The John’s Creek Gladiators defeated the Habersham Central Raiders Friday night at John’s Creek, 42-14. The homecoming win for the Gladiators was their first of the season and the team’s first win in 19 games. Both teams went into the game winless. The Raiders now have lost 21 consecutive games.
Although the Raiders went into Friday’s game stronger statistically – with more rushing yards, passing yards, tackles and points per game – they just couldn’t hold off the Gladiators’ home team momentum. The Raiders got on the board first early in the first quarter but John’s Creek answered quickly and stayed ahead of the Raiders the rest of the night.
Last night’s loss drops the Raiders to 0-8 on the season, 0-7 in regional play.
The team still has a chance to pull out a win. There are two games left in the regular season. The Raiders return home to John Larry Black Field in Mt. Airy next Friday, Oct. 31, for a Halloween matchup against North Forsyth. Game time is 7:30pm. The game will be carried live on WCON 99.3 FM radio beginning at 7pm.
Other 6AAAAAA Region scores:
Alpharetta 24 – South Forsyth 14
Centennial 27 – North Forsyth 3
Northview 37 – Chattahoochee 7
Johns Creek 42 Habersham Central 14
Lambert 33 – West Forsyth 27
Other regional scores of interest:
Region 8AAAAA
Heritage, Conyers 35 – Apalachee 28
Gainesville 61 – Cedar Shoals 26
Winder-Barrow 35 – Clarke Central 29
Flowery Branch 29 – Loganville 14
Lanier 42 – Salem 35
Region 8AAAAA
Buford 58 – North Oconee 3
White County 50 – Chestatee 28
Stephens County 31 – Madison County 10
Monroe Area 14 – North Hall 7
Region 8-AAA
Jackson County 35 – East Jackson 15
Elbert County 41 – Morgan County 7
Hart County 49 – Oconee County 21
Region 8-AA
Greene County 24 – Riverside Military 7
Oglethorpe County 13 – Social Circle 10
Rabun County 22 – Washington-Wilkes 7
Region 7-AAA
Banks County 27 – Dawson County 21
East Hall 34 – Franklin County 7
West Hall 49 – Fannin County 0
Demorest, GA – The Piedmont College women’s soccer team caught lightning in a bottle Friday afternoon to pull off a dramatic 2-1 win over visiting Greensboro College at Walker Athletic Complex. With the sun just setting in Demorest, it was defender Elizabeth Gale who would not let midnight toll on her team’s chance at a win at home as she scored the golden goal that handed Piedmont the 1-goal win and another USA South victory.
After a scoreless first half that featured only five shots, fans at Walker Athletic Complex thought perhaps the two squads would continue to stay quiet on a Friday afternoon of USA South soccer action. However, Piedmont had other ideas putting together a spectacular combination play through the air that featured several Lady Lions keeping possession before Savannah Castles would finally volley away the cross from senior Shayna Rogers.
Castles’ 7th goal of the season put Piedmont up 1-0 in the 53rd minute as Rogers collected yet another assist, her 7th of the season as she leads the team in that category. However, despite taking the 2nd half lead and applying a great deal of pressure on the Greensboro defense with three corners and two shots in the next six minutes, the Pride would manage to score against the run of play on a strong breakaway chance in the 65th minute to level the board.
It was the Pride’s Allison Gibson who tallied the score, the USA South’s reigning Player of the Week after earning seven points in a 2-0 showing for the squad last week. Now tied at 1-1, Piedmont had a chance with two shots in the waning minutes to win in regulation, but a save from Greensboro’s Jessica Thatcher kept it even and sent the two in overtime to decide a victor.
For Piedmont, it would be the third overtime contest of the season as the Lady Lions had already picked up a win in OT against Ferrum earlier in the season before battling Methodist to a 0-0 draw over 110 minutes in Fayetteville a few games later.
With the game hanging in the balance, Piedmont had the better of the period as a well placed pass from Megan Hatfield midway through the OT found a waiting Kalyn Dumanowsky whose effort went just over the bar. However, just a few moments later, it would this time be Dumanowsky acting as the creator as she found herself in nearly the exact same spot with just more than 45 seconds remaining on the clock.
It was then that the sophomore heard the voice of Elizabeth Gale, better known as “E” to her Lady Lion teammates, who was making the attacking run from the right back position with the Greensboro defense still shifting to cover. Dumanowsky laid the ball into Gale’s run almost perfectly as the outside back, who had come on as a sub just a few minutes earlier, laced a shot just over the head of Thatcher and into the back of the net sending the Lady Lions onto the field with the golden goal winner, 2-1.
For the junior defender, the goal is the first of her Piedmont career and came at the perfect time with Piedmont moving now to 12-4-1 overall and now 8-1-1 in conference play. The Lady Lions now sit in 2nd place in the USA South standings with 25 points through ten games, but only three points clear of 3rd place Maryville.
Piedmont will not have long to rest as the Lady Lions play host to Averett University, another USA South member, on Saturday, Oct. 25, at Walker Athletic Complex. Kickoff is set for 4:30 pm and action will be carried live on the Mane Event Broadcasting Network.
Demorest, GA – The Piedmont College men’s soccer team could not hold off the best team in the league as visiting Greensboro College handed the Lions a 5-0 loss Friday at Walker Athletic Complex. The result is the most lopsided loss for PC in 2014 and largest margin of defeat since last year’s season-ending 5-0 loss to Methodist in the USA South Quarterfinals.
Greensboro’s George Dimopoulos scored two in the first half while Drew Clukey added another for the visitors who held a 3-0 lead at halftime against the Lions. Piedmont was outshot 13-3 in the first 45 minutes as the Pride took control early earning seven corners in the first half while the Lions did not take a single one.
Piedmont’s Kenneth Hearn would come up with five saves in the opening half, but it was not enough as Greensboro took its three goal advantage into the second period before adding a fourth in the 58th minute as Chris Gage fired home a Scott Faytol corner kick service. Now up 4-0, the Pride made it worse in the waning moments getting a brilliant strike from Asa Britten in the 85th to seal the 5-0 win on the road.
PC was led in shots by a quartet of players who each took one as the Lions trailed in the shot column 17 to four overall. Only one strike came on frame for PC on the afternoon with Kofi Bates accounting for the effort.
Picking up the loss in league play, the Lions are now an even 4-4 in league play and sit now at 7-9 overall. Greensboro, meanwhile, strengthens its stranglehold on the top of the table as the Pride puts its total at 24 points through nine games, five points clear of 2nd place.
The loss sets up a tough test for Saturday as Averett University visits Walker Athletic Complex for a 2:00 pm kickoff on Oct. 25. The Lions dropped a 2-goal decision to the Cougars in 2013 on the road.
Averett is coming off a 1-0 loss to Covenant College just this afternoon. Action against the Cougars will be carried live on the Mane Event Broadcasting Network.
The Nov. 4 General Election is next week. If you want to avoid potential lines and cast your ballot early there’s still time.
Early voting continues through Oct. 31. Hours are Monday-Friday from 8am-5pm at the County Elections and Registration Office located in the basement of the old courthouse at 555 Monroe Street.
Advance Voting begins Monday, Oct. 27 and runs through Oct. 31. Hours are Monday-Friday from 8am-7pm at the Ruby C. Fulbright Aquatic Center and Historic Cornelia Depot. The Aquatic Center is located at 120 Paul Franklin Road/Toccoa Hwy. in Clarkesville. The Depot is located at 102 Clarkesville Street in Cornelia.
If you cast your ballot early you may do so at any of the locations listed above regardless of where your regular voting precinct is located. If you wait to cast your ballot on election day you must vote at your regularly assigned precinct.
If you’re unsure of which precinct you’re assigned to, contact the county elections office at 706-839-0170 or visit www.mvp.sos.ga.gov online.
I’ve known him since he was born. When he was young he was close friends with my son and they often hung out together on my parent’s Christmas tree farm outside of Clarkesville. Whenever those two boys got together the conversation among us adults usually went something like this. “Uh, where are the boys?” “I thought you were watching them.” “They were right here a second ago.” And then, “Oh nooooo…” our voices trailing off as we rushed out the door in search of them.
We usually didn’t have to go far. More often than not we would find them in the backyard or my dad’s workshop engaged in some kind of mischief or cover up. Windows busted by baseballs (can’t imagine who did it), golf balls scattered throughout the farm (‘we’ll pick them up’…sure), spray paint on the sidewalk (why?). Once, they took the slide off the playset because they thought it would be more fun to jump seven-feet to the ground than to slide. That playset never was the same after that. Hatchets and hammers and screwdrivers and nails pretty much did it in. It went to the scrap yard when there was no ‘play’ left in its ‘set.’
Oh, and then there was that really nasty go-cart wreck that involved a sliced leg and stitches.
HCHS sophomore Tyler Coulter of Clarkesville wants to become a firefighter. He watched as local firefighters put out a gas fire during an exhibition/training exercise Thursday at the Habersham County Fairgrounds.
Yes, when those two boys got together we adults were always on guard. So imagine my surprise when I ran into this young boy, now a teenager, and discovered his dream is to become a firefighter. When he told me, I did a double-take. “Really?” I thought maybe it was a joke. I waited for the punch line. There wasn’t one. He really does want to become a firefighter; so much so, in fact, that at 17 he’s already working towards it. He’s in the Explorers Program which prepares young people for careers in public safety. By this time next year he could be a tested, trained, on-duty volunteer firefighter. “Hopefully I can volunteer for a couple of years and then, after college, I’ll be a full-time firefighter,” he told me. It can be dangerous work. I asked if that scares him, “It has at times,” he responded, “but I feel like it’s something I’ve always wanted to do and, hopefully, I can conquer it.” The confidence in his voice tells me he can.
I left our conversation thinking about the dangerous profession he’s chosen. It’s not the one I would have picked for him, nor, I’m sure, his mother, but it’s his life, his future, his choice.
That got me thinking about all of the other young men and women who choose similar career paths – firefighting, law enforcement, the military. The understandable satisfaction derived from helping others can quickly dissolve into the not-so-understandable possibility of sacrifice. Mothers, brothers, husbands, sisters, fathers and wives putting their lives on the line daily: Their families never knowing for certain, one day to the next, whether they’ll come home.
It’s a lot to wrap your head and heart around; why anyone would willingly, eagerly, choose such a dangerous job. It makes you pause and wonder, “Could I do that? Would I do that?”
Our public safety professionals pledge to serve, protect and defend us and we gladly let them. We despise those flashing blue lights when they’re in our rear view mirror but, oh, how we welcome them when we’re in trouble. We complain about fire insurance rates and tax dollars spent on new equipment but, oh, how we want those trucks and that water running when our house is burning down to the ground. We debate whether to approve a penny- on-the-dollar tax to replace old ambulances and support medical services but we expect that ambulance to arrive and those hospital doors to open when we need them.
Come to think of it, public safety work is not only dangerous, it can be thankless. When these professionals do their jobs right they receive little praise, but when something goes wrong, oh, how the critics swarm.
We hold our public safety officials to extra high standards. We expect and demand of them the utmost in professionalism and conduct. I believe that is fair given that so much lies in the balance. While most of us deal with deadlines and bottom lines on our jobs, these men and women deal with our lives, often standing in the gap between life and death. Yes, we should expect a lot from our public safety officials but we also should balance those expectations against the fact they are human. Mistakes will sometimes be made. Accidents will sometimes occur. As long as they are trained, professional and doing their best, honestly, what more can we expect? What more do we want? After all, they are doing what so many of us could not…would not…be willing or able to do ourselves.
I worry about my son’s friend’s chosen profession. I worry for his safety when he becomes a firefighter. But thank goodness there are people out there like him.
Thank goodness there are those who see fire and run to it rather than from it. Thank goodness there are those who race to help victims in accidents. Thank goodness there are those who stop us on the road to remind us it could be us in that wreck. Thank goodness there are those who calmly deal with frantic cries for help over the phone. Thank goodness there are those who fight terrorists on foreign soil and fight the bad guys here at home. Thank goodness, no, thank God, there are public safety professionals in our community who are willing to risk it all for all of us.
MIGNON HUMPHREY BRUCE, 95, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother; faithful servant of God, patron of the arts, activist, educator and wonderful friend—finished a long journey Tuesday, October 14, 2014, at Habersham County Medical Center after a long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.
HCHS students Mary McKay and Nathan Alligood won the award for Outstanding Editing for a video they produced on Ten Cate. They were joined by Ten Cate executives, HCHS media teacher, Jeff Johnson, and NGTC president Dr. Gail Thaxton in receiving the award.
Ten Cate Human Resources Manager Randall Adams and Vice President of Manufacturing Ken Guest joined HCHS video instructor Jeff Johnson, students Mary McCay and Nathan Alligood and NGTC president Dr. Gail Thaxton for Thursday’s award ceremony in Clarkesville.
The groundbreaking crew for Piedmont’s new student residence project included representatives from the college, City of Demorest, Habersham County, the Chamber of Commerce, and Juneau Construction Company.
The Georgia FOP donated seven ballistic vests to the Baldwin Police Department.
Pictured (l-r), Jerry Neace, mayor, Joe Rivard, Shane Adams, Lowell McNeal, Chief Chad Nichols, Tommie Perry, city administrator, and Donald McDuffie, state FOP chaplain.
A Mount Airy woman has been issued two citations after striking a pedestrian in the school drop-off lane at Wilbanks Middle School last week. The Georgia State Patrol says 42-year old Wanda Miller struck a teacher after dropping off a child at the school.
The accident happened Oct. 14 in the crosswalk at Wilbanks Middle School in Demorest. The driver was cited. The teacher was treated for minor leg injuries.
According the the GSP incident report, Miller was driving a silver 2008 Mazda passenger van through the school drop off zone at approximately 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 14. She stopped in front of the marked crosswalk and let a passenger out of the van, then proceeded into the crosswalk, where she struck 32-year old Lori Defoor of Demorest. Defoor is a teacher at Willbanks Middle School.
The report states, “After the passenger exited, (Miller) continued east into the crosswalk and stuck a pedestrian. The pedestrian was pushed forward out of the crosswalk before (Miller) stopped. (Miller) stopped while the pedestrian moved herself out of the roadway towards the safety of the school entrance … then drove off and left the scene.”
No ambulance transport was required, but Defoor did seek medical treatment at Habersham Medical Center for treatment of unspecified, non-life threatening injuries to her leg.
The GSP report says Miller was contacted by school officials after the accident and returned to the school to be questioned by Trooper 1st Class Travis Sanders. Miller reportedly told Sanders she did not know she had struck Defoor. The report reads, “Driver denied any knowledge of striking a pedestrian. She did, however, state that she had seen the pedestrian before she struck her and after she struck her, but was not aware she struck her.”
Trooper Sanders issued Miller a citation for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk and a citation for leaving the scene of an accident with injury.
A close-up view of Trooper T. Sanders' patrol car following the collission.
A Georgia State Patrol Trooper has been issued an official reprimand for his involvement in a wreck that occurred on Sept. 29 in Cornelia.
A GSP patrol car rear-ended Linda Mather’s Honda Element in an accident on Cannon Bridge Road in Cornelia.
A GSP Patrol car, driven by Trooper First Class Travis Sanders, struck the rear bumper of a 2003 Honda Element driven by Linda Mather, causing disabling damage to the vehicle. Mather, a PREP teacher at Clarkesville Elementary, was transported by ambulance to Habersham Medical Center for observation and medical tests. No sustained injuries were reported, though Mather did say she felt “very sore” following the accident and later reported experiencing vision and thought-processing difficulties. Mather says the damage to her car was extensive and her insurance company declared it was totaled.
Both vehicles had to be towed following the wreck on Sept. 29.
Following GSP protocol for trooper-involved collisions, a GSP crash review board investigated the circumstances of the wreck. “The crash was determined to be a non-emergency, preventable crash,” post commander SFC M. Chad Johnson told Now Habersham on Wednesday, adding that the review board recommended that Sanders “be given a documented verbal warning due to the fact that this was his first at-fault crash.”
A view from inside Mather’s car after the accident. Insurance adjusters declared the Honda Element “totaled” due to frame damage.
Johnson says speed was not a factor in the wreck. On-scene statements made by Sgt. David Lunsford at the time of the collision termed the wreck the result of “following too close.”
GSP protocol is to handle trooper-involved wrecks administratively. Sanders was not ticketed or fined.
