Wildcats lose sixth straight, fall to Stephens Co.

Rabun Co. Baseball, Sports, Team FYN Sports
Wildcats

The early-season woes for the Rabun Co. baseball team continued Wednesday, March 4, in a 13-2 loss to Class 4A’s Stephens Co. in Tiger.

Rabun Co. (0-6, 0-2 Region 8-AA) stayed closed early before, leading 3-1 in the top of the fourth inning, the Indians (4-4) blew the game open with three runs to take a 6-1 lead.

Rabun Co. managed to add another run in the bottom of the fifth, but Stephens Co. scored two in the sixth and five more in the seventh to earn the big win.

Sophomore Gunner Stockton led the Wildcats at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a triple, a double, and a run scored.

Stockton’s run came after a one-out triple in the bottom of the fifth with Rabun Co. trailing 6-1.

Facing a full count, Stockton blasted a line drive to center field and ended up standing on third base. On the next at-bat, Brady Wilson hit a line-drive single to left field on the first pitch, scoring Stockton and cutting the lead to 6-2.

Wilson went 2-for-3 on the day with an RBI and a double.

Jon Sego and Brody Jarrard each added a hit for Rabun Co., with Sego adding an RBI and a double.

Clint Green added a run scored for the Wildcats.

Sego’s RBI and Green’s run came in the bottom of the second inning.

With one out, Green reached first on a fielder’s choice, he advanced to second after Grant Britton drew a walk.

With two runners on base and two out, Sego knocked a groundball into left field with an 0-1 count, allowing Green to score and the Wildcats to score their first run of the game and cut the lead to 2-1.

That was as close as Rabun Co. got to the lead in the game, as Stephens Co. scored in the top of the third to go up 3-1.

The Wildcats next play a region doubleheader with Putnam Co. (4-4, 1-1) beginning at 5 p.m., Friday, March 6, in Tiger.

Peyton Backer plays for Georgia Southern in bowl game

Rabun Co. Football, Team FYN Sports
Wildcats
Peyton Backer

Peyton Backer is an offensive lineman for Georgia Southern and is a Rabun Co. High graduate.

Rabun Co. High graduate Peyton Backer played for Georgia Southern in the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl against Liberty on Saturday, Dec. 21.

Backer, who is a redshirt sophomore, played in all 13 games for the Eagles (7-6, 5-3 Sun Belt) this season. Georgia Southern lost the bowl game, 23-16.

Backer was a two-time all-state selection for the Wildcats during his high school career.

Backer is the son of Ryan and Shelly Backer, and has two siblings, Brew and Brett.

Wildcats fall to Bulldogs in state quarterfinals

Rabun Co. Football, Team FYN Sports
Wildcats

A furious Wildcats comeback effort in the fourth quarter wasn’t enough for top-ranked Rabun Co. to erase being outscored 21-0 in the third during a 38-24 loss at Thomasville on Friday night in the quarterfinals of the Class AA state playoffs.

The loss was the first of the season for the Region 8-AA champion Wildcats (12-1) who were led Friday night as they have been all season by sophomore quarterback Gunner Stockton.

Trailing 35-10 entering the fourth quarter, Stockton and the offense went to work. The sophomore threw touchdowns passes of 10 yards (to Cory Keller) and 30 yards (to Braxton Hicks), while the defense held the home team Bulldogs to a field goal in the period.

Wildcats

Sophomore quarterback Gunner Stockton threw two touchdowns in the loss to Thomasville.

Stockton finished the night 16-of-24 for 316 yards and two touchdowns. He finished the 2019 campaign with 3,462 yards and 43 touchdowns passing with a nearly 75 percent completion percentage.

Despite the good numbers, Stockton was on the run most of the night from a Thomasville defense that Rabun Co. head coach Jaybo Shaw said his team had a “hard time blocking.”

Stockton was sacked or dropped for a loss 10 times on the night. He also lost a fumble in the first quarter and threw an interception while on the run in the third quarter.

“We knew going in we were going to have our hands full,” Shaw said of the Bulldogs’ defensive front. The defense is a big part of the reaon the Bulldogs won Region 1-AA this season.

Rabun Co. broke the scoreless tie just 48 seconds into the game on their third play from scrimmage. Keller broke through that tough defensive line and burst 50 yards into the end zone to give the visiting Wildcats the 7-0 lead.

Thomasville answered later in the quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run, and then scored again midway through the second quarter to a take 14-7 lead.

Rabun Co. responded with a 63-yard, five-play drive that ended with an 18-yard field goal from Edwin Diaz to close the gap to 14-10.

Then the third quarter happened.

Thomasville scored 21 unanswered points in the period, including a blocked punt by Kevin Cochran on Stockton.

After scoring on a 54-yard screen pass on their first possession of the quarter, Cochran broke through to knock down Stockton’s punt on Rabun Co.’s first. The ball was scooped up by Thomasville’s Ricky Fulton, who scampered 16 yards into the end zone to put the score at 28-10.

The home team added a third score in the quarter on a 12-yard run to go up 35-10 heading into the final frame.

In the fourth quarter, the offense scored on Keller’s catch and the defense held Thomasville to a 35-yard field goal to make the score 38-17 with 8:24 to go.

Stockton struck again to Hicks with 6:50 to go, but Thomasville held on from there to earn a spot in the semifinals.

They will host Dumblin next Friday, Dec. 6.

With the loss, Rabun Co.’s season comes to an end.

 

Hicks commits to the University of Georgia

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Hicks

Braxton Lee Hicks, a senior at Rabun County High, is headed to play football for Coach Kirby Smart at the University of Georgia in Athens.

He made the announcement Sunday via Twitter saying: “After talking to Coach Smart, it’s a done deal! I’m 100% committed to the University of Georgia.”

Hicks

Rabun County High wideout Braxton Lee Hicks, right, is pictured with University of Georgia head coach Kirby Smart. Kicks has committed to join the Bulldogs as a preferred walk-on next season.

Hicks will join the Bulldogs as a preferred walk-on for next season, earning him a great shot at making the main squad for the 2020 season.

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound wideout was extended the offer more than two weeks ago after “a great conversation” with Georgia Associate Head Coach and Offensive Line Coach Sam Pittman.

“I’m very excited to say that I have been offered a (preferred walk-on position) to the University of Georgia,” Hicks tweeted Oct. 25.

The senior will bring a winning mindset to Athens. He and the Wildcats have won region titles all four years of his high-school career.

Through 10 games this season, Hicks has 879 yards and nine touchdowns on 46 receptions as the main target of sophomore quarterback Gunner Stockton, who himself is already receiving the interest of college programs as the top-ranked national quarterback of the 2022 class.

Hicks has put up impressive numbers during his four years with the varsity squad.

With at least one game still to play this season, Hicks has amassed 3,153 yards on 164 catches and 43 touchdowns in 49 games.

Support quickly poured in online once Hicks announced his decision.

Matt Shirley, Hicks’ wide receiver coach and the team’s special teams coach, tweeted “Haven’t been around many with a work ethic like (Hicks)! Super proud of him and the young man he is! The future is bright for you! Can’t wait to see you in Athens!”

Hicks will have a chance this Friday to increase his career numbers as Rabun County heads into the first round of the Class AA state playoffs.

The Wildcats (10-0), the No. 1 seed from Region 8-AA, will host BEST Academy, the No. 4 seed from Region 6-AA, BEST Academy.

The game is set to kickoff at 7:30 p.m. in Tiger.

PLAYOFF PREVIEW: Rabun to host BEST

RCHS Sports, Sports
Wildcats

The Rabun County High football team is used to state playoff football.

In each of the last four seasons, the Wildcats have at least reached the state quarterfinals, including losing the championship game in 2017.

Rabun County has lost just six games in the past four seasons combined and haven’t lost a region game in longer than that.

Rabun

Rabun County sophomore quarterback Gunner Stockton

The offense has put up nearly 44 points per game this season and is led by nationally top-ranked quarterback, sophomore Gunner Stockton.

The 6-foot-1, 196-pounder has offers from more than a dozen Division-I programs. He’s got 2,650 yards and 37 touchdowns in the air this season. On the ground, Stockton has 827 yards and 16 scores as the leading rusher on the team.

On the outside, the Wildcats are led by senior receiver Braxton Lee Hicks, who just recently committed to the University of Georgia.

Rabun

Rabun County senior wideout Braxton Lee Hicks

Hicks has 879 yards and nine touchdowns on 46 catches in 10 games this season.

He’s joined in the receiving corps by senior Sam Adams (493 yards, 12 touchdowns), junior Sutton Jones (437 yards, six touchdowns), and sophomores Hogan Woodard (321 yards, two touchdowns) and Tate Ramey (281 yards, five touchdowns).

On defense, the Wildcats are led by seniors A.J. Wheeler (74 total tackles, two interceptions), Garrett Bragg (71 tackles), Trent Miller (67 tackles), and Phillip Roberson (62 tackles, 6.5 sacks), and juniors Hoff Windham (73 tackles, four sacks) and Brody Jarrard (57 tackles, two interceptions.)

Coming into Tiger on Friday night is the Business Engineering Science and Technology (BEST) Academy, the No. 4 seed from Region 8-AA.

Rabun

Rabun County Head Coach Jaybo Shaw

The Eagles (4-6, 4-3) come in with an offense that’s capable of putting up numbers. They’ve scored 26 or more points in six games this season, including exploding for 58 points two weeks ago against McNair.

BEST is led by junior quarterback Da’von Hixson, who has 846 yards and seven touchdowns this season on 73-for-166 passing. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound Hixson is also a threat to run the ball, amassing four touchdowns and 83 yards on 86 carries in 2019.

The team’s leading running back is sophomore Nique Bell, who has 518 yards on 72 carries with three touchdowns this season. He’s helped by sophomore Khaliq Brock (390 yards, five touchdowns) and senior Giovanni Morgan (259 yards, four touchdowns) in the running back corps.

The Eagles’ leading receiver is senior Qwan’tez London stiggers, who has pulled in 282 yards and three touchdowns on 16 catches this season.

As the numbers indicate, BEST is a run-first team, which should suite a Rabun County defense that is holding opponents to less than 12 points per game in 2019.

The Wildcats and Eagles are set to tee it up beginning at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 15, in Tiger in the first round of the Class AA state playoffs.

For Rabun’s season results and team statistics, click here.

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