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Barrow Journal Chris Bridges, Sports Editor 770-867-6397, phone 678-425-1435, FAX cbridges @barrowjoumal.com Thankful for fall, football and family T hanksgiving has always been a favor ite holiday of mine. I suppose it’s because it centers on family and because it occurs during my favorite season of the year. In addition, we are usually with our family and we take a break from our hectic work-driven lives to give thanks for what we have. Too often we concentrate on what we don't have in life and for get just how much we truly should be thankful for. Sports writing legend and hero of mine, Furman Bisher, has a Thanksgiving tradition of writ ing a “Thankful” column each year and I encourage you to read his musing Thursday for a much bet ter offering. However, in the tradition of the great Mr. Bisher I offer thanks for: •living in the greatest country in the world. There are many places I would love to visit, but none I would rather call home on a perma nent basis. We aren’t perfect, but we are still far and beyond the best. •college football. Is there anything better than an early fall day with your favor ite team set to kick off? •whoever came up with the idea of putting complete seasons of tele vision shows on DVD. Brilliant. •The NFL Network and its live three-hour pregame shows (just what a junkie needs). •sports talk radio. •a comfortable pair of shoes which have been broken in just right. •a nap on Sunday afternoon, •being at the local high school stadium on Friday night. •college football programs where the athletes are still students like Duke, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest, •all veterans. •those who fight to pre vent animal cruelty. •memories of Thanksgivings spent at my paternal and maternal grandparents. •a good laugh while listen ing to coaches call-in shows. “Hey coach, you need to run this defense. It will help you win!” •my recliner after a long day at the office. •my chiropractor after a long week at work. •the football fan who is will ing to give a coach five years to establish his program. •coaching characters like Erk Russell, Jerry Glanville, Mike Dikta, Buddy Ryan and Hank Stram. •the help co-worker Jana Mitcham gives me when I can't fig ure out something on my computer. •a favorite movie that you have seen 100 times and know by heart but could still watch it 100 more times. •the chance, however small it is, that one day the highest level of college football might some how have a playoff system, •everytime the underdog wins, •the politician who doesn’t forget what he promised once elected. •the fact there was once was a time when Monday Night Football was worth making sure you were in front of your television when it came on. •the ESPN family. •those who don’t take col lege football recruiting as a life or death undertaking. •sports talk radio. •football media guides. •all the great feedback we have received in the past month about our new paper. chris bridges First & Ten Chris Bridges is sports editor of the Barrow Journal E-mail comments about this column to cbridges @ barrowjournal, com. WINDER-BARROW HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING New coach brings winning tradition BY CHRIS BRIDGES Successful wrestling is nothing new for Chad Home. The first-year Winder-Barrow High School coach guided the wres tling team at Social Circle High School to the state tournament sev eral seasons when he was their men tor. After serving as an assistant coach at Duluth High School for one season, Home is now at WBHS and looking to build the Mat Doggs into a perennial winner as well. The new season began this past weekend for Home's team as they competed against Oconee County and Monroe Area Friday night and then wrestled five times in a tourna ment at West Hall High School. The Mat Doggs fell to Monroe Area and Oconee County and fell in their first three matches at West Hall to Brookwood, Gilmer (the defending Class AAA champion) and Pickens County. WBHS then put two wins in the record book by defeating Apalachee and Johnson High School of Gainesville. “We will take some bumps and bmises this season but we have some talent,” Home said. “We have to leam to use our technique and not just our strength.” The new WBHS coach has an overall young squad to work with this season. The nucleus of his team is fresh man and sophomores. “We have some wrestlers with potential but they are learning about the difference in strength from mid dle school wrestling to high school wrestling,” Home said. “That's why technique is so important.” Devan Espinosa was 4-1 with three pins this past weekend while teammate Will Whisenant was 4-3 with four pins. ON THE MAT Daniel Gallow and Jordan Palm work during a recent practice. Photo by Jessica Brown CHAMPION: (noun) person, or team, who has defeated all opponents in a competition or series of competitions, so as to hold first place... NACA 2008 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS DIVISION III FOOTBALL lTCGc J FOOTBALL SUCCESS Coach and players on the Barrow County Christian Academy Saints football team celebrate their national title won in Tennessee. The Saints finished the 2008 season with an undefeated record and have only lost one game during the past two seasons. BCCA unstoppable on gridiron BY CHRIS BRIDGES When all was said and done this season, the Barrow County Christian Academy football team ran out of opponents to defeat. The Saints capped a perfect 11-0 season with a 36-0 win against Union Academy of Georgetown, Miss, in the NACA Division III eight-man football national championship game in Dayton, Tenn. For coach Bob Salter, the BCCA players and coaches, it was the culmination of a season of hard work and dedication. “It was simply an unbelievable, great season,” Salter said. The coach said one key to the team’s success was unselfish play. “No one had to have all the credit,” Salter said. A solid core group of 11 seniors paved the way to the championship. Seniors on the 2008 squad includ ed Joel Blankenship, Dustin Clack, Jordan Collins, Detrick Davis, Josh Forte, Dennis Holtz, Marcus Jackson, Kyle Jones, John Penley, Nick Salter and Zack Smith. See Champs on page 3B Barrow County Christian Academy 2008 Schedule Aug. 22 @ Newnan Christian W56-0 Aug. 29 CSRA W56-6 Sept. 4 @ Fountain Inn W 28-14 Sept. 12 Philadelphia Christian W 52-35 Sept. 19 @Mt. Vernon Christian W41-8 Sept. 26 @CSRA W56-0 Oct. 3 Faith Christian W 68-14 Oct. 10 Philadelphia Christian W 57-15 Oct. 24 @ Faith Christian W56-0 Oct. 31 Hope Christian (Ala.)* W 76-31 Nov. 7 Union Academy (Miss.)* W36-0 •playoffs in Dayton, Tenn. Saints future: One more year of eight-man competition BY CHRIS BRIDGES After achieving the ultimate goal at their level, fans of the Barrow County Christian Academy Saints football pro gram might be wondering what’s next. Coach Bob Salter said last week the program will continu ing playing eight-man football for one more season and then will likely make the move to 11-man football. The change in play will also see a move to the Georgia Independent Schools Association (GISA). “We’ll honor our committ ments next season and then likely make the move,” Salter said. This past season, Salter said the coaches had to limit the number of players on the team to 35 although more than 40 expressed an interest in play ing. Once the change is made to 11-man football, all pro spective players will be able to participate to add necessary depth. “We know we will likely take our lumps early on,” Salter said. “We did when we started in eight-man play.” Two of Barrow County Christian Academy’s for mer opponents — Harvester Christian and Loganville Christian Academy made the move to the GISA this season. Harvester, in fact, qualified for the state playoffs. Coach: Eight-man football 'exciting game to watch’ BY CHRIS BRIDGES Bob Salter says it would take a pretty knowledgeable football fan to pick up on the differences between eight-man football and the 11-man variety. “Someone who really knows the sport would be able to tell, but the average fan really would not,” the Barrow County Christian Academy football coach said. “Eight-man football is an exciting game to watch.” Salter, who started the Saints pro gram from scratch, is quick to point out, however, the eight-man football played by BCCA is not like the Arena Football League. For one, there is a much heavier emphasis on the running game. In fact, the Saints run the “Wildcat” formation, simliar to the University of Florida. “We had so many backs this year we simply spread the wealth,” Salter said as BCCA celebrated a national championship in eight-man competi tion. “We had all the right pieces so it was tough for people to stop us.” In 11-man football, the field is more congested, Salter noted. “With eight-man play, the field is more open so it’s a little easier for the backs to run and make things hap pen,” Salter said. Many of the games this fall for BCCA saw the Saints posting big numbers. Finals scores of 56 (three times), 52, 56, 76 and 68 can be seen when one looks back at the 2008 campaign. At least in that respect, the BCCA games were similar to Arena League play. The season was exciting for all involved including coaches, players and their families. It was the first title for the school’s football program. “We made it to the state title game in 2004,” Salter said. “This season we were able to carry it all the way to nationals and bring it all home.” Winning equals excitement in any sport and that was certainly the case for the BCCA football team this fall. Few opponents were even able to stay close with the Saints. “We’ve come a long way from when we first started,” Salter said. “We had great fan support. They were excited about it as well.”