Newspaper Page Text
Barrow Journal
Chris Bridges, Sports Editor
770-867-6397, phone
678-425-1435, FAX
cbridges@barrowjournal.com
November 2, 2011
Section
B
www.BarrowJournal.com
Recognized for award-winning sports coverage by Georgia Press Association and Georgia Sports Writers Association
CROSS COUNTRY
Lady Doggs win third consecutive region title
By Chris Bridges
cbriclges @ barrowjournal. com
For Amanda Cope and the Winder-Barrow
High School girls cross country team, it was the
same song, only a different verse for a different
season.
The Lady Bulldoggs won their third consecu
tive Region 8-AAAA title in Conyers Saturday
while Cope once again won the individual region
honor. Cope (19:54) was way out in front of the
pack with her closest competitor being team
mate Caitlin Connell, who finished second in
20:10, helping WBHS to another region crown.
Whitley Kennedy (20:31) was third overall at
region while Anna Dean (20:52) was fifth, just
missed out on fourth place. Winder-Barrow's
Isabel Martin (22:44) was 18th overall while
Amber Duffey was 20th in 22:51.
Team-wise it was a battle between the Lady
Bulldoggs and the Lady Falcons of Flowery
Branch. While WBHS earned the top three
finishers, all of Flowery Branch's runners were
in the top 10. The key turned out to be Dean's
taking fifth place.
“It was a good race," said coach Michael
Lofton. “It was an early-moming race and it was
very cold. If the race had been later in the day,
some of our kids would have done even better.”
An odd turn of events took place leading up
to the region meet last week. Lofton, as well as
other coaches in Region 8-AAAA, believed the
race was Thursday. However, the day for the
region meet had apparently been changed sev
eral weeks prior to Saturday. The only problem
was word did not reach Lofton and others.
“Several coaches were upset about it,” Lofton
said. “We had been training to compete on
Thursday and then find out on Tuesday that
wasn’t when region was.”
WBHS girls coach Amanda Partee-Manders
said the Lady Bulldoggs earned a major accom
plishment with their third consecutive region
title.
“The competition was fierce with Flowery
Branch being a very tough competitor.” Partee-
Manders said. “The girls stepped up their game
and ran hard and ran smart.”
For the WBHS boys, Josiah Bennett was sixth
in the individual results in 17:11.
See Region on Page 7B
OPINION
AHS football
shows character
after rough start
Football, probably as
much as any sport, is
about emotion.
The Apalachee High
School Wildcats have showed
a remarkable ability to turn
things around this season
after a slow start. Ironically,
the slow start was in the win-
loss cate
gory only
as AHS
actually
played
well in its
first four
games
of 2011,
despite
not post
ing a
victory.
Close
losses to
Habersham Central (three
points), Salem (seven points)
and Heritage (five points)
were tough to accept. Even in
the game against undefeated
and No. 3-ranked Flowery
Branch back on Sept. 9, the
Wildcats played well. It’s just
the Falcons are a step above
most, if not all, opponents in
Region 8-AAAA this season.
After the 0-4 start, AHS
began to turn the corner.
Wins against Madison
County and Rockdale County
were followed by a close
defeat to Clarke Central, in a
game which was not decided
until late in the fourth quarter.
Two additional victories
against Cedar Shoals and
Winder-Barrow have since
been factored into the victory
total. With one game left,
however, it doesn't appear
the Wildcats will be able
to get into the postseason,
even if they win this Friday
against Loganville. Salem
and Habersham Central
have the head-to-head tie
breakers against AHS.
Still, to start the season
0-4 and finish 5-5 would
be a major accomplish
ment. That would mean the
Wildcats would have closed
out the season going 5-1.
Typically when teams finish
a season winning five of six,
they get into the playoffs.
You have to credit the AHS
players and coaches for the
strong turnaround this fall.
In most scenarios, when a
football team begins 0-4,
a turnaround for the posi
tive does not take place.
Sure, the team might
win one or two games, but
to have a chance to win
five of its last six is rare.
Playing well down
the stretch is something
Wildcat head coach Shane
Davis wanted his team
to do this fall, especially
since the opposite took
place at the end of 2010.
See First & Ten on Page 2B
chris
bridges
First & Ten
Winder-Barrow Cheer Doggs 2011
ANOTHER STRONG PERFORMANCE
The Winder-Barrow High School Cheer Doggs did not actually compete for placing in
their own competition Saturday, but the team would have won overall if it had.
Photo by Jessica Brown
True Contender
WBHS cheerleaders aiming high once again
1 feel like we are where we should be at this point heading
into sectionals this Saturday in Columbus/
— Winder-Barrow High School competition cheer coach Jerrie Hulsey
By Chris Bridges
cbridges @ barrowjournal. com
T he Winder-Barrow High School competi
tion cheerleading team performed for
scoring only Saturday during its own event.
However, had they actually been figured in the
standings, the Cheer Doggs would have won and
been named grand champion. It’s just another
in a line of impressive performances for coach
Jerrie Hulsey’s program, which is preparing
this week for co-ed sectionals in Columbus.
“I thought
our overall
performance
was the best to
date,” Hulsey
said. “The
stunts looked
very solid. We had a couple of mishaps. A
person stepped off the mat and one of my fly
ers doubled down funny and knocked one of
her bases to the floor. However, I feel like we
are where we should be at this point heading
into sectionals this Saturday at Columbus.”
The Winder-Barrow High School coach
said sectionals determine where a team
will be ranked 1 through 16, which deter
mines the order of performance.
See Cheer Doggs on Page 2B
Coming up:
•Winder-Barrow High School
@ co-ed sectionals, Saturday,
Columbus State University
SOLID SATURDAY
WBHS cheerleaders Jared Glazier, and
Jonathan Rodriquez assist teammate
Katelynn Heliums during Saturday’s
routine. Photo by Jessica Brown
AHS FOOTBALL
Cats expect
tough game
against LHS
By Chris Bridges
cbridges @ barrowjournal. com
Even with a different opponent
this Friday, the strategy will be
mostly the same for the Apalachee
High School football team.
The Wildcats host Loganville
Friday in a battle of 4-5 teams. Both
teams will likely miss the playoffs,
regardless of the outcome.
“We will have to have a strong
effort and be able to control the
clock,” AHS coach Shane Davis
said. “It will be key for us to keep
their offense off the field as much
as possible. Our defense has played
well recently. Hopefully, our play
ers have another four quarters in
them.”
In past seasons, the Red Devils
have been a physical run-based
team. However, LHS is spreading
the field a little more this fall behind
quarterback Garrett Ford.
“Their quarterback is a good
one,” Davis said. “They also have
two strong running backs. They will
line up in the shotgun some and use
some zone reads. They are also big
up front and have put up a lot of
points this year.”
Wildcat defensive coordinator
Matt Sorrells said Loganville is a
tough opponent to scout.
“They do many different things to
try and get the defense out of posi
tion.” Sorrells said. “ The quarter
back is very good and their offensive
line looks huge on film. They rotate
several different running backs so
they always seem to be fresh.”
See Wildcats on Page 6B
LOOKING AHEAD
The Apalachee High School
starters watch the end of last
week’s game against Winder-
Barrow. The Wildcats host
Loganville this week.
MIDDLE SCHOOL FOOTBALL
WBMS Bullpups capture league title against Malcom Bridge
By Chris Bridges
cbridges @ barrowjournal. com
For the Winder-Barrow Middle School
football team, payback was sweet.
The Bullpups defeated Malcom
Bridge 27-22 last week to capture the
Northeast Georgia Athletic League title.
The win helped avenge a loss to the
Lightning in the league finals a season
ago.
This year’s championship game was
not decided until the final minute as the
WBMS defense had to hold off Malcom
Bridge as the Lightning VVBMS 27
fired several deep passes
in an attempt to move in
front. Malcom Bridge 22
It was Malcom Bridge
which took the early 8-0
lead in the title game on a 60-yard run.
CeCe Green would
answer for the Bullpups on
a touchdown run. In the
second quarter, WBMS
took its first lead on an
interception return.
See Champs on Page 3B