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Page 12 — Wednesday, August 17, 2022, The True Citizen ©SPORTS Bears kickoff2022, face Thomson on road BEN ROBERTS benroberts@bellsouth.net Burke County will begin their 2022 football season this Friday against a familiar foe. The Bears will travel to McDuffie County to face the Thomson Bulldogs in The Brickyard. In the past, this matchup has usually held significant ramifi cations for both the winner and loser, often times determining which team would be crowned region champion. This year is a little different, however, with Burke County moving up to AAAA and the Bulldogs dropping to AA with the Geor gia High School Association (GHSA) reclassification this year. Those classifications are determined every two years based on a school’s enrollment numbers. Thomson is once again expected to be a stout team, with many news outlets predicting them to go deep in this year’s state playoffs. In a preseason interview a couple of weeks ago, however, Bears’ head coach Eric Parker said he expects his team to compete as well. “We’re returning a good bit of our skill position kids, there’s a lot of experience in that group,” Parker said. Offensively, the Bears will be led by the senior duo of quarterback Marshall Flow ers and running back Charlie Dorsey. Parker did admit there were concerns on the line on both sides of the ball. The front three starters on defense were all seniors lost to graduation. “We’re going to need solid line play up front,” he said. In all, the Bears lost 12 se niors last year, but Parker is known for getting his under classmen valuable experience to prepare them to step up when the time comes. “We’ve got a chance to be pretty good but we need to gel early on,” Parker said. The Bears’ move to Region 3-AAAA will bring some fa miliar faces as well as new ones. Burke County will kick off its region schedule by traveling to Jesup on Sept. 30 to face former region foe, the Wayne County Yellow Jack ets. The following Thursday, Oct. 6, the Bears will travel to Savannah to play the Bene dictine Cadets. Burke County has faced Benedictine several times in the last few years. The Cadets are fresh off their 2022 AAAA state championship and are expected to held another strong contender. Region 3 is rounded out with games against other Savannah area schools Islands and New Hampstead. Burke County will close its regular season on Nov. 4 on the road against Southeast Bulloch. The Bears went 7-2 last year during the regular season, fall ing to Benedictine and Thom son. Burke County entered the playoffs as the number 2 seed for Region 4-AAA. They de feated Mary Persons in the first round and Stephens County in the second to advance to their first quarter finals since the 2017 season. The Bears lost to Carver- Atlanta in that game 46-14. Carver went on to be the state runner-up, losing to Cedar Grove 56-26. Kick off for Friday’s game against Thomson is set for 7:30 pm. 2022 Bears Football Schedule Date Opponent Aug. 19 @ Thomson Aug.26 Effingham Sept. 2 OPEN Sept. 9 Evans Sept. 16 Oconee County (Homecoming) Sept. 23 @ Statesboro Sept. 30 @ Wayne County* Oct. 6 (Thursday) @ Benedictine* Oct. 14 Islands* Oct. 21 OPEN Oct. 28 New Hampstead* Nov. 4 @ Southeast Bulloch* ^Region 3-AAAA game Lady Bears softball starts the season off strong Brannon Braddock Jbraddo4@gmail.com The BCHS softball team has had a strong start to the season. As of last Friday, August 12, the team is 4-2 overall with all of their opponents being out-of-region. The week of August 8 through August 12, the Lady Bears played three games, finishing positive at 2-1 for the week. On Tuesday, the team faced off against Metter at home. Un fortunately, there aren’t many highlights from this game, as the Lady Bears fell 14-1 to the visiting Tigers. After recording their only loss of the week, they quickly bounced back with a strong 7-4 victory over Washington County on Wednesday. Notable performances from this game include Arliyah Crumbley, who pitched a full 7 innings recording five strikeouts in the process. Additionally, players such as Maliah Blomstrom, Alyssa Rabun, and Braylin Fare had impressive appear ances at the plate. Blomstrom went 2-3, scoring a run while Rabun and Fare both went 1-3 with two runs batted in (RBIs). Rounding out their week, the Lady Bears traveled to Jefferson County where their bats lit up in a high scoring win. Brylie Mallard pitched a solid five innings in relief while the rest of the team sealed the deal with their amazing plate performances. Page Sullivan went 4-5 with 2 RBIs; Arliyah Crumbley went 3-5 with three RBIs; Maddox Russel went 3-6 with two RBIs; Braylin Fare went 2-4 with a triple; and Alyssa Rabun went 2-4 with an RBI and a double. The Lady Bears start their next week off welcoming Jef ferson County for their second meeting of the season. They continue with another tough matchup against Metter and an away game against Cross Creek. If the Lady Bears con tinue playing like they have been, they can win all three of these games and improve their overall record to 7-2. Young BCHS volleyball team shows promise Brannon Braddock Jbraddo4@gmail.com Last Thursday, August 11, 2022, the Burke County Lady Bears volleyball team traveled to Westside for a tri-match with Westside and Augusta Prep. This season, the Lady Bears only have three returning start ers. Regardless, the team was “eager to accept the challenge of competing at a high level,” said head coach David Skinner. The Bears won their first matches against Westside 26-6 and 25-10. The second match with Augusta Prep was very tight and competitive with several long rallies. Unfor tunately for the Bears, a few players were injured during the first set. The players who remained stayed focused and played hard. Overall, the Lady Bears fell short, losing 25-16 and 25-21. This didn’t stop strong out ings from some of Burke Coun ty’s star players. Tre’yonna tones recorded five kills, five aces, and one block; Gloriahna Roberson had four assists and six aces; Destiny Odom record ed two kills, four aces, and one block; and Erika Lee Durden had two kills and two aces. Coach Skinner said he was “pleased to see the chemistry, execution, grit, and fight of [the] team, especially in the face of adversity.” Overall, it seems that this first set of matches serve as a good indica tor of how the rest of the season will pan out. Skinner continued his praise saying, “all of our players made significant con tributions to our effectiveness as a team on Thursday.” The Lady Bears play their next set of matches today, August 17, at home against Washington County. This poses an opportunity for a huge mile stone for the volleyball team and Coach Skinner. If the Lady Bears win against Washington County, it would be Coach Skinner’s 100th win. After their home game on the seventeenth, the Lady Bears will play a series of away games and won’t return home again until August 27. The Lady Bears volleyball team talks strategy during a timeout. 'i i fj*9\ -j »■ Broadcast team members (from left) Rick Umpleby, Dan Wiggins and John Ealick prepare to call the GHSA 2011 AAA championship game in the Georgia Dome. The Bears defeated Peach County 28-14 to capture the title. Bears broadcast From Staff Reports When the Burke County Bears take to the held this Friday, they will do so without one of their longest and most ardent supporters. Former coach and longtime football radio broadcaster, Dan Wiggins, passed away in May, leaving a huge hole in the lives of his many friends and family. Wiggins’ absence has been especially painful for Ben Roberts, who served as Wiggins’ color analyst for the last three football seasons. “Dan’s death was obviously a huge loss for his family and this community as a whole, but as I struggled with losing my friend, I also worried who was going to call the Bears’ games,” Roberts said. “I don’t mean that in a selfish way,” he added. “I mean I can’t imagine turning on the radio to listen to a Bears’ football game and not hearing Dan’s distinctive, gravelly voice detailing the game.” Roberts admits he briefly contemplated giving up calling the games himself as he pondered how to move forward. In the end, however, he decided he owed it to his partner to ensure the broadcasts continued just the way Wiggins had taught him. To ensure that end, Roberts sought the help of experienced Bears’ broadcasters, Chris Henry and Earl Huddleston. Henry, a former Burke County High School principal and Dan’s former broadcast partner, retired from calling the games after the 2018 season. “I leaned on Chris early on for some guidance in how to move forward and he immediately offered to help in any way he could,” Roberts said. Huddleston has been the Bears’ stadium announcer for numer ous seasons and is a seasoned pro in the broadcast booth himself. Roberts explained that Henry will call the play-by-play for Bears’ home games with Roberts assisting. Huddleston will provide color commentary for away games while Roberts will handle play-by-play duties. Wiggins and Henry both grew up in North Augusta and Henry remembers Wiggins as a gifted athlete and considered him one of his heroes in high school. Henry agreed that Dan’s enthusiasm and knowledge will be missed during this year’s games. “Dan was always ready to go,” he said. “He would visit Coach Parker frequently during the week and would have great informa tion on the Bears and their opponent for the broadcast. No one could link the listener to the game atmosphere like Dan.” Roberts and Henry called the Bears’ scrimmage against Laney two weeks ago and Roberts admits he was glad they did. “I needed that scrimmage as much the players,” he said. “I needed to go ahead and be in that booth and go through those motions without Dan sitting beside me. There were some strong emotions at play, so I’m glad I got that one under my belt.” Roberts said he appreciates Henry and Huddleston’s willing ness to help him this season and that from the beginning they all agreed Wiggins would want to ensure that the broadcast continued its tradition of bringing the Bears’ action across the airwaves. “I think I can speak for all the broadcast team members when I say it was such a privilege to have known and worked with Dan. In my case, he was certainly a mentor,” Roberts said. The Bears will travel to Thomson this week to face their long time rivals, the Thomson Bulldogs, and Roberts thinks it’s only fitting to start this new season against one of Wiggins’ favorite opponents. “Thomson’s always been huge and nobody loved to get on the held with them more than Dan,” Roberts said. “We’ll have our work cut out for us, both on the held and in the booth, but I imagine Dan will be right there with us, pulling just as hard as he always did.” 3 s 1 % i * s A V 14 I 1 s 3 4 i d V 4 1 1 V 1 4 3 3 1 4 V s U a 0 1 1 0 4 3 X 1 4 "4 4 a 0 V A V N b 4 X S 1 X % 1 u 3 4 b N 1 4 4 4 1 1 3 s % X a 3 4 V 1 1 4 0 N V n 4 a a \ 0 1 A 4 0 si s 3 0 4 4 N V 3 4 4 L n 4 9 N 1 4 % 9 0 9 4 3 1 b 14 9 N 1 \ % 4 H 3 A X 4 3 9 N 1 4 A 1 S n q, U 3 9 N V 4 3 A 1 1 1 0 V I 3 1 n 0 4, 1 0 1 s i V A 0 3 N 0 H 4, 3 A 0 4 4 % 4 \ 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 J0>|JBd '3 A140WU Ag 383H 3UV flOA