Randall Beavers joins his brother Ron as a member of the 2019 Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame induction class. Randall played football and basketball at East Fannin High School from 1967 through 1971.
Randall was born in Morganton, Georgia, the sixth of the nine children of Clifford and Ethel Beavers. Seven of the children were boys, all of whom played football for East Fannin High School.
He played youth baseball and was a member of the basketball and football teams at Morganton Elementary. The administration of Morganton Elementary discontinued football at the school after Randall’s seventh grade year. The reason for the action is unclear but it is clear that the absence of a football program at the elementary school deprived the high school program of their only feeder program. It was necessary, therefore, that boys who wanted to play the sport learn the fundamentals before making a meaningful contribution to the high school effort.
Randall has a generous portion of natural athletic ability, however, and made both the varsity football and basketball teams as a freshman in 1967-68. In football, he was a running back on offense and played defensive back when the opponent had possession of the ball. By the time Randall reached his junior season, he was the most dangerous weapon in the East Fannin offensive arsenal.
Randall Beavers was named as the Most Valuable Back on the Wildcats football team as a junior. He went on to earn the team Best Offensive Player award as a senior. He was a team captain during his senior season in the fall of 1970. At the end of his senior season, he was named to the Atlanta Journal/Constitution Class C All-State Honorable Mention team. The AJC All-State teams generally included 22 players selected to the first team and a larger number named to the Honorable Mention group. For the 1970 season, however, the newspaper saw fit to name only eleven players to the first team and another eleven players to the Honorable Mention team. Randall, therefore, was honored as one of the 22 best players in the state Class C division for his senior season.
Victories were scarce for the Wildcats football teams, but Randall had a career night in the contest against Union County on September 4, 1970. He scored three touchdowns in that game, a 32-12 victory for the Cats. He scored one touchdown on a run from scrimmage, another on a punt return and a third by returning an intercepted pass for a TD. He also had a 90-yard run from scrimmage for a score that was nullified due to a clipping penalty against East Fannin.
In recognition of his basketball performance, Randall was awarded the Most Valuable Defensive Player and overall MVP following his junior campaign. As a senior he received the team Best Athlete award. He had a personal single game scoring high with 35 points in the game against Gilmer County on February 12, 1971. He was the captain of the 1970-71 East Fannin basketball team.
At the end of his senior season, Randall was selected as the Most Athletic Senior Boy by his classmates. He was a student leader and member of the Key Club, Big E Club and the school annual staff.
After graduation Randall worked in Atlanta for a time before returning to the mountains of Fannin County and then Hiwassee, Georgia for employment. He continued to stay active in sports by playing softball for the Hiwassee Indians team. He won the annual Independence Day Hiwassee Home Run Derby contest four times.
While living in Hiwassee, Randall decided to attend evening school, while working full-time, to pursue a college degree. His hard work paid off in 1987 when he earned a Bachelors’ degree in Conservation Game and Fish Law Enforcement from Brenau College. His initial goal was to begin a career as a game warden. No opportunities were available in that field, however, so he accepted a position in Fannin County with the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Parole in 1990. He was a Parole Officer for more than 26 years. He was named as the Northeast Georgia Employee of the Year in 2003.
Randall retired from the Pardons and Parole Department in 2016. He currently works part time as a bailiff in the Fannin County Court System.
He started playing golf in 1995 and continues to play several times a week. He currently plays to a 7 handicap and won the Copper Basin Seniors Club Championship in 2016 and 2017. He also won the 1st flight championship in the 2009 Brett Dickey Memorial Scholarship Tournament. Randall serves as a Board member of the Copper Basin Golf Club.
Randall resides a few miles outside of Morganton in a house that he built near the location where he lived while growing up. It is a bucolic setting and Randall seems content and comfortable in that setting. He has three adult children, Randy, Kimberly and Kari and three grandchildren.
