizen, Wednesday, November 10, 2021 — Page 13
^ SPORTS
Bears head to playoffs, face Mary Persons
BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
The Bears capped off their
regular season last week in the
Bear Den with a 42-7 win over
Richmond Academy and will
now make their 15th consecu
tive trip to the state playoffs
this Friday.
The Region 2-AAA number
3 seed,Mary Persons Bulldogs,
will travel to Waynesboro to
face Burke County, the number
2 seed from Region 4.
Bears’ head coach Eric Park
er has managed to steer Burke
County to the playoffs in all
15 of his seasons, even last
year when he suffered his first
losing season at Burke County,
going 3-5 overall. A 3-3 region
record was good enough to
take the number 4 seed, how
ever, and continue the Bear’s
playoff appearances.
“Sometimes you just have
to fall off the mountain top a
little bit to appreciate some
of the things that you’ve got
going on,” Parker said. “Last
year was just not a good year.
It wasn’t just the record; it was
a little bit of everything. This
year, coming back and play
ing good at this time of year,
having good team chemistry,
making the playoffs for the
15th straight year, we just kind
of got a renewed appreciation
for what our program has been.
I’m excited about that and go
ing into the playoffs is a big
deal.”
Burke County was elimi
nated in the first round of the
playoffs the last two years.
Three years ago, they were
eliminated in the second round.
The Bears (7-2 overall, 5-1
region) will face another team
looking for some redemption
in Mary Persons. The Bulldogs
failed to make the playoffs last
year going 3-4 in Region 2
play. They are 5-2 this season
with those two region losses
coming at the hands of Crisp
County and Peach County,
two of the top ranked teams
in AAA.
They also travel to the Bear
Den riding on the shoulders of
Duke Watson. The sophomore
running back is the current
leading rusher in Georgia High
School Association (GHSA)
class AAA. According to Max-
Preps, Watson has rushed for
1,619 yards so far this season.
“They bring in the number
one rusher in AAA. He has
more yards than anybody else
in the class,” Parker said of
Watson. “Obviously, that’s
where it all starts, trying to
get him slowed down a little
bit. They’re just a hard-nosed
bunch. They don’t have a
bunch of superstars, but they
just have kids that obviously on
him play really, really hard.”
Mary Persons has played
Burke County twice in Parker’s
tenure, losing both of those
matchups in the he Bear Den.
While both teams favor a
run-centered offense, Parker
said on him and on paper there
are a number of similarities
between the two teams.
“When you look at them, it’s
a lot like looking in the mirror,
the way they do things and the
way their team is made up,” he
said. “They don’t have a bunch
of 4-star, 5-star type kids.
They’ve just got hard-nosed
kids, well coached. You can tell
they spend a lot of time doing
what they do.”
Last year, the Bears travelled
to Pierce County and were
eliminated by the eventual state
champion Bears. Parker be
lieves this season and this team
are different this time around.
“When you get to this part of
the year, and I don’t care who
you are, you want to be healthy.
You want to be having fun. You
want to be doing things the
right way, and that just makes
the playoffs special,” he said.
“I think we’re at that point, I
really do. I think that breeds
confidence. I think that breeds
hunger, I think that breeds
guys wanting to go out and
play well. We are still enjoying
practicing. I think all of that is
huge and a year ago it was a
totally different kind of vibe.”
For the second week in a
row, the Bears held their op
ponent to less than 100 yards
of total offense. Richmond
Academy (ARC) had 78 pass
ing yards and 9 rushing yards
for 87 total offensive yards.
The Bears racked up 490
yards with 418 on the ground
and 72 thru the air.
Burke County scored on a
40-yard run by junior Charlie
Dorsey, who had missed the
two previous games due to
injury. Quarterback Marshall
Flowers found the endzone on
a 1-yard keeper while Eldrick
“Tiger” Williams scored on
two 15-yard runs. Freshman
running back A’merre Williams
had a 7-yard rushing touch
down as well. The Bears’ final
score came on a fumble recov
ery in the endzone by freshman
linebacker Cadyn Bracely.
Sophomore Blake Burden
was 5 for 5 on extra point at
tempts, while freshman Will
Lovett made good on his solo
attempt.
ARC’s lone touchdown came
late in the third quarter on a
16-yard pass.
Thomson won the Region
4-AAA championship with
Burke placing second. Morgan
County played it’s way in to
third place and the number 3
seed last week and Harlem took
the fourth and final spot.
NEED TICKETS?
Bears’ fans have two ways to purchase their
round one playoff tickets this week. You can pur
chase online at www.gofan.co (not .com). Use the
search bar to search for “Burke County.” Tickets
are $8 each plus an online service fee. Tickets
can be purchased at the gate on game night for
$8. The gate will open at 6 pm on Friday, Nov. 12.
Reserved seat ticket holders must still purchase
playoff tickets but your reserved seating will be
honored.
POWER PLAYERS
Of the Game!
Williams
SENIOR
The senior running back had 15
carries for 164 yards and 2
touchdowns against ARC. His
totals for the regular season are
840 yards on 115 carries, 13
touchdowns and no fumbles.
BURKE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL - 2021
The entire
Spartan team in
their efforts on
Friday night.
EDMUND DURKE ACADEMY FOOTBALL - 2021
ALL-STATE RECOGNITION
Kensy Felix, a freshman at Edmund Burke Academy, placed
sixth in the Georgia Independent School Association AA cross
country meet at Middle Georgia State College out of 60 runners.
This earned her All-State recognition.
BURKE
& OUTDOORS
FIRST DEER
Austyn Lee, 8-year-old daughter of Jackson and
Neely Lee, killed her first deer Sunday, Nov. 7. She
took down the 8-pointer while hunting with her
father. Austyn is a third-grader at Edmund Burke
Academy.
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