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— www.MainStreetNewsSports.com — October 29, 2008 Barrow Journal Chris Bridges, Sports Editor 770-867-6397, phone 678-425-1435, FAX cbridges@barrowjournal.com New voice arrives for local sports T he sports section you are currently holding in your hands is something I hope will become a habit for you each week. For with this edition, Barrow County has a new player on the sports scene. I guess you could call it a new contender to use an old boxing analogy. I think you will like our approach to sports cover age. I’m not a “Johnny Come Lately” when it comes to cover ing local sports. I’ve been at it a long time. Professionally, I’ve covered sports since 1993 although I’ve been on the side lines, in gyms and at local fields even longer than that. I have a strong understanding of what an important learning tool high school, middle school and recreation sports can be when used right. I also understand what local coaches go through when it comes to directing their programs. When you follow high school sports as closely as I have, for as long as I have, you see up close the work coaches put in, the hours they are away from their families and the overall little reward they receive financially for it. What I hope to do is help you understand that overall process. It will also be our role to fol low both high schools and docu ment what their student-athletes accomplish. We have no prefer ence for one school over the other. We want both schools to succeed equally. I’ve previously worked at a newspaper where I covered four high schools so having two major schools to follow is nothing new for me. Sports coverage is something we will take seriously at our paper. We realize having a top notch sports section is important to readers in a community like Winder and all of Barrow County. We will do our best to provide you with that each week. From keep ing you informed on the progress of our local teams to keeping in touch with former local standouts to in depth features, we hope to offer something for all readers within our sports pages. What you see in our debut issue this week is a good example of what you will see on a regular basis. Already the feedback we have received has been strong. It’s a great sign to have such a positive reaction from the community — sports and otherwise — before you even have your first edition roll off the press. Hopefully, this premier issue will only encourage you to support this product more. I welcome your suggestions for this paper’s sports section. If you know of a former local athlete who is now competing at the col legiate level, please let me know about him or her. If you have an idea for a sports related feature, I would love to hear about. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing you on the sidelines during the remainder of football season and at winter sports when those campaigns begin in coming weeks. It is an exciting time for Barrow County sports and we are proud to be here to document it. We hope you will eventually get to the point where you consider us your No. 1 source for sports news in Winder and Barrow County for that is our ultimate goal. chris bridges First & Ten Chris Bridges is sports editor of the Barrow Journal. E-mail com ments about this column to cbridg- es @ barrowjburned. com. THE LEGACY CONTINUES LOCAL TIES Phil Jones, who spent more than a decade coaching at Winder-Barrow High School, started the football program at Shorter College in Rome. Photos courtesy of Shorter College SIO Winder-Barrow coaching icon... BY CHRIS BRIDGES t has been more than 12 years since Phil Jones last coached a football game in Barrow County, but the time that has elapsed has not taken away any of the love the longtime gridiron mentor has for the Winder-Barrow High School community. Jones stepped down as the Bulldoggs" head coach in the summer of 1997 to begin a new chapter in his career as he moved to coaching at the collegiate level. From stops at the University of Georgia to SMU to Gardner-Webb to his current home at Shorter College, where he started a football program, Jones still has a big spot in his heart for Winder and Barrow County. “What a tremendous experi ence my family had in Winder and Barrow County,” Jones said earlier this month. “It was an incredible place to live. We treasured every minute of it. All the relationships we made and all the youngsters we had a chance to work with are some thing we will never forget.” Jones and his wife Janie’s two children graduated from WBHS, adding to the special meaning of their former home. “It was simply a great fam ily experience for us,” Jones said. “We still stay in touch with so many people. It was a tough decision for us to leave at the time. God works in mysterious ways so often.” see Coach on page 4B FOOTBALL Wildcats return home BY CHRIS BRIDGES Despite last week’s disappoint ing loss to Heritage, the playoffs remain a strong possibility for the Apalachee High School Wildcats. Coach Shane Davis’ team is now 5-3 overall and will host Madison County in an important Region 8-AAAA contest this week. While the Red Raiders enter the game at 2-6, Davis said his team cannot overlook them. “They have been competi tive against some teams who are competing for the postseason,” the Apalachee coach said. “They lost to Loganville late and played Heritage to a 7-0 game. Madison County has played well lately by simplifying their offense.” The Wildcat defense will look to keep the team’s option in check. “Their quarterback also has the ability to run the spread so we have to be prepared for that,” Davis said. See Wildcats on page 4B ‘Doggs venture to Athens BY CHRIS BRIDGES When the Winder-Barrow High School football team travels to Clarke Central Friday, Bulldogg head coach Ben Worley said it will be important for his team to start the game playing well. “It seems we have been ‘wide- eyed’ when the games begins,” Corley said earlier this week as he and his coaches began pre paring for the contest against the Gladiators. “We have to get past that. We have to believe we can do well. To start playing well halfway through the first quarter is too long to wait.” Corley is referring to last Friday’s home game against Salem in which his team fell behind 21-0 before the first quarter was half over. The final score ended up being 21-0 but the early hole proved to be too much to climb out of. WBHS will face Clarke Central on the road this week at 7:30 p.m. See WB football on page 4B Friday Night Lights: •Apalachee hosts Madison County, 7:30 p.m. •Winder-Barrow @ Clarke Central, 7:30 p.m. MIDDLE SCHOOL FOOTBALL ~w RUNNING TO A TITLE Westside Middle School’s Zay Henry rushed for one of his six touchdowns in the league championship game against West Jackson Middle School. Photo by Lyrt Sengupta Balanced attack leads Huskies to league title BY CHRIS BRIDGES When one reviews the cham pionship season enjoyed by the Westside Middle School football team, perhaps one stat stands above all others. The Huskies outscored their opponents 196-43 this fall. At any level of football, that is typically going to equal success. It certainly did for coach Paul DeFoor’s team in 2008. “We had an outstanding year,” the coach said. “Going into the year, the coaches and I did not know what to expect. The South Region that we play in is very tough.” An early 8-0 win against Malcolm Bridge Middle School helped give Westside the confi dence it needed for its title run. Defense played a large role in the standout season as the Huskies did not allow but 20 points in their first five contests. “We had a group of layers that were willing to work and sweat in practice,” DeFoor said. “They just had great leadership and the right attitudes all year.” The only blemish on the record for Westside could easily have an asterisk by it. see Title on page SB