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Wednesday, September 5, 2007
State FB Report: Watch out, WR
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
They call it the streak
It’s too early to write off a team, but Warner Robins’ streak of 39 winning seasons is in danger. That’s the second-longest streak of its kind in Georgia history, trailing Dalton’s 47 seasons (1960-present).
Warner Robins lost 20-3 last week to Camden County and faces crosstown rival Northside on Friday and Central Gwinnett next week. Those are teams that defeated Warner Robins easily last season. Then comes the Region 1-AAAAA schedule, which ended Valdosta’s streak of 31 winning seasons last season. Here are the 11 teams with the longest active streaks of winning seasons:
47 — Dalton
39 — Warner Robins
24 — Marist
23 — McEachern
20 — Peach County
17 — Cedar Shoals, Charlton County, Clinch County, Washington County
15 — Northside-Warner Robins, Tucker
Order the combo
The best offenses are usually those with outstanding players at quarterback and running back. Roswell and Northside-Warner Robins, the No. 1-ranked teams in Class AAAAA and AAAA, are evidence of that. Here are the best five RB/QB combos in the state:
1: Dustin Taliaferro/Alex Daniels, Roswell — Taliaferro was the Class AAAAA first-team all-state quarterback as a junior after he threw for 2,054 yards. Daniels rushed for 1,855. No pair was more productive in 2006.
2: Marques Ivory/Tijuan Green, Northside-Warner Robins — Ivory was the Class AAAA offensive player of the year as a junior. Green rushed for 183 yards and three touchdowns in the state championship game.
3: Jarad Dorsey/Cordellaro Jones, M.L. King — Dorsey passed for 198 yards last week in the 41-26 victory against McNair. Jones, super quick and hard to tackle, was honorable mention all-state last season after rushing for 1,360 yards.
4: Matt Roark/Calvin Middleton, North Cobb — Both rushed for more than 1,000 yards last season, but the 6-foot-5 Roark, who is being recruited as a wide receiver, is more than adequate as a high school passer (9-for-13 last week for 104 yards). This could be North Cobb’s best team since 1979.
5: Tre Lamb/Adam Urbano, Calhoun — These two had more than 300 total yards in the victory against Dalton last week. Urbano rushed for 1,883 yards and 37 touchdowns as a sophomore, but missed six games last season with an ankle injury. Lamb had 15 touchdown passes last season.
Or if you want to make a substitution, consider these:
— Hart County’s Kevin Curry and Reg Teasley
— Flowery Branch’s Jaybo Shaw and Christian Earls
— Seminole County’s Bacarri Rambo and Jakenzie Jones
— Stephens County’s Tauren Poole and Ethan Martin
— Pacelli’s Stuart Wilkerson and Jacquise Terry
Milestones
Bob Herndon of Benedictine got his 200th coaching victory last week in a 21-7 victory against Windsor Forest. Herndon is in his second season at the Savannah military school after leading South Effingham to four consecutive playoff appearances. … Ed Pilcher of Thomas County Central seeks his 200th victory Friday at Colquitt County. Pilcher, who won five state titles at the Thomasville school in the 1990s, is 199-70-1.
Numerically speaking…
47 — Years since Calhoun had beaten Dalton. Calhoun was 0-24-1 against the Catamounts since 1960 until Friday’s 27-21 victory.
17 — Years since Lowndes had been shut out at home. Harrison beat Lowndes 9-0 Friday night at Martin Stadium. Valdosta had been the last to do it in 1989.
State the facts: Talk state football right here with Todd Holcomb and e-mail football information to him here: tholcomb@ajc.com.
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Take 10: Best Metro Rivalries
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
They’ve got 18-point comebacks, history-making winning streaks, major upsets, dramatic finishes, rampant trash-talking, allegations of punching an official and the suspension of a head coach.
And that’s just last year.
With the annual Marist-Tucker showdown coming up this week — as usual, with both teams ranked in the top 10 — we thought we’d look at the metro area’s top rivalries. Here they are, Take 10 style:
10: Washington-Mays — It’s always big when these two rivals meet at Lakewood, and they’ve played a good game of back and forth recently, splitting the past six meetings. When: Mays beat Washington 28-14 on Friday at Lakewood.
9: McEachern-Marietta — This rivalry really got hot in the 1990s when both teams were winning tons of games, and it continues today. Between 1993 and 2002, seven of their eight meetings were decided by 7 points or fewer. When: Oct. 5 at McEachern.
8: Westminster-Lovett — Being in a different classification hurts this rivalry from a prominence standpoint, but the fans and players love playing their down-the-road rival. When: Westminster beat Lovett 27-7 on Friday at Westminster.
7: Buford-Greater Atlanta Christian — GAC hasn’t been able to beat Buford much lately, but neither has anyone else in Class AA. These teams are in the same subregion, and the people at GAC know who they have to go through if they want to make the playoffs. When: Sept. 28 at Buford.
6. Sequoyah-Cherokee — The Chiefs dominated this rivalry for much of the 1990s before Cherokee won three in a row earlier this decade. Regardless of the records, this is definitely one of those “If you beat them, you had a good year” types of rivalries. When: Oct. 5 at Sequoyah.
5. Washington-Douglass — In terms of pure fan support, few in the area match it. They haven’t played in the regular season since 2005, but they’ve been known to draw standing room-only crowds to scrimmages at Lakewood. When: Hopefully, soon.
4. Marist-St. Pius — This would be higher if the Eagles didn’t dominate this series as much as any long-time rivalry you’ll find. Even after Pius finally broke a 21-game losing streak in 2002, Marist has now extended it to 24 of 25. But if you go to the game and see the stands completely packed two hours before gametime, you’ll know why this is a big one. When: Nov. 9 at Marist.
3. McEachern-Harrison — McEachern owned this rivalry during the 1990s, and Harrison took it over during this decade before the Indians broke through with a 35-13 win last year. That added new ignition to an intracounty rivalry between the two best Cobb County programs of the past 15 years. When: Nov. 2 at Harrison.
2. Marist-Tucker — Marist is one of the proudest programs in the state, and nobody does this to the Eagles. Tucker is one of just two teams to have played Marist more than five times with a winning record (Marist is 3-4 against Avondale, but they haven’t played in more than 20 years). If Tucker wins Saturday, the Tigers would be the first team in 32 years to beat Marist four straight times. And there seems to be a good bit of true animosity between the fanbases. When: Saturday at Hallford, 8 p.m.
1. Parkview-Brookwood — It’s a neighborhood rivalry, where the players have often known each other all their lives. But it’s also one of the biggest games in the state most years. They even met in the 2002 state final. These are no “just for bragging rights” games. These are often to decide state supremacy. If you love high school football, you have to check this one out at least once. When: Nov. 9 at Parkview.
Go on. Take Ten. Which matchups can stand with these in terms of intensity, competitiveness and stature through the state? What are the games any self-respecting high school football fan in Atlanta schedules a babysitter for months ahead of time? What rivalries would you gladly skip your own wedding to see — or better yet, just have your wedding in the stands at halftime? Tell us ALL about it. Then find that babysitter (fast).
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