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Thursday, October 18, 2007
Warhawks will squeak by Jags
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On the one hand, it’s tempting to ponder whether anyone can slow down Henry County. The Warhawks are 5-1, have won five straight, and are averaging 35 points per game. On the other hand, the six teams they’ve played are a combined 10-26, and it’s reasonable to wonder when the bubble might burst; four of Henry’s games have ended with a margin of a touchdown or less. Without question, Spalding will be the best defensive team QB Drew Little and company have faced. The Jaguars (4-2, 1-1 Region 4-AAA Division A) have allowed just 38 points through six games and have two shutouts. Plus, there’s the question of whether multi-talented WR Chris Jackson will play after suffering a leg injury last week. Says here, Henry squeaks by yet again.
REIGN OF TERROR
Eagle’s Landing Christian pitcher Hope Rush enters the state sectionals as the one pivotal player in Class A, and if her performance in the Region 5-A tournament is any indication, the other teams, including opening opponent Aquinas, better be ready. Rush allowed one hit in four games and struck out 40 in four games, lowering her ERA to 0.11 as the Lady Chargers won their third consecutive region title …
GAME OF THE WEEK
Jackson at Ola — 7:30 p.m. Friday
RECORDS: Jackson 1-5, 0-2 Region 4-AAA Division A; Ola 2-4, 1-1.
COACHES: Jackson, Mike Parris (119-58); Ola, Jack Hines (4-12).
PLAYERS TO WATCH: WR/P Cameron Bennett (Sr., 6-2, 170), LB/FB Kenny James (Sr., 6-2, 220), QB Dylan Jones (Sr., 6-1, 180), DT Jake Hollingsworth (Sr., 6-1, 270).
LAST YEAR: Jackson won, 28-7.
LAST WEEK: Jackson lost to Mary Persons 24-21; Ola beat Spalding 7-6.
THE SKINNY: In all likelihood, this game is the “we get to face defending state champion Peach County in the region playoff” sweepstakes. Both of these clubs have struggling Eagle’s Landing left on their regular-season schedules. Jackson has won at least nine games each of the past five seasons and hasn’t had a losing year since 2001, when it went 4-6. The Mustangs snapped a four-game losing streak with their 7-6 victory against Spalding last week, their best defensive effort of the season.
PREDICTION: Jackson, 20-12.
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Cards-Eagles battle for second
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
They play in the weaker half of Region 4-AAAA — at least, that’s the conventional wisdom — so everything here is kind of relative. But when Jonesboro takes on North Clayton Saturday at Twelve Oaks Stadium, second-place in 4-AAAA Division A will be on the line. If the playoffs started this week, the difference between second place and third place is a home game vs. Baldwin (second) as opposed to a road game at Upson-Lee (third). Frankly, Jonesboro would probably be happy with either, but to make the state playoffs, a win in this game is almost certainly mandatory. Says here, North Clayton’s defense will be too tough for Jonesboro to crack.
MOVING ON …
Morrow has lost three straight, so the Mustangs really can’t afford to take anyone lightly. That said, this weeks opponent, Paulding County, is 0-6 and four of those losses have been by at least 23 points. The Patriots come to Tara Stadium Saturday night as perhaps the most struggling team in 4-AAAAA. Says here, Morrow grabs a W.
GAME OF THE WEEK
East Coweta at Mundy’s Mill, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Twelve Oaks Stadium
RECORDS: East Coweta (6-1, 3-0 Region 4-AAAAA) Mundy’s Mill (4-1-1, 2-0).
COACHES: East Coweta, Danny Cronic (213-108-1) Mundy’s Mill, Kenny Barrow (40-23-1).
PLAYERS TO WATCH: East Coweta - RB Tim McGill (Jr., 6-1, 235), LB Joe Frazier (Sr., 5-10, 215). Mundy’s Mill - RB Quintory Braswell (Sr., 5-9, 180), QB Miguel Starks (Sr., 6-2, 204), OL Darius Mitchell (Jr., 6-0, 390).
LAST YEAR: East Coweta won, 49-6.
LAST WEEK: Mundy’s Mill beat Tri-Cities 37-6; Mundy’s Mill beat Hiram 27-10.
THE SKINNY: Yes, Mundy’s Mill lost to a rebuilding Riverdale club and tied a winless Forest Park team. But sit that aside for a moment. The Tigers take the field Friday at Twelve Oaks with a chance to seize first place in Region 4-AAAAA. It’s a daunting task; they’ll have to slow down East Coweta’s Tim McGill, which basically no one else has done yet. But Mundy’s Mill is coming off its most impressive performance in a whipping of Hiram and has won three straight.
PREDICTION: East Coweta, 24-20.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Clayton
Fayette not ready to fold
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Fayette County Tigers are in that place now where it’s tempting to ponder a season for the ages. Given that Fayette has had precious few seasons that were good, let alone special, that’s reasonable. The challenge, then, becomes whether they can maintain the one-game-at-a-time focus. Yeah, it’s cliché, and I’m not gonna shy away from it since, you know, it’s my blog. But it’s also proven to work, particularly in football. But I digress. The Tigers face for the first time a Westlake team that may be more talented than they are, but this Fayette group seems to be coming up with answers to all the questions. Says here, Fayette moves to 7-0 for the first time since 1980.
MOVING ON …
Set aside winning for a moment. The question for McIntosh is when will points come? The Chiefs have suffered three straight shutout losses, the last two to county rivals Starr’s Mill and Whitewater. So whether they can open the bagel on the scoreboard and staving off the ignominy of an extended shutout streak is a compelling reason to pay attention to their game against Woodward Academy. Says here, the Chiefs will lose and fall to 1-7. But I really think they’ll score at some point and find a way to make this game competitive.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Starr’s Mill at Whitewater — 7:30 p.m. Friday
RECORDS: Starr’s Mill 3-3, 2-2 Region 2-AAAA; Whitewater 5-1, 4-1.
COACHES: Starr’s Mill, Mike Earwood (171-72-1); Whitewater, Amos McCreary (101-47)
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Starr’s Mill — QB Matt Sweat (Sr., 6-0, 185), LB Parker duPont (Sr., 6-0, 210), CB Santrez Collier (Sr., 6-10, 165). Whitewater — FB Collin Wooddy (Sr., 6-1.210), CB Chris Asbury (Sr., 5-9, 175), DE Thomas Richard (Jr., 6-1, 200).
LAST YEAR: Whitewater won, 15-14.
LAST WEEK: Starr’s Mill was off; Whitewater beat McIntosh 27-0.
THE SKINNY: It’s the battle of Georgia Highway 85, and in a scant two years it may have become the county’s most heated rivalry. This is a season-defining game for both teams. Whitewater is a solid second place in 2-AAAA, has won four straight and has not allowed more than two touchdowns since a season-opening loss to Newnan. Meanwhile, Starr’s Mill has been up and down, commensurate with a team that has just two senior skilled players on its two-deep depth chart. The Panthers, though, have a bitter taste in their mouths left over from a narrow loss to Whitewater last year that turned on a disputed call. Starr’s Mill has been a little more consistent on offense and also has had two weeks to heal and iron out trouble spots.
PREDICTION: Starr’s Mill, 14-12.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Fayette
UG-Luella FB fight: Were you there?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Officials at Union Grove and Luella await possible penalties from the GHSA after this past Friday’s game was halted following an altercation on the Luella sideline that resulted in 10 players being ejected. Were you there? If so, what did you see? Keep comments clean and respectful.
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment | Categories: Forum
Mays coach should return - pronto
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Floyd Mack. Terry Davis. Darrell Caldwell. Rodney Hackney. Jesse Solomon.
Mays has had a long line of head football coaches in a short time — since 2001. And now, the aforementioned Jesse William Solomon is wondering if the players of whom he is so fond, the players for whom he has gone the extra mile and then some, will have yet another football coach.
That depends on Atlanta Public Schools. It has a hearing scheduled in which it will decide whether Solomon should be let go, or — more correctly, it says here — allowed to resume his duties.
APS is concerned that Solomon might’ve been less than forthcoming about his past when it hired him. It learned that the state of Florida was trying to contact the coach about a pair of incidents in which he disciplined a student in Palm Beach in 2003.
The Palm Beach board had investigated and found Solomon had done nothing wrong in either case. Solomon thought that was the end of that, but concern about whether he would continue to enjoy the support of his administration led him to resign. He spent two years as a Cairo assistant. Then he began building at Mays.
He left Florida with a valid certificate and, to his knowledge, no pending cases against him. A year into his work at the southwest Atlanta school, he learned different.
Don’t cast APS as the heavy for trying to make sure things are kosher. But it seems to be asking: Why didn’t you tell us when we hired you that which you first learned from us a year later?
In less than two years, Solomon, who turns 44 next month, has done a stellar job — and not just because he’s produced the winningest program among the Atlanta public schools over that span. He’s raised more than $50,000, including $5,000 in an NFL celebrity golf tournament, using contacts from his pro football-playing days with the Vikings, Cowboys, Buccaneers, Falcons and Dolphins.
Pre-Solomon Mays didn’t have a weight room, a water fountain for the practice field, video equipment or a tower from which to tape practices. It has that now, and more — including a jacuzzi to help prevent and treat injuries.
In short, Solomon is good news for Mays the way Darren Myles is for Carver-Atlanta, the way Rodney Cofield is for Washington and several other coaches who could be named here.
There seems no need to drag Solomon through the same kind of process that former McNair coach Johnny Gilbert had to endure two years ago in DeKalb County. The charges against Gilbert were infinitely more titillating, but after being arrested, held without bond and enduring months of trying to clear his good name, the coach finally won. But what price, vindication?
Here’s the most important prediction for this week: If APS digs deep, does its due diligence and resists the urge to take action for the sake of appearances, Solomon will be back on the sidelines. Post haste. In his absence, Mays beats Miller Grove.
MAXIE’S WEEKEND PREDICTIONS
Last week: 126-42 (.750)
Season: 880-236 (.789)
FRIDAY
Winner / Loser
Alexander / Osborne
Athens Acad. / Athens Chr.
Atkinson Co. / Pelham
Avondale / Decatur
Bainbridge / Lee Co.
Baldwin / Jones Co.
Banks Co. / Union Co.
Banneker / Northgate
Benedictine / South Effingham
Berkmar / Parkview
Brookstone / Cent.-Talbotton
Brookwood / South Gwinnett
Buford / Walker
Burke Co. / Hephzibah
Cairo / Worth Co.
Calhoun / Adairsville
Camden Co. / Beach
Campbell / McEachern
Carrollton / Sandy Creek
Cartersville / Cedartown
Carver-Columbus / Harris Co.
Cass / Cent.-Carroll
Cedar Grove / North Springs
Cedar Shoals / Alcovy
Chamblee / Grady
Charlton Co. / Brantley Co.
Chattahoochee / Northview
Chattahoochee Co. / Stewart-Quitman
Chattooga / LaFayette
Cherokee / Douglas Co.
Chestatee / White Co.
Claxton / Portal
Clinch Co. / Seminole Co.
Coffee / Warner Robins
Collins Hill / Forsyth Cent.
Columbia / Stone Mountain
Cook / Brooks Co.
Coosa / Temple
Creekview / South Paulding
Cross Creek / Butler
Dacula / Winder-Barrow
Dade Co. / Sonoraville
Dalton / N.W. Whitfield
Dodge Co. / Bleckley Co.
Dooly Co. / Irwin Co.
Douglass / Luella
Dublin / Vidalia
Duluth / North Forsyth
East Coweta / Mundy’s Mill
East Laurens / Tattnall Co.
East Paulding / Chapel Hill
Eastside / Heritage
ECI / Bryan Co.
Effingham Co. / Wayne Co.
ELCA / Whitefield Acad.
Fannin Co. / Dawson Co.
Fayette Co. / Westlake
Fellowship Chr. / Landmark Chr.
Fitzgerald / Early Co.
Franklin Co. / Elbert Co.
Gainesville / Pickens
Glascock Co. / Mt. Zion-Carroll
Glynn Academy / Lakeside-Evans
Gordon Cent. / Lakeview-F.O.
Grayson / Cent. Gwinnett
Greene Co. / Oglethorpe Co.
Greenville / Schley Co.
Griffin / Riverdale
Groves / Savannah
Habersham Cent. / Clarke Cent.
Hancock Cent. / Ga. Military Coll.
Harrison / Kennesaw Mtn.
Hart Co. / Monroe Area
Hillgrove / Woodland-Stock.
Jackson / Ola
Jefferson / Social Circle
Jefferson Co. / Swainsboro
Jenkins / Windsor Forest
Jenkins Co. / Calvary Day
Johnson-Gaines. / West Hall
Kendrick / Northside-Col.
LaGrange / Shaw
Laney / S.E. Bulloch
Lanier Co. / Calhoun Co.
Lassiter / Pope
Liberty Co. / Richmond Hill
Lincoln Co. / Wilkinson Co.
Loganville / Jackson Co.
Lowndes / Valdosta
Lumpkin Co. / East Hall
Manchester / Macon Co.
Marietta / Etowah
Marist / Lakeside-DeKalb
Mary Persons / Eagle’s Landing
Mays / Miller Grove
McIntosh Co. Acad. / Appling Co.
Miller Co. / Terrell Co.
Milton / Centennial
Mitchell Co. / Albany
Model / Armuchee
Morgan Co. / Rabun Co.
Mt. Pisgah Chr. / Our Lady of Mercy
Mt. Zion-Jonesboro / Forest Park
Newnan / Tri-Cities
Norcross / Mill Creek
Northeast-Macon / Cent.-Macon
North Cobb / Murray Co.
North Gwinnett / South Forsyth
North Hall / Gilmer
Northside-WR / Upson-Lee
Pacelli Catholic / Taylor Co.
Peach Co. / Perry
Pebblebrook / Woodland-Cart.
Pierce Co. / Jeff Davis
Prince Ave. Chr. / Commerce
Randolph-Clay / Berrien
Ridgeland / S.E. Whitfield
Rockmart / Pepperell
Rome / Ringgold
Roswell / Alpharetta
Rutland / Crawford Co.
Salem / Rockdale Co.
Sav. Chr. / Long Co.
Screven Co. / Josey
Sequoyah / Lithia Springs
Shiloh / Meadowcreek
South Cobb / Woodstock
Southside / Clarkston
Southwest DeKalb / St. Pius
Spalding / Henry Co.
Spencer / Jordan
Statesboro / Richmond Acad.
Stephens Co. / Oconee Co.
Stephenson / Redan
Telfair Co. / Montgomery Co.
Thomas Co. Cent. / Americus-Sumter
Thomson / Glenn Hills
Tift Co. / Houston Co.
Towers / South Atlanta
Treutlen / Wheeler Co.
Tucker / Washington
Turner Co. / Hawkinsville
Twiggs Co. / Aquinas
Villa Rica / Haralson Co.
Walton / Kell
Ware Co. / Greenbrier
Warren Co. / Monticello
Washington Co. / Harlem
Wash.-Wilkes / Putnam Co.
Wesleyan / GAC
West Laurens / Southwest-Mac.
Westminster / Blessed Trinity
Westside-Augusta / Metter
Westside-Macon / Dutchtown
Wheeler / Sprayberry
Whitewater / Starr’s Mill
Woodward Acad. / McIntosh
SATURDAY
Bradwell Institute / Johnson-Sav.
Carver-Atlanta / McNair
Dougherty / Westover
Dunwoody / Riverwood
Lovett / Holy Innocents’
M.L. King / Newton
North Atlanta / Druid Hills
North Clayton / Jonesboro
Paulding Co. / Morrow
Troup / Columbus
Union Grove / Lithonia
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