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Friday, May 5, 2006
Chamblee not a fluke
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Two years ago, Chamblee did not merit a blip on the boys soccer radar. Three decades had passed since the Bulldogs made the playoffs.
Today, they matter.
Friday night, amid clouds and occasional downpours, Chamblee’s delirious fans stormed the field after a 2-0 quarterfinal victory over perennial power McIntosh. At McIntosh.
It was a triumph that was no fluke. Although probably not as talented, the Bulldogs were quick, fast and determined. And those elements won out.
“At this point, there’s not much coaching left to do,” Chamblee coach Uwe Neuhaus said. “It’s mostly about encouraging them and letting them know they can do it.”
Still, Neuhaus understood it would take far more than self-esteem to knock off McIntosh. So he implemented a seldom-used strategy for him, deploying a gang of Bulldogs in the middle of the field to prevent McIntosh from “controlling the game,” he said.
It worked. The Chiefs seemed stunned that the entire first half came and went with just a few threatening shots toward the net, but no score.
The Bulldogs were aggressive and unhesitant, burrowing about the field with abandon and purpose. Early, when their adrenaline was at its apex, Chamblee consistently beat McIntosh to the ball. After the Bulldogs settled into the action, they were still effective, but also fortunate.
A couple of McIntosh scoring chances were either blocked by Zach Walldorf or just missed.
The problem with assigning so many players to congest the center of the field was that it limited the number of Bulldogs’ scoring opportunities. So, while they were capably containing McIntosh, they were no real threat to score.
Finally, the Bulldogs broke through. Julian Escheverri put in a header off a feed in front of the goal with 33:37 left for a 1-0 advantage. The Chamblee crowd cheered a cheer that was not of surprise, but pride. The groan on the McIntosh side was one of shock.
The Chiefs won the state championship in 2000 and were runners-up last year. They are always in the mix. To lose to Chamblee represented an enormous disappointment for a team with title aspirations.
Once the Chiefs fell behind, their level of play switched to desperation. Meanwhile, the defensive strategy Neuhaus developed had even more purpose. And the Bulldogs’ confidence expanded like a balloon. Were it not for a pair of spectacular saves by McIntosh’s Matt Rogers, it could have been worse.
McIntosh actually looked to be prepared to score first when sophomore Derek Farnsworth found himself in front of the goal with an open net, Walldorf having fallen to the ground.
Farnsworth kicked the ball toward the unattended goal, a sure score. However, Michael McQueen jetted across and kicked the ball over the net just a foot or so from crossing the goal line in a remarkable play.
That should have signaled it was a special night for heretofore unheralded Chamblee. If not then, certainly when Walldorf made a series of diving saves from point-blank kicks.
Last year was the Bulldogs’ first postseason appearance in 30 years. With 12 seniors, there were expectations of something good this season. But not this.
“We’re not the best skilled,” Neuhaus said. “But we play with a lot of heart.”
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Coleman gone but not forgotten
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
They laid Mandel Coleman to rest this week, in good Georgia earth. But they will never bury his marks. Not on his family. Nor on Meadowcreek High football. “Oh, he was so good at it,” Brangela Coleman says of her husband. “Mandel loved football. They wrote stories about him in the paper all the time.” Yes, they did. “Coleman’s four touchdowns lift Meadowcreek. …” Mandel Coleman, a headline-grabbing back, put Meadowcreek football on the map. By the time his all-state career ended in 1990, Coleman produced more than 3,000 yards and 42 touchdowns and gave fans of the new Norcross school plenty to shout about.
“He made people respect Meadowcreek,” teammate Eric McDonald says. With good reason.
“Probably one of top two or three kids I ever coached,” says Dacula High’s Kevin Maloof, who started the Meadowcreek program.
With players like Mandel Coleman, along with his brother, Jason Ward, David Hendrix, Cornell Thomas, Adrian Woolcock and Jason Nichols, the Mustangs rose to winning heights the school hasn’t repeated.
Says Maloof: “We had a great tradition for the Meadowcreek kids today to look back on.”
There they will see the effects of Mandel Coleman.
“Mandel played with great heart,” Maloof says. “His heart was bigger than he was.”
As fate would play out, a diseased heart, and other complications, felled Mandel Coleman. He died April 27, at age 33. This time, there would be no newspaper headlines.
“Coleman Hopes He Can Fulfill Radio Announcer’s Claim.” We pour tons of newsprint and truckloads of ink on young, gifted high school athletes, touting their exploits. Then their lives mostly disappear from these pages.
Newsworthy no more.
So sad, kids whose best days are past, I once believed. Sparked by memories of teammates and friends who, long after their “glory days,” stood on street corners boasting of how good their life used to be. Recently, I even had a parent say he did not wish such fortune on his son.
That got me to thinking. Mandel Coleman’s life, and death, changed my position. You know, just because a high school hotshot doesn’t go on to star on the next level, as they say, that does not equate them with failures. We just no longer tout their successes.
” ‘27 Sweep’ Pushes Mandel Coleman Into Limelight.” Far from the headlines, life flows on.
It did for Mandel Coleman.
A season at Georgia Military College was more successful on the field than off. Youthful missteps, of which details are not important, ended Coleman’s football career. It did not, though, stop his living.
He married his sweetheart, Brangela Kinaya Bell, a Grady High girl who nonetheless cheered for Mandel Coleman — No. 46 in the Meadowcreek program, No. 1 in her heart. Two children, Brianna, now 12, and Mandel Jr., 5, completed their circle.
No headlines trumpeted this Mandel Coleman, hard worker, dutiful husband and father.
Then, in 1999, Mandel complained of breathing difficulty. It took a while to diagnose, but a virus had attacked his heart. Mandel underwent a transplant in 2000, and tumors were discovered a month later. They would return, along with more heart problems.
The ultimate battle was on.
“Mandel was one of those kids, no matter what was going on in his life, when he walked on that football field — man, he was a fighter,” recalled Keith Maloof, the Norcross coach who assisted his brother at Meadowcreek. “Through his friends, I hear he kept on fighting.”
“Coleman puts it all together in Mustangs’ last game.”
“They gave up on him so many times,” says Brangela Coleman, who works for a court reporting firm, “and each time he made it back home.”
When Mandel left the hospital in February, the longtime churchgoer gave his life to Christ. “I was there when he was saved,” his wife says. “It meant so much. That’s enough comfort right there.”
Still, Mandel Coleman’s homegoing proved hard. Kevin Maloof, a tough hombre, was moved.
“Not only was it one of the saddest days of my life, but one of my proudest,” he says. “To see Mandel’s teammates grown up to be such fine people. They hugged me, … and I cried.”
Which led Kevin Maloof to offer a final tribute: “Mandel got his life in order, and it’s a great testament to a great kid. It’s a great story.”
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