SPORTS SECTION
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MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. SPORTS SECTION |
| SPORTS SECTION - OCTOBER 27, 1999 |
| 1999 Local Football Schedules |
Hoops season around corner
Opening game Nov. 23 at Oglethorpe County
The Banks County High School basketball teams
have already begun practice. The Leopard teams will open the season
the Tuesday before Thanksgiving on Nov. 23 against Oglethorpe
County in Lexington.
BCHS will waste no time opening up its Region 8-A North schedule,
taking on Rabun Gap on the following Tuesday.
The game against the Indians will also be the home opener for
Banks County. BCHS will host Commerce the following Friday for
the first home weekend game on Dec. 3.
The boys' team has several players still involved with football.
The girls' team is working closer to full strength, coaches say.
Air Commerce
Routs Rabun County
Collins, Carder, Tigers Set School Records For Yards
Through The Air
BY DREW BRANTLEY
Rabun County wanted to stop the run. Then they couldn't stop the
pass. The result saw Commerce have a record-setting night on its
way to a 35-20 win.
The victory kept alive the 21-game home winning streak for the
Tigers and kept them in a first-place tie in Region 8-A with Buford.
But the story of the night was the Carder-Collins connection.
Senior quarterback Daniel Carder and junior receiver Michael Collins
had teamed up for nearly 400 yards and eight touchdowns through
the first six games of the season. Friday night, the pair picked
up the modest pace to incredible proportions.
The pair combined for 314 yards through the air for four touchdowns.
Collins set the school record for pass receptions in a game with
262. Carder threw for 297 yards, also a school record. The pair
switched positions in the third period, as Collins threw to Carder
for a 17-yard gain to set up another score.
All the yards through the air did not have Commerce's coach upset
about the running game, which produced 81 yards.
"We never got a chance to run the ball," Savage said.
"It was just one of those nights. It's not like we chunked
it up 30 or 40 times. Daniel and Michael just had a great night.
How often does a night like that come along?"
For Commerce, never.
The team finished with 329 yards passing, combining Carder, Collins
and Rob Brown's numbers. That total was 53 yards better than the
best any other Tiger team had thrown the ball.
Last year, Collins had some trouble keeping his hands on the ball.
All season long, and especially Friday night, he has hauled in
nearly everything thrown to him.
"I have better concentration this year," Collins said.
"I think I matured a lot from last year. When I miss a ball
now, I still get frustrated with myself, but not like last year.
I would get mad at myself and didn't catch the ball."
Collins has had plenty to happy about himself this season. He
has 654 yards receiving for 12 touchdowns. He also has 123 yards
passing and 53 yards rushing. He is the starting punter with a
43.6 yard per boot average.
Carder exorcised some demons from last year's loss at Rabun County,
adding 316 yards of total offense. He was also perfect on all
five point after kicks. A missed point after at the end of the
game would have tied the score in 1998.
"I was glad to make all of them," Carder said. "I
didn't want to miss that last one. I got a little bit of payback."
The game began slowly, looking like the two teams were headed
for defensive battle. Both teams punted on their first two possessions.
Commerce then took to the air and never looked back.
Carder hit a pass to Monté Williams for 35 yards on the
first play of the third drive. Two passes to Collins had Commerce
on the board 7-0.
The Tigers forced Rabun County out on three plays and a punt.
Commerce then scored on its next play, a 60-yard Carder-to-Collins
pass.
The Wildcats were forced to punt again without gaining a first
down.
Commerce used a 73-yard pass from Carder to Collins to make the
score 21-0 with 9:00 left in the half.
Rabun County gained yards up the middle to drive for its first
touchdown on the next drive. Two penalties against the Tigers
also helped the Wildcat march.
Rabun County scored to cut the lead to 21-7, but they left 3:28
on the clock for Commerce.
Before the scoring drive by the Wilcats, the Commerce defense
had not given up a first down.
Two passes to Collins put the ball on the 2. Two runs by Williams
put the ball in the end zone. The Tigers took the 28-7 lead into
the intermission.
Rabun County's first drive of the second half stalled. A punt
gave Commerce the ball at its own 22. Collins went under center
and engineered a drive to the Rabun County 35.
Carder went back to quarterback on a fourth and 17 play, teaming
up with Collins one last time for a 35-yard touchdown with 1:50
to go in the third quarter.
Commerce put in their junior varsity players to finish the game.
Rabun County scored its other two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Most of Carder's 809 yards have gone to Collins this season. But
having a favorite target has its advantages.
"I never get tired of throwing to Mikey," Carder said.
"If I throw it out there, he's going to catch it. If I underthrow
him, he can come back and get it."
One of the main reasons Carder and Collins had time to put up
big numbers came from the protection the offensive line gave.
"The offensive line gave plenty of time to find (Collins),"
Carder said.
The protection was good in the eyes of the Tiger coach, too.
"They didn't pressure him but one time," Savage said.
"About the third pass Daniel threw, he fluttered it out there
and Monté came back and caught it."
Williams, who was called on to run the ball 40 times in the Tigers'
last game against Greater Atlanta Christian, had 21 yards rushing
on seven carries.
Those yards were good enough to give the junior his third straight
1,000-yard season rushing.
Rabun County falls to 5-2 and 3-2 in the region with the loss.
Panthers to face
'cream of the crop'
By Tim Thomas
and Ben Munro
If good competition makes a team better, Jackson County should
soon be much improved. In the next two weeks, the Panthers will
hone their skills against two of the best teams in class AAA,
Dacula (6-1) and Oconee County (7-0), before finishing at West
Hall (2-5).
"They're the cream of the crop in the region," said
Jackson County head coach Greg Lowe of Dacula and Oconee. "It's
real unfortunate they're not going to play one another."
Asked of his team's chances, Lowe replied, "On paper, things
don't look too hopeful, but that's not where the game's played.
If we get some breaks, who knows what might happen."
Against Madison County last week, the Panthers endured their seventh
loss of the season, and 16th in a row, falling to the Red Raiders
32-13. Madison County employed a strong ball-control offense that
allowed the Panthers only nine offensive plays in the first half.
Madison County senior tailback Drew Sparks put the Raiders up
in the first quarter with a one-yard touchdown run. The point-after
missed.
Terry Blackwell tried to spark the Panthers by recovering a fumble
on the Madison County 36. The threat would not last long, as Raider
Travis Moore intercepted Quen Usher at the five on a fourth-down
pass. Madison County took advantage of the miscue and drove 95
yards in 16 plays to score with 25 seconds remaining in the half.
The two point attempt failed, and Madison County led 12-0 at halftime.
The second half opened with Jackson County in good field position,
around midfield. Usher drove his team to the Raider 38 before
being intercepted again. The Madison County defender raced 55
yards for the score, and the extra point put the Raiders up 19-0.
Four minutes later, the Panthers lost the ball on downs at the
Madison County 34. Two plays later, the Raiders were in the end
zone again, extending their lead to 2-0.
Jackson County found the end zone late in the third quarter, thanks
to a fumble on a Raider punt return. Sam Veal took a five-yard
pass from Usher and rumbled in for the first Panther score.
After yet another Madison County score, Ski Harris took off on
an impressive 90-yard touchdown run with only 40 seconds remaining
to finish the scoring at 32-13.
"I think Madison did what they needed to do," said Lowe.
"Their linemen are real large, and we had a hard time with
them. They controlled the ball a lot; that's what he [Raider coach
Tom Hybl] likes to do."
Lowe pointed to lack of interest as a major factor in his team's
struggles this season. The Panthers started this season with only
30 players.
"We're really going to beat the bushes in the off-season,"
he said. "I'd really like to play both a varsity and a junior
varsity squad next year."
Parr qualifies
for state meet
By Tim Thomas
EVEN though she was a bit under the weather, Jackson County's
Carly Parr managed Tuesday to qualify for the class AAA state
cross country meet. The state meet will be held Nov. 6, in Carrollton.
Parr has seen limited action with the cross country team due to
her softball commitment, but finished a strong third in Tuesday's
8-AAA championship race at Fort Yargo State Park in Winder.
"We hope to get her healthy, so she can be a little faster
for the state meet," said coach Brent Mikel after the meet.
Mikel was the meet director, as Jackson County served as the host
team.
"It's a bittersweet time," said Mikel. "I'm happy
for Carly, but I know this will be the last time some of these
kids will compete."
In addition to Parr, team members Jennifer Miller, Anthony White,
Josh Davis and Steven Bowles will all graduate this spring.
"I want to thank our seniors for their leadership this year,"
Mikel commented. "We had a terrific bunch that helped foster
a welcome team environment for all the runners. I especially thank
Anthony White for serving as the leader for the seniors, and for
leading team warm-ups at all our meets."
North Gwinnett was the big winner at the meet, taking the girls'
varsity championship and boys' runner-up, as well as winning both
the boys' and girls' JV titles.
Oconee County won the boys' championship, while West Hall was
runner-up for the girls. The top two varsity teams and top six
individual finishers qualified for the state meet.
In the girls' race, Sara Freeland (22:10), Miller (26:11), CiCi
Davis (26:22), and Nicole Rizzo (28:03) all set new personal best
marks Tuesday. The girls' team finished a respectable sixth in
the region, only one point behind fifth-place Central Gwinnett.
White led the varsity boys to an eighth place finish with his
14th place time of 18:17. Other Panther boys running were Kelly
Parr (19:24), William Butler (20:44), Thomas Bowles (21:45), Adam
Hughes (22:13), Davis (23:26) and S. Bowles (27:02).
For the JV team, Megan Lerette won the girls' race with another
school-record JV time of 22:51. Savannah Sharrett followed closely
in third at 23:20. Lerette and Sharrett have gone back and forth
with new JV girls' records three times in as many weeks.
"Megan keeps it for a little while now that the season is
over," remarked a proud Mikel. Daniel Elder took sixth in
the JV boys' race with a time of 20 minutes even.
Dragons fall
at Buford
By Tim Thomas
After becoming the latest victim of the Buford Wolves' march toward
the post-season, the Jefferson Dragons will take a week off before
hosting Banks County.
Last week, Jefferson managed only 92 offensive yards against a
Buford defense that has been among the best in class A this year.
Jefferson coach Bob Gurley was impressed.
"They played as good a defense as we've played against, maybe
in the last couple of years," Gurley said. "I think
we had more offense than anybody that's played them, but they
just had too many athletes on the field."
Buford also seemed to get all the good breaks, despite themselves.
The Wolves responded to a clipping penalty that backed them up
to their own 13 with an 87-yard touchdown run. A fumbled reverse
bounced back into the runner's hands. A touchdown was called back
due to a clip inside the one-yard line, only to be scored again
two plays later. On their final scoring drive, Buford was penalized
three times for 35 yards, but still managed to score on third-and-seven.
"They made a few mistakes," said Gurley, "but it
wasn't anything that hurt them."
Running back Stephen Sims got the Dragons off on the right foot
Friday. After Buford put six points on the board, Sims capped
off a long Jefferson drive with a two-yard touchdown run. Quarterback
Kyle Potts had a key run on the drive, picking up first-and-goal
on a third-and-six run from the Buford nine. The point-after was
no good, and the game was tied with just under a minute remaining
in the first quarter.
The Wolves needed only 47 seconds to re-establish their lead.
After a 72-yard scoring drive, Buford missed the PAT for the second
time in the game, taking a 12-6 lead into the second quarter.
The Dragons struggled on both sides of the ball from there, as
Buford scored twice in the second quarter and twice in the second
half. Potts was sacked three times in the second half, and the
Jefferson offense could not get past Buford's 45 yard line after
Sims' score.
The Wolves were kept from scoring only twice on the night, once
by the clock in the fourth, and once by the Dragon secondary.
Near the end of the first half, Buford earned a first down at
the Jefferson 23. Dragon defensive backs Ryan Gurley and Wes Massey
teamed up to tip away a pass at the goal line on first down, and
a second-down pass fell incomplete as the horn sounded.
The Dragons are now in the position of having to rely on someone
else to lose in order to make the playoffs
Raiders pummel
Panthers 32-13
Sparks powers MCHS to first win with 196 yards
BY BEN MUNRO
This was the way it was supposed to be.
Unlike last season when fans and players were left fuming over
a controversial, 14-8 homecoming loss in the final seconds to
Habersham Central, it was smiles all around this time as the Red
Raiders gave the home crowd a picture perfect scene for homecoming,
shellacking the Jackson County Panthers 32-13 to give Madison
County a well-earned first win of the year.
"It was a great experience to win - we worked hard for it,"
said senior offensive/defensive lineman David Brown after the
Raiders' 19-point homefield triumph.
In a season marred by near-misses and frustration for the red
and gray and their faithful, the win was a breath of fresh air
as Madison County, who had only two victories in their last 26
games coming into the contest, came together and put forth a dominating
performance on both sides of the football in their second consecutive
lopsided victory over the Panthers.
And a huge factor in the Red Raiders' success on the night was
their ability to move the ball on the ground, allowing them to
build a 26-0 lead by the second half.
The Madison County running attack, which has been potent at times
during course of the year, proved to be deadly to the Panthers,
who the Raiders have outscored 62-13 over the last two years,
as the Raiders ran at them at will all night long, ripping the
Jackson County defense for over 300 yards on the ground.
Grabbing a huge chunk of that yardage was senior tailback Drew
Sparks, who saved his best homecoming performance for last as
he romped for 196 yards on 28 trips.
However, the highlight of Sparks' stellar evening came in the
third quarter, when he took a sweep to the right and blazed 64
yards down the right sideline for a score.
Sparks spread the credit around for his near-200 yard effort.
"I just give all the thanks to my offensive linemen,"
Sparks said.
Defensively, Madison County was impressive as well, holding the
Panthers off the board for nearly three quarters, allowing Jackson
County their only scores in the closing seconds of the third and
fourth quarters.
Linebacker Travis Moore led the Madison County defense with 10
individual tackles, six assists, a fumble recovery and an interception.
Raider head coach Tom Hybl said he was pleased with his squad's
effort.
"We were glad to get the win," said Hybl, who noted
that his players "kept their heads up" despite their
struggles this season.
Madison County came out and established their dominance early
on, taking the opening kickoff and marching 70 yards on 12 plays
to make the score 6-0.
On the drive Sparks was called on to carry the ball eight times,
picking up gains of 14 and 13 yards and also providing the touchdown
run from one yard out with 5:26 left in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Jackson County attempted to steal the momentum
the Raiders gained with the touchdown by recovering a Raider fumble
on the Madison County 36 and moving the ball down to the 12-yard
line.
However, Moore put a stop to the Panther threat by picking off
a fourth down pass attempt by Jackson County quarterback Quen
Usher on the five-yard-line.
Madison County took advantage of the Jackson miscue as the Raiders
put together a marathon 16-play, 95-yard drive, taking up 7:22
worth of clock.
On the touchdown drive, Tony Freeman, who had 57 yards on 10 carries,
picked up a key run in the offensive series, ripping off a 23-yard
run on first down to move the squad near midfield.
Brad Kirk provided the score later on in the drive, slamming into
the end zone from five yards out with 25 seconds remaining in
the first half to put his squad up 12-0.
Madison County failed on their two-point conversion attempt.
Jackson County came out in the second half and started at midfield
and moved the ball down to the Raider 38. However, sophomore defensive
back Drew Brantley broke the backs of the Panthers on a second
down play as he smelled out an Usher pass and was off to the races,
intercepting the throw and dashing 55 yards down the right sideline
for the score. A Scott Dills extra point gave Madison County a
19-0 advantage with 8:31 left in the third quarter.
"It was an awesome feeling," Brantley said afterward
when asked about his game-breaking play. "It was the best
feeling in the world. I've never run that hard in my life."
Things would only continue to go downhill from there for the shell-shocked
Panthers.
Madison County, who got the ball on their 34 on a turnover on
downs, got another quick score as Sparks turned the game into
a rout with his long touchdown run on only the second play of
the drive.
"It was a great experience," said Sparks of his run.
"I've been waiting for that. The run all depended on a block
and Brad Kirk made one of the most perfect blocks I've ever seen."
The Raiders' point-after was good, giving them a robust 26-0 lead
with 4:07 left in the third.
Jackson County finally found the end zone late in the third quarter,
picking up a Raider fumble on a punt return at the Madison County
31 and scoring five plays later on a five-yard touchdown pass
from Usher to Adam Donaldson with 16 seconds left in the third.
However, Madison County wasn't quite done putting points on the
board as the squad pushed their lead out to 25 points, going 51
yards on eight plays and getting a two-yard touchdown run from
Donny Stamper to make the score 32-7 with 9:27 left in the game.
The Raiders' extra-point attempt was no good.
The Panthers, on an otherwise forgetful night for them, did end
on a high note as they put six more points on the board in their
last possession as tailback Ski Harris ripped off an impressive
90-yard touchdown run with only 40 seconds remaining in the contest.
After the contest, players were abuzz with optimism outside the
Raider locker room with the solid win.
"It was just a great win," said senior defensive lineman
Scotty Robinson, who had five individual tackles, three assists
and one sack. "We were really fired up."
Brown believed the victory will be a positive thing for the team
to draw upon as the squad gears up for the final stretch of the
season.
"I think this will help us for the rest of the season,"
Brown said. We feel a lot better and I think we will execute better.
It was a confidence booster."
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