AJC > Sports > Highschools > Blog > Archives > 2007 > September > 20
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Cool football story; Fantasy line-ups
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Central Gwinnett coach Dennis Roland told me a cool football story the other day.
In 1985, he was an assistant at UTEP. The Miners were playing defending national champion BYU, led by quarterback Robbie Bosco (great QB name).
Roland and the UTEP coaching staff had discovered a strong tendency in BYU’s offense and used it to their advantage. Whenever the Cougars would come out in a certain formation around the goal line, they would run a naked bootleg. Sure enough, the exact situation would come up during the game.
“We put our prevent defense in,” remembered Roland. “They ran the boot. We had it covered, and our guy picked off the pass and returned it for a touchdown. We won 23-16.
“A couple days later, one of their coaches was quoted in one of the Denver papers, saying that we had tapped their headsets. Our coach, Bill Young, said, ‘Yah, we tapped them all right, tapped their butts.’”
Lou Holtz just gave me a pep talk during halftime of the Texas A&M-Miami massacre, so I’m off to bed.
Before I crash, here’s this week’s Fantasy Line Ups. I went with 680 the Fan play-by-play voice Karl Werl’s team because the rest of you picked a couple players that had bye weeks. (You probably still would have beaten me, but again I blame my players).
Through three weeks, my esteemed colleague Kurt Aschermann is undefeated. And obnoxious. Beat him, Karl, beat him bad.
Karl Werl’s Wrecking Crew
QB - Dustin Taliaferro, Roswell
RB - Brandon Davis, Peachtree Ridge
RB - Reuben Haynes, Commerce
WR - Brice Butler, Norcross
WR - Tavarres King, Habersham Central
Def - Tucker
DP’s Dandies
QB - Nick Sorel, Norcross
RB - D.J. Adams, Norcross
RB - Brandon Jacobs, Parkview
WR - Brice Butler, Norcross
WR - Cordero Dixon, North Gwinnett
Def - Greater Atlanta Christian
The Kurt Dynasty
QB - Mikey Tamburo, North Gwinnett
RB - Demetris Murray, Buford
RB - Cisco Barry, Dacula
WR - Devonta Bolton, Norcross
WR - Christian Robinson, Greater Atlanta Christian
Def - Peachtree Ridge
Remember you can challenge Kurt and DP by posting your team—1 QB, 2 RBs, 2 WR, 1 Defense-on the blog before 2 p.m., Thursday. Feel free to email your team to dpurdum@ajc.com or kaschermann@@ajc.com as well.
You can use any combination of players from across the state, while Aschermann and Purdum will use only Gwinnett County players.
One reader-submitted team will be selected each week based on the creativity of their team name. That selected team will be posted on Friday’s blog and in the Gwinnett News, along with Kurt’s and my teams.
If that reader’s team outscores both of the writers’ teams, they will receive a special prize from the wardrobe of Kurt or DP. We’ve got dope threads, so this is worth the 45 minutes it takes AJC.com to load up.
Results will be posted on Tuesday’s blog.
Scoring System
(Note: Due to limited stats, QBs/WRs do not receive points for rushing yards; RBs no points for receiving yards)
Passing
100-200 yards - 6
200-300 yards - 9
More than 300 - 15
Rushing/Receiving
50-99 yards - 6
100-150 - 9
151-199 - 12
More than 200 - 15
Rushing/Receiving/Passing TDs - 6
Defense: Every point the opposing team scores is subtracted from your total.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: David Purdum
Time’s running out for Memorex teams
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There used to be a popular television commercial in which a glass would be placed on a table and the great Ella Fitzgerald would be heard — but not seen — hitting a high note.
The glass would shatter and the voiceover would ask: “Is it live or is it Memorex?”
Week four of the high school football season is upon us, and it’s one last Memorex moment on which several teams better capitalize fully. Because after this week, it’s going to be live.
Stockbridge is going to be 4-0 after tonight. Berkmar is going to be 3-0. Underdogs of the world, unite!
When Stockbridge is finished beating Dutchtown, the Tigers will be 4-0 for the first time since 1967. Once-in-40-years-occasions deserve their due, and Stockbridge fans should enjoy the Memorex while it lasts.
What follows for the Tigers: Baldwin, Northside-Warner Robins, Upson-Lee and Westside-Macon. According to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association, Stockbridge is a combined 0-15 against those teams.
Berkmar will be 3-0 for two reasons.
A) It is 3-0 already.
B) It does not play tonight.
Every now and then, I have to slip an absolute certainty into a column in which sometimes there is no such thing.
The Patriots have been 3-0 in three of the last four seasons. From Games 4 through the end of those four seasons, they are a combined 8-15. They’ve lost 20 of their last 24 to Central Gwinnett — their next opponent — and 19 of the last 22 to Brookwood, the team they play the week after.
For some teams who have arrived at this moment unscathed, the challenge is to prove that what we’re seeing is, in fact, live.
Take Tucker, for instance. The Tigers go into a big game against St. Pius tonight, not only unbeaten at 3-0, but unscored upon at 135-0. Whether they’ll keep the Golden Lions — who are averaging 45 points a game — off the scoreboard is dicey, but the bet here is that what we’re seeing is as live as it gets. Tucker is going from team of question marks to team of exclamation points, and one that can win tough Region 6-AAAA.
North Cobb is 3-0 and has passed its first live-or-Memorex test. Shane Queen’s Warriors squeaked by Harrison 13-12 last week. Assisted by eight penalties, yes, but there have been years where the Warriors would leave such gifts unopened. This year, they capitalized.
Now, the Warriors have another chance to prove they’re for real — against McEachern. It wasn’t that long ago that North Cobb ended an 11-game losing streak in the series against the Indians. But they’ve won three of the last five meetings and this season’s momentum should carry them to four out of the last six.
For some of the underdogs out there, live or Memorex isn’t the question. It’s when will the suffering end? Week four should provide at least a brief respite for them.
Our Lady of Mercy, roughed up on the field and in this space (though not maliciously), will beat Towns County. Morrow will beat Newton. Like Stockbridge, they should enjoy it.
•Last week: 128-34 (.790) •Season: 381-113 (.771)
Friday’s games
Winner/Loser
Adairsville/Temple
Americus-Sumter/Westover
Apalachee/Alcovy
Appling County/Portal
Armuchee/Sonoraville
Athens Christian/Ga.Military Coll.
Bleckley County/Twiggs County
Blessed Trinity/South Atlanta
Brooks County/Randolph-Clay
Brookstone/Taylor County
Brunswick/Glynn Academy
Bowdon/Greenville
Buford/Wesleyan
Calhoun/Model
Callaway/Manchester
Campbell/Murray County
Carver-Columbus/Northside-Col.
Cedar Shoals/Elbert County
Centennial/Sprayberry
Central-Talbotton/Webster County
Chamblee/Therrell
Chattahoochee/Lassiter
Chattooga/Rockmart
Cherokee/Chapel Hill
Chestatee/Johnson-Gaines.
Clarke Central/Loganville
Coffee/Johnson-Sav.
Collins Hill/Mill Creek
Colquitt County/Bainbridge
Commerce/Trion
Coosa/Dade County
Crawford County/Lamar County
Creekside/Whitewater
Dacula /Madison County
Dalton/Ringgold
Darlington/Bremen
Decatur/Walker
Dodge County/Crisp County
Dooly County/Johnson County
Douglass/Tri-Cities
Early County/Berrien
East Laurens/Claxton
East Paulding/Alexander
Eastside/Lovejoy
ECI/Toombs County
Etowah/Kennesaw Mtn.
Evans/Greenbrier
Fannin County/Putnam County
Fayette County/Woodward Acad.
Fellowship Christ./Mt. Zion-Carroll
Fitzgerald/Mitchell County
Flowery Branch/East Hall
Franklin County/Morgan County
Gainesville/Lumpkin County
Gordon Central/S.E. Whitfield
Gordon Lee/Creekview
Greater Atl. Christ./Cross Keys
Habersham Central/Rockdale County
Hardaway/Harris County
Harrison/Woodstock
Hart County/Josey
Hawkinsville/Telfair County
Hephzibah/Butler
Heritage/Paulding County
Hiram/Savannah
Holy Innocents’/Hillgrove
Irwin County/Wheeler County
Lakeside-Evans/Richmond Acad.
Laney/Metter
Lanier County/Pelham
Lee County/Dougherty
Liberty County/Calvary Day
Lithia Springs/Osborne
Lovett/Avondale
Lowndes/Central Gwinnett
Macon County/Heard County
Marietta/South Cobb
Marion County/Pike County
Marist/Cedar Grove
McIntosh/Banneker
McIntosh Co. Acad./Sav. Cntry Day
Miller County/Calhoun County
Miller Grove/North Springs
Milton/Pope
M.L. King/North Atlanta
Monroe Area/Clarkston
Morrow/Newton
Newnan/Lithonia
Norcross/North Forsyth
North Cobb/McEachern
North Gwinnett/Forsyth Central
North Hall/West Hall
Northeast-Macon/Mary Persons
North Oconee/Rabun County
Northview/Kell
N.W. Whitfield/Ridgeland
Oglethorpe County/Union County
Our Lady of Mercy/Towns County
Parkview/Houston County
Peachtree Ridge/South Forsyth
Pebblebrook/Douglas County
Pepperell/LaFayette
Perry/Jackson
Pickens/White County
Prince Ave. Christ./Glascock County
Riverdale/North Clayton
Rome/Lakeview-Ft. Ogle.
Roswell/Walton
Salem/Oconee County
Schley County/Jenkins County
Screven County/Westside-Aug.
Seminole County/Atkinson County
Sequoyah/Woodland-Cart.
Shaw/Columbus
Social Circle/Whitefield Acad.
Southwest DeKalb/Columbia
Statesboro/Wayne County
Stephens County/Dublin
Stephenson/Towers
Stockbridge/Dutchtown
Swainsboro/S.E. Bulloch
Tattnall County/Pierce County
Terrell County/Bacon County
Thomas Co. Central/Tift County
Thomasville/Albany
Troup/Spencer
Tucker/St. Pius
Turner County/Montgomery Co.
Vidalia/Worth County
Villa Rica/Northgate
Ware County/Effingham Co.
Warren County/Jefferson
Washington/Lakeside-DeKalb
Washington-Wilkes/Dawson County
Westlake/Starr’s Mill
West Laurens/Spalding
Westside-Macon/Upson-Lee
Wheeler/Alpharetta
Wilcox County/Treutlen
Winder-Barrow/Jackson County
Saturday’s games
Winner/Loser
Griffin/Forest Park
Mays/Stone Mountain
Monroe/Hancock Cent.
Redan/McNair
Southside/Druid Hills
Warner Robins/Beach
- — Games vs. out of state omitted
Permalink | Comments (24) | Post your comment | Categories: Darryl Maxie
Lovejoy could use confidence boost
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Perhaps the most confounding team in the county at this point is Lovejoy, which has talent but is 0-3 for the first time since 1995. The Wildcats get a visit from a 3-0 Eastside club that has outscored its opponents 75-9. It’s the last non-region game on the schedule for Lovejoy, which could use a confidence boost.
And moving on …
Finding the end zone has proved to be a difficult proposition for Morrow in its first two games. The Mustangs are 0-2 and have scored six points, those in a 12-6 loss last week to Jonesboro. In Newton, though, they face a team that has struggled to a greater extent than they have. The Rams have been outscored 54-0 in their first two games, including an embarrassing 23-0 setback against second-year program Alcovy two weeks ago. So the Mustangs have to be feeling their chances of shaking the doldrums are decent. I agree, so I’m going with the Mustangs, even though they’re on the road …
The county’s only other game this week is a Saturday tilt at Tara between Forest Park and Griffin. Two weeks ago I would have equated this one to a visit to the proverbial woodshed, but then Griffin was held without a touchdown last week against Upson-Lee. Still, the Panthers are going to be hard-pressed to keep up with the Bears, who are led by UGA commitment Toby Jackson …
FOOTBALL GAME OF THE WEEK
GAME OF THE WEEK
North Clayton at Riverdale
7:30 p.m. Friday, Tara Stadium
RECORDS: North Clayton 2-1; Riverdale 1-1.
COACHES: North Clayton, Don Shockley (79-62-1); Riverdale, Jamie Reed (1-1).
PLAYERS TO WATCH: North Clayton - DB Edward Ndem (Sr., 6-1, 190), DT Albert Carlisle (Jr., 6-0, 245), WR Daamon Cooper (Sr., 5-10, 160). Riverdale - WR/DB Fletcher Redd (Jr., 6-0, 190), OL/DL Lawrence Perry (Sr., 6-3, 240), RB Demario Askew (Sr., 5-8, 170).
LAST YEAR: Riverdale won, 21-20.
LAST WEEK: North Clayton lost to Northside-Warner Robins, 42-6; Riverdale was off.
THE SKINNY: North Clayton started the season with two straight shutouts, then was victimized by its own special teams miscues in the loss to defending state champion Northside on a night when wet weather and a lightning delay didn’t help. Northside likely would have won anyway, but had the Eagles been more stable from punt formation, the score might have been more respectable. Now, they get their annual grudge match against county rival Riverdale, which has had two weeks to lick its wounds from a 25-0 loss at Creekside, which was largely a function of turnovers. The Raiders have coughed it up nine times in their first two games, and if they can find the handle on the ball, they’ll have enough firepower to hold off North Clayton.
PREDICTION: Riverdale, 16-13.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Clayton
Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy looking good
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the television industry, there’s this theory called the line of thirds. At least, that’s what it was called when I was in the television classes in college. If you see someone’s face on the screen, their eyes will most of the time fall about one third of the way from the top of the screen.
This, I suppose, has little to do with high school sports, except we’re a third of the way through the football regular season, give or take, and we can see some things now that perhaps we couldn’t see before the season. Like Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy being pretty good.
With a new coach and a new offense, the Chargers took their off week looking to fine-tune an offense that has already scored 106 points, though they do have a loss to Brookstone.
We can also see that a summer of going through 7-on-7 passing league competition has had great effect on Henry County quarterback Drew Miller, who has thrown 10 touchdowns and attempted more than 80 passes without an interception. The Warhawks’ bugaboo, though, has been special teams. Last week, Central Macon returned three kicks for touchdowns in a game that otherwise wouldn’t have been close.
FOOTBALL GAME OF THE WEEK
Dutchtown at Stockbridge
7:30 p.m. Friday
Records: Dutchtown 1-1, Stockbridge 3-0.
COACHES: Dutchtown, Jason Galt (1-1); Stockbridge, Steve Collins (10-13).
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Dutchtown: RB Onari Douglas (Sr., 5-10, 195), SS Sam Cooper (Sr., 5-9, 195), TE/DE Jeremy Brown (Sr., 6-7, 245). Stockbridge - QB Tyler Bass (Sr., 6-3, 205), OL Randy Salmon (Sr., 6-3, 290), WR/LB Vance King (Sr., 6-1, 195).
LAST YEAR: Stockbridge won, 42-21.
LAST WEEK: Dutchtown was open; Stockbridge beat Luella 26-0.
THE SKINNY: The Bulldogs and Tigers get the county spotlight all to themselves, with every other county team taking its open week. Dutchtown gets its first taste of region play and comes in having scored 69 points in its first two games. By comparison, the Bulldogs didn’t surpass that point total until the 10th game in 2006. In Stockbridge, they face a serious challenge, though. The Tigers have two shutouts on their resume’ and have outscored their opponents 101-28. Stockbridge looks to be a solid favorite, but history has not been kind to the Tigers, who last started 4-0 in 1968 and are sitting at 3-0 for just the third time since. Their bid for 4-0 in 1982 crashed in a 14-0 loss to Feldwood, and they started 3-0 in 1991 only to fall to Westlake 13-7 in game 4. Ultimately, the Tigers’ defense would appear the difference in this one; they shut out Luella, which scored 48 against Dutchtown.
PREDICTION: Stockbridge 27-17.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Henry
Our Lady of Mercy has hope against Towns
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Our Lady of Mercy is still finding wins hard to come by, but the Bobcats head for the mountains to face Towns County, the only school to which they’ve never lost.
Granted, the only time they’ve played was last year, when Mercy collected a 12-8 victory in Fairburn, their only win of the season. But after being overmatched in their first two games, this one offers hope that a turnaround is about to commence.
And moving on …
I suppose the reason they’re called upsets is that they’re not likely to happen. Yeah, I predicted McIntosh would beat Westlake last week, even invited readers to call me crazy in doing so. And the Chiefs were all ready to shock the world, or at least those in Westlake blue, before a late interception turned back their bid to win and make me look like a genius (or at least not crazy, which I’m told is not a clinical term …)
So now the Chiefs return home, where, it should be noted, they are unbeaten this season (1-0, with a win over Sandy Creek). Because I’m convinced Dwight Jones has the Chiefs on the right path, I’m going to again go out on a limb and say they’ll beat Banneker.
Sure, if I keep doing it long enough, they’ll make me right eventually, but it’s a pretty short, thick limb; this game went to overtime last year before the Trojans claimed a 23-16 triumph …
FOOTBALL GAME OF THE WEEK
Fayette County at Woodward Academy
7:30 p.m. Friday
RECORDS: Fayette County (3-0, 1-0 Region 2-AAAA); Woodward (2-1, 1-0)
COACHES: Fayette County, Tommy Webb (34-50); Mark Miller (13-10).
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Fayette County - QB/DB Brandon Boykin (Sr., 5-10, 175); FB/DB Matt Daniels (Sr., 6-1, 195); HB Cuincy Carruthers (Sr., 6-11, 175). Woodward - QB Greg Patton (Jr.)
LAST YEAR: Woodward won, 29-22.
LAST WEEK: Fayette County beat Whitewater 14-10; Woodward beat Northgate 24-0.
THE SKINNY: By now, Fayette is believing it will win. The Tigers have been good on offense, but the biggest improvement has been on the other side of the ball. Through three games last year they’d allowed 104 points; they’ve given up 22 thus far in 2007. And, they’re getting timely breaks. Last week they capitalized on a late turnover to come back for a win over county rival Whitewater. This game is an early-season swing game in 2-AAAA, where no team appears head and shoulders above the rest.
PREDICTION: Fayette County, 19-12.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Fayette
