CHS football

Photo :Kevin Eckleberry

HEARD VOLLEYBALL

By Kevin Eckleberry

Spencer Campbell has enjoyed the challenge of building a program from scratch.

When Heard County started a brand-new volleyball program in 2019, Campbell was tasked with getting things up and running.

There have been the usual ups and downs associated with a new program, but things are no doubt on the upswing.

While the Lady Braves didn’t post a winning record this season, they more than doubled their win total from the first two years combined.

“We’re starting to build some momentum,” Campbell said after a hard-fought loss to Callaway. “Some of our younger players are growing up.”

Seniors Harleigh Dudley, Zoe Spradlin and Zoey Drew led the way this season, and Campbell was grateful for their contributions.

“We’ve got a couple of seniors that are doing their job, taking care of business,” Campbell said. “They’ve stepped up.”

While the seniors will be missed, the future appears bright with the returning players and the newcomers set to take the court in 2022.

“We’re looking for this program to continue to progress,” Campbell said.

With an eye on the 2022 season, Campbell’s hope is that some of the close losses will eventually turn into wins.

“That’s kind of been our thing all year long is learning to finish,” Campbell said after his team beat Temple, and lost to Callaway. “We did a much better job hitting today, taking care of the ball. We eliminated a lot of our hitting mistakes. That first set, we had some service errors. The same thing in that third set. But if we learn to finish, we’re going to be a tough team to beat out.”

HEARD COUNTY HIGH SCHOOLSOFTBALL

HEARD CHAMPIONS!

Congratulations to the Heard County softball team, which beat Vidalia to capture a second consecutive Class AA state championship. After beating Pepperell and Dodge County in the first two rounds of the playoffs, Heard County won all four of its games in the state finals in Columbus to capture the state championship. Over the past two years, Heard County has a remarkable 17-1 record in the state playoffs. Heard County has won three state championships since 2013 under head coach Matt Hornsby. Leading the way for Heard County were seniors Zekylah Boyd, Mackenzie White, Emma Helton, Janiyah Strong, Abigail Lathrop, Courtney Cannon and Brianna Hill, most of whom were fouryear starters. Best of luck to the seniors, as well as to the returning players who’ll go for a three-peat in 2022.

SPONSORED BY HEARD COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM

Congratulations to the Heard County Middle School football team, which won a league championship with a 28-8 victory over Temple at the University of West

Georgia in Carrollton. Heard County beat Bowdon in the semifinals of the league playoffs before taking care of Temple in the championship game.

HEARD COUNTY MIDDLE SCHOOL FOOTBALL FOOTBALL