SPORTS SECTION
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MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. SPORTS SECTION |
| SPORTS SECTION - NOVEMBER 17, 1999 |
| Follow the Tigers... See the 1999 Class A Playoff Schedule |
Leopards down Union
County, 21-12
BY ADAM FOUCHE
After a demoralizing 0-10 season last
year, the Banks County Leopards, under the direction of first-year
head coach Rance Gillespie, finalized a 4-6 season with a 21-12
victory over Union County last Friday.
"I felt like that was one of the biggest games of the season,"
Leopard coach Rance Gillespie said. "That finishes the season
on a positive note and gives some people things to be excited
about for next year."
The Panthers scored first, jumping out to a quick 6-0 lead early
in the game. But Banks County quickly responded, driving the ball
down to Union County's three-yard line before fumbling into the
end zone.
Union County pushed the ball down to Banks' 39-yard line, but
the drive was stopped as Blakley Crumley picked off a Panther
pass on his own 19-yard line.
"Blakley played a huge game for us," Gillespie said.
"He had the three interceptions, but he also had a catch
for us on third and long that kept a drive going. That was as
big as some of his interceptions."
Two plays later, Jonathan Dumas took a toss sweep 79 yards in
for the score. The point after gave the Leopards a 7-6 lead.
Union County scored its second and final touchdown at the beginning
of the second quarter. Gabe Montavanni took the ball 14 yards
to nab the touchdown. The two-point conversion attempted failed,
but the Panthers still had a 12-6 lead they would carry into the
half.
Banks County's defense took control of the second half, shutting
out Union County and forcing four turnovers.
The Leopards set up their second touchdown of the game midway
through the third quarter by recovering a fumble on Union County's
25-yard line. Three plays later, Drew Gowder hit Mike Ivey in
the end zone from 11 yards out. The two-point conversion put Banks
County ahead 15-12.
The Leopards recovered another fumble on the Panthers next possession.
Banks County went on a 12-play, 71-yard scoring drive. Gowder
capped off the drive with a two-yard touchdown run.
The point-after attempt failed, putting Banks County up 21-12.
Union County tried to drive back with just over three minutes
left in the game, but was cut off when Joe Krause intercepted
a pass on his own 40-yard line.
The Leopards coughed the ball up on the next play from scrimmage,
giving the Panthers the ball on Banks' 43 yard line with 1:07
left to play.
Two plays later, Crumley picked up his third interception of the
game. The Leopards ran out the clock and held on for the 21-12
win.
Following a win over Jefferson the week before, Gillespie hopes
that the team is on a climbing pattern.
"Sure, beating Jefferson gave us some confidence going into
the Union County game," Gillespie said. "Hopefully these
two will give us confidence for next year. In order to win, you
have to win. Every win is huge for our program.
The BCHS Booster Club will hold an awards ceremony Sunday at 3
p.m. in the new high school cafeteria to honor all the fall sports.
Lowering The
Tiger Boom
CHS Upends Buford To Claim Region Title
BY DREW BRANTLEY
Going into Commerce's game with Buford Friday night, there were
a lot of questions. A 42-32 win by the Tigers provided the most
important answer.
The Tigers scored on six of their 10 possessions. Buford reached
the end zone on five of its nine drives. Commerce offered the
only punt of the game late in the fourth quarter. Both defenses
gave up points and yards, but Commerce came up with big plays
late in the game to sit on the win and the Region 8-A title.
"Being region champs means a lot," Tiger coach Steve
Savage said. "We're very proud for our team, our school and
our community."
Going into the game, the reputation of Buford's defense was a
hot topic. The Wolves had yielded yards and points sparingly all
year.
"This meant the world to us as a team," junior Michael
Collins said. "I hope everybody is satisfied. The critics
said our defense wasn't any good. But we showed them we could
stop them when we had to."
Buford started two drives inside Commerce territory in the fourth
quarter but came away with points both times.
Collins and senior Daniel Carder came up with the two biggest
plays. Collins swatted a pass attempt in the end zone on third
down. The Tiger rush forced a desperation pass to the goal line
on Buford's final play. Carder fell in the end zone with his second
interception to end the game.
"It felt great," Carder said. "When I had the ball
I knew we had won the game."
Commerce Hosts
Armuchee In First Round
BY DREW BRANTLEY
Celebrating its second region championship in three years makes
plenty of sense for Commerce.
"We're proud to represent our region in the playoffs as the
champion," Commerce coach Steve Savage said. "Being
able to play at home in the first round is a big plus."
But playing in the postseason means facing tough opponents every
week now.
"We feel like Armuchee could have been
the number one seed," Savage said. "A couple of points
in one game and they could have been. And then they were almost
out of it. That just shows how tough that region is. And don't
forget the state champion came out of the region last year."
Darlington went 15-0 last season, downing Lincoln County to take
the Class A state title.
This year, Armuchee finished fourth in Region 6-A, but beat its
region champ, Trion, 26-21. A 14-10 loss to Lovett and a 28-0
defeat by Darlington kept them down at fourth place.
The Indians will bring a big defensive front, Savage said.
"They are well-coached," Savage said. "It looks
like their motors run good and they play hard. They've got good
size. They've got one kid about 290 and another one about 270.
The rest of the front are in the 200-pound range."
On offense, Armuchee will bring a balanced attack to the field.
"They run multiple sets on offense," Savage said. "They
give you a lot of looks. They're about 50-50 on running and passing.
They'll give us a lot to worry about."
PLAYOFF INFO
Commerce season tickets will not be valid in the postseason.
Tickets will be on sale at all Commerce schools until lunch on
Friday for $6 each. Tickets at the gate will be $7.
NOTES: Friday night's football game will be the first ever between
Commerce and Armuchee.
Time to heal: Wounded
Panthers limp to 0-10
By Tim Thomas
After a season that defies description, the Jackson County Panthers
began licking their wounds this week. The team wrapped up its
1999 season Friday with a 33-7 loss at West Hall.
Six Panther seniors played their final games Friday. They are
Telly Young (DB/SE), Rodrick Gresham (DB/SE), Hector Serrano (DT/C),
Steven Barber (DT/T), Brad Smith (DE/G), and Hank Barnett (DB/SE).
As has been the case all season, injuries continued to plague
the Panthers. LB/SB Terriss Hale returned from injury Friday,
but Seniors Ski Harris (LB/FB) and Ryan Glass (LB/HB) both missed
the game due to injuries. Jonathan Lindquist (LB/TE) and Wayne
Pilgrim (DT/C) were both injured Friday. The loss of Pilgrim would
turn out to be a costly one.
The Panthers were held to only two first downs at West Hall, and
a net of 50 yards total offense. Still, Jackson County was in
the game until midway through the third quarter.
The Spartans scored early in the first on a nine-yard run by quarterback
Shea Whitmire. Sam Veal put the Panthers on the board in the second
quarter with a two-yard run. A 50-yard third-down pass from Quen
Usher to Gresham was the key play of the drive. The game was tied
at intermission, 7-7.
West Hall scored on their first drive of the second half, off
a 30-yard run by Garrison Cunningham. Moments later, a fumble
on a center-quarterback exchange at the Panther 31 gave West Hall
good field position, and Cunningham was soon in the end zone again
to give the Spartans a 20-7 lead.
Spartan Geoffrey Cook sealed the win for West Hall with a 47-yard
interception return later in the quarter. A fourth-quarter touchdown
finished the scoring at 33-7.
"This certainly would not be the way we would choose to begin,"
said Panther head coach Greg Lowe, referring to his first season
with Jackson County. "But we survived it, and now we're ready
to move on. I have a lot of respect for our kids. I could see
us getting stronger and better as the season wore on, but then
the injuries started happening."
Dragons close
out football season
By Tim Thomas
Some teams have rebuilding years. The Jefferson Dragons have just
completed a rebuilding stretch of only three games.
The Dragon offense, which had been built around senior running
back Stephen Sims, had to change direction late in the season
after Sims went down with a broken wrist. Sophomore quarterback
Kyle Potts' passing became vital to the Dragons' scoring efforts.
"Kyle was put in a position where we looked to him to be
a bigger part of the offense the last few weeks," said Jefferson
head coach Bob Gurley. "He has gotten better as the year
has progressed."
Potts has payed the price for his larger role. He was sacked several
times late in the game at Buford, and in last week's loss at Wesleyan,
endured a defensive barrage that put him on the ground often.
Near the end of the game, Potts was injured while taking a particularly
nasty hit. Though it was first thought he might have a concussion,
further observation at a Gwinnett hospital showed he did not.
Potts was treated for dehydration and released.
"He was just wore slap out," said Gurley. "He took
a couple of shots right there toward the end." Gurley went
on to say that with Sims' impending graduation, the quarterback
position will become even more important next year.
At Wesleyan, the Dragons put themselves behind the eight-ball
early, and never recovered.
One of three early turnovers led to a first-quarter Wesleyan score
off an option. Jefferson's offense struggled the entire game,
at one point going three-and-out five consecutive times.
"We never could get anything going," said Gurley, "and
they just had the football the whole time."
Potts led an impressive drive in the fourth with solid passing,
and Justin Gooch capped off the effort with a score. The extra
point just missed to the right, and the final score of 17-6 was
set.
Jefferson recovered an on-sides kick after the score, their second
in as many games, but an interception ended any hope of getting
back in the game. A final drive in the closing minutes was stopped
on fourth and 10 at the Wesleyan 15.
Jefferson finishes the season with a 5-5 mark, 3-5 in region play.
Madison
County's WCW?
Raider wrestlers put on preseason show for home crowd
BY ZACH MITCHAM
The strob light flickered, Jimmy Hendrix's "Voodoo Child"
blared over the speakers and Randall Ballenger stepped through
the cloud puffs made by a fog machine, a fake gold belt around
his skinny waist. The high school junior then ripped the white
T-shirt off his 125-lb. frame, grinned at the crowd in the bleachers
and made his way to the wrestling mat to face Steve Austin.
Yes, Steve Austin. But not of WWF fame. Rather, the 112-lb. Austin
of Madison County's sophomore class. And while WWF may offer more
in the way of taunts, plot lines and acrobatics off of ring ropes,
Ballenger, Austin and 26 other Raider wrestlers gave their fans
something Saturday night that neither WWF nor WCW ever offer -
real wrestling before a real referee.
Saturday's Madison County intra-squad matches marked the second
"Duel in the Dungeon" held by coach Greg Gaines and
his Raider wrestlers.
The coach believes mixing high school wrestling with pro-wrestling
theatrics is a good way to generate local interest in the sport.
It's also an opportunity for wrestlers to have fun and "get
the kinks out" before the real season begins.
"They (the wrestlers) think it's great," said Gaines
of the pre-match entrances like Ballenger's. "They think
they're the main event in WCW."
Gaines, whose team returns eight wrestlers from the 1998 squad,
said he is optimistic about his team's chances to improve on last
year's 13-18-2 record.
"I think we're well-balanced," said Gaines. "And
we've had some guys work hard in the weight room."
Madison County will open its season 9 a.m. Saturday in Covington
in the Newton County Duel Tournament. The team will then travel
to Riverside Academy at 5 p.m. Nov. 23, before holding its first
home match of the season at 5 p.m. Nov. 30 versus Jackson County
and Stephens County.
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