AJC > Sports > Highschools > Blog > Archives > 2007 > September > 19
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
State FB Report: Who’s hot, who’s not
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Westside-Macon coach Robert Davis, who appears to have a pretty strong team this season in Class AAAA, offered up a cliché during a conversation this week that applies to this week’s theme of who’s hot and who’s not:
”You can coach all you want, but if you don’t have athletes, you’re not going to win,” he said.
Davis must’ve had some good athletes through the years because he’s not had a losing season since he became a head coach at Warner Robins in 1972. That’s the state record.
But perhaps Davis’s analysis explains why five traditional state contenders are struggling to make ends meet this season, and why five mediocre programs are sitting at 3-0, at least two wins better than in 2006.
Here’s a look at those 10 teams whose fortunes so far have been quite different from what they were in 2006:
WHO’S HOT:
Haralson County: Haralson has avenged losses to Rockmart and Bowdon from 2006 and stand 3-0 for the first time since going 9-1 against a non-region schedule in 1991. Coach Frank Vohun is now 12-12 at a school that had won only 19 games in the previous 12 seasons. If he wins Friday, you’ll know he’s a West Georgia genius. Haralson is 0-23 all-time against Carrollton.
Jenkins: The Warriors of Savannah were leading 21-7 last week against Calvary Day in their quest to start 3-0 for the first time since 1982. But a rain and lightning storm stopped the game in the first half, and it was ruled a no contest. With Florida signees Chaz Sutton and Franklin Green, Jenkins has a good shot at making the playoffs for the first time since 1984 — when Rick Tomberlin was Jenkins’ coach.
Long County: The Blue Tide is 3-0 for the first time in history. This is a program that was 0-49 when Kyle Wilson took the head coaching job in 2005, according to GHSFHA.com. The 3-0 start marks the school’s first three-game winning streak in history. The 2-0 start marked the school’s first two-game winning streak.
South Effingham: At 3-0, South Effingham has avenged two of its three regular-season losses from 2006. The other was against Washington County, which is coming up in two weeks. A 9-1 regular season for the Mustangs is realistic. Winning in the playoffs, which has not happened in this school’s 12 seasons, would be the next step.
Winder-Barrow: The Bulldoggs (don’t forget that second G) have avenged losses to Apalachee and Oconee County and should beat Jackson county to go 4-0, which also happened in 2004. Most don’t believe the playoffs are within reach for Winder-Barrow, but it’s assured there will be no repeat of last season’s 1-9 disaster.
WHO’S NOT:
Colquitt County: Region 1-AAAAA isn’t kind to rebuilding teams, and Colquitt hasn’t even started its region schedule. The double-overtime victory over Lee County kept Colquitt from becoming the only team in the state to go from 3-0 to 0-3 since last season.
Hawkinsville: The Red Devils are 0-3 for the first time since 1992. Lee Campbell has never failed to have a winning season in his eight years at Hawkinsville. What’s been most shocking are the scores. The 27-6 defeat at home to Bleckley County last week has been the closest.
Warner Robins: The Demons are 0-3 for the first time since 1966. They’ve not failed to have a winning season since 1968, the second-longest streak in Georgia to Dalton’s, which started in 1960.
Washington County: The Golden Hawks are 0-3 for the first time since 1983, when the team started 0-8 and finished 2-8. WaCo was only 1-2 last season and still made it to the Class AAA semifinals, but the closest loss this time has been 42-21 against Dublin, a team that’s not quite the Class AA co-champion it was a year ago.
Washington-Wilkes: With only five or six seniors, Washington-Wilkes is 0-3 for the first time since 1998. That was also the school’s only losing season since 1992.
Permalink | Comments (19) | Post your comment | Categories: Football, State Report
Take 10: Why HSFB tops CFB & NFL
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Now that we’ve had a few weekends to lounge around watching football, it got us thinking: Friday nights are so much better than Saturdays and Sundays. Don’t get us wrong. Take Ten loves our college and NFL, but high school punts them both out of the back of the end zone. We know the NFL is the most popular sport in the country, and college football is a religion in the South. But let us at least state our case before you gang up on us.
10: Cheerleader banners
Every game, every team. The cheerleaders (and whoever else can find a marker) put together a huge paper banner every week for their team to run through. They have clever declarations like “Punish the Panthers” or “Bury the Morticians.” Either way, seeing the team bust through the banner always makes us want to suit up.
9: Walk-up tickets
It’s pretty rare at most schools to not be able to get a seat at the game. There’s no nosebleed section, and the tickets all cost the same. If you can’t sit exactly where you want, you only have yourself to blame.
8: No recruiting
I know what you’re thinking. Sure there’s recruiting. But it’s not nearly as widespread as cynical fans think it is. For the most part, coaches still take the players who walk onto the field at the start of practice and try to mold them into a team.
7: Love of the game
At most schools, players actually pay to play football. In high school, the vast majority of players will never play in college. They play because they love the game, and because they think it’ll help them get girls. Not necessarily in that order.
6: Smaller crowds
It’s not nearly so crazy and hot at high school games. Ever been to Sanford Stadium on a 90-degree day? With more than 90,000 of your closest friends? It’s like you’re in a broiler. At high school games, you probably won’t have more than a couple of thousand fans. What you will have is plenty of leg room.
5: Lack of commercialization
No lengthy “TV timeouts” as players linger on the field waiting for the sign that ESPN is back from that irritating iPod commercial again.
4: Saying “I saw him play when …”
How many people in Georgia still talk about “that time I saw Herschel Walker run through that guy at Johnson County?” Everybody has seen him at UGA. The replays have been shown thousands of times. But only a select few saw him at age 17. The same story can be told about countless future stars.
3: Combines the best of NFL playoffs with college rankings
Like the NFL, the state playoffs have the excitement of one-and-done pressure, while we also have rankings throughout the season like in college so we can all have knock-down, drag-out fights with each other. High school is the only one of the three that has both.
2: Dozens of games within a 30-minute drive each Friday
If you want to see an NFL game on Sunday and you’re in Atlanta, the Falcons are your only choice that’s close. And that’s only if they’re home. For college, you’ve got UGA, Georgia Tech, maybe Morehouse or Georgia Southern, again if they’re at home. For high school, you can always get your football fix every Friday. There will be dozens of games around the metro area every week. The only problem is choosing which one to go to.
1: State championship games
Give us a high school title game over the BCS or Super Bowl any day. The BCS title game is about as legitimate as a foosball game, and the Super Bowl has turned itself into little more than a concert for old, has-been musical acts and an excuse for gambling. The state title games are pure. You have real fans at the game, not just corporate suits. You have students there, who were in class with the players that morning. It’s a real championship.
Go on. Take Ten. So do you believe us now? Are you going to start leaving football to Friday nights and saving the rest of the weekend for lawn maintenance? Or are we just biased toward our local guys? Give us your take.
MORE PREPS: Video | Rival Smasher | Send photos!
Permalink | Comments (50) | Post your comment | Categories: Take Ten
