Sportsbreak

MOUNT VERNON, Ga. – Director of Wrestling and Head Women’s Wrestling Coach, Devane Dodgens has announced the addition of Lauren Louive to the Lady Barons’ Coach Staff for the 2022-23 season.

Louive comes to Mount Vernon from Colorado Springs, Colorado as an elite senior-level wrestler. She is currently a member of Team USA and is a 2024 Olympic Hopeful.

“I look forward to working with the student-athletes of Brewton-Parker,” Louive mentioned. “I’m excited to get started and am grateful for this opportunity.”

Louive’s accomplishments on the mat include the 2020 U.S. Open Senior National Championship, multiple Olympic Trials qualifiers, several international championships, and medalist honors. She has helped create history for the sport as the first female to wrestle in the Hawkeye Wrestling Club at the University of Iowa. A full list of her accomplishments can be found here. (Courtesy of BPC)

“We are excited to bring on such a talented wrestler as Lauren to our coaching staff,” Dodgens said. “We are blessed to have someone of her caliber with us. Her accomplishments speak for themselves, and we are ready to #ShockTheNation this year!”

Details: Written by Bob Roberts; Category: Sportsbreak; Published: 27 September 2022; Hits: 28

MOUNT VERNON, Ga. – Director of Wrestling Devane Dodgens has announced the addition of Brandon Warren to the Barons’ Coach Staff for the 2022-23 season.

Warren comes to Brewton-Parker after previously serving as an Assistant Coach at Mount Zion High School in Jonesboro, Georgia.

“I am extremely grateful for this opportunity to support the Brewton-Parker Wrestling Program,” Warren said. “It is a gift to be able to help guide these young men through life with Christ at the forefront and through the sport of wrestling.”

While at Mount Zion, the Dover, Ohio native assisted in the leadership of eight County Championships and six Regional Championships. He helped lead the program to 27 first-time Georgia State Qualifiers and four Georgia State Placers.

“We are glad to add Brandon to our staff,” Dodgens said. “We believe he will be a huge help to the program, and we cannot wait to get him here to begin leading our guys.” (Courtesy of BPC)

Details: Written by Bob Roberts; Category: Sportsbreak; Published: 27 September 2022; Hits: 26

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Antonio Barron rushed for two touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass from Jackson Berry as the Vidalia Indians rolled over the Windsor Forest Knights 36-14 Friday night at Buck Cravey Field, in the Region opener for both teams. The win moved the Indians to 5-0 on the year and 1-0 in Region 3AA play. With the win, the 2022 Indians became just the 9th team to begin the season at 5-0 since 1990.

The Indians wasted little time getting on the board, as Kaleb Bennett took the opening kickoff and raced 78-yards, only to have the score erased by a holding penalty, 15-yards behind the play, which set up the Indians at their own 22-yard line. On the next play, the Indians would turn the ball over on a fumble, giving the Knights a first down on the Vidalia 33-yard line.The Windsor drive was short-lived, though. On the Knights’ 3rd play from scrimmage, Sirmarion Oglesby picked off a Jerimiah Brown pass to give the ball back to the Indians at their own 21-yard line. Nine plays later, Barron would get his first of two rushing touchdowns on the night, a 4-yard run to put the Indians up 6-0, with 6:15 to go in the opening quarter. A bad snap on the PAT was fielded by Berry, who rolled to his right and hit Ronald Pointer in the endzone to give Vidalia an 8-0 lead.

The Indian defense would hold the Knights on their next possession, forcing a punt from their 47-yard line, which only netted 23-yards, giving the Indians the ball at their 30-yard line. The Indians would drive the ball down inside the Windsor Forest 20-yard line, but a holding penalty would put the ball back at the 32-yard line. On the first play of the 2nd quarter, Berry would hit Barron on a 32-yard strike to give Vidalia a 15-0 lead with 11:52 to go in the half.

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Windsor Forest would answer the score with their longest drive of the night, a twelve-play 60-yard drive which was capped off by a 2-yard run by the Knights’ Victor Walker to make the score 15-6, after the Knights failed to convert on a 2-point conversion.

On the ensuing kickoff, Jordan Powell would get the Indian crowd back into the game as he fielded the kick on his own 26-yard line and raced down the Knights sideline 74 yards for the score, to put the Indians on top 22-6 following Adam Crutchfield’s PAT, with 6:52 to go in the half.

The Indian defense would then go to work, holding the Knights inside their own territory, with Ronald Pointer, Carson Turner, Ahmelion Jones, and Aydin Marin all coming up with big plays to shut down the Knights’ ground attack.The Indians would get the ball back at their own 28-yard line following a 32-yard punt and, once again, go to work with under 3:53 to go in the half. After a 1-yard gain on first down, Barron would call his own number, get some good blocking from Duggan Johnson and Tre Adams and race 44-yards to the Windsor 27-yard line.

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Adams would then take the ball and deliver a punishing run to the 12-yard line, setting up a first and ten with 2:33 to go in the half. Following an incomplete pass, Berry would toss it to Barron, who used his speed to turn the corner and outrun the defense to the endzone for his 2nd rushing touchdown of the night. Crutchfield was once again true with his PAT, and with 2:07 to go in the half, Vidalia led 29-6.

The Indians’ final score of the night came from their special teams when Omarion Oglesby scooped up a bad snap on a punt and sprinted 10-yards for the scoop and score, and following another successful PAT from Crutchfield, the Indians led 36-6 with 11:08 to go in the game.

Windsor Forest would close out the scoring with a 3-yard run by Brown, and following a successful 2-point conversion, the final score was Vidalia 36 and Windsor Forest 14.The Indians racked up 353 yards in offense, including 238-yards on the ground, with Barron accounting for 155 on 11 carries and 2 TDs. Berry ended the night with 109 yards and a TD through the air on a 6 of 10 night.

Defensively, Carson turner led the way with 13.5 total tackles, including 2.5 for a loss. Jarques Mitchell added 7.5 total tackles with 2 for a loss, while Marin ended the night with 5 solo stops, including 2 for a loss. Ahmelion Jones had another solid night with 5 solo stops and 2 assists.

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The Indians will once again have a week off before heading to Tattnall County on Thursday, October 6th, for a Region 3AA matchup.

(Pictures Courtesy of Carroll Williams & Pop Pops Photography) (By John Koon Courtesy of Vidalia Athletics)

Details: Written by Bob Roberts; Category: Sportsbreak; Published: 26 September 2022; Hits: 192

(Atlanta, Georgia, September 26, 2022) Today, Georgia Tech announced leadership changes within Athletics. Todd Stansbury, athletics director, and Geoff Collins, head football coach, will both leave their roles effective immediately.

Collins, a metro Atlanta native, was named the 20th head coach in Georgia Tech football history on Dec. 7, 2018. He has had three years of recruiting success while at Georgia Tech, but the program posted a disappointing 10-28 record under his leadership.

“I am grateful to Coach Collins for his hard work and commitment to our student athletes,” said Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera. “Unfortunately, the results of our football program have fallen short of what our loyal community, fans and athletes expect and deserve. We are committed to rebuilding the program and a coaching change is a necessary first step in that process.”

Stansbury was the ninth director of Athletics when he stepped into the role in September 2016. He is an alumnus of Georgia Tech and has helped the program increase its Director’s Cup standings and achieve a school record of 90% NCAA Graduation Success Rate in the most recent data released by the NCAA during the 2021-22 academic year.

“Todd is and will always be an admired and respected member of our community. His dedication to the success of our student athletes and his love for Georgia Tech are admirable,” said Cabrera. “The challenges the athletic program has faced in recent years have grown to a point where we need to try a new approach, and that requires new leadership.”

Frank Neville, chief of staff and senior vice president of Strategic Initiatives, has been named interim director of athletics. He has served in his current role at Georgia Tech since September 2019 and is a member of the Georgia Tech Athletics Association Board of Trustees. Previously, he served 15 years in the U.S. Department of State, was vice president of Global Communication and Public Affairs at the Thunderbird School of Global Management (now part of Arizona State University) and was chief of staff and vice president of Communications and Marketing at George Mason University. He lettered in three sports (baseball, track, and football) at Carleton College, is a former competitive body-builder and martial artist, and was the baseball prospect writer at The Sporting News for 15 years.

Brent Key, assistant head coach for football, has been named the interim head coach. A Georgia Tech alumnus and football letter winner, Key is in his fourth season as the Yellow Jackets’ assistant head coach, run game coordinator, and offensive line coach. In his first three seasons, Georgia Tech’s run game produced an all-American, a pair of all-Atlantic Coast Conference honorees and finished in the top half of the ACC in rushing offense twice. Key has also mentored a pair of all-ACC offensive linemen. He returned to Georgia Tech in 2019 after three seasons as offensive line coach at Alabama (2016-18), where he helped lead the Crimson Tide to two Southeastern Conference championships, three College Football Playoff championship games and the 2017 national title. 

A national search will get underway this week to recruit a new director of athletics and football head coach. Parker Executive Search has been contracted to lead the search.

Press release issued by Georgia Tech.

Details: Written by Jeff Raiford; Category: Sportsbreak; Published: 26 September 2022; Hits: 126

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(Freshman Cash Driggers)

The Indians and Lady Indians returned to competition Saturday in Jones County with cooler temperatures and numerous personal best performances. Coming off the Bulldog Invitational with 98 degree temperatures, we were a little uncertain as to how the athletes would run, but once again they stepped up and competed with some very tough competition.
Georgia Meredith had an amazing race while facing her competition head on. Meredith placed 2nd with a very gutsy race as she nearly ran her personal best at the one mile and 2 mile splits. As a sophomore, she continues impress us with her determination to race and compete with some of the best runners in the state. Aleah Ahohda tied her personal best and J´Miya Hunt bested her previous time by 3 minutes as did A´Miracle Jinks.

The boys had an outstanding day as well with all 13 athletes running their personal best times. The Indians placed 4th as a team to first place Jones County-43 pts, Northside (Warner Robins) -73 pts, Veterans-103 pts, Vidalia-110 pts. Seth MacGregor, Andrew Hodges and Chamlee Evans all ran under 18 minutes earning medals while Jude Owen, Cash Driggers and Abrien Anthony all ran under 19 minutes. With a day like this, it is impossible to call out any single athlete, they competed extremely well and leveled up as a team. These young men have their sights set on the state meet in November and they know what they have to do to make it onto the podium as a team.

It is such a joy and honor to watch these athletes grow and excel. Coach Humphrey and I love watching all these young athletes compete and face challenges head on! The Indians head to Bleckley County Thursday, September 29
Individual results are as follows:

Georgia Meredith-2nd, 20:07-elite performance

Aleah Ajohda-23:38, PR

J´Miya Hunt-27:19, PR

A´Miracle Jinks-30:25, PR

Seth MacGregor- 10th, 17:14, PR

Andrew Hodges- 14th, 17:27, PR

Chamlee Evans- 24th, 17:53, PR

Jude Owen-18:11, PR

Cash Driggers-18:27, PR

Abrien Anthony-18:47, PR

Hunter Loosberg-1923, PR

Roderick Berry-11th JV, 19:40, PR