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September 2006
Who’s good? Who’s not? Who knows?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
North Gwinnett is poised to become the No. 1 team in the state. By default.
For the third consecutive week, AAAAA’s top dog got knocked off. First, it was mighty Camden County falling to a team from South Carolina. Last week, it was one-dimensional Central Gwinnett clipping Lowndes without scoring a touchdown. Then, this Friday, top-ranked Roswell gets smacked around by a Wheeler squad two weeks removed from getting shelled by Chattahoochee.
The state’s top classification has been turned on its head. Who’s good? Who’s not? Who knows?
No disrespect to North Gwinnett. The Bulldogs’ defense is solid and their offense is balanced. Baby-faced quarterback Michael Tamburo is going to be a superstar, if the sophomore’s not already. But, even with all that, are Bob Sphire’s Bulldogs really the best team in AAAAA? I don’t think so.
It will be interesting to see how many of the Bulldogs play at the next level. Senior receiver Ryan McDaniel is a no brainer and far and away the best athlete on the team. But North Gwinnett is not going to intimidate anyone with its size or athleticism. And, remember, its win over Brookwood came when the Broncos were missing several starters, including their quarterback.
Still, I like to say I’m a results guy. And the result in Week 2 was the No. 1 team in the state 10, Brookwood 3.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: David Purdum
Roswell loss muddies picture
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Roswell’s first Friday night in 35 years as No. 1 also was its last.
Playing in its beautiful home stadium on a cool night perfectly tailored for football, the Hornets assured their stay atop the state rankings was nothing more than a pit stop.
The festive feel to the occasion, the energy, the giddiness, the pride on the Roswell side of the field degenerated into concern and finally utter sadness as Wheeler, the basketball school, scored a huge one for its football program.
In the process, the message became abundantly clear, if it was not before the Wildcats’ 14-3 victory: Class AAAAA is wide open this year.
Three weeks in a row now the team at the top of the charts has been knocked off. First Camden County lost, albeit to a nationally ranked Aiken (S.C.) team. Then, Central Gwinnett put down Lowndes. Now, Roswell bites the turf.
In recent years, there always has been a team or two or three that seemed to have true championship fiber. For a while, Parkview was the barometer, with Brookwood just as formidable, and Valdosta, Harrison and Stephenson in the mix. Camden won the state title in 2003 and Lowndes won the last two. But always there were others in a group that had reasonable expectations.
Now, not only is there no clear-cut No. 1, there is no clear-cut juggernaut.
“Lot of good teams out there,” was the way Tim McFarlin, Roswell’s coach, put it.
Good, not great. At least that’s how it has shaken out so far.
Roswell had a golden opportunity to ride the No. 1 train all the way into the playoffs. It was playing at home against a team that was .500 on the season. On top of that, the Hornets’ remaining games are against teams that do not have winning records and did not make the playoffs last year. It was all set up nicely for them. But Wheeler had other thoughts.
Even though the Wildcats fumbled away a touchdown chance seconds before halftime just six inches from the goal line; even though they missed a long field goal earlier; and even though they fumbled away another scoring opportunity, they were able to beat Roswell because they played with far more discipline and passion.
A No. 1 team does not stay No. 1 when it turns over the ball three times as the Hornets did Friday night, including an interception on their first play of the game.
After leading 3-0 at halftime, things got worse. And Wheeler got better. Running back John Colter maneuvered through the line on a 40-yard touchdown run for a 7-3 lead in the third quarter. On the ensuing possession, the Wildcats held Roswell on fourth-and-1, further dousing the emotions for Roswell.
Later, with four chances to score from the Wheeler 4, Roswell was stopped short. Two plays later, basketball point guard Corey Tower showed he’s a pretty good running back, too, dashing 98 yards for the back-breaking score.
And so, who will break through as the team to beat in AAAAA? Camden’s only defeat was out of state to a strong South Carolina program. Lowndes, which passed a big test Friday night with a 7-0 victory against Coffee, is young. Was its loss a slip or indicative of its team? Brookwood has two losses. Anyone think Norcross, another basketball power, is that good in football, too?
And what about North Gwinnett or Tift County? Can either of them be the one?
Right now, this much is clear: It’s unclear who will be standing in the end.
Permalink | Comments (67) | Categories: Curtis Bunn
Pretenders/Contenders
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Contender — Any team that has the potential to advance past the second round of the playoffs.
Pretender — Any team pretending to be a contender.
Central Gwinnett — Pretender
Yes, yes , the win in Lowndes was nice, but I refuse to believe any team without some sort of offensive balance can make a run in the playoffs.
Collins Hill — Pretender
See above. Although, quarterback Brent McDonald was impressive last week, completing 10 of 12 for 145 yards and two touchdowns. But he did it against winless Mill Creek.
Winner of GAC/Buford — Contender
For obvious reasons.
Loser of GAC/Buford — Contender.
Caleb King plus a passing game is plenty.
North Gwinnett — Pretender
Bulldogs have a chance to change my mind with a convincing win at Collins Hill.
Norcross — Contender
Win tonight against Peachtree Ridge, and the Blue Devils could be 8-0 heading into season-ending showdowns against Collins Hill and North Gwinnett.
Dacula — Contender
Overconfidence is the Falcons’ biggest threat until the playoffs.
Brookwood — Contender
Never an easy out, look for Mark Crews to have the Broncos peaking at the right time.
Permalink | Comments (7) | Categories: David Purdum
The predator today is tomorrow’s prey
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Podcast
- audio: Podcast Behind The Picks
Caleb King has made Greater Atlanta Christian better.
Better than it was when it made the playoffs last year. Better than it was in the spring. But better than mighty Buford, its opponent tonight?
That’s the hardest call of them all.
King has helped make GAC-Buford Gwinnett County’s most attractive matchup, moreso than Brookwood-Parkview. And should Central Gwinnett and North Gwinnett meet somewhere in the playoffs — they don’t meet during the regular season — Brookwood-Parkview won’t even be Class AAAAA’s best Gwinnett game.
How can GAC not be the underdog? Buford is ranked No. 2 in Class AA to GAC’s No. 3. Oh, and this: Buford has won the past six meetings.
That alone plants GAC and its coach, Jimmy Chupp, in the most comfortable seat in the house, that of the underdog, where defying expectations always has the sweeter payoff.
These two might be so close in talent that today’s predator becomes tomorrow’s prey. They could meet again before the trophies are issued.
Buford beat GAC twice in a season in 2002, but the Wolves were so much better than everybody else that year that only one of 15 opponents could stay within single digits of them. Asking tonight’s winner to beat tonight’s loser twice could be infinitely more tricky.
Ultimately, though, that could be GAC’s task.
King has made GAC’s running game more potent, and that, in turn, has made the Spartans’ passing game — captained by Lee Chapple — that much more potent. If Buford has a vulnerability — “if” being the operative word — that could be where it’s found.
Once the Spartans win, the expectations will shift onto their shoulders. They become the prey. Only one other possible GAC opponent — Charlton County, the two-time defending Class AA champion — might better know how that feels.
• Southwest DeKalb vs. Tucker: When the regular season ends, a good Region 6-AAAA team will sit at home from among Marist, St. Pius, Mays, Tucker and Southwest DeKalb. Tucker, having lost to St. Pius last week, needs this one worse than Southwest DeKalb, off to its first 4-0 start in seven years. Southwest upset No. 1-seed Tucker in the first round of the playoffs last year. Tonight’s game is to show that was no fluke.
• Short shrift: This could be East Paulding’s finest season. Even when the Raiders went 9-1 in 1993, they didn’t start 4-0, which they will be after Pebblebrook fails to disturb that groove. … Marietta has lost two consecutive region games but has beaten Harrison the past two years. Momentum and motivation will work against the Blue Devils as Harrison wins.
TODAY’S GAMES
Winner Loser
Alpharetta Pope
Appling County Long County
Athens Academy Fellowship Christ.
Athens Christian Glascock County
Bacon County Pelham
Baldwin Stockbridge
Benedictine Butler
Berrien Thomasville
Bowdon Heard County
Brantley County Jeff Davis
Bremen Landmark Christ.
Brookwood Shiloh
Brunswick Wayne County
Burke County Glenn Hills
Callaway Rutland
Camden County Groves
Campbell Etowah
Carrollton Haralson County
Cartersville Cass
Carver-Atlanta South Atlanta
Cedar Shoals Heritage
Central Gwinnett Berkmar
Central-Carroll Cedartown
Chamblee Blessed Trinity
Charlton County Pierce County
Chattahoochee Sprayberry
Cherokee Alexander
Clarke Central Madison County
Clarkston Towers
Claxton Calvary Day
Clinch County Lanier County
Colquitt County Valdosta
Cook Randolph-Clay
Creekside Woodward Acad,
Crisp County Americus-Sumter
Cross Keys Decatur
Dacula Jackson County
Dalton S.E. Whitfield
Darlington Temple
Dawson County Putnam County
Dodge County Fitzgerald
Dooly County Montgomery Co.
Douglas County Osborne
Dublin East Laurens
Early County Mitchell-Baker
East Coweta Paulding County
East Paulding Pebblebrook
Effingham County Evans
Emanuel Co. Inst. Jenkins County
Fannin County Oglethorpe Co.
Flowery Branch Chestatee
Forsyth Central Duluth
Franklin County Oconee County
Gordon Lee Ringgold
Grady Dunwoody
Grayson Meadowcreek
Greater Atl. Christ. Buford
Greenbrier Richmond Acad.
Greene County Rabun County
Greenville Stewart-Quitman
Griffin North Clayton
Habersham Cent. Winder-Barrow
Hancock Central Monticello
Harrison Marietta
Hart County Elbert County
Hawkinsville Johnson County
Hiram Morrow
Houston County Warner Robins
Irwin County Telfair County
Jackson Central-Macon
Jefferson Mt. Pisgah Christ.
Jefferson County Screven County
Jenkins Savannah
Johnson-Gaines. White County
Josey Metter
Kell Centennial
Kendrick Spencer
LaGrange Hardaway
Lakeside-DeKalb Cedar Grove
Lamar County Macon County
Liberty County Harlem
Lincoln County Aquinas
Lithia Springs Woodland
Lovejoy Jonesboro
Lovett Wesleyan
Lowndes Coffee
M.L. King Union Grove
Manchester Marion County
Marist North Springs
Mary Persons Southwest-Macon
McEachern Woodstock
McIntosh Co. Acad. Sav. Christian
Milton Lassiter
Morgan County Union County
Norcross Peachtree Ridge
North Atlanta Westminster
North Cobb Kennesaw Mtn.
Northeast-Macon Ola
Northgate Fayette County
North Gwinnett Collins Hill
North Hall Gainesville
North Oconee Creekview
Northside-Col. Harris County
N.W. Whitfield Lakeview-Fort O.
Our Lady of Mercy Mt. Zion-Carroll
Pacelli Catholic Chattahoochee Co.
Parkview South Gwinnett
Peach County Spalding
Pepperell Model
Perry Henry County
Pickens East Hall
Pike County Crawford County
Prince Ave. Christ. Towns County
Ridgeland LaFayette
Riverwood Druid Hills
Rockdale County Alcovy
Rome Gordon Central
Roswell Wheeler
St. Pius Washington
Salem Eastside
Sandy Creek Villa Rica
Sav. Country Day Bryan County
Schley County Central-Talbotton
Seminole County Miller County
Sequoyah Chapel Hill
Shaw Jordan
Social Circle ELCA
South Cobb Murray County
South Effingham Cross Creek
South Forsyth Mill Creek
Southwest DeKalb Tucker
Starr’s Mill Banneker
Statesboro Lakeside-Evans
Stephens County Apalachee
Stephenson Luella
Stone Mountain Miller Grove
Swainsboro Laney
Terrell County Calhoun County
Therrell Southside
Thomas Co. Cent. Monroe
Thomson Hephzibah
Toombs County Tattnall County
Tri-Cities Mundy’s Mill
Trion Adairsville
Turner County Treutlen
Upson-Lee Jones County
Vidalia Bleckley County
Walker Holy Innocents’
Walton Northview
Ware County Glynn Academy
Warren County Twiggs County
Washington County Richmond Hill
Washington-Wilkes Banks County
West Hall Gilmer
West Laurens Eagle’s Landing
Westside-Augusta S.E. Bulloch
Westover Taylor County
Whitewater Westlake
Wilcox County Wheeler County
Wilkinson County Ga. Military Coll.
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Winner Loser
Beach Bradwell Institute
Brooks County Albany
Calhoun Commerce
Carver-Col. Columbus
Coosa Armuchee
Douglass Lithonia
Mays Columbia
Redan Newton
Windsor Forest Johnson-Savannah
- Games involving out-of-state teams, like batteries, not included.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: 2006, Darryl Maxie
Reid turning around East Paulding
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
John Reid admits that the folks at Alcoa High School in Tennessee weren’t too happy when he packed up to take the head job at East Paulding. And why would they be? He’d won two consecutive state championships and built Alcoa into a powerhouse.
It also meant the school was losing its starting center, Reid’s son Colton. But Alcoa’s loss has been East Paulding’s gain. A perennial loser, the Dallas high school is off to a 3-0 start this year in a region completely up for grabs. The three wins this year equals the total of all last season for East Paulding. In the last ten years, East Paulding has had nine seasons with three or fewer total wins.
The key, besides convincing the athletes they could win, was Reid’s ability to bring in eight assistant coaches. Of those eight, five were head coaches last season.
It was a major reason he left Tennessee and took the rebuilding job.
“The fact that I had three kids going through college and there was the Hope Scholarship [was a factor],” said Reid. “But the ability to bring together coaches that were my age and friends of mine and build a staff unlike any I’ve ever had was a great opportunity.”
The reunion of a tight coaching staff has helped Reid develop some players at East Paulding making outstanding contributions. Senior running back Steve Delzince already has more than 500-yards rushing this season, and he barely saw playing time last season. Wide receiver Josh Collier has three touchdown catches and broke a school record with 178 yards receiving in a single game. Reid also highlighted the play of senior offensive guard and defensive end Shawn Bowles.
“Here and there, everybody has contributed,” Reid said.
The State Football Report features high school football news from outside Metro Atlanta. If you have news for the State Football Report or a team you’d like to see featured, e-mail ccustance@ajc.com.
The more truly the merrier
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This much is clear after four weeks of the high school football season: Parity reigns. And that’s a good thing. Right?
Who wants to see one team dominate all year? Where’s the fun in that?
The more teams that have a chance to win the championship, the more passionate more schools are about the games. And there are legitimate title contenders all over the place.
It was not boring when it was apparent Parkview would end up on top during the Panthers’ great run that included three titles. It was not boring when Camden County and Lowndes showed their championship quality.
But it is much more exciting and interesting now in Class AAAAA with Roswell No. 1 for the first time in 35 years and the likes of Norcross, Camden County, Brookwood, Coffee County, Colquitt County, Tift County, Harrison, Lowndes, Central Gwinnett and others in the mix.
In AAAA, everyone in the AJC’s top 10 is undefeated and has real reason to think they can be champs. The list includes No. 1 Northside-Warner Robins, Griffin, Statesboro, Southwest DeKalb, Creekside, etc.
Who can say with any certainty which school will prevail in AAA? Perennial contender LaGrange is No. 1, but Chamblee, Carrollton, Thomson and Gainesville round out the top five, and none of them have been beaten so far. Defending champ Peach County has lost once, to a higher classification Westside-Macon.
Defending champion Charlton County again is atop AA, but Buford, Greater Atlanta Christian and Dublin all think they have championship fiber. And in Class A, Bowdon looks strongest, but Lincoln County is formidable, with ECI, Dooly County and Hawkinsville.
So call it the personification of parity. Isn’t it much better to have a wide open field than just a few programs with real shots at winning? Makes for a dramatic playoffs.
Permalink | Comments (7) | Categories: Curtis Bunn
Will Flowe go?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A glance at Cecil Flowe’s career at Parkview: 14 seasons, 153-27, .850 winning percentage, four state titles, 12 straight quarterfinal appearances, 13 consecutive playoff berths, never lost more than four games in a season.
Yet, with all that in mind, the en vogue question this fall has been will this be Flowe’s last season at Parkview. The speculation began in January, when he admitted to considering opportunities at Etowah, Milton and North Gwinnett. Three months later, his erratic behavior at the prom—which was attributed to prescription medication— earned him a reprimand from Georgia’s teacher disciplinary board and stoked the fire. The departure of three Division I recruits, including Super 11 back Caleb King, didn’t help.
Still, despite the un-Parkview-like start, the Panthers will be making their 14th consecutive trip to the playoffs. Does anyone believe they will lose to two of the following teams: South Gwinnett, Shiloh, Grayson, Berkmar and Meadowcreek? Parkview is a combined 61-16 against those five stalwarts.
Another trip to the postseason means little though, especially if the Panthers make an early exit. But with his impeccable record at Parkview, it’s hard to imagine his team’s performance on the field will be Flowe’s downfall.
Permalink | Comments (12) | Categories: David Purdum
Take Ten: Best QBs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Who’s the best high school quarterback in Georgia? I spoke with Scott Kennedy, recruiting analyst for Scout.com., to get his take. Kennedy ranked the top seniors in the state. How is the state’s Class of 2006 for QBs? “I think it’s top heavy. The two guys at the top are very good. But I don’t think it’s as deep as past years,” Kennedy says.
Here are Kennedy’s top 10 and their cumulative statistics:
10. Simeon Kelley, Grady: “He’s so quick running the ball, and he passes well enough to keep defenses honest.”
Completions-Attempts-Yards-Interceptions-Touchdowns
Stat line: 21-40-400-2-6 TDs
9. Bryan Ellis, Peach County: “He’s a transfer that everybody will know about by the end of the season.”
Stat line: 52-71-853-1-6 TDs
8. Robby Davis, Starr’s Mill: “An athlete that does lot of damage with his legs.” Committed to Navy.
Stat line: 48-94-438-3-6 TDs
40 carries-335 yds.-4 TDs
7. Lee Chapple, GAC: “Under-appreciated passer that opens things up for [tailback] Caleb King.
Stat line: 34-48-553-1-6 TDs
6. Giorgio Morgan, Tri-Cities: “And up-and-comer that can really throw and run.”
Stat line: 43-97-573-0-2 TDs
42 carries-173 yds.-6 TDs
5. Matt Moody, Landmark Christian: “A polished pocket-passer and makes good decisions.”
Stat line: 31-55-518-4-5 TDs
37 carries-181 yds.-2 TDs
4. Morgan Burnett, North Clayton: “Athletic QB that will play safety in college.” Has primarily played receiver on offense this year.
Stat line: 4-8-52-0-1 TD
27 carries-310 yds.-5 TDs
30 tackles, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery, 1 blocked field goal
3. Eric Berry, Creekside: “He may be the best athlete in the state.”
Stat line: 15-28-345-0-2 TDs
43 carries-537 yards-6 TDs
2. Cameron Newton, Westlake: “Big, strong arm and a great athlete.” Committed to Florida.
Stat line: 776 passing yards, 3 TDs
1. Josh Nesbitt, Greene County: “He can do it all with the ball in his hands.” Committed to Georgia Tech.
Stat line: 41-68-713-2-9 TDs
30 carries-69 yards-3 TDs
Go on. Take Ten. Who’s the state QB with the most razzle dazzle? Let us know. Also tell us who still says ‘razzle dazzle’ - besides us.
Permalink | Comments (25) | Categories: Take Ten
Roswell returns to No. 1
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The last time this happened, Parkview and Brookwood didn’t exist, and Wright Bazemore was still the coach at Valdosta.
It was Sept. 7, 1971, and Roswell was the No. 1 team in the Atlanta Journal’s Class A rankings. Roswell lost to Wills the next week, and it’s taken 35 years to get back.
Roswell wasn’t even a high-classification team until 1986. Roswell has had its share of good teams since then, but never a great one.
What makes this team different? Mostly opportunity. Roswell was 4-0 last season too, but was ranked only ninth.
But this season, the usual suspects are losing early.
Of the teams that finished 2005 and started 2006 in the Top 10, only Roswell is undefeated. Of the teams that won at least seven games and advanced at least one round in the AAAAA playoffs, only Roswell is undefeated.
I can think of 15 teams that might be better than Roswell. Just none more deserving on Sept. 25.
Permalink | Comments (56) | Categories: Poll talk
Metro teams flexing muscles
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Don’t look now, but the latest rankings of the highest classification in Georgia high school football strongly suggest there has been a power shift toward metro Atlanta.
Undefeated Roswell assumes the No. 1 position, with North Gwinnett taking over the second spot. All told, the area has six of the top 10 schools in AAAAA.
But how about this? Maybe North Gwinnett should be at the top of the charts. The Bulldogs won at Walton, at No. 9 Brookwood and at North Forsyth. Pretty impressive.
By comparison, Roswell topped McEachern at the Georgia Dome, handled Lassiter and Kell on the road and Walton at home. It seems North Gwinnett has managed a tougher road so far, which should merit a higher ranking.
In any case, after three years of being run over by teams from the South, metro Atlanta seems to be back. Even during the three-year reign of Lowndes and Camden County, Parkview and Brookwood were the only legitimate challengers for the title.
With six teams in the top 10, the metro truly has championship opportunity, which could not be said since 2003.
At the same time, perhaps Camden County should be No. 1. Its only loss came to a team outside of Georgia — Aiken High in South Carolina, which always has a pretty good program. Should that count as much as a loss against a team in state? Don’t think so.
In Class AAAA, half of the top 10 teams are from the Atlanta area. In AAA, three of 10. In AA, two of the top three.
And so, the debate continues: Has the metro Atlanta area regained supremacy of the state’s beloved sport? Or is this just an early season surge?
Of course, nothing will be determined until December. But right now, at least for the moment, metro Atlanta has reason to feel pretty good about things.
Permalink | Comments (68) | Categories: Curtis Bunn
Central to David: “In your face.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
0 — the amount of respect yours truly gave Central Gwinnett against No. 1 Lowndes. In my face.
Congratulations to Central for pulling off the upset of the year. The Black Knights’ 11-7 win at Lowndes is proof that defense rules in 2007.
The question now becomes how good is Dacula, a 6-0 winner over Central in the season opener. Are the Falcons the best team in both AAAA and AAAAA?
The other question is what’s wrong with Parkview, a 20-10 loser to Houston County. The game wasn’t even as close as the score suggests.
Check back on Monday for my blog from New Orleans. Let’s go Saints!
Permalink | Comments (25) | Categories: David Purdum
Chadwick sits out, but Marist rolls
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Up until about an hour before kickoff Friday night, it was a typical game day for Marist coach Alan Chadwick. He had the pregame meal with his team. He participated in the squad’s Mass. He met with his assistant coaches to go over final preparations before facing Cedar Grove.
And then he went home.
In three decades at the school, Chadwick had never missed a War Eagles game. Not for illness or injury or birth of children. But because the GHSA unanimously upheld a one-game suspension levied against Chadwick for contact with a referee after the Sept. 8 loss to Tucker, he was forced to listen to the action on the Internet.
“Pretty anxious,” Chadwick said by phone about not being on the sideline. Anxious because he is so used to being there, not because he was uncomfortable with his team playing without him.
As a matter of fact, Chadwick had no concerns there. He has constructed a program with smarts and deep thought, and the result has been two state championships and 21 consecutive playoff appearances. Chadwick understood the value of building an environment where his assistants’ input was valued. He cultivated a culture of family among talented, hard-working minds.
Consequently, he has been able to keep together one of the most competent and loyal coaching staffs in the state.
“I’m relaxed,” he said with a laugh while at home listening to the action. “There’s no pressure because I’m not the one coaching. But I’m fortunate to have the best staff anywhere. I don’t do much in a game anyway.”
Chadwick’s crew consists of nine committed coaches, most of whom have been on the staff for several years. Assistant head coach Dan Perez has been on board since 1989. Matt Ramon is the most recent hire, in 2004.
The job of “head coach for a night” went to Jim Showfety, who took the responsibility as an honor and was intent on not messing up.
“We all have a great deal of respect for [Chadwick]; he’s given half his life to Marist,” Showfety said. “Deep inside, I know he’s hurting. … But he’s set a great example on how to do this job. And we have a very experienced staff who relies on one another.”
Showfety nearly swallowed his headset, and Chadwick nearly knocked over his meal, when a Cedar Grove reception brought the ball all the way to the Marist 4 in the first quarter. The Saints managed only a field goal, however, which was their one shining moment.
The War Eagles scored a pair of touchdowns in a span of three minutes to assume command of the game, eventually winning 32-15. They looked just as they do when Chadwick is there, which is to say disciplined, tough, resilient, good.
Meanwhile, Showfety manned the sideline as if he had been there before, with authority. “Facilitator,” is the way he titled himself for the night, making sure all facets of the game were in order. He listened in on the defensive calls occasionally, while maintaining control of the offense, as usual.
He said his biggest responsibility was making sure the team’s pregame routine was consistent with the past. “It’s a job that as a staff we take pride in doing together with Coach not here,” Showfety said.
When away from the game, the coaching staff does not head in separate directions. “A tightknit group,” Showfety said. “And at a time like this, with Coach out, that closeness really helps.”
Chadwick will assume his familiar position next week when Marist travels to North Springs. “Looking forward to it,” he said. “Hadn’t missed a game in 30 years — and I hope to go another 30 without missing one.”
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: Curtis Bunn
Does Central have a shot against No. 1 Lowndes?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
•Does Central have a chance against No. 1 Lowndes?
Not likely. The Black Knights’ shutout of Warner Robbins demands respect. But it’s going to take some sort of balance to slow down Lowndes. That’s something Central just doesn’t have. Bradley Warren’s team has only 91 yards passing in two games. You are not going to simply run the ball straight at Lowndes and win.
•What’s the biggest game of the year?
Buford at Greater Atlanta Christian (Sept. 29)
Central Gwinnett at Brookwood (Nov. 3)
Parkview at Brookwood (Nov. 10)
Norcross at North Gwinnett (Nov. 10)
Sorry, Parkview-Brookwood. The regular season peaks next week at Greater Atlanta Christian. Early line: Buford by 4 ½.
Which playmaker sans Caleb King will have the biggest night?
Norcross receiver Darius Hanks should put up big number against a North Forsyth defense that is surrendering more than 30 points a ball game.
Permalink | Comments (23) | Categories: David Purdum
Mercy’s moment arrives with equinox
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Podcast
- audio: Podcast Behind The Picks
The autumnal equinox approaches, one of two days each year when night and day are fit to be tied. Can the forces that will bring light and darkness to a draw three minutes after midnight tonight act on high school football’s law of averages this weekend? Could something momentous this way come?
Yes and yes.
For starters, a prediction not often seen in these parts — or many others, for that matter.
Our Lady of Mercy wins.
Typing such a phrase, the fingers stumble over themselves as if attempting Rachmaninov. Unfamiliarity breeds contretemps.
Our Lady of Mercy has lost 25 of its last 26. Its last two victories have come against Mt. Zion-Carroll, which hosts Fellowship Christian tonight and won’t be within 40 miles of the Fairburn campus.
So, how do the Bobcats win without them?
Introducing Towns County.
The Indians drop in having lost 27 of their past 28. Their last win came against — you guessed it — Mt. Zion-Carroll, which as we detailed earlier will not be within 40 miles of the place when Towns and OLM hook up for the first time.
What took these guys so long to find each other? Face it, eharmony.com couldn’t have done a better job of matchmaking.
Give OLM the edge because it’s at home and its offense is better. Towns County has scored eight points in its last nine games. The last time the Indians went into double figures was last year against — who else could it be? — Mt. Zion-Carroll, which is making certain not to be within 40 miles of the place for fear that an unscheduled solstice might break out.
Depending on where you are, a solstice results in the longest night of the year. Which this very well could be for Towns County, once it leaves the field in Fairburn.
• Central Gwinnett at Lowndes: If you’re looking for a game that has the potential to prove that there is no dominant team in Class AAAAA, this is it. The usual suspects — Brookwood, Camden County, Parkview and Valdosta — have all bitten the dust in the season’s first three weeks, and unfamiliar noggins are being fitted for the next crown. Lowndes comes into the game a little gimpy, playing without its “Bus” — 5-foot-9, 275-pound wrecking ball Devaris Leonard. Bradley Warren has brought Central Gwinnett perhaps its best team in years. But all I’ve said is that this game has the potential to upset the order of the Class AAAAA universe.
Picking Brookwood against Valdosta last week was one thing. Picking against the two-time defending champions in their Concrete Palace is a whole other ballgame. No can do.
• Short shrift: Two surprising teams that deserve their props — Alpharetta and Wheeler. But they play each other. Props and the winning oomph to Alpharetta. … In picking Westside-Augusta over Screven County, I gamble that the Patriots (3-0) and their offense are for real and not a product of inferior scheduling.
Today’s games
Winner/Loser
Adairsville/Temple
Alpharetta/Wheeler
Americus-Sumter/Westover
Appling County/Portal
Armuchee/Sonoraville
Athens Christian/Ga. Military Coll.
Banneker/McIntosh
Bleckley County/Twiggs County
Blessed Trinity/South Atlanta
Bowdon/Greenville
Bremen/Darlington
Brooks County/Randolph-Clay
Brookstone/Taylor County
Buford/Wesleyan
Calhoun/Model
Calhoun County/Miller County
Campbell/Murray County
Carver-Columbus/Northside-Col.
Cedar Shoals/Elbert County
Chamblee/Therrell
Chattahoochee/Lassiter
Cherokee/Chapel Hill
Chestatee/Johnson-Gaines.
Clarke Central/Loganville
Coffee/Johnson-Savannah
Collins Hill/Mill Creek
Colquitt County/Bainbridge
Coosa/Dade County
Creekside/Whitewater
Dacula/Madison County
Dalton/Ringgold
Dodge County/Crisp County
Dougherty/Lee County
Douglass /Tri-Cities
Dublin/Stephens County
Early County/Berrien
East Laurens/Claxton
ECI/Toombs County
Effingham County/Ware County
Fannin County/Putnam County
Fellowship Christ./Mt. Zion-Carroll
Fitzgerald/Mitchell-Baker
Flowery Branch/East Hall
Franklin County/Morgan County
Gainesville/Lumpkin County
Glynn Academy/Brunswick
Gordon Central/S.E. Whitfield
Gordon Lee/Creekview
Greenbrier/Evans
Greene County/Banks County
Griffin/Forest Park
Habersham Cent./Rockdale County
Harrison /Woodstock
Hart County/Josey
Hawkinsville/Telfair County
Heard County/Macon County
Hephzibah/Butler
Heritage/Paulding County
Hiram/Savannah
Irwin County/Wheeler County
Jefferson/Warren County
Johnson County/Dooly County
Kell/Northview
Kennesaw Mtn./Etowah
Lakeside-DeKalb/Washington
Lamar County/Crawford County
Laney/Metter
Lanier County/Pelham
Liberty County/Calvary Day
Lithia Springs/Osborne
Lovejoy/Eastside
Lovett/Avondale
Lowndes/Central Gwinnett
M.L. King/North Atlanta
Manchester/Callaway
Marion County/Pike County
Marist/Cedar Grove
Mays/Stone Mountain
McIntosh Co. Acad./Sav. Country Day
McNair/Redan
Monroe/Hancock Central
Monroe Area/Clarkston
Mt. Zion-Jonesboro/East Coweta
Newton/Morrow
Norcross/North Forsyth
North Clayton/Riverdale
North Cobb/McEachern
Northeast-Macon/Mary Persons
North Gwinnett/Forsyth Central
North Hall/West Hall/North Oconee/Rabun County
Northside-WR/Jones County
NW Whitfield/Ridgeland
Oconee County/Salem
Oglethorpe County/Union County
Our Lady of Mercy/Towns County
Parkview/Houston County
Pebblebrook/Douglas County
Pepperell/LaFayette
Pickens/White County
Pope/Milton
Prince Ave. Christ./Glascock County
Richmond Acad./Lakeside-Evans
Rockmart/Chattooga
Rome/Lakeview-Fort O.
Roswell/Walton
Schley County/Jenkins County
Seminole County/Atkinson County
Sequoyah/Woodland
Shaw/Columbus
Social Circle/Whitefield Acad.
South Cobb/Marietta
South Forsyth/Peachtree Ridge
Southside/Druid Hills
Southwest DeKalb/Columbia
Sprayberry/Centennial
Starr’s Mill/Westlake
Statesboro/Wayne County/Stephenson/Towers
Stockbridge/Dutchtown
Swainsboro/S.E. Bulloch
Tattnall County/Pierce County
Terrell County/Bacon County
Thomasville/Albany
Tift County/Thomas Co. Cent.
Tucker/St. Pius
Turner County/Montgomery Co.
Vidalia/Worth County
Villa Rica/Northgate
Walker/Decatur
Warner Robins/Beach
Washington-Wilkes/Dawson County
Westside-Augusta/Screven County
Westside-Macon/Upson-Lee
Wilcox County/Treutlen
Winder-Barrow/Jackson County
Windsor Forest/Benedictine
Woodward Acad./Fayette County
Saturday’s games
Winner/Loser
Commerce/Trion
GAC/Cross Keys
Harris County/Hardaway
Newnan/Lithonia
North Springs/Miller Grove
West Laurens/Spalding
Games vs. out-of-state opponents, like batteries, not included.
• Last week: 118-43 (.733) • Season: 350-135 (.722)
Permalink | Comments (29) | Categories: 2006, Darryl Maxie
Is Coffee looking ahead to Lowndes?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Give Coffee coach Jerry Odom points for honesty. His team is one week away from starting its region schedule. It’s a region schedule that kicks off with the No. 1 team in Class AAAAA, Lowndes.
So when asked how he’s keeping his team focused on Johnson-Savannah, not exactly a powerhouse like Lowndes, Odom did what few coaches do in this situation. He told the truth.
“You want an honest answer? We’re not,� Odom said. “I could try and lie and say they’re not looking at [Lowndes] but I don’t believe in lying. We’re not overlooking Johnson, but it’s been a struggle.�
Coffee is 3-0, joining Lowndes, Colquitt County and Tift County as four Region 1-AAAAA teams still undefeated.
He credited solid play from his quarterback, senior Daniel Anderson. Anderson is a third-year starter for the Trojans, and Odom said his experience is showing, especially with improved decision-making. In three games, Anderson has completed 26 passes for 360 yards.
While Coffee is knocking on the door of the AJC’s top 10 in Class AAAAA, Odom still sees Lowndes, Colquitt and Tift as the region favorites.
“The bottom line is, to be the man you have to beat the man. I hate to quote Ric Flair, but that’s where I am right now,� Odom said. “Lowndes is the team to beat,� Odom said.
The State Football Report features high school football news from outside Metro Atlanta. If you have news for the State Football Report or a team you’d like to see featured, e-mail ccustance@ajc.com.
Cry us a river, refs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So high school referees feel underappreciated, underpaid and under fire, huh? Well, good.
Some jobs come with more scrutiny, less pay and less respect than others. It comes with the territory.
There are two requirements of an official: Get it right and expect grief. It’s part of the deal.
The problem is too often that high school referees do not get it right. There is nothing worse than having a game marred by officials, who miss calls that are right in front of them.
And we see it every week.
Marist coach Alan Chadwick was suspended for a game for “making physical contact” with a ref after a loss to Tucker. Chadwick said it was a non-confrontational pat on the back. A report filed to the GHSA by the officiating crew said it was a bit more than that. Hence, the GHSA’s decision to uphold the suspension.
The governing body clearly is trying to protect refs and grant them respect, and it should.
But there has to be ramifications when refs miss calls they are paid and required to make.
Listen, officiating is not an easy job. Even in higher levels of the game - the NFL and NCAA - we’ve recently seen how bad officiating can be.
But Georgia high school referees need to get a lot better. Period. There has to be more training and more repercussions for refs who miss calls. They have to be held accountable for performance.
We are aware of the circumstances: Referees have full-time jobs, make $87 a game, have to pay for their uniforms, etc. In the end, it’s about doing a quality job on the field.
And there are too many times where we leave games feeling like Chadwick did last week - as if a few calls cost him.
Permalink | Comments (17) | Categories: Curtis Bunn
Sooner fan keeping it cool
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At Dennis Elementary in Oklahoma City, kids picked on me and called me “Pure-dumb,� a witty twist on my last name, indeed. It probably didn’t help that on the first day of sixth grade I tried to dress just like Sonny Crockett on Miami Vice: pale yellow blazer, white pants, sunglasses and overly-gelled, slicked-back hair.
I don’t have hair these days, but I’m much cooler. Here’s proof.
• I’m Sooner born, sooner bred, and when I die, I’ll be Sooner dead. Needless to say, I was outraged by the debacle in Oregon. We got hosed, but it’s time to move on. Besides the referee isn’t even the biggest hoser in this entire fiasco. That title belongs to departed quarterback Rhett Bomar. The game wouldn’t have been close with him under center. Have fun at Sam Houston State, Rhett. Before you head to the NFL and make millions of dollars. That seems fair. In Oregon.
Honorable mention for top hoser goes to OU school president David Boren. While you’re in the business of altering history, Mr. former U.S. senator Boren, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind erasing that 55-19 drubbing to USC in the 2004 national championship game as well. That one hurt a lot more.
But I’m keeping my cool here and would just like to say that Bob Stoops is still one of the best coaches in America, and I will continue to watch his entire press conferences on my computer before bedtime.
• Is anyone else already dreading the end of football season? I loathe regular-season baseball. How many Devil Rays-Orioles games are there? I’m already worried about that feeling I get after New Year’s Day, when the college football season is climaxing … with a lousy six games. I miss the old 8- and 12-game New Year’s Day slates.
I love football. I miss it already.
Stay cool, ‘cuz I’m gone like the Stews. Word.
P.S. By the way, one of those lousy six games on New Year’s Day could match Oklahoma and Georgia in the Cotton Bowl. OU by 14.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: David Purdum
Chatting with David Greene
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In visiting with county hero David Greene Tuesday night, several things became clear.
• Greene was shocked by his best friend, Cincinnati linebacker David Pollack’s neck injury. He said he didn’t want to watch the play that Pollack was injured on.
• Greene said he has never discussed any sort of signal that he would give his family if an incident such as Pollack’s were to occur. Pollack gave a thumbs-up when he was being toted off the field on stretcher after suffering his injury.
• NFL players are getting hit harder than ever. “Sometimes I’ll see a guy take a hit and think, ‘Man, that might of killed me,� said Greene. It’s true, scary and adds further evidence about the importance of eliminating steroid use from sports.
• Seattle has taken a toll on Greene’s southern accent. When told that the story and picture gallery of his wedding on AJC.com received close to one million page views, he said, “What? That’s crazy.�
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: David Purdum
Take Ten: Coolest mascots
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What does it mean to be a good mascot? Does a mascot have to be intimidating and fill the opposition with dread? Or is a mascot just supposed to look good on the sidelines in a cool costume?
As high schools have disappeared through disuse or school consolidations, mascot names have gotten more P.C. and less unique. For instance, it is doubtful that a school will ever have a mascot like old Lanier High School in Macon did with the Poets. And many would surely beat a path to Washington County should the Sandersville Satans ever again take the field.
Here is an unscientific look at the top mascots in the state, chosen for either their uniqueness or the ever-present “coolness” factor.
10. Bulldogs: In a state where the flagship university shares the same mascot, it isn’t any surprise that Bulldogs is the most popular mascot name of all high school programs. Just based of sheer numbers, Bulldogs have to be included on the list.
9. Blue Herons (Brantley County): Nothing strikes fear into the hearts of an opponent like a graceful cyan waterfowl.
8. Red Terrors (Glynn Academy): Glynn Academy is the second-oldest high school in the state of Georgia. Its mascot is one of the more colorful and unique in the state as well.
7. Angoras (Clarkston): Actually a horned goat, the picture on the Clarkston High School website seems to be a lot more ferocious than the actual animal. Great as a linebacker or a sweater.
6. Fighting Irish: Aquinas and Dublin share this mascot. Dublin has Lucky the Leprechaun as its mascot with a big paper machete head that, much like Mickey Mouse, either sends kids into big grins or shrieks of horror.
5. Purple Hurricanes (Fitzgerald): You don’t have to dig deep to discover how intimidating this mascot is.
4. Bulldoggs (Winder-Barrow): The two GGs is correct. According to an e-mail from the school, “In 1985, it was voted on by the student body to add the extra ‘g’ to the Winder-Barrow Bulldogg mascot. The extra ‘g’ stands for ‘extra effort.’ The Winder-Barrow ‘Doggs’ are not your average dogs; therefore, the name is not an average name. In many cases, a dog’s bark is worse than its bite. Not so with the BULLDOGG, whose bite is considered to be far more dangerous than its bark! Don’t mess with the Legend!”
3. Catamounts (Dalton): There are plenty of ho-hum wildcats, but few Catamounts. This wild animal of the cat family makes for a ferocious mascot and for originality in a world overrun by the usual Lions, Tigers and Bears. The only problem is the 200,000 playings of Ted Nugent’s “Cat Scratch Fever” before Dalton football games.
2. Atom Smashers (Johnson-Savannah): In Savannah’s magnet school program, Johnson was supposed to be devoted to the sciences, hence, this highly unique nickname. The coolest part is that the Atom Smashers play their basketball games in a gym called “The Reaction Chamber.”
1. Syrupmakers (Cairo): Is there a more unique mascot in all of high school sports? The costume that the football mascot wears must be a little sticky, though.
Honorable mentions: Red Elephants (Gainesville); Grangers (LaGrange); Blue Tide (Long County); Lasers (Southside); Greenwave Owls (Spencer); Caliphs (W.D. Mohammed).
Go on. Take Ten. Who’s got the hippest HS mascot around? You tell us. We know we missed some. Right? Right.
Permalink | Comments (49) | Categories: Take Ten
Two thoughts for Tuesday
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
• North Gwinnett is the third best team in the state. C’mon. Even head coach Bob Sphire admitted to almost falling out of his chair when he saw his young Bulldogs near the top of the rankings. The feeling around the newsroom is that there are at least five teams in Gwinnett County that are better than North, including a pair of AA squads and another AAAA one. Whiny South Georgia isn’t any better. Maybe this is just a down year for Georgia high school football, especially at the highest classification. After former No. 1 Camden County got drummed by Aiken (S.C.), no team is ranked in USA Today’s Super 25.
• Why did it take so long for the Falcons to figure out running the zone-read play with Michael Vick in the shotgun might be a good idea?
Permalink | Comments (7) | Categories: David Purdum
Still uneasy about AAAAA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The best rivalry in Class AAAAA this season has been Gwinnett vs. 1-AAAAA.
Teams from Gwinnett County or Region 1-AAAAA claim seven of the AJC’s Top 10 teams in AAAAA, not to mention nine of the past 10 state championhips in the highest classification.
It should be fun watching Central Gwinnett, a new team in the Top 10, travel to No. 1 Lowndes this week. Many in Gwinnett believe Central will wind up the county’s best team.
Houston County also plays at Parkview. That will finish out the seven-game series between Gwinnett and 1-AAAAA. That is, until the playoffs.
For those counting, Gwinnett and 1-AAAAA have faced each other five times this season, with 1-AAAAA winning three.
It’s still not easy feeling solid about the AAAAA rankings with so many unproven teams. The only two teams in the Top 10 that I think have a great shot at finishing higher than their current ranking are Camden County and Brookwood.
I promoted a couple of one-loss teams (Central and Harrison) over some pretty good unbeaten choices, such as Coffee, M.L. King, South Cobb, Campbell and Douglass.
In fact, there are 16 teams ranked despite at least one loss. A year ago, with Stan Awtrey doing the rankings, there were only 11 at this point. I’m proving much less punitive with teams that lose, so long as it’s not a bad loss.
Stephenson and Johnson County know what bad losses are.
By the way, here are the results of the first five games between Gwinnett and 1-AAAA:
Warner Robins 30, Parkview 3
Tift County 7, Collins HIll 2
Brookwood 9, Valdosta 7
Central Gwinnett 17, Warner Robins 0
Houston County 27, Berkmar 7
Permalink | Comments (65) | Categories: Poll talk
Golden Bears bullish on future
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The goal, especially when starting a program anew, is to track progress from week-to-week. At Holy Innocents’, the Golden Bears are measuring out just fine, thank you.
With consecutive victories over once-daunting Decatur (on the road) and North Oconee, Holy Innocents’ has made a considerable splash in its first GHSA season in football, which is not easy to do.
“It’s such an unknown when you have no one on your roster who has played varsity before,” coach Ryan Livezey said. “But you instill in the players to work hard, work hard at getting better each week and you hope you win a couple of games along the way.”
Livezey, a six-year assistant at Marist, used the two years of junior varsity to install a system quite similar to the War Eagles, one that emphasizes a strong running game.
And with Ryan Woolfolk, a senior tailback, and fullback Will Aitkens, a freshman, leading the way behind a committed offensive line, the Golden Bears have been one of the early-season surprises.
“We were picked to finish last in our region,” Livezey said. “I wasn’t sure what we’d be, but we’ve come out twice and gotten the job done, even though I don’t think we’ve played a complete game yet.”
Complete game or not, Livezey knows he has another job that is vital to improvement: Keep his players from getting the big head.
“That’s a big thing we stress, how you handle success,” he said. “Two wins doesn’t mean we are there. Complacency is something we have to address.”
A nice concern to have so early in the program’s existence.
Permalink | Comments (6) | Categories: Curtis Bunn
College football separated
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thoughts on college football’s first cliché-worthy Saturday of the season:
•Out of all names bestowed on this weekend’s action, Separation Saturday was the most appropriate. The contenders-USC, Auburn, Michigan, Florida, West Virginia and Louisville-definitely separated themselves from pretenders like Notre Dame, Miami and Florida State.
• The SEC separated itself as the premier conference. Auburn, LSU, Florida and Tennessee all belong in the Top 10.
•The disrespected Big East is the third best conference, behind the SEC and Big Ten.
•Let’s have a four-team playoff between North Carolina State, Mississippi State, Duke and Illinois. Winning coach keeps his job.
•Miami embarrassed itself. The Hurricanes held a pre-game dance on Louisville’s midfield logo before getting waxed by the Cardinals back-ups. Larry Coker’s kids may act like the cocky ‘Canes of the past, but they sure don’t play like them.
•The next Saturday worthy of a catchy cliché is Oct. 7: Tennessee at Georgia; LSU at Florida Oklahoma vs. Texas; Michigan State at Michigan and Oregon at Cal.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: David Purdum
Creekside QB the total package
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Forevermore, he should be known as Eric Everything.
It is a moniker that captures the essence of Eric Berry, the Creekside star who is not bound by position, opposition or circumstance. On the football field, he is Berry, Berry good.
It is almost an injustice to call him simply a quarterback because, well, he’s far more than that. That is where he earned AJC Super 11 honors, where he deftly directed Creekside’s offense in a 28-13 victory Friday night at Starr’s Mill. But he’s more than a QB.
All the top college programs in the nation want him, and you can add his performance against the Panthers as further evidence as to why. He misfired on his first two passes and on the third play went 74 yards for a touchdown just 35 seconds into the game.
And it was how he scored that signified his will and skill. He dropped back to his left, felt the pressure and reversed field. Starr’s Mill’s Brandon Lewis was all set to make a tackle, but Berry ran through it and headed back left, picking up blockers. At the 45, he split two defenders with a burst of speed and power, making their arm tackle attempts fruitless.
From there, it was as if he was on a Sunday jog up the left sideline for the score. Awesome. Last week he scored on a similar, but even more spectacular, punt return.
Not long after his first score, Berry ran 31 yards on third down for another, following strong blocking right and then gracefully and easily eluding the single defender who stood between him and the goal line.
That jaunt gave him 145 yards rushing on five carries in the first quarter.
And get this: Scout.com has him rated as the No. 1 cornerback in the nation. And no wonder. In the second quarter, Berry stepped in front of a Robby Davis pass for an interception and maneuvered his way 53 yards for his third score of the half.
It was a brilliant display by a complete football player.
Berry brings to mind Reggie Ball when he starred at quarterback at Stephenson. But Berry is bigger, faster and displays more presence under pressure.
Also, Berry brings memories of Kisan Flakes, former outstanding Lovejoy quarterback who was an explosive offensive package. But Berry is more powerful, more creative, more elusive. And neither Ball nor Flakes played defense or special teams.
Berry completed only 3-of-7 in the first half, but they went for 55 yards. And he heaved one 55 yards in the air, inches out of the reach of his receiver, which was an impressive display of his arm strength.
Coach Kevin Whitley understands what he has in the senior and uses him. Berry does it all, and better than everyone else.
Some players are two-way players. Berry is an every-way star.
By the way, Creekside is a pretty good team. Whitley and his staff have the talent functioning at high efficiency. The Seminoles should be a serious threat come the playoffs.
It all starts with Berry. And here’s the best part: By all accounts, he conducts himself as a gentleman, values achieving in the classroom, enjoys his teammates and is as humble a star as you could find.
Indeed, Eric Everything.
Permalink | Comments (11) | Categories: Curtis Bunn
The hot girl at the sushi bar, a sports writer and Parkview
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sports writer to hot girl at sushi bar: “How about you and I hang out Friday night?� Hot girl: “Sure … where we going?� Sportswriter: “Peachtree Ridge at Collins Hill, a scintillating showdown between a pair of Region 7 heavyweights.� Hot girl leaves. Sports writer orders more sake.
The AJC’s finest aren’t the only desperate ones this weekend. From Green Bay to Gwinnett, some teams are still searching for that allusive first score. Others who were expected to be contenders, like Central Gwinnett and Brookwood, desperately need a win. But who’s more desperate than a sportswriter on Friday night?
It’s got to be Parkview. No team had a more tumultuous offseason than the Panthers. First, quarterback Patrick Witt and linebacker Marshall Williams jumped ship and became hot college commodities. Witt has since committed to Nebraska; Williams has pledged his allegiance to Auburn. Head coach Cecil Flowe was accused of being euphoric at the prom, and Caleb King, the nation’s top rated running back, transferred to Greater Atlanta Christian less than a month before the season began.
The effects of the offseason departures and controversy were evident in the Panthers’ opener, a 30-3 loss to Warner Robbins, which really wasn’t even that close. That makes tonight’s tilt at Union Grove, a loser to unranked AAA Jackson, a must-win for the View. Not only must the Panthers win, but also they need to do it impressively. Otherwise, things could go from desperate to dreadful at Parkview. Kind of like a sport writer’s social life on Friday night.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: David Purdum
Brookwood rights its ship at Valdosta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Podcast
- audio: Podcast Behind The Picks
It’s not often that Valdosta is the “other” team in town, but such is life for the nation’s winningest high school football program.
The Wildcats are coming off back-to-back, five-loss seasons, and the last time that happened to them was … er … never. There’s only one other instance of them losing a total of 10 games over consecutive seasons (seven in 1963, three in 1964).
So it’s easy to understand why Rick Tomberlin, in his first season at the storied helm, seemed to be calling for public calm after Valdosta lost its season opener to a Utah powerhouse.
“We’re going to be all right,” he told the Valdosta Daily Times.
Will the faithful keep believing that after, say, a loss to Brookwood?
The Broncos visit Valdosta on Saturday, fresh off two of the most frustrating games they can play. They dominated No. 1 Camden County in many areas and lost 21-17. Their offense got its mugs stuffed in a 10-3 loss to North Gwinnett.
And now, they’re supposed to win on the most storied high school field in the state? Yep.
Many things in this life shall end. The Braves’ run of division titles. Tony Blair’s residence at 10 Downing Street. Bobby and Whitney.
But the one thing that will endure is the perception that South Georgia gets no respect. It would be worth being wrong by 42 points again — like I was last December, when in this same space I picked Brookwood to win the state title against Valdosta’s better team, Lowndes — just to hear those familiar refrains after this prediction.
This isn’t about tweaking the chip on the shoulder. This is about a team that has lost three straight — a rare occurrence — finally getting back to full strength. Seven players disciplined for extracurricular shenanigans finally able — and hungry — to help Brookwood right its ship.
This is about catching a Valdosta team early, before it returns to No. 1-team-in-town-and-state strength. Give Tomberlin enough time and it will. History demonstrates that Valdosta does not stay down for long. Two years after Brookwood last visited Bazemore-Hyder Stadium and won a state title there, Valdosta was back on top.
Two years. Hmmm, that sounds about right.
• Short shrift: Mt. Zion-Jonesboro gets its first nod to win, much to the chagrin of coaches and players who enjoyed proving me wrong the past two weeks. Do it again this week and it’ll cost you. … Rumors of Parkview’s demise are overstated, as Union Grove will find out tonight. The Panthers sandwiched two very bad quarters around two good ones against Warner Robins two weeks ago. … Region 2-AAAA Battle Supreme: Creekside at Starr’s Mill. Don’t be surprised if somebody other than Creekside’s all-world cornerback Eric Berry makes the game-breaking play.
Friday’s winners/losers
Apalachee / Dunwoody
Armuchee / LaFayette
Athens Academy / Monticello
Athens Christian / Our Lady of Mercy
Bainbridge / Cairo
Baldwin / Laney
Berrien / Albany
Bleckley County / Hawkinsville
Blessed Trinity / Therrell
Bowdon / Central-Carroll
Brantley County / Liberty County
Bremen / Whitefield Acad.
Brooks County / Thomasville
Burke County / Butler
Calhoun / Temple
Calhoun County / Atkinson County
Carrollton / Westminster
Carver-Atlanta / Decatur
Cass / Gordon Central
Cedar Grove / Miller Grove
Central-Macon / Henry County
Chamblee / Southside
Chapel Hill / Alexander
Charlton County / Beach
Chattahoochee / Wheeler
Chattahoochee Co. / Glascock County
Chattooga / Coosa
Cherokee / Woodland
Chestatee / Dawson County
Clarke Central / Heritage
Clinch County / Pelham
Coffee / Bradwell Institute
Colquitt County / Lee County
Columbus / Spencer
Commerce / Banks County
Creekside / Starr’s Mill
Creekview / Union County
Dacula / Rockdale County
Dalton / Hiram
Darlington / Dade County
Dooly County / Brookstone
Douglas County / East Paulding
Dublin / Washington Co.
Duluth / Shiloh
Early County / Cook
East Coweta / Jackson
Effingham Co. / Greenbrier
Fitzgerald / Randolph-Clay
Flowery Branch / Lumpkin County
GAC / Walker
Gainesville / Gilmer
Glenn Hills / Josey
Gordon Lee / South Paulding
Grady / Towers
Greene County / Elbert County
Griffin / Upson-Lee
Groves / Benedictine
Hancock Central / Putnam County
Harlem / Aquinas
Harrison / North Cobb
Heard County / Marion County
Holy Innocents’ / North Oconee
Houston County / Berkmar
Irwin County / Stewart-Quitman
Jeff Davis / Treutlen
Jenkins / Calvary Day
Jenkins County / Telfair County
Johnson County / ECI
Johnson-Savannah / Sav. Country Day
Jones County / Wilkinson County
Kendrick / Hardaway
Lakeside-Evans / Evans
Lamar County / Pike County
Landmark Christ. / Pacelli Catholic
Lassiter / Alpharetta
Lincoln County / Washington-Wilkes
Loganville / Cedar Shoals
Lowndes / Ware County
Luella / Stockbridge
Macon County / Rutland
Madison County / Eastside
Manchester / Crawford County
Marietta / Campbell
Marist / Washington
Mays / North Springs
Miller County / Bacon County
Milton / Sprayberry
M.L. King / Tri-Cities
Model / Adairsville
Monroe / Northeast-Macon
Monroe Area / Hephzibah
Mt. Zion-Carroll / Prince Ave. Christ.
Mt. Zion-Jones. / Lovejoy
Norcross / Grayson
North Gwinnett / Mill Creek
North Hall / Johnson-Gaines.
Northside-Col. / Troup
Northside-W.R. / North Clayton
N.W. Whitfield / Paulding County
Oconee County / Clarkston
Parkview / Union Grove
Peach County / Eagle’s Landing
Peachtree Ridge / Collins Hill
Pebblebrook / Lithia Springs
Pepperell / Sonoraville
Pickens / Fannin County
Pope / Northview
Redan / North Atlanta
Ridgeland / Ringgold
Riverwood / South Atlanta
Rockmart / Cedartown
Rome / Cartersville
Roswell / Kell
Salem / Jackson County
Sandy Creek / Franklin County
Screven County / Portal
Seminole County / Westover
Sequoyah / Osborne
Shaw / Harris County
Social Circle / Fellowship Christ.
South Effingham / Bryan County
South Forsyth / North Forsyth
South Gwinnett / Newnan
Statesboro / Glynn Academy
Stephens County / Lakeview-Fort O.
Stephenson / McNair
Swainsboro / Warren County
Tattnall County / Metter
Terrell County / Lanier County
Thomas Co. Cent. / Meadowcreek
Thomson / Jefferson County
Tift County / Americus-Sumter
Toombs County / Appling County
Trion / Haralson County
Tucker / Lakeside-DeKalb
Turner County / Crisp County
Twiggs County / East Laurens
Vidalia / SE Bulloch
Walton / Centennial
Warner Robins / Central Gwinnett
Wayne County / Richmond Acad.
Wesleyan / Cross Keys
West Hall / White County
Westlake / McIntosh
Westside-Augusta / Cross Creek
Westside-Macon / Savannah
Wheeler County / Long County
Whitewater / Fayette County
Wilcox County / Montgomery Co.
Winder-Barrow / Alcovy
Windsor Forest / Claxton
Woodstock / Etowah
Woodward Acad. / Northgate
Worth County / Spalding
Saturday’s winners / losers< / b>
< / b>Brookwood / Valdosta
Buford / Avondale
Mundy’s Mill / Forest Park
Oglethorpe Co. / Mt. Pisgah Christ.
Savannah Christ. / Richmond Hill
St. Pius / Columbia
S.W. DeKalb / Stone Mountain
- Games vs. out-of-state teams, like batteries, not included
• Last week: 109-46 (.703) • Season: 232-92 (.716)
Permalink | Comments (18) | Categories: 2006, Darryl Maxie
Scott Bernarde’s weekly picks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Podcast
- audio: Podcast Behind the Picks
AJC Gwinnett News sports editor Scott Bernarde knows football predictions, which his 241-54-1 record over the past two seasons will attest.
An 18-year AJC veteran, the AJC Gwinnett News sports editor has been around high school football for more than two decades in Georgia. And as a reporter, he covered many current Gwinnett coaches when they were high school standouts.
This weekend we debut his podcast. Listen to his picks and comment below:
Can it really be true? Region 7-AAAAA better than usual king of the hill 8-AAAAA? Well, so far, yes.
Region 7 is 6-1 vs. Region 8, and looks to be the deeper and more talented Gwinnett region after two weeks. And Region 8 is only 2-12 overall, including a combined 0-3 by heavyweights Brookwood (0-2) and Parkview (0-1).
But a word of caution here (OK, three words of caution):
It’s still early.
Too early, in fact, to apply results from two weeks through the rest of the season. Now, I believe that 7-AAAAA looks like the class of Gwinnett. But at the same, I remember Brookwood going 0-2, then winning the next 13 games to win the 1996 state title. And in 1998, Parkview started 0-3 and still reached the quarterfinals.
There’s lots of football left to be played.
Last week’s picks: 10-2. Overall: 17-9.
Brookwood facing own “Separation Saturday”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
While the rest of us are locked in on LSU-Auburn, Tennessee-Florida and Notre Dame-Michigan, Brookwood will be preparing for its own “Separation Saturdayâ€? in Valdosta. With the seven suspended Broncos returning, including starting quarterback Daniel Peek, there are no more excuses for Brookwood. It’s put-up or shut-up time.
A convincing win over what is perceived to be a mediocre but still dangerous Valdosta squad would go along way in separating the Broncos from the rest of a weak Region 8. A loss, however, would earn the Broncos a seat next to their good buddies over at Parkview on the bench of decline.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Categories: David Purdum
Best receiver in Gwinnett
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gwinnett is full of playmaking receivers. Which one’s the best? Here’s a look at the top candidates.
Norcross’ Darius Hanks (6-1, 175): With his long strides and 4.4 speed, he’s Randy Moss-smooth.
Dacula’s Cameron Kenny (6-3, 175): Tremendous athlete makes great adjustments when the ball’s in air.
North Gwinnett’s Ryan McDaniel (6-4, 195): Feisty competitor leads county with 11 receptions.
Peachtree Ridge’s Sydney Haynes (6-3, 205): Lions need to get the ball in his hands more than three times a game.
Central Gwinnett’s Rolando Dyer (6-0, 170): Deceptive rout runner benefits from defenses focusing on Knights’ running game.
Top 5 College Receivers 1. Georgia Tech’s Calvin Johnson 2. Michigan State’s Matt Trannon 3. USC’s Dwayne Jarrett 4. Notre Dame’s Jeff Samardzija 5. Oklahoma’s Malcolm Kelly
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: David Purdum
Friday Night High/Lowlights
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Looking at the previews for “Friday Night Lights,” the fall’s new TV series based on the 2004 movie, we started to wonder what a list of the 10 best high school football movies ever would look like. Was the series’ namesake the best ever? Which ones might push it for the top spot? Or the most common question we got: “Are there 10?” As your resident movie guru and high schools football writer, I was asked to give my take on which films score a touchdown and which ones barely make it onto the field. Along the way, I’ll answer the most important question: “Yes, there are 10.”
Top 10 All-Time High School Football Movies
10. Radio (2003): It’s a little sappy, but it’s a serviceable movie all the same. The lessons (kindness, compassion) are good ones, even if they’re delivered a bit ham-handedly.
9. Varsity Blues (1999): Many high school football players have said they recognize the characters in this film, while the acting from Jon Voight and James Van Der Beek work for the small-town atmosphere.
8. Lucas (1986): This all-but-forgotten “Brat Pack” movie is among the better teen comedy-dramas of the past 20 years. It might be Cory Haim’s best performance ever, and Charlie Sheen plays the star jock who befriends Lucas (Haim).
7. The Slaughter Rule (2002): This recent independent film was an impressive writing/directing debut for Andrew and Alex Smith. David Morse and Ryan Gosling are excellent as a high schooler (Gosling) who finds solace in six-man football after the death of his dad, and the coach who he becomes close to (Morse).
6. All The Right Moves (1983): This was at the beginning of the Tom Cruise phenomenon, when he was still playing the kid with youthful vigor. Cruise plays Stefan Djordjevic, a high school football player looking for a football scholarship as his ticket out of a small Pennsylvania mill town.
5. School Ties (1992): The movie is largely remembered for featuring then-unknowns Brendan Fraser, Chris O’Donnell, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. It actually is a very well-written, well-acted film about a prep school quarterback (Fraser) fighting Jewish intolerance from his teammates and peers.
4. America Brown (2004): Another independent film about a West Texas high school football star (Ryan Kwanten) who, upon the death of his father-figure older brother, takes a bus ride to Brooklyn to talk with the school’s last great player, now a Catholic priest who is reminded of a troubled past when Kwanten’s character arrives.
3. Friday Night Lights (2004): Everybody who has been to a high school football game in a small town saw something they recognized in this film about a Texas town and the team its residents follow religiously. Billy Bob Thornton is great as the team’s gruff coach, and even country music star Tim McGraw turns in a surprisingly intricate performance as an abusive father who wants his son to be a star player.
2. Remember The Titans (2000): Denzel Washington makes this film one of the best sports movies ever made as the coach of T.C. Williams High School in 1971, as two D.C.-area schools —one white and one black — were forced to integrate, and Washington is hired as the coach for the new team. The film is based on actual events, and it’s uplifting in a non-preachy kind of way.
1. Go Tigers! (2001): This documentary looks like the real-life “Friday Night Lights,” as it chronicles the football season of a Massillon, Ohio, high school through the eyes of the players, coaches and members of the community whose fall often revolves around the team. There are endlessly intriguing people in this film, and it delves into bigger issues than you might think. It’s a very entertaining, engrossing and inquisitive film that every high school football fan should give a look.
Contenders:
The Best Of Times (1986)
Wildcats (1986)
Out Of It (1969)
Hometown Legend (2002)
Comeback Season (2006)
Go on. Take Ten. List your fave HSFB films or tell us what we missed. Because everyone’s a critic. Including you.
Permalink | Comments (18) | Categories: Take Ten
Laney’s next challenge: Baldwin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In February, Laney football coach Eric Parker was still looking for a tenth game for his football schedule. He got a call from Baldwin coach Jesse Hicks, offering up a chance to play the Braves the next two seasons.
He didn’t want to, but the alternative, a long trip to South Georgia, made the Baldwin game a necessity.
“I said, ‘Look man, I don’t want to play you, but I had better jump on this,’” Parker recalled.
Despite Parker’s hesitation to schedule Baldwin, this week’s game between the two schools is hardly the mismatch Parker suggests it might be.
Baldwin is the No. 3 team in Class AAAA, while Laney, coming off a nice win over South Carolina state champ Strom Thurman, is up to No. 5 in Class AA.
Parker said the Baldwin defense is exactly the kind that gives his team trouble, and film of the Baldwin running game has been impressive.
“We will have to play really, really well,” Parker said. “I told the team this would be a great accomplishment to win these games back-to-back.”
Laney won’t have a true home game until October 13th when it hosts Screven County. The school is still completing a $14 million athletic complex. The football stadium will be equipped with two luxury boxes and an elevator to the press box.
The State Football Report features high school football news from outside Metro Atlanta. If you have news for the State Football Report or a team you’d like to see featured, e-mail ccustance@ajc.com.
Rebuilding ‘Stangs no easy task
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
An email came to Reggie Perry this morning that offered reassurance: “Rome was not built in a day,” it read.
It will take many more days for Perry, as coach at Meadowcreek, to build the Mustangs’ program into of prominence. They have lost 24 consecutive games, so a victory would be a nice start.
But Perry, who reversed the fortunes of Redan before going to the Norcross school, has an even smaller goal: To see improvement.
“Where we are in building the program, it’s more important for me to see us getting better than it is to see victories,” he said. “It’s easy to criticize when you don’t see Ws. But we are trying to develop a culture of winning by getting the kids to break bad habits. That’s the process of building this program.”
It is a process that is trying to say the least. “Sometimes I leave my office and I wonder if it is all worth it,” he said. “But then I wake up in the morning and go right back at it.”
Perry is extremely detailed and committed, so he is honing his players to be just as conscientious. He’s a stickler for players being on time. He requires players to be dressed uniformly, to be attentive in meetings, to support each other.
“Change is difficult for people,” he said. “And when you want to instill discipline, that’s when you run into a brick wall. You can’t do what you’ve done before here because it hasn’t worked. And to get it turned around starts with discipline and breaking bad habits.”
Habits like blitzing on defense when the call was to drop back.
“A kid will revert to what was successful one time for him, even though he blitzed on his own, against the scheme,” Perry said. “We’re slowly getting our guys to execute exactly what they are told.”
Losing the entire offensive line and all but one of the starting defensive linemen did not help Perry in his rebuilding this year. He cited coach Tarron Owens as invaluable. Perry hired him as the “Go Get ‘Em Coach,” meaning Owens finds mostly ninth-graders and gets them to commit to football. The Meadowcreek team is loaded with freshmen, which bodes well for the future.
But there is the matter of the number of students interested in football at the school. “We’ll have more than 100 come out for soccer and less than that for football,” Perry said. “That’s not a complaint; it is what it is.
“People think I’m just saying this because I work here, but I have one of the most supportive principals [Dr. Angela Pringle] you can have,” Perry said. “She’s tough, but supportive. And our new athletic director, Jason Dobson, is great to work with. People don’t know how important that is to a coach.
“A coach can have a vision about how to get things turned around. But if the administration does not share in it, it can make it even tougher. So we’ve got a lot of work to do. But I think we we’re on the right path, and when our young players get more experience, we’ll see a lot of progress.”
Permalink | Comments (8) | Categories: Curtis Bunn
Why not transfer? It’s cheaper
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
No one is happy about the amount of high school athletes that transfer from school to another. But can you blame them? With college scholarships valued well over $100,000, packing up and moving down the street into another school district would be cheaper than paying for tuition. So why not move?
Permalink | Comments (5) | Categories: David Purdum
A down season in AAAAA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I can’t help believing that every team in Class AAAAA is overrated, and I’m the one who rated them.
Roswell at No. 4? I’ve got to be kidding.
There just isn’t a AAAAA team that would surprise me by losing in the second round of the playoffs. Maybe Camden County and Lowndes, but even they have some big question marks. About the only thing I’m convinced about is Lowndes’ defense. That’s championship quality.
That’s not to say that Class AAAAA is down, just wide open. Teams such as Roswell, Stephenson and Marietta are ranked primarily because they’re reigning region champs who are undefeated. Much remains to be proven.
I fully expect a team that’s unranked now to make the Georgia Dome. Which will it be? Colquitt County? Valdosta? McEachern or Harrison? You tell me.
In AAAA, there are a dozen teams that I’m sure are very good. It’s so tight that Creekside and Starr’s Mill — playing the game of the week Friday — remain unranked. Marist is out of the Top 10 for only the third time in the last 10 years. Why? Lose in AAAA, and there are too many teams with great credentials to take your place. Tucker got the nod.
Northside is the new No. 1 for its performance last week in bombing Warner Robins.
In AAA, major changes took place with Peach County and Shaw losing. LaGrange gets No. 1 more on past performance than its promise in 2005. New to the Top 10 are Flowery Branch, Jackson and Sandy Creek. Also considered were Grady, Washington County, Westlake, Cairo and Hart County.
Not a lot of changes in AA and A. I was probably kind to Clinch County, an 0-2 team that just lost 35-0, but I’m still thinking this is one of the class’s best 10.
Permalink | Comments (135) | Categories: Poll talk
One word, Broncs fans: Relax
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Two weeks into the season, Brookwood seems to be in a quandary, which is never good.
Before the season began, seven players were suspended by coach Mark Crews for their actions at an off-campus party. The Broncos then lost to No. 1 ranked Camden County in a tough game at the Georgia Dome. That was no reason for panic, especially with four starters sidelined for the team infractions.
But to fall to North Gwinnett on Friday - even if undermanned - well, that sounds the alarm that is resounding throughout the community.
For sure, much of the attention - and blame - is directed at Crews, which is only right. He’s the coach and, ultimately, the onus falls on him. He would not deny that and has said, “We’re not a very good team right now.”
But in his time since taking over for Dave Hunter, Crews has made an impressive account of himself as a leader of young men and has upheld the winning tradition of the Brookwood program.
So, while there will be some cynics who surely are grumbling about Crews, here’s a word of advice: Relax.
This might not be Brookwood’s strongest team or Crews’ strongest coaching job to this point, but there has to be faith that he and his staff and his players will rally to again be a force in the playoffs. It’ll definitely help that they will get the suspended seven players back, too.
At the same time, the Broncos lost to two pretty good football teams. Camden County is No. 1 in the state, and North Gwinnett, who also beat Walton, just might be the surprise of the year.
But don’t be surprised to see Brookwood back among the best and end up representing metro Atlanta’s best chance for a Class AAAAA championship.
Under Crews, the Broncos have twice played for the state title, and a victory at Valdosta this weekend will reaffirm trust in its program.
Then it will be Valdosta coach Rick Tomberlin’s time to learn about the patience of folks in his part of the state.
Permalink | Comments (27) | Categories: Curtis Bunn
Sphire making sweet music at North
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Any more discussion about the best game coach in Gwinnett better include the new guy on the block, North Gwinnett’s Bob Sphire. After pulling off the biggest upset of the young season—a convincing 10-3 win at Brookwood—Sphire’s Bulldogs are the best team nobody knows anything about— even their coach. “I had no idea what I had when I took the job, no idea what I have even when we kicked it off last week,� Sphire told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution after Friday’s victory.
Who does this guy think he is, showing up and knocking off Georgia big wigs Walton and Brookwood? Well, Sphire’s the guy who built Lexington Catholic into a Kentucky power during his 15-year tenure as head coach. He’s the guy who spent his last three years splitting his time between Lexington Catholic and the Lexington Horsemen of the United Indoor Football team. He’s also a music lover with an eclectic taste that includes everything from Rush to James Brown. In fact, if you listen carefully around the North Gwinnett field house, you might hear the coach belting out one of the Godfather of Soul’s classics. “I feel good.�
What songs do you think some of the county’s other coaches are singing after Week 2?
Brookwood’s Mark Crews: Definitely the blues after falling to 0-2 for the first time. But don’t count the Broncos out. They’ll still be dancing around Thanksgiving. Maybe a little Bob Marley is in order, something like “Redemption Song.�
Grayson’s Mickey Conn, Collins Hill’s Larry Sherrill, Shiloh’s Nick Davis and Mill Creek’s Shannon Jarvis: A beautifully harmonized version of the Doors’ “Break on Through.� All three coaches would love to break on through to the other side of the goal line just once, something their teams have yet to accomplish.
Parkview’s Cecil Flowe: A little Pearl Jam is in order for the Panthers, because “Even Flow� knows this his team desperately needs a win this week against Union Grove.
Permalink | | Categories: David Purdum
Plenty of talent, but no state titles
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Westlake and Douglass, two Atlanta schools who met for the first time Friday night, have produced seven current NFL players, several more former pro athletes, countless Division I-A football players — and no state championships.
Interesting.
Considering the amount of talent that goes through the two programs, it would stand to reason they would have a title or three to their credit. I mean, doesn’t talent win?
Well, it is not that simple. Westlake has not advanced beyond the quarterfinals since 1999 despite the label as the high school with the most players in the NFL. That’s some distinction, an acknowledgment that would be heightened with at least one state title to go with it.
Think about it. Five Lions play football for money, and none of them has a championship as a high school memory. They include Adam “Pacman” Jones (Tennessee Titans), Keith Adams (Miami Dolphins), Keyaron Fox (Kansas City Chiefs), Sean Jones (Cleveland Browns) and Anthony Mitchell (Cincinnati Bengals).
On the other side of the field Friday night, the Douglass contingent could name Ahmad “Batman” Carroll (Green Bay) and Jamal Lewis (Baltimore) as former Astros making a living in the NFL. Douglass played for a state title in 1975 but has made early exits from the postseason in recent years.
What it comes down to is this: Football is the ultimate team sport. A roster littered with pro-potential talent only makes it a team with pro-potential talent. The melding of that talent, the execution at critical stages, toughness and the limiting of mistakes are virtues that produce champions.
Dozens of other programs in the state have not reached the summit, making them not unlike Douglass and Westlake. But the Astros and Lions have sported as much raw talent as anyone.
This is not an indictment of the programs. The players who have made it to big-time college ball and the NFL have been groomed by these coaching staffs and raised by the communities.
Rather, it is a testimony to the value of depth and teamwork. Friday night, Westlake had perhaps the best player on the field — cornerback Addison Williams, who is committed to Steve Spurrier and South Carolina. Williams has the stuff to play in the SEC and beyond.
Still, the sum of Douglass’ parts equaled a 25-22 victory in the first game played on Westlake’s new county-financed turf field that resembles the turf at the Georgia Dome. The Astros got a field goal early from Kris Zakakis and a spectacular touchdown by senior Gelman King, who batted a pass in the air and had the presence of mind to catch it.
Douglass led 11-0 and seemed in control. The Astros are big up front and are dangerous with running back Harvey English, who scored from 38 yards, and Reggie Williams, who broke a 60-yard run for a score.
Their quarterback tandem of senior Deante Lewis and junior Ronald Holiday offers a nice mix. And their defense plays stout.
Without an obvious NFL prospect on board, Douglass looked like a sound team that played together and tough. Westlake, which moved up to AAAA, had its moments, but generally could have used one or two of their NFL alums.
Parkview, Camden County, Lowndes — the most recent AAAAA champs — were definitely talented, but they also were marked by the overall execution of team. Which answers the original question: Talent on its own wins nothing.
Talent wins only when it is complemented by a sound system, solid players, creative schemes and discipline.
Permalink | Comments (32) | Categories: Curtis Bunn
Wanna’ bet?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This just in: People are betting on high school football games. Don’t act shocked. You may not be doing it, but someone just down the bleachers from you is.
Now that baseball is past its time, gambling has become America’s new pastime. Casinos are popping up everywhere. This weekend I’ll be testing the tables in Omaha, Neb., of all places.
Betting on sports is also more convenient than ever. Thanks to the Internet, gamblers no longer have to sneak a call to Big Willie to get their money down on the Hawks. (If you’re betting on the Hawks, please feel free to call me instead of Big Willie.) I’m cool with all of that and well aware of the point spreads on most of this weekend’s college and pro games. But, until recently, I didn’t have a clue that Brookwood was a 21-point favorite over North Gwinnett tonight.
At PowerPickem.com, you can find point spreads for many of tonight’s high school games. Some local lines of interest: Buford is laying 14 to Cartersville, and No. 4 Greater Atlanta Christian is, somewhat surprisingly, a 14-point favorite over No. 3 Greene County. (The insiders most know something).
Sure, there’s probably something immoral about wagering on high school kids, and by no means am I encouraging this. But all the outrage in the world is not going to stop it from happening. So if you can’t beat ’em, bet on ’em.
Here are a three prop odds of my own for tonight’s games.
Which total is more? Greater Atlanta Christian running back Caleb King’s rushing yards plus quarterback Lee Chapple’s passing yards vs. Greene County quarterback Josh Nebitt’s total yards. King and Chapple will combine for more than 300 yards, but I’ll take Nesbitt, who rolled up 552 yards and scored seven touchdowns in a first-round playoff win against Wesleyan.
Which is greater? Brookwood linebacker Rennie Curran’s tackles vs. North Gwinnett total points I’ll take North Gwinnett. Curran and company may have stymied Camden County’s one-dimensional offense, but North Gwinnett’s spread attack offers a whole different kind of challenge.
Over/Under 21 — total points scored by Grayson, Collins Hill and Mill Creek combined. I’ll take the under. These three offensive juggernauts combined for six points last week, all coming via the foot of Collins Hill kicker David Isbill. Grayson hosts Peachtree Ridge, which blanked Shiloh last week, and Mill Creek faces Dacula, which shutout Central Gwinnett. Collins Hill takes on Tift County down in Kingsland. A six-hour bus ride is bound to leave the Eagles’ offense sluggish.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: David Purdum
Breaks are dancing Clarke Central’s way
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Podcast
- audio: Podcast Behind The Picks
Maybe the breaks are finally going Clarke Central’s way.
The Gladiators won a game last week they should have tied. Even the Georgia High School Association acknowledged this week that the call that allowed Clarke Central to win 26-23 at Hart County on a last-second field goal should not have been.
The officials ruled that the game could not end on a penalty instead of correctly ruling that it could not end on a defensive penalty. So after finding the Gladiators guilty of an illegal forward pitch, the officials errantly gave them one more play, and J.B. Erickson used it to kick a 46-yard field goal.
Now, Clarke Central comes to a game in which all the breaks have gone to its archrival — Cedar Shoals. The Jaguars have owned Clarke Central for the past five seasons, the longest winning streak it has enjoyed in a series that Clarke Central formerly dominated.
Are the Gladiators tired of coming up short in what Athens-area fans refer to as the Classic City Championship? Undoubtedly. Do they have the wherewithal to do something about it? Yes.
Darreion Robinson may be remembered by Hart County fans as the villain who got away with the forward lateral, but they’ll also remember his nearly 300 all-purpose yards.
The Jaguars have won the past five meetings by margins of eight, nine, seven, three and two points. No blowouts in the bunch. One break, or one game-breaker — like Robinson — should make the difference.
• Warner Robins vs. Northside-Warner Robins: Northside could wrap up the unofficial county championship with a win, following last week’s 26-14 victory against Houston County. But the way Warner Robins is playing defense might delay those bragging rights until Sept. 29, when Warner Robins plays Houston County.
Northside has transferred the quarterbacking duties to Marques Ivory, who fumbled three times and threw an interception last week. That Northside had enough left in the tank to win comfortably speaks volumes about its talent. But the Eagles can’t get away with those mistakes of inexperience against a hungry Warner Robins team that nearly won last year’s meeting.
Where Warner Robins is playing now — in Class AAAAA, a level above Northside’s AAAA — doesn’t matter. How it’s playing, the kind of dominance it showed in stifling Parkview, will tell the tale. Warner Robins wins.
• Tucker at Marist: Among teams that have played Marist more than once, only three teams have a winning record against the War Eagles. Tucker is one of them. (Cairo and Thomas County Central are the other two.) That makes the Tigers not a favorite but a target.
Tucker has won seven of its 12 meetings with Marist, but tonight won’t be the eighth of 13. Bill Ballard has a talented (but young) team, and Hughes Spalding Stadium is no place for the faint of heart or the short of experience. Tonight is a dues-paying situation for Tucker.
Friday’s winners
Apalachee
Athens Academy
Baldwin
Banks County
Beach
Benedictine
Berkmar
Berrien
Bleckley County
Bowdon
Brooks County
Brookwood
Buford
Butler
Cairo
Calhoun
Calhoun County
Campbell
Carrollton
Cass
Cedartown
Centennial
Central-Carroll
Central-Macon
Chapel Hill
Chattooga
Clarke Central
Coffee
Columbia
Cook
Coosa
Crisp County
Cross Creek
Cross Keys
Dacula
Dalton
Decatur
Dougherty
Douglass
Druid Hills
Dublin
Early County
East Coweta
East Hall
ECI
Elbert County
ELCA
Fayette County
Fellowship Christ.
Flowery Branch
Forsyth Central
Franklin County
Gainesville
Ga. Military Coll.
Glenn Hills
Glynn Academy
Grady
Greenbrier
Greene County
Greenville
Griffin
Harris County
Hart County
Hawkinsville
Henry County
Heritage
Irwin County
Jeff Davis
Jefferson
Johnson County
Kell
Kennesaw Mtn.
LaFayette
LaGrange
Landmark Christ.
Lee County
Lincoln County
Lithonia
Long County
Lovett
Lowndes
Luella
Macon County
Manchester
Marion County
Marist
Mary Persons
Mays
McIntosh Co. Ac.
Meadowcreek
Milton
Mitchell-Baker
Model
Newton
Norcross
North Clayton
NW Whitfield
Oconee County
Peach County
Peachtree Ridge
Pelham
Pickens
Pierce County
Putnam County
Ridgeland
Riverwood
Roswell
St. Pius
Salem
Sav. Country Day
Schley County
Screven County
Shaw
Social Circle
South Cobb
S.E. Bulloch
South Effingham
Southwest DeKalb
Sprayberry
Starr’s Mill
Stephens County
Tattnall County
Taylor County
Temple
Thomas Co. Central
Thomson
Toombs County
Towers
Tri-Cities
Union County
Union Grove
Upson-Lee
Walker
Warner Robins
Washington Co.
West Hall
West Laurens
Westside-Aug.
Whitewater
Wilkinson Co.
Woodstock
Woodward Acad.
Saturday’s winners
Camden County
Creekside
Dooly County
Harrison
Houston County
McEachern
M.L. King
Northside-Col.
Rome
Tift County
Valdosta
Washington
Westover
- — Games vs. out-of-state teams, like batteries, not included
Permalink | Comments (21) | Categories: 2006, Darryl Maxie
Bad week for 8-AAAAA, me
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OK, so friends, so it was a brutal beginning for Gwinnett County football last week — and even worse for your fearless prognosticator.
A 7-7 opening week for someone who has picked at an 80 percent clip for three years is, well, I don’t know. I’ve never experienced such a thing before.
But on a weekend in which Brookwood and Parkview lost on the same day for the first time in 15 years (Region 8-AAAAA went 0-8), I suppose anything was possible. Or that some celestrial intervention was in play.
I promise to do better this week. The picks:
Berkmar at North Forsyth
First varsity road experience for many key young players might be tough to overcome. But go with the Patriots.
Berkmar
Buford at Cartersville
It’s never a smart move to pick against the Wolves — home or away.
Buford
Collins Hill vs. Tift County (Saturday at Camden Co.)
Eagles will find No. 8 Blue Devils tough to handle on foreign soil.
Tift County
Dacula at Mill Creek
This will be over in enough time to catch a 9 p.m. show.
Dacula
GAC at Greene County
I really can’t pick between these two powerful teams. Can you say coin flip?
GAC
Grayson at Peachtree Ridge
Lions must not be overconfident against a Grayson team that can play some D.
Peachtree Ridge
Hart County at Wesleyan
Hart will bring Buford kind of speed to Norcross.
Hart County.
Meadowcreek at Duluth
Wildcats may not be playoff-caliber, but they’re more experienced than Creek.
Duluth
North Gwinnett at Brookwood
Broncos at home, even with as depleted roster, are tough, but can North win two in a row on the road? Might be too much to ask.
Brookwood
Northview at Norcross
Blue Devils don’t have to be world-beaters this week, but they’ll be plenty good to dispose of Northview.
Norcross
Shiloh at Campbell
Shiloh will have to wait another week for its first win of the season.
Campbell
South Gwinnett at Heritage
Let’s see, Heritage scored 35 last week. South scored seven. Good enough reason to pick Patriots.
Heritage
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: Gwinnett Picks
Thursday notes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Football
Kennesaw Mountain coach Scott Jones is pleased with his defense after scoring the school’s first shutout since 2003 in the 20-0 win over Pope. Kennesaw Mountain also shut out Cedartown in a preseason scrimmage. The defensive leaders are three-year starting linebacker L.A. Colon and two-way starting lineman Chris Burns. “It’s tough to find a lineman that can go almost 100 percent on both sides and be effective,” Jones said of Burns. “He’s gotten himself in the shape we need him to be to do that. I wish we didn’t have to, but his presence is needed.”
McEachern coach Jim Dorsey scheduled Saturday’s home game against Hiram last year, not knowing that his son, Andy, would be Hiram’s head coach. “His mama is not too happy about it,” Jim Dorsey said of the father-son matchup. “I’m not all that fired up about it either, but it will certainly jazz the game up a little bit. It will be the first time in my life I’ve rooted against him.” Dorsey has been McEachern’s head coach since 1984. Andy played at McEachern, graduating in 1997, and was an assistant at Hiram before repacing Lynn Rowe this season. Also on Hiram’s staff are former McEachern assistants Chris Brown and Mike Hardage and former McEachern players Norval McKenzie and Mark Meyers. The game is part of what’s billed as the “Border Wars” Cobb-Paulding double-header at McEachern’s Cantrell Stadium. Harrison plays Paulding County at 5 p.m., followed by McEachern-Hiram.
Softball
Newnan’s pair of Kaylas — Heggood and Vallery — have been solid from the pitching rubber so far and are the main reasons the Cougars are 6-7. Vallery, the team’s ace, has a 0.78 ERA, but has been tagged with 16 unearned runs in 53 innings. Heggood, who tossed a one-hitter at Paulding County and a three-hitter against Mundy’s Mill last week, has a 2.53 ERA.
Led by All-State pitcher Kari Chambers, the Woodstock softball team has picked up where it left off last season. Following a state runner-up finish in 2005, the Wolverines are 7-1 to start the season with their lone loss coming to Peachtree Ridge…
M.L. King looks like a player in the Region 2-AAAAA race. The Lions started the year 6-1, with four shutouts. The 1-2 pitching punch of Shakia Pledger and Patrice Bailey combined to allow just three runs in their first 35 innings pitched….
Volleyball:
Considered one of the best teams in AAAA, Sequoyah has won nine straight games and are 13-3 on the season. Led by Tori O’Brien, who had 12 kills and eight digs, the Chiefs swept past area rival Cherokee and AAA’s Pickens County on Tuesday….
Etowah and coach Susan Murphy are off to one of their best starts ever. The Eagles are 13-2 on the year with their losses coming at the hands of AAAAA power Northview and county rival Sequoyah….
Walker, which returned every starter from last year’s Class AA/A semifinalist, is 15-3 with victories over defending champion Wesleyan and six AAAAA schools. Walker’s star is senior Emily Morris, also the school’s best gymnast and diver, and a letterman long jumper on the track team….
It would be hard to pick against Northview winning the Class AAAAA championship for the second year in a row after the team’s performance at Marist last week. The Titans defeated both Harrison and Marist in a tri-match; all three teams are ranked nationally in various polls. Northview, which started off this year byb winning 14 of 17 matches, beat Harrison then knocked off Marist….
East Coweta has five different players who have stolen a base, led by Christin Robinson and Lisaira Daniels with three each.
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Individual superlatives
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Calvin Middleton, the North Cobb junior who rushed for 242 yards against Kell, also played about 40 snaps on defense at linebacker, said coach Shane Queen. Middleton made five tackles….
Eagle’s Landing senior running back Quinton Brooks played well in the 28-7 loss to Stockbridge, rushing for 117 yards on 23 carries…
Brooke Deese’s single in the bottom of the sixth inning broke a scoreless tie and helped Woodstock (8-1) defeat Kennesaw Mountain (10-1) in a fast pitch softball game Wednesday night. Woodstock’s Cari Chambers pitched a two-hitter, allowing singles to Kristin Marko…
Taylor Disch pitched a no-hitter Wednesday night as Milton defeated Kell 3-0….
After winning six state titles in her first two years (two in cross country, two in the 1,600 and two in the 3,200), Chamblee junior Emily Reese showed no signs of slowing down last weekend at the Clara Bowl. Her time of 17:57 was 52 seconds ahead of the rest of the pack….
Lassiter senior Brittany Linton had retired 59 straight batters until allowing an infield hit against Pope in a game Lassiter won 3-1 last week…
Cross-country notes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Holy Innocents’ senior Haley Kolff, whose runner-up 20:38 led the Golden Bears to victory in Spalding High’s Jag Invitational, goes for gold again in Saturday’s Lady of Mercy Invitational….
Walton senior runner Jay Heller, the Class AAAAA runner-up in cross country, as well as the 1,600 and 3,200, has committed to Texas….
South Forsyth runner Jennifer Barbi finished runner-up in the Clara Bowl at Berry College, propelling the War Eagles to second place in the team category behind Scottsboro, Ala. Barbi finished with a time of 18:49, which was second fastest in school history….
After winning six state titles in her first two years (two in cross country, two in the 1,600 and two in the 3,200), Chamblee junior Emily Reese showed no signs of slowing down last weekend at the Clara Bowl. Her time of 17:57 was 52 seconds ahead of the rest of the pack…..
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Recruiting updates
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mundy’s Mill massive offensive lineman Lamar Young (6-foot-5, 300) has verbally committed to Maryland. He had offers from Air Force and Central Florida, and was being recruited by Georgia Tech, Louisville, and Mississippi.
Though he rarely plays defense, Riverdale senior quarterback Rod Mason (5-foot-8, 175) was offered a scholarship in the summer by Division I-AA James Madison. The Dukes wanted to sign Mason as a defensive back after coaches at the Virginia school saw him covering receivers in a camp back in July.
Greene County football coach Larry Milligan says he expects quarterback Josh Nesbitt to announce his college commitment perhaps as soon as the end of this week. Nesbitt, a Super 11 player, has Georgia, Georgia Tech, Auburn and Florida State on his final list…
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Heed Fellowship coach’s life lessons
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
His mind and knowledge of the game remain sharp, even at 76 and after 41 years of coaching. Bob Lord has seen a lot, done a lot, and remarkably, plans to do more.
The coach at Fellowship Christian, which went from GISA to GHSA this season, hails as the oldest in his position in Georgia, which begs a question: How old is too old to coach?
Based on Lord’s keen senses - and those of 72-year-old Luther Welsh of Thomson - there is no absolute answer. Put it this way: If the coach has his faculties as Lord has, can relate to today’s players as Lord relates and maintains a passion for the game as Lord maintains, then coach on.
In other professions, I probably would lean toward shutting it down at a certain age. But when it comes to coaching teenagers - it should be more about raising young men than winning games - the value Lord brings to his players is immeasurable.
That is, of course, if they can stay away from the video games long enough to catch the lessons.
“There are three things I enjoy,” Lord said. “Time with the Bible, time with my sweetheart of 52 years [wife Julia] and coaching football. After each season, my wife and I check our health, and as long as we’re up to it, and they want me to do it, we’ll keep coaching.”
Lord lived through the county’s depression. He served in the Korean War. He coached for three teams in the NFL during 12 seasons and coached 19 years in college and 17 years of high school ball.
He said today’s young athletes are not totally focused.
“There are too many distractions. Money, cars,” he said. “Both parents are working, so the supervision and discipline are not as solid as when I was growing up. We didn’t have TV, so we were outside playing all sports.
“Kids today are looking for something for nothing. I’m not saying some don’t want to pay the price, but the number of them who do gets lower each year.”
A father of five children, 16 grandkids and a great grandchild, Lord, “has had a great life,” he said.
“I’m young at heart. I’m at a Christian school where there is more freedom to talk about God and the Bible, and the kids, parents and school are great.”
Fellowship Christian won its first GHSA game last week against Prince Avenue of Athens, 41-12, which was a big deal around school. Lord celebrated by having dinner with his wife, going home and calling the AJC to report the final score and then watching film of the game. Just like any other coach.
But he’s not just like any other coach.
“The biggest thing I try to teach is to pay attention,” he said. “I’ve been down the road a time or two, so take these basic ideas: honor your mom and dad … and listen. You learn so much from just listening. It’s a daily chore to get the things you want, to get the lessons across. But it’s always worth trying, because these are young men who, if they take all the knowledge and experience I share with them on life, will be better people.”
Permalink | Comments (8) | Categories: Curtis Bunn
Dear Caleb King
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dear Caleb King,
What’s it like to be you? What’s it like to be the top prep running back in the nation? What’s it like to be 18 and have an entire state scrutinizing your every move? Do you ever just sit back and laugh at the people who are so wrapped up in high school sports that they would actually wish physical harm on you for deciding to transfer from Parkview to Greater Atlanta Christian? It’s sad, not funny, but what else can you do but laugh?
What’s it like to be you? What’s it like to have more than 60 scholarship offers from the top college football programs in the nation? And while we’re on the subject, which one those do you reckon you’ll be accepting?
Recently, in Auburn, a bunch of Tiger fans called into the local sports talk radio show and swore you were headed their way. But Tommy Tuberville already owns a plethora of young running backs, including your former Parkview teammate Brad Lester and the highly touted Ben Tate. Would you mind waiting your turn, or are you good enough to start immediately?
Just down the road at Georgia, three Bulldog backs are entering the late stages of their careers. A backfield of Stafford and King would bring a smile to a lot of the Bulldog faithful. But I get the idea you more interested in seeing other parts of the country.
You’ve said that two of your five official recruiting visits will be to Notre Dame and USC. The Irish, of course, have that Darius Walker guy from Buford. Even as good as he is, it’s unlikely he’ll leave for the NFL until after next year. Don’t let that stop you from heading to South Bend, though. I’m sure Charlie Weis would gladly take the ball away from Walker during his senior season and instead hand it to some hotshot freshman. But again, are you good enough to start the minute you walk onto any campus?
USC’s no different than Auburn. Pete Carroll’s program is also loaded with big-time recruits. Earning playing time for the Trojans will be tough for any incoming freshman running back. But you’re not just any other back, are you?
That’s a lot of questions, and I know you’re busy. So if you only have time to answer two, please reply to these: Where are you going to college and what’s it like to be you.
Thank you for your time.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: David Purdum
Best Game Coach in Gwinnett
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Finally, after a century of playing football, your high school is headed to the state championship game. Unfortunately, your coach gets put on the shelf with a severe case of acid reflux disease. (Don’t worry, like Marcus Giles, heart surgery won’t be neccesary.) If you could pick any coach in Gwinnett County, past or present, to lead your team in one big game, who would you take?
Parkview’s Cecil Flowe, with four state titles, would have to be considered — unless you witnessed Saturday’s 30-3 drubbing by Warner Robbins, which was followed by the coach’s post-game tirade. I’d to hate to have my coach lose his cool in the heat of the battle.
Brookwood’s Mark Crews is in the mix. In his first year, he transformed the Broncos from a 5-5 squad to state title contender. He’s 2-2 against Flowe, including a loss in the 2002 final. I wouldn’t hesitate to put my team on Crews control. Buford’s Dexter Wood, with three state titles, wouldn’t be a bad choice But he’s hasn’t been game tested since 2004.
But the man I’d choose to coach my team in one game would be Dacula’s Kevin Maloof. Last year, he led a squad with 0 Division I recruits into Camden County and pulled off the biggest upset of the playoffs. This season, he’s got more talent. Look out AAAA. .
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: David Purdum
Nesbitt announcement pending
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
RECRUITING: Greene County football coach Larry Milligan says he expects quarterback Josh Nesbitt to announce his college commitment before next week. Nesbitt, a Super 11 player, has Georgia, Georgia Tech, Auburn and Florida State on his final list…
Walton senior runner Jay Heller, the Class AAAAA runner-up in cross country, as well as the 1,600 and 3,200, has committed to Texas….
Northview 6-foot-4 junior volleyball player Courtney Fletcher has been offered scholarships by Duke and South Carolina…Junior defender Kari Bardis has a scholarship offer from Arizona, where both her parents were student-athletes.
FOOTBALL: South Forsyth coach Greg Slattery said he knows he carries the hopes of metro Atlanta when the War Eagles travel to play No.-1 ranked Camden County at 2 p.m. Saturday. Camden Co. beat Brookwood last week. Said Slattery: “There’s always a rivalry feeling when you have teams from north and south Georgia playing each other. We know a lot of people around here want us to be successful. However, we also know that many people, outside of our supporters, aren’t expecting us to be successful. We’re just going to go down and do the best we can. All the pressure is on Camden; they’re the No. 1 ranked team in Georgia.”….
SUPERLATIVES: Eagle’s Landing senior running back Quinton Brooks played well in the 28-7 loss to Stockbridge. Brooks rushed for 117 yards on 23 carries….
Lassiter senior Brittany Linton had retired 59 straight batters until allowing an infield hit against Pope in a game Lassiter won 3-1 last week…Walton senior pitcher Heather Galante threw a one-hitter, struck out 14 and lost a perfect game with one out in the seventh inning but was still out-pitched in a game last week. Kell sophomore Erin Jones also threw a one-hitter in the 1-0 victory….Hillgrove, a new school playing mostly with freshmen and sophomores, is 5-4 and beat Westminster 7-0 this week on Katie Beer’s four-hit shutout….
East Coweta has five different players who have stolen a base, led by Christin Robinson and Lisaira Daniels with three each….
CROSS COUNTRY: South Forsyth runner Jennifer Barbi finished runner-up in the Clara Bowl at Berry College, propelling the War Eagles to second place in the team category behind Scottsboro, Ala. Barbi finished with a time of 18:49, which was second fastest in school history.
After winning six state titles in her first two years (two in cross country, two in the 1,600 and two in the 3,200), Chamblee junior Emily Reese showed no signs of slowing down last weekend at the Clara Bowl. Her time of 17:57 was 52 seconds ahead of the rest of the pack.
VOLLEYBALL: Woodward Academy and Marist meet for the first time this season Thursday at 6 p.m. at Wesleyan. Woodward owns the last five Class AAAA titles and had to go through Marist for most of those — including the last two finals….
Union Grove has definitely benefitted from realignment. The Wolverines were leading Region 2-AAAAA with a 4-0 record in league play going into the week. Competing in Region 4-AAAAA the last two years, Union Grove was kept out of the state playoffs by perennial area powers Starr’s Mill and Fayette County….
Considered one of the best teams in AAAA, the Sequoyah volleyball team has won nine straight games and are 13-3 on the season. Led by Tori O’Brien, who had 12 kills and eight digs, the Chiefs swept past area rival Cherokee and AAA’s Pickens County on Tuesday….
Etowah and coach Susan Murphy are off to one of their best starts ever. The Eagles are 13-2 on the year with their losses coming at the hands of AAAAA power Northview and county rival Sequoyah….
Walker, which returned every starter from last year’s Class AA/A semifinalist, is a 15-3 with victories over defending champion Wesleyan and six AAAAA schools. Walker’s star is senior Emily Morris, also the school’s best gymnast and diver, and a letterman long jumper on the track team….
It would be hard to pick against Northview winning the Class AAAAA championship for the second year in a row after the team’s performance at Marist last week. The Titans defeated both Harrison and Marist in a tri-match; all three teams are ranked nationally in various polls. Northview, which started off this year byb winning 14 of 17 matches, beat Harrison then knocked off Marist….
SOFTBALL:Newnan’s pair of Kaylas — Heggood and Vallery — have been solid from the pitching rubber so far and are the main reasons the Cougars are 6-7. Vallery, the team’s ace, has a 0.78 ERA, but has been tagged with 16 unearned runs in 53 innings. Heggood, who tossed a one-hitter at Paulding County and a three-hitter against Mundy’s Mill last week, has a 2.53 ERA….
Led by All-State pitcher Kari Chambers, the Woodstock softball team has picked up where it left off last season. Following a state runner-up finish in 2005, the Wolverines are 7-1 to star the season with their lone loss coming to Peachtree Ridge…
M.L. King looks like a player in the Region 2-AAAAA race. The Lions started the year 6-1, with four shutouts. The 1-2 pitching punch of Shakia Pledger and Patrice Bailey combined to allow just three runs in their first 35 innings pitched.
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Talking North Georgia football
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sure, it’s easy to compliment the team you just beat, but Dalton coach Ronnie McClurg came away impressed with Calhoun. Dalton beat Class AA’s reigning runner-up 20-16 in the season opener, but McClurg predicted big things for the Yellow Jackets.
“That’s a fine, fine football team,” McClurg said. “They’ll compete for a state championship in Class AA, no doubt.”
Dalton’s opening season win, and the Catamounts’ spot in the AJC’s Class AAAA top ten, is creating a buzz in North Georgia.
“Dalton is the team everybody is talking about,” said Rome coach Sid Fritts. “They have 30 seniors back, a couple transfers from Murray County, everybody is giving them the nod.”
Fritts and McClurg both said teams in Region 7-AAAA also need to keep an eye on Ridgeland. The Panthers beat Armuchee 21-6 to open the season, and McClurg called them the region’s sleeper team this year.
According to Fritts, Ridgeland can really throw the ball, and has a 6-foot-5 receiver causing serious matchup problems.
“We just can’t throw corners that big to match up with those kind of guys,” Fritts said.
The State Football Report features high school football news from outside Metro Atlanta. If you have news for the State Football Report or a team you’d like to see featured, e-mail ccustance@ajc.com.
Valdosta’s Tomberlin not discouraged
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Valdosta opened with a loss in the first game of the Rick Tomberlin era, but the new coach assured us that the honeymoon between he and the fans isn’t over.
Fans in Valdosta don’t tolerate losing, but Tomberlin said everything he’s heard so far this week has been positive. He appreciated the huge ovation the Wildcats received after their first touchown, and has gotten positive e-mails all week.
“I think the fans here get a bum rap, there might be two or three idiots, but there were the same at Washington County,” Tomberlin said. “I think these people have their heads screwed on right, they understand it’s a rebuilding process.”
While other state powers traveled to metro Atlanta for the opening week of football, Valdosta stayed home to host Utah’s Jordan High, a school already playing its third game this season.
If you don’t know about Jordan, according to Tomberlin this team had at least three D1 prospects and is one of the best teams in Utah. Jordan won its first two games easily, and Tomberlin gave his team some credit that the third game wasn’t a blowout. Valdosta lost 21-13, but Tomberlin praised his team for rallying after spotting Jordan a 21-0 lead.
“We held them scoreless for two and a half quarters and could have made it real interesting, we could have tied it,” Tomberlin said on Tuesday afternoon. “I don’t know if I’ve seen a team sharper in the passing game than they were.”
But before you Valdosta fans start getting nervous that Tomberlin was happy with a moral victory instead of a real one, he made it clear that losing close isn’t his goal in his first year down in Winnersville.
“We want to win, we don’t want to play good and lose,” he said.
The State Football Report features high school football news from outside metro Atlanta. If you have news for the State Football Report or a team you’d like to see featured, e-mail ccustance@ajc.com.
Demons romp to No. 3
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The idea was to let Warner Robins prove itself as a Top 10 team in Class AAAAA before being ranked. Remember that the Demons did lose in the first round of the playoffs last year in AAAA and didn’t do so great the last time they were in AAAAA.
Well, the rout of Parkview corrected my attitude on that. Not that Parkview is so great, but 30-3 is a statement in a classification where it’s pretty difficult sorting out the premier teams behind Camden County and Lowndes.
So the Demons are No. 3 this week, and Parkview is out.
Also gone are Valdosta and Central Gwinnett, teams that lost, and even Kell, a team that gave up 28 points in beating North Cobb. Kell can make amends by beating No. 10 Marietta this week.
Also new to the AAAA rankings are No. 8 Tift County and No. 9 North Gwinnett.
Why North Gwinnett? I’ve got a Gwinnett County quota to fill, and I figured I’d throw Tift County and South Georgia a bone to quell the criticism of North Georgia bias. (Just kidding, of course. I really like Tift this year and North Gwinnett handled a team I still expect to be pretty good in Walton.)
OK, on to more embarrassing things.
I messed up and ranked Macon County in AA after the Bulldogs were blown out by Peach County. Actually, had Macon County been ranked in the first place, a loss, even a rout, to the No. 1 team in a higher class wouldn’t be automatic cause for removal, but the reality is that I meant to rank Manchester. Now, if you can just try to be nice about it.
Other notes: No. 5 Calhoun in AA and No. 5 Clinch County in A didn’t drop despite losing close to ranked opponents in higher classifications.
The state’s deepest class is AAAA. How good is it when Creekside and Starr’s Mill aren’t even ranked?
Permalink | Comments (60) | Categories: Poll talk
Metro teams lacking luck
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One weekend neither makes a season nor establishes one region as best in state. But then again, it just might.
This much I know: Metro Atlanta football has not gained a yard on South Georgia dominance during the last few years. Parkview, the most recent champion (2002) from these parts, no longer ranks as a viable option as the area’s totem.
Brookwood made it to the title game last year, but was ransacked, 49-7, by Lowndes. Stephenson has lacked big-play capabilities on offense since Reggie Ball and Kregg Lumpkin departed and has gone backward on defense, too.
No one else around here has had the bonafide title ingredients: strong running game, ability to stop the run, solid kicking game, big-play capability, imaginative coaching, luck.
Yes, luck. Most success is accomplished in the way a team plays. But it is a long road to the title; it’s much easier to win one game for the championship than it is to get there. And getting there often requires good fortune.
That said, you also make your breaks by making plays. With four starters and three reserves suspended Saturday at the Georgia Dome, Brookwood had every reason to feel it should have knocked off No. 1 Camden County. But Camden made plays to get it done.
Warner Robins, which moved up to Class AAAA, jumped from unranked into the No. 3 spot by detonating Parkview. After that display, it is hard to deny that the Demons deserve the ranking.
Around here, Norcross, Kell, North Gwinnett and Marietta, among others, hope to have a say in the matter of where the AAAAA championship celebration will take place in December. Mindful that it is quite early, Brookwood represents the most legitimate chance for an Atlanta-area AAAAA title.
The Broncos seem to have all the aforementioned elements to get it done on the field. As for the luck part, well, that’s questionable. The best luck they can get is for the southern powers - Lowndes, Camden County, Warner Robins and Valdosta - to knock each other off before the title game. Now, that would be some really good luck.
Permalink | Comments (27) | Categories: Curtis Bunn
Parkview, formerly the titans
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Once, they were titans. Remember?
In all facets that matter — talent, coaching, toughness, discipline — the Parkview Panthers measured above the rest, setting a standard of excellence from 2000-2002 that ran a record 46 consecutive victories and three straight AAAAA championships.
Lately, though, the program considered the envy of most has encountered hardships no one could have foreshadowed. Chief among the issues has been this simple truth: Parkview has not been a championship contender in three years.
Make that four.
A defection of talent that formerly had poured into the Lilburn school prompted legitimate questions. With quarterback Patrick Witt departed to Texas, defensive stalwart Scottie Williams to Southwest DeKalb and running back extraordinaire Caleb King to Greater Atlanta Christian, Saturday’s meeting with storied Warner Robins represented a true assessment of where the program now rests.
The exit polls from the Georgia Dome Saturday were undeniable: the Panthers no longer reside among the state’s elite.
It remains a quality program with tough, committed athletes and a coaching staff with a record that attests to its ability. But it is difficult to consider these Panthers a serious threat.
Not after absorbing the 30-3 drubbing inflicted by the Demons, who set a culture of dominance in the first quarter and rode it through the rest of the afternoon.
Frankly, Warner Robins did to Parkview what the Panthers routinely did to opponents during their fantastic run. That is, the Demons, with only 10 starters back from last year, exerted their will, talent and confidence at the outset, diminishing Parkview’s resolve.
Up 16-0 after controlling the early moments — Warner Robins scored on its first play of the game, a safety and a 5-yard run — the Demons relied on its impenetrable defense to keep Parkview at bay.
“Huge,” Warner Robins coach Bryan Way said of his team’s exemplary start. “It gave us confidence … But Parkview is a good team. To lose a guy like [King] has to hurt you.”
No doubt. But this was as much about what Warner Robins is as it was what Parkview is not. The unranked Demons (that should change soon), back up to AAAAA after a stint one level down, were quite impressive with quarterback Mark Wright Jr. back after missing a year with a knee injury.
“Can’t put a price tag on having No. 7 in the huddle,” Way said.
Conversely, Parkview coach Cecil Flowe went with a sophomore quarterback as his starter, Clayton Wilkin, over senior Mitchell Farris. Didn’t work. Both played, neither got untracked.
Still, for a moment, it seemed that maybe the Parkview, uh, good fortune of the glory days had returned. Wilkin had a pass intercepted by the Demons’ Luke Waller, who returned it all the way to the Panthers’ 3. However, a penalty — first announced as pass interference and later changed to roughing the passer — nullified the play and gave Parkview a first down at the Warner Robins 17.
It was the Panthers’ opportunity to make a case. Instead, they managed two yards and ended up missing a 32-yard field goal, summing up the day. And it didn’t get any better afterward; Flowe choked on a chance to put it all into perspective by refusing interview requests.
In any case, even in the recent down years, when it was not quite at its peak, Parkview still caused a certain amount of fear, just because it was Parkview. Not anymore.
Now they are former titans who scare no one. Before, it was difficult to convey with any certainty that Parkview’s reign is over. Now, it’s official.
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Harrison, Lowndes coaches not afraid
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bruce Cobleigh and Randy McPherson are coaches of a different ilk. That is, they are not afraid of facing the best competition. Indeed, they welcome it.
How else would you explain Friday night’s season-opening matchup between perennial contender Harrison and two-time defending Class AAAAA champion Lowndes?
With an opportunity to pad his team’s record by scheduling a patsy to jump-start the season, Cobleigh called up McPherson, who has a record of 117-16 in four years at Lowndes.
“I thought it would be fun,” Cobleigh said.
McPherson agreed.
This is news. Way too often coaches find every reason they can to elude challenging foes: “We have nothing to gain. … It’s a no-win situation for us. … It’s too far to travel.” Blah, blah, blah.
These coaches relished the opportunity to measure their teams against championship-level competition. Hooray for them. More should follow their lead.
Look at Friday night. Their gumption created an occasion to be remembered at Harrison. Losing 17 players to graduation off last year’s state title team certainly milked the Vikings of a healthy portion of their talent, but it did not deplete their pride and effort.
During the 2004 title run, Lowndes did not trail in a single game all season. Friday night, Harrison’s first offensive play of the season was a swing pass from quarterback Darvin Adams to junior Alphonso Griffin, who broke one tackle and raced 75 yards along the left sideline for a touchdown and 7-0 Harrison lead.
The Hoyas’ capacity crowd roared, which was a reversal of how it was just moments before. There were plenty of tears flowing during an emotional pregame ceremony in which Luke Abatte’s jersey No. 5 was retired.
Abatte — the younger brother of Jon, a star at Harrison and who now plays at Wake Forest, and sister Rachel, the 2002 Homecoming queen — was killed in a car accident in February.
Cobleigh, his voice cracking, addressed the throng before retreating to the locker room. He was greeted by a team that seemed primed to strike a blow for metro Atlanta football — at least for a half.
South Georgia has ruled in the state’s highest classification since Parkview’s run of three consecutive titles ended three years ago. Camden County won it, and then Lowndes twice over.
Harrison held 13-6 cushion at the break, the result of two big plays: the 75-yarder and a dynamic 87-yard kickoff return by the elusive Jamal Austin. But as uninspired as Lowndes seemed early, it was that much energized and punishing late.
The Vikings made like the championship Vikings, using a power running game to pound the Hoyas into submission. A long third-quarter drive exclusively of running plays ended with 260-pound Devaris Leonard scoring from the 1.
He did likewise on the two-point conversion to give Lowndes a 14-13 advantage with 5:41 left in the period.
The Hoyas, young themselves, simply could not mount any sustained offense. They had a last chance with 3:35 remaining and 94 yards of field to cover for a score. They lost 5 yards. And on their last possession with less than a minute to go, there was an interception on a flea-flicker.
Shame should not come with losing to Lowndes. Disappointment, however, certainly accompanied Harrison as it left the field Friday night. The Hoyas have not been major players since losing to Parkview in the 2001 championship game. A victory against the Vikings would have been significant.
Meanwhile, the Vikings traveled a great distance to deliver a terse message: We’re still here.
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