Band Students Make All-District

    On Saturday, January 31, three band students will be attending All-District Band.  Lucas Morris made 7th chair Concert, Junior; Grayson Viars made 2nd chair Symphonic, Junior; Jessie Ritz made 2nd chair Symphonic, Junior.  There were also many people who made alternate chairs.  Trevor Tidwell made 2nd alternate, Senior; Emily Cook made 2nd alternate, Senior; Emily Dix made 4th alternate, Junior; Cameron Bear made 1st alternate, Junior.

-Jessie Ritz

New Chuck Taylors Line Unveiled

"Shoes are boring; sneakers are iconic." This line is the slogan for Converse brand Chuck Taylors. A new line of Converse has been released to the public, but these aren't your average converse. What makes this line different is that the designs show album designs of metal legends Black Sabbath. The designs shown on the Chuck Taylors include the band’s albums Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Vol. 4, and Never Say Die. However, this isn’t the first time Black Sabbath Converse have been sold. Back in 2008, for the 100th anniversary of Converse, All-Stars released Converse similar to the ones available now, but with We Sold Our Souls for Rock N Roll as an available one, as well as World Tour 1978. However, it would be great if there were Sabbath Bloody Sabbath ones available as well.

Since Chuck Taylors and All-Stars are different models of Converse, there are more Black Sabbath ones to get. Metalheads, dedicated Black Sabbath fans like myself, and hipsters, ironic or not, will be up to buy the new shoes. I mean, anyone can get a t-shirt with Ozzy Osbourne on it or pick up Paranoid, but since the Chuck Taylors are the latest merchandise, there will be more sales and merchandise to collect.

Check out EveryJoe and Rolling Stone for more information!

-Catherine Cober

Literary Spotlight: "The Brink of Dawn" by Catherine Cober

     Midnight, the clock read.  Dawn sat atop her oak-wood desk, the blinding light of her laptop and pounding drums of the song her radio played keeping the girl awake.  Dawn's curly brown hair fell to her feet, golden hazel eyes blinking rarely.

     Dawn mindlessly clicked links, searching for something to write about.  She grabbed her energy drink, accidentally spilling a little on her Steel Damsel shirt and black sweats.  

*CLICK*

     Everything went black.  The radio went silent, the laptop was still on, but the internet was conked out.  Dawn shut her laptop, then dragged herself into bed, finally to get some shut-eye.  Just as Dawn fell asleep, another click!  As the guitar solo from "Iron Man" blasted on the radio, everything came back on.

     "Oh, come on!" Dawn shouted.

The “Streak” Continues!

The Rural Retreat wrestling team's three-year undefeated streak continued with wins over Northwood, Patrick Henry, and Chilhowie. Undefeated wrestlers of the night were Trey Boyd, Ty Boyd, Jacob Wynn, Caleb Snider, and Leighton Powell.

To say the team is doing well is an understatement. The team has looked really well this season, considering the team is young. The team has a total of six freshmen and five sophomores. The wrestling team still has high hopes of bringing home the school’s first state championship in February.

-Jacob Wynn

JV and Varsity Baseball Preview

As basketball season moves forward, baseball season is on its way. The Varsity team has two senior players returning to help the Indians to a successful season. These individuals are Jackie Burton and Jordan Corvin. Many other talents will be on the Varsity team this year; examples are W.K Dalton, Wyatt Sowers, Jackson Sowers, Austin Akers, and Marques Hensley. Coached by Coach Hughes, this team is looking to make a stand in the Hogoheegee district this year, against powerhouses Holston and Chilhowie. I predict them to be a contender and have a winning record. JV is having a lot of talent return this year, and some joining. Players returning are Brian Patrick, Jamie Phillippi, Trent O’Neil, Blake Holmes, Tyler Foster, Will Montgomery, and Corey Hayes. Keep in mind that JV does not have a district tournament, and whoever has the best regular season record will win the district. The Rural Retreat JV team will be testing the skill of the Hogoheegee this year, with new players coming up, like Jacob Davis, Tray Winborne, Jacob Atwell, Cameron Bear, and 8th grader Tyler Fiscus has talked about possibly skipping his 8th grade season to play for JV. Whatever happens, this will be a good year for the baseball teams for RR.

-Blake Holmes

Shocking Championship Contenders?

This NCAA men’s basketball season has had all kinds of up-starts, such as Iowa State, Wichita State, Memphis, Arizona, and UMass. The Iowa State Cyclones are the number nine team in the nation and a strong contender for the NCAA Championship in Cowboys Stadium during March Madness. According to ESPN, this team has gone 14-1 during the first half of the season, and plays Kansas, their biggest challenge yet, on Monday, January 13 at Iowa State. They are led by Melvin Ejim, the senior forward from Toronto. He is averaging 18.0 points per game, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. Next up: Wichita State-- they aren’t called the Wichita State Shockers for nothing. They may not have the toughest schedule, but they are 17-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference, and number six in the nation. This team is coming off of a Final Four appearance last year as a number nine seed, and is making a statement. Cleanthony Early, a senior forward from New York, is averaging 16.6 PPG and 6.9 RPG. Memphis is also up; and they have made a big comeback. After being hit with many recruiting charges thanks to Coach John Calipari leaving right before this happened, they have become a ranked team. They are 10-3, and number 24 in the nation. Their stat leader is Joe Jackson, a senior guard and his hometown is Memphis. He averages 14.7 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 3.9 APG. Arizona is not a huge shocker this year, as they are always good. However, nobody expected them to be 17-0 and on top of the NCAA Top 25. Their stat leader is huge upstart Aaron Gordan, the freshman forward from San Jose, CA. He is averaging 12.2 PPG and 7.9 RPG, and is taking his team far. The biggest surprise of all is UMass being ranked. Yes, it is happening, as they are 12-1 and making a stand in the NCAA this year. Chaz Williams, the guard from Brooklyn, averages 15.4 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 7.5 APG this season. Will one of these teams win it all in Dallas, or will someone else take it? All we know for sure is that these teams are hot, and when an NCAA team gets hot, it’s hard to stop.

-Blake Holmes

2014 RRHS Gridiron Overview

During a great weekend of NFL Divisional match-ups, there is no better time to look at our own Rural Retreat Indians 2014 team than now. Next season there will be multiple playmakers returning to the varsity from this past season. Certain players, like tailback and linebacker Stone Mullins and linebacker and guard Michael Addison, are just scratching the surface, however. This varsity team of 2014 will house the 12 JV players that started the season off slow in the new offensive scheme but blew out opponents as they began to grasp the system.

Soon-to-be Junior Quanté Ford, along with newspaper staff member Isaiah Addair, will be returning to the field after missing a year due to injury, and they are both more than ready to play. The starting lineup, based on the 2012 JV team made up of the same players, will probably look as follows:

(Note: This is just a projection based on the snaps taken by each player during the aforementioned 2012 season; first player(s) listed for each position are projected starter(s)):

Offense

· QB- Wyatt Sowers

· TB1- Stone Mullins

· TB2- Nolan Ryan

· H-Back1- Tyler "Squid" Woodward

· H-Back2- Skylar Miles

· LT- Jared Durrance

· LG-Zach Smith

· C- Michael Addison

· C- Josh Copenhaver

· RG- Quanté Ford

· RT- Matt Deel

· RT- Austin Akers

· WR1- Jackson Sowers

· WR2- Isaiah Addair

· TE- Will Montgomery

· TE- Tanner Cox

· TB/WR- Anthony Hawthorne

Defense

· DE- Zach Smith

· DE- Quanté Ford

· DT- Jared Durrance

· DT- Matt Deel

· DT- Austin Akers

· DE/DT- Josh Copenhaver

· LB- Stone Mullins

· LB-Skylar Miles

· LB- Nolan Ryan

· LB- Will Montgomery

· LB- Tanner Cox

· LB- Michael Addison

· LB- Tyler "Squid" Woodward

· CB- Anthony Hawthorne

· CB- Isaiah Addair

· CB- Wyatt Sowers

· S- Jackson Sowers

Special Teams

· K- Josh Copenhaver

· P- Skylar Miles

· KR- Stone Mullins

· KR-Nolan Ryan

· PR- Anthony Hawthorne

· PR- Skylar Miles

-Isaiah Addair