"I Will Always Love You"

I Will Always Love You: Remembering Dolly Parton

By Dale Hall

Some entertainers become stars. A precious few become part of our lives.

Dolly Parton was one of those.

Today came the sad news that Dolly has passed away at the age of 80. From the recent reports concerning her health, I think a lot of us feared that the news might not be good. Still, knowing something may be coming doesn't make it any easier when it finally does.

For those of us who have been around long enough to remember Dolly before 9 to 5, before Dollywood, before all the awards and before she became simply Dolly to most of America, it feels like we've lost someone who has been somewhere in the background of our lives for as long as we can remember.

I remember Dolly singing on The Porter Wagoner Show. And I remember when she left.

One of the things we want to do at Gnat Country is pretty simple: when somebody is doing good work covering the people, schools, and communities of South Georgia, we want folks to know about it.

That brings us to Phil Jones and the folks at ITG Next – Georgia.

If you follow high school football around these parts, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve already run across Phil’s work. If you haven’t, you probably ought to.

They Aren’t Just Talking About Atlanta

One of the frustrations South Georgia sports fans have had through the years is watching statewide coverage become awfully Atlanta-heavy once you get very far north of Macon.

That’s certainly not the case with ITG Next.

🏈 NFHS Network Just Became a LOT More Useful on Friday Nights

For those of us who try to keep up with high school football all across Gnat Country on Friday nights, NFHS Network’s Multiview feature is a game changer.

Instead of constantly jumping from game to game — and sometimes getting greeted by another commercial every time you switch — Multiview lets you keep four games on the screen at once.

That’s a mighty useful setup when Thomasville, Tifton, Valdosta, Fitzgerald, Bainbridge, Waycross and everybody else seem to be playing at the same time!

💰 And check the annual prices before paying monthly.

NFHS Network currently lists these annual options:

Basic — $79.99/year
One school • Up to 3 sports • One viewer

Family — $89.99/year
One school • All sports • Up to 6 devices

All-Access — $99.99/year
All schools • All sports • Up to 6 devices

For somebody trying to follow teams all over Gnat Country, that $99.99 All-Access option is the one that really catches our attention.

There are also promotional codes circulating right now:

UPGRADEANNUAL26 — reportedly 50% off for eligible members upgrading from monthly to annual.

WELCOMEGOFAN50 — reportedly 50% off the first month for eligible monthly subscriptions.

Promotions can change or have eligibility restrictions, so make sure the discount appears at checkout before completing your purchase.

But the biggest improvement for us isn’t really the coupon.

It’s Multiview.

Four high school football games going at once on a Friday night?

Pull up a chair on The Front Porch.

Now we’re talking.

Worth Your Time 8/23/26

Worth Your Time

Good football coverage from the folks who were there

Pull up a chair on The Front Porch.

Once upon a time, folks sat on the porch with the evening paper, listened to the radio, or waited for the late news to find out what happened around South Georgia.

Nowadays?

We're still sitting on the porch. We're just holding cell phones.

So we're changing the name of our weekly Stories Worth Reading feature to something that better fits the way we actually follow high school football today:

Worth Your Time

We're looking for the best free coverage we can find from across Gnat Country — newspaper stories, television reports, game highlights, interviews, radio shows, podcasts, photographs, school media, independent reporters and anything else that helps tell the story of South Georgia high school football.

If somebody is doing good work covering these kids and communities, we'd like to point you toward it.

And if you have to pull out a credit card before you can see it, we're going to keep looking.

📺 WALB — Locker Room Report

This is exactly the kind of thing we don't want to overlook.

WALB's Week 1 Locker Room Report brings together scores and video highlights from around South Georgia. Their Game of the Week was the long-awaited renewal between Colquitt County and Thomas County Central, but their Friday-night coverage stretched well beyond Thomasville.

Central certainly gave them something to put on television, beating Colquitt 57–21. WALB's scoreboard also had Lowndes over Jenkins 31–6, Valdosta over Jones County 52–14, Coffee over Parkview 49–14, Tift County over Luella 41–0 and the Ware County–Bainbridge thriller that Ware won 22–21.

This isn't just a story to read — the video highlights are the reason to visit.

Watch WALB's Week 1 scores and highlights

WALB also spent part of Friday in Thomasville with its Hometown Tailgate, adding some of the atmosphere surrounding the Colquitt–Central matchup before kickoff.

Stories Worth Reading

Opening Weekend Lights Up Gnat Country

Sunday, August 23, 2026

The first big Friday night of the 2026 high school football season is in the books, and if opening weekend is any indication, we might want to reinforce the rocking chairs on The Front Porch.

Gnat Country gave us blowouts, heavyweight statements, a defending state champion looking very much like a defending state champion, and a couple of games that weren't settled until folks had just about chewed their fingernails down to the knuckle.

As always, Stories Worth Reading isn't about replacing the folks covering these teams. It's about pointing you toward them. These reporters, photographers, broadcasters and sports departments are the people putting in the work. We're just sitting on the porch saying, "Hey, you ought to see this."

And one important rule applies to today's collection:

Every link below was selected because the story or coverage was available without requiring a paid subscription when we checked it.

🏈 Thomas County Central Makes the Loudest Statement

If there was one score Friday night that made everybody around Georgia sit up a little straighter, this was probably it:

Thomas County Central 57, Colquitt County 21.

These two South Georgia powers hadn't played each other in 14 years. When they finally renewed acquaintances at the Jackets' Nest, Thomas County Central didn't exactly ease back into the relationship.

The Yellow Jackets exploded offensively behind quarterbacks Aidan McPherson and Roland Waldrop, with McPherson scoring on a keeper on Central's opening possession and Waldrop connecting deep with Jabari Watkins as the Jackets began building what became a commanding victory.

Taylor Viles and the crew at WCTV have a full free report from Thomasville:

WCTV — Thomas County Central defeats Colquitt County in long-awaited matchup

WCTV also put together its Football Friday Night scoreboard, highlights and reaction package covering South Georgia and the Big Bend.

WCTV — Football Friday Night: Aug. 21 scoreboard and coverage

That's exactly the kind of local television coverage we're looking to send Gnat Country readers toward.

🏡 WHAT WE’RE TRYING TO DO IN GNAT COUNTRY

We want to take a minute and explain what we're trying to build here, because it's really pretty simple.

We're not trying to replace anybody.

South Georgia is blessed with some mighty good people who spend their Friday nights covering our high school teams — radio crews, broadcasters, newspaper reporters, photographers, school media folks, livestream crews, independent sports pages and plenty of others who put in the time week after week.

We want to help people find them.

When somebody is doing quality work covering a team or a game, we want to point down the road and say, "Hey, y'all need to check out what they're doing."

That's really the heart of Gnat Country.

Think of us as sitting on The Front Porch on a Friday night with a bunch of friends.

Somebody might holler, "You ought to hear this radio crew calling the game!"

Somebody else might say, "Look at these pictures somebody just posted from over in Fitzgerald."

Another friend might tell us about a great game happening down around Thomasville, Valdosta, Tifton, Albany, Waycross or somewhere else across Gnat Country.

And naturally, we'll probably argue a little about football. It wouldn't be much of a South Georgia front porch if we didn't. 😂

But through it all, we want to give credit where credit is due and shine a little more light on the people who are already doing good work.

2026 UGA hype video! Music by Nathan Wayne~ Them Dawgs is Hell on Apple Music @nathanwayneofficial on tik tok #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/h6udJZO7jw
— We Are Dawgnation!🐶🔴⚫️ 🏆🏆🏆🏆 (@We_R_Dawgnation) August 22, 2026

It Looks Like NFHS Is Upping Their Game!

You're Friday nights just got even better. 😏

Keep up with more of the action with Multiview, featuring up to four live games on one screen. 🖥️

Stream your games now on NFHS Network ⬇️https://t.co/KoIK8gDCpQ pic.twitter.com/9eVU7FecZr
— NFHS Network (@NFHSNetwork) August 13, 2026

Recruit Watching For 8/21/2026

🏈 GNAT COUNTRY RECRUITS TO WATCH — FRIDAY NIGHT, AUGUST 21

College coaches don’t have to travel very far to find football players in Gnat Country.

Some of South Georgia’s biggest recruits will be under the Friday night lights tonight, including major college commitments and youngsters already attracting national attention.

🔥 George Lamons Jr. — Brooks County — TE — 2027

The 6-foot-4 playmaker is one of the biggest names in Gnat Country and an Auburn commit with offers from many of the country’s top programs. Brooks County travels to Worth County at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

🔥 Lyndon Worthy — Worth County — QB — 2027
One of Georgia’s most accomplished quarterbacks returns after leading Worth County to a 15-0 state championship season, throwing for more than 3,000 yards and 28 touchdowns. He already has more than 9,000 career passing yards. Tonight he gets Brooks County at home. (ITG Next)

Help! We Are Creating A Directory Of High School Football Broadcasts & Need Your Help

🏈 GNAT COUNTRY FOOTBALL — 2026 WATCH & LISTEN DIRECTORY 🎙️📺

Can't make it to the stadium on Friday night? Gnat Country is putting together a directory of places where you can watch or listen to South Georgia high school football this season.

This is a work in progress. If your school, radio station, student broadcast crew or local network isn't listed, tell us where to find your broadcast and we'll add it.

🎙️ LOCAL & INTERNET AUDIO

Berrien Rebels
🎙️ The Berrien Network
🌐 Mixlr/internet audio

Lee County Trojans
🎙️ Trojan Radio
🌐 Mixlr/internet audio

Ware County Gators
📻 105.1 The KUB
📺 NFHS Network

Lowndes Vikings
🎙️ Voice of the Vikings
📻 Black Crow Media network

Fitzgerald Purple Hurricane
📻 WRDO 96.9 FM / online audio

Coffee Trojans
📻 101.9 The Rocket/WPNG — local Trojan coverage

Appling County Pirates
📻 WBYZ Z-94 — Pirate sports coverage

We're continuing to verify the current 2026 radio/internet outlets for Tift County, Valdosta, Colquitt County, Thomas County Central, Thomasville, Cairo, Bainbridge, Brooks County, Worth County, Cook, Crisp County, Brunswick, Pierce County and many more.

📺 WATCH ONLINE

🦟 GNAT COUNTRY FOOTBALL

Week 1 — Top 7 Games & Complete Weekend Schedule

August 20–22, 2026

The waiting is over.

Friday night lights are coming back on across Gnat Country, from the Chattahoochee to the Atlantic and everywhere south of that Columbus-Macon-Augusta line.

And what an opening weekend we've got.

State championship contenders. Old rivals. Small-town showdowns. Private-school powers. And one heavyweight collision in Thomasville that earns our first Gnat Country Game of the Week designation.

🏆 GNAT COUNTRY GAME OF THE WEEK

1. Colquitt County at Thomas County Central

Friday, 7:30 p.m. — The Jackets' Nest, Thomasville

You could make a good case for three different games this week, but we're going with the big one.

Colquitt County. Thomas County Central.

🚨 WHAT JUST HAPPENED!? Total chaos on the restart at @FlorenceSpdwy with 90 laps remaining in the @lucasdirt North/South 100!#LucasDirt pic.twitter.com/M7FXPuBEX5
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) August 9, 2026

What An Unusual Play

Ronald Acuna hit an unusual home run last night 🔥 pic.twitter.com/FBYEE2ci6N
— Everything Georgia (@GAFollowers) August 8, 2026

NASCAR Moves To USA Network This Week

The story continues with today's stars. ⭐🏁@chaseelliott joins NASCAR Americana alongside other voices from across the sport to celebrate NASCAR's rich history.

You'll be able to watch @nascar Americana this Sunday, August 9th at 7 p.m. ET on @usanetwork after our coverage… pic.twitter.com/5HpTp8uDw8
— NASCAR on USA (@NASCARonUSA) August 8, 2026

Iowa Raceway Picks By DawgGoneGood

🏁 DEPUTY DAWGONEGOOD’S RACING PICKS — IOWA CORN 350 🏁

After taking last weekend off along with the Cup Series, Deputy DawgGoneGood is rested up, the crystal ball has been polished, and we’re headed to the cornfields of Iowa!

NASCAR tackles the 0.875-mile Iowa Speedway Sunday for 350 laps. This place is short, fast, hard on tires, and traffic can turn a good afternoon sour in a hurry.

Here are this week’s DawgGoneGood Five:

🏆 1. Ryan Blaney — THE PICK TO WIN

I’m planting my flag on the No. 12.

Blaney won the inaugural Cup race at Iowa in 2024, and he has looked like the man to beat this weekend. He put the Ford on the pole and, more importantly, showed outstanding long-run speed in practice.

At a track where managing the car over a run matters, that combination is mighty hard to ignore.

Deputy’s call: BLANEY WINS IT.

🔥 2. Christopher Bell

Bell may not have grabbed the headlines in qualifying, but don’t sleep on him.

He had the second-best 10-lap average in practice, and Bell has made a career out of being dangerous on shorter, technical ovals.

If this thing turns into a tire-management race with plenty of adjustments, the No. 20 could be there when the money is on the table.

⚡ 3. Joey Logano

Here’s another Penske Ford I really like.

Logano qualified third and was third-fastest over a 10-lap run in practice. With Blaney showing tremendous speed too, Team Penske appears to have brought something to Iowa.

And if the race gets rough, strategic and aggravating?

That’s Joey Logano territory.

There’s nothing wrong with loving sports. There is something wrong with paying for sports you’re not watching.

Some of us already carry a few services year-round. Maybe you’ve had Prime Video forever because it ships your stuff and streams your shows. Fine. That’s not extra cost — that’s sunk cost. We’re not touching that.

What we’re talking about is everything beyond what you already have.

🏁 February – Mid-May: Ride the FOX Train Cheap

Most early-season NASCAR Cup Series races land on FOX and FS1.

Instead of firing up a $65+ skinny bundle in winter, use:

Fox One (~$19.99/month)

That gets you:

• FOX broadcast races

• FS1

• FS2

• Big Ten Network

I’ll go ahead and admit it. Ice hockey isn’t exactly a porch-swing sport in Gnat Country.

We don’t grow up skating ponds. We grow up dodging fire ants. The only ice most of us deal with goes in sweet tea. But every now and then, something happens up north that makes even a South Georgia boy sit up a little straighter.

And when the United States knocks off Canada in hockey?

Well now. That’ll preach.

Let’s be honest about something. Canada invented the sport. They breathe it. They name their children after it. Up there, hockey isn’t a game — it’s a birthright.

Gnat Country