SPORTS

Dodge County Indians tame Lamar County, 38-0
By Joey Marchant
The Dodge County Indians may finally be hitting their stride. A week after shutting out Monticello, the Indians blanked Lamar County by a score of 38-0. You have to go back to 2007 to find Dodge recording consecutive shutouts. The 2007 team under the leadership of Coach Greg Robinson recorded five consecutive shutouts. Let’s be honest. Monticello and Lamar County are two of the weakest teams in Region 3AA this year. However, it is impressive any time you can shut out your opponent.
Tyrese Johnson took the opening kickoff back 31 yards to the Dodge 36 yard line. On the second play from scrimmage, Hunter Kirkley hit Johnson on a 39 yard pass play to the Lamar 22 yard line. The drive would ultimately stall, and Mason Mangham kicked a 25 yard field goal to give Dodge a 3-0 lead.
Lamar County fumbled on their second play from scrimmage, and Landynn Powers recovered the ball for Dodge at the Lamar 23 yard line. The Dodge Offense could not move, and Mangham missed a 44 yard field goal attempt. Lamar took possession of the ball, but Dodge forced a three and out. Kade Harpe fair caught the punt to give Dodge the ball at the Trojan 40 yard line. Harpe has done a good job of catching the football in the air and saving Dodge a great deal of yardage since being installed as the punt returner against Monticello. Dodge could not move the football giving up a sack on third down. Mangham got off a 46 yard punt, which Keldrick Beck downed at the Lamar County 1 yard line.
Dodge again forced a three and out, and Harpe fair caught the ball at the Trojan 40 yard line. Daylon Gordon had a 22 yard run. Later Kirkley hit Jalon Jaynes with a 23 yard touchdown pass. Jaynes caught the ball on a wide receiver screen and made the first defender miss. He then found a wall of blockers in Cameron Gooch, Jared Frost and Clay Lee. Jaynes outran the Trojans to the front pylon for the score. Mangham nailed the extra point, and Dodge led 10-0 in the second quarter. The teams then traded punts with Mangham angling one out of bounds at the Trojan 17 yard line.
Lamar was finally able to convert a first down, but soon faced a fourth and two yards to go. The Trojans lined up for the punt but instead snapped the ball to an up back who was immediately tackled by Noah Cummings a yard short of the first down. The official quickly signaled Dodge football, and the chains were moved and reset. Lamar’s head coach then demanded a measurement. The officials huddled and debated amongst themselves. Twice it looked like they would bring out the chains for a measurement. However, eventually the officials came to the same conclusion as the Dodge sideline and fans. You cannot go back and measure after moving the chains.
Dodge took over at the Trojan 31 yard line. After a couple of negative plays, Kirkley handed to Carr who ran 33 yards for a touchdown. Carr lined up as a slot receiver and took the handoff on a sweep left, but he found a crease and cut up field near the left hash mark outrunning everyone to the endzone. Mangham split the uprights on the extra point, and Dodge led 17-0.
Lamar would return the ensuing kickoff to its own 41 yard line and have its best scoring opportunity of the game. After allowing the Trojans to reach the Dodge 15 yard line, the Dodge Defense stiffened. Gordon, Cummings and Monterrius George all converged on the quarterback to sack him back on the 22 yard line, and the clock ran out on the first half with Dodge leading 17-0.
Lamar received to start the second half and came out in a tight formation unlike the spread they would run for most of the game. The change in formation may have thrown the Indians off briefly. Lamar pounded out 3 first downs and reached the Dodge 32 yard line where they faced third down. The Trojan quarterback faked a handoff and rolled left where his pass was intercepted by a leaping Lamarie Mitchell. Another receiver had broken open on a deeper route, but Gordon pressured the quarterback resulting in the shorter pass.
After having been bottled up for most of the night, Gordon would go to work on offense. He had carries of 2 yards and 6 yards before breaking a 58 yard touchdown run. Mangham’s extra point made the score 24-0 Dodge.
A Lamar County penalty assessed on the kickoff allowed Mangham to squib it deep into Trojan territory where the returner stepped out of bounds inside the 10 yard line. The Dodge Defense swarmed to the football forcing a three and out. Harpe fair caught the punt at the Trojan 46 yard line, and a Trojan penalty put the ball at the Trojan 31 yard line. Kirkley hit Beck in the endzone for a 31 yard touchdown pass. Mangham’s extra point made it 31-0 Dodge.
Lamar’s next possession ended when Cameron Mills tipped a pass that was intercepted by Sherman Clay. Dodge could not take advantage of the interception, but Mitchell later blocked a Trojan punt and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown. Mangham’s extra point made the final score Dodge County 38 Lamar 0.
Dodge improves to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in Region play. This sets up a huge home game with Northeast Macon on Friday November 6th at 7:30 pm. Northeast defeated Bleckley County on Thursday night by a score of 37-34. This is the best Northeast team in years. They throw the ball around and score a ton of points. The Raiders are also much improved in the trenches.
The Region 3AA playoff picture is starting to take shape. Southeast Macon, Monticello and Lamar County have all but been mathematically eliminated. This leaves Northeast, Bleckley County, Dodge County and Washington County vying for playoff position. Either team could win the Region at this point. Northeast is currently undefeated in Region play, controls its own destiny and could lock up a Region Championship with a win over Dodge. Northeast has already defeated Washington County and Bleckley County. Washington County and Bleckley County also play this week, so we will know much more about the playoffs on Saturday morning.
Dodge will celebrate Senior Night before the Northeast game, so come out early to honor Senior football players, band members, cheer leaders and ROTC Cadets.



Flag football team sweeps Wildcats, 21-0
By Amy Mullis
On Monday, November 2, the Dodge County High School girls’ flag football team travelled to Locust Grove and earned their third victory of the season with a 21-0 defeat over the Wildcats.
“We have played well and are learning a lot,” said coach Clint Sanders. “The season has been a season of firsts for Dodge County Girls Flag Football.”
Among those are Ileisha Mitchell scoring the first touchdown for girls’ flag football with a 53-yard run and Sydney Powell catching the first ever touchdown pass thrown by Logan White to win the team’s third game in the fourth overtime.
A first achieved in this week’s game was sophomore Elizabeth Sanders pulling the Locust Grove quarterback’s flag in the end zone for the first ever safety.
The junior varsity team also played in Locust Grove Monday night but suffered a tough 2-6 loss.
“We have a big area game against Portal High School next Tuesday,” Sanders said. “We need to keep working hard and continue to improve each week.”



BY RUSS RAGAN
I guess there is good news and bad news this week on the sports scene. The good first, Georgia beat Kentucky 14-2 on the road to set up a top ten showdown against Florida. I guess it’s good news that the Falcons beat Carolina 25-17, but it does hurt the team’s draft next year. The Braves may be looking at an old top prospect to come back for the rotation. Also, on a sad note, we lost a local legend on our own scene.
Let’s start on the college scene as the Dogs used a strong running game and a strong defense to beat Kentucky 14-3. The running game was led by red shirt sophomore Zaneir “Zeus” White, as he had 26 carries for 136 yards, both career highs. The defense was led by Richard Lecoute, who had 13 tackles. Now, for the bad news, Stetson Bennett was not good on six more. He had another pair of interceptions to go with his three a game ago against Alabama. I just don’t see the Dogs beating Florida with him in the game. I hope I am wrong. On a note that may be worse defensive standout Lecente is out for several weeks due to a motorcycle injury that he got Saturday night in Athens. Things aren’t adding up good for the weekend in Jacksonville.
The Falcons won their second game of the year both on the road as they got a 25-17 win at Carolina. They did nothing special, as Matt Ryan threw no touchdowns for the third time this year. He did run for one though. Julio Jones had a strong game with 137 yards. The defense did have three sacks and an interception so that’s not bad. It does hurt the draft position. They have a very winnable game this week, their last, against Denver.
Remember, talking about the needed veteran-starting pitcher for the Braves?
They are reportedly after one and it’s their former top prospect Adam Wainwrights. The 39-year-old Brunswick native was the Braves number one pick in the 2000 draft. He was traded to St. Louis for J.D. Drew. The Braves got a great year out of Drew but he left as a free agent. He would be a good pickup for the Braves, but it will be hard to get him away from the Cardinals.
We have to end things on a sad note this week. Recreation department legend James “Red” Roland died over the weekend. Red was a part of the Dodge sports scene for decades. He was a fixture at the recreation department and was a ball boy for the Indian’s football team for many years. He was a fixture on the softball scene for many years. Roland was also the biggest, and only, Dodger fan I knew. I hope he got some joy out of big blue getting their first championship in 30 years recently. He will be missed by all.