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BARROW JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2011
THE GAME PLAN
COMPETITION CHEERLEADING
LSU is certainly the team to beat
For so long now we have been waiting
for the “Game of the Century” between
LSU and Alabama on Nov. 5 — so did
it live up to the expectations?
Yes, it shattered the expectations.
A lot of people might not enjoy a 9-6
football game as others, but I happen
to love low scoring, defensive games,
especially when that game comes down
to overtime.
No one expected to see a shootout this
past Saturday, and if you did then you
were watching the wrong game.
It went just how I figured it would —
aside from LSU winning of course — it
was a close defensive game that came down to
the very end.
Both LSU and Alabama have top notch defens
es that very seldom give up touchdowns, but I
was shocked to see just how well those defens
es played, not even giving up one touchdown
throughout the entire game.
For the last several weeks people have been
saying that Alabama should have been No. 1
because they have shown more this season.
Sure, Alabama may have had a better track
record so far this season, but not by much.
Regardless of how much the Crimson Tide
destroyed Arkansas and Florida, LSU still had
a very impressive resume coming into the game
as well.
And they went into Tuscaloosa and proved that
they are indeed the number 1 team in the country
and put themselves in the driver seat to win the
national title.
Say what you want about how Alabama only
lost because of their kicking game, oh well, that
is a part of the game. Alabama’s kicker didn’t
throw those weak passes that got intercepted
now, did he?
Both of the defenses played extreme
ly well, in fact, Alabama's defense
seemed to be the tougher defense
throughout the night.
But the Tigers came up with the big
plays when they had to; their depth
really came into play in the game.
When LSU needed a big play, some
one stepped up and made an impact.
In fact, the biggest play of the game
came from LSU's Eric Reid when he
intercepted a jump ball at the one-yard
line. If Reid did not snag that intercep
tion, then Alabama would have been
set up at the goal line with a chance to
finish up the game.
Because let’s face it, a touchdown from either
team in that contest would have finished off the
opposition. Again, when LSU needed a big play,
someone stepped up — this time it was Reid.
I am not shocked that LSU won the game, but
I did think that Alabama was going to pull it out.
Even during the game, I felt Alabama was the
better team. But props to LSU, they deserve their
number 1 ranking.
They are — without question — the best team
in the country. This was no fluke by Alabama,
this was LSU proving that they could go into
Tuscaloosa and pull out a tough win.
Now let's just hope that the BCS doesn’t mess
up and put a 1-loss Alabama in the national title
game over an undefeated team, assuming there
will be another undefeated team after LSU that
is.
Tyler Rollason is a Winder-Barrow High
School graduate and mass communications
major at the University of West Georgia. You
can e-mail comments about this column to
trollason @yahoo.com.
Barrow Sports Calendar
Send any schedule changes to cbridges@barrowjournal.com
Wednesday, Nov. 9
•Winder-Barrow High School swim
ming @ Clayton County, Steve Lunquist
Aquatic Center, 5; 15 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 11
•Winder-Barrow High School basketball
scrimmage @ West Hall, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 12
•Winder-Barrow High School cheerlead
ers at state meet, Columbus Civic Center,
2 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 18
•Winder-Barrow High School basketball
@ Cedar Shoals, 7 p.m.
Sports Roundup
•The Barrow County Saints Youth Football
Association is now accepting applications for
new coaches for next season. Team registration
begins in February, followed by spring training
camps. For more information, e-mail bcsaints@
gmail.com.
•The Bethlehem First United Methodist
Church is holding its second annual Wiseman
5K race Sunday, Dec. 18.
The fun run begins at 3:30 p.m. followed by
the race at 4 p.m. Registration cost is $15 per
person before Dec. 10 and $20 after that date. A
family of four can register for $45. Registration
can be completed at www.active.com. Pre
registered racers will receive a T-shirt.
For more information, contact George
Roberson at 678-548-4879 or Carol Black at
706-680-7223 or e-mail classicraceservices@
gmail.com.
•Laser Baseball is holding tryouts for its
10-and-Under team from 2-4 p.m. Nov. 20 on
Field No. 5 at West Walton Park in Loganville.
Baseball players born after May 1, 2001 are
eligible to try out. For more information, contact
Brent Butler at 678-446-2345 or e-mail brent-
butler @ bellsouth.net.
•The process for selecting the members of the
next Winder-Barrow High School Athletic
Hall of Fame class is an ongoing process.
Anyone who played sports at WBHS or has
made significant contributions to athletics at the
school is eligible for nomination.
Athletes are chosen on what he or she accom
plished at the high school level as well as in the
collegiate and professional ranks. Nominations
may be made at any time. The next selection will
be this fall. Nomination forms may be obtained
from the WBHS website or in person at the
school office. Those who have been previously
nominated remain on the list for three years
and are still eligible to be selected. Once three
years has passed without selection, they may be
re-nominated. Jerrie Hulsey is the current chair
person of the Hall of Fame committee. Other
selection members inlude Sonny Morris, Jason
Austin, Sammy Hale, John Mobley, Kay Turner,
Elton Lynn, Ben Arms, Kevin Black, Hal Miller,
Phil Bradberry, Justin Grant and A1 Darby.
Nomination forms may be obtained from the
Winder-Barrow High School website or at the
school office, located on North Fifth Avenue.
Contacting a member of the selection com
mittee is also a method of nominating someone
to the Wall of Fame. New classes are typically
announced to the public each winter during bas
ketball season.
•Send information for Sports Roundup to
cbridges@barrowjournal.com. Items can also
be faxed to 678-425-1435. Please include a
contact name and phone number.
First & Ten continued from IB
Even with no playoff spot on the line,
coaches and players from both sidelines gave
everything they had. It was clear the desire to
win had not left any of them.
When Loganville’s quarterback got into the
endzone with three seconds left, the reaction
of the AHS coaches showed just how much
they wanted to win. Davis and defensive coor
dinator Matt Sorrells both dropped to a knee,
somewhat stunned by just what had taken
place. While it was a great game to watch as
a fan, it probably gave coaches on both sides
nightmares.
In the end, the Wildcats were 4-2 in their
final six games. Only close losses to Clarke
Central and Loganville spoiled the final six
contest. It was quite an accomplishment after
starting 0-4 with some close calls among those
contests.
The desire to get his program back to where
he wants it, will no doubt consume Davis dur
ing the offseason. The coach has proven he’s a
winner and that burning desire to succeed will
be more evident than ever.
For me, I think I’ll remember Friday night’s
game a little bit longer before looking ahead.
There’s plenty of time to think about the 2012
campaign. For now, I will just think about that
exciting game that two teams gave fans Friday
night.
Chris Bridges is sports editor of the
Barrow Journal. You can reach him at
cbridges@barrowjournal. com.
Cheer Cats preparing for state event
The Apalachee High School cheerleading
team will get the chance to compete on the
big stage Saturday.
The Cheer Cats earned a trip to the state
finals following their performacne at section
als last weekend. A total of 38 teams com
peted with AHS finishing seventh.
“Our kids did exceptionally well and then
we had the forever waiting game,” Cheer
Cats coach Meridith Wages said.
AHS competed in the early afternoon but
had to wait until 7 p.m. for the results.
The trip to Columbus for sectionals pro
vided a surprise for the Cheer Cats as they
travled via chartered bus along with the
Winder-Barrow High School Cheer Doggs.
“This was really good for our kids as
the camaraderie was fabulous,” said Wages,
herself a former WBHS cheerleader. “They
supported us on Saturday and we supported
them.”
The two teams are working close together
this season. There was a co-performance last
Friday for family and to help offer each other
support.
“The kids are making memories,” said
Wages.
This season marks the the first time since
Apalachee was AA that the cheerleading
squad has made it to actual state finals.
“We have been close a couple of years and
were only knocked out of state finals last year
because of a 10-point deduction,” Wage said.
“So, this is a really exciting opportunity for
our kids and our program.”
The Cheer Cat coach said her team went
into warm-ups Saturday focused.
“I felt completely relaxed and trusted that
the team would be fine,” Wages said. “The
kids had a perfect warmup. They hit every
thing and motivated themselves. Something
we have worked to instill all season is ‘heart’
and the will to be successful. The level of
heart this team had on Saturday was like
nothing I had seen from them before. It was
simply amazing. The energy level for 2 min-
By Chris Bridges
cbridges @ barrow journal, com
The Georgia High School Association had
planned to have its more than 400 member
schools tentatively placed in the six classifica
tions for 2012-14 by this date.
However, the GHSA is still waiting on
enrollment numbers from the state board of
education, according to a report in Georgia
High School Football Daily.
Until the new setup is complete, schools,
including Apalachee High School and Winder-
Barrow High School, are left in a state of
limbo concerning football schedules for 2012
utes and 27 seconds they were on the floor
was incredible. It was a wonderful feeling to
see the level of crowd support we had. Other
co-ed teams were supporting us, along with
all of our fans and WBHS fans. They were all
standing and chanting. It was pretty amazing.
While there were a few timing issues and
stunt execution mishaps on Saturday, the
coach said it was the team’s best peformance
of 2011.
“All stunts and tumbling were successful,”
Wages said. “We are competing with 14 on
the floor because of injuries. We had so many
kids step it up to throw and hit the most elite
skills they could. When they gained the skills,
we put them in the routine. This helped us
incredibly to score the maximum points pos
sible with the routine we have. We did have
a 20-point deduction that knocked us to 11th
out of 38 teams.”
The top 16 head to state finals.
“This week we will just continue to clean it
up,” Wages said. “Our routine was basically
a brand new one and there was not a lot of
time last week to work on the small things
such as cleaning. So this week cleanliness,
timing, and execution will be the focus. We
plan to come out in the top half of the 16 per
forming at state finals. I couldn’t be prouder
of this exceptional group of kids. They have
experienced true adversity this season and
have learned a life lesson that perseverance
and resilience will always allow one to over
come adversity. My goal is for us to have a
fun and exciting week of practice but also to
do work.”
Cheer Cat team members include AJ Sims,
Shannon Basford, Alyssa Harrison, Ashley
Smith, Drew Hixson, Carlee Brodie, Katie
Gorczynski, Chelsey O’Connell, Jordon
Tullis, Taylor Walker, Alexis Mosley, Madi
Massey, Matt Hixson, Lee Smith, Brittany
Smith, Abigail Gebo, Jennifer Newman,
Kayla Vickery and Jacob Holloway.
Quentin Ladson is Apalachee’s team man
ager.
delayed
and 2013.
One report said the process may be done by
November but one local high school athletic
official said it may even be the beginning of
2012.
AHS athletic director Brian Moore said
the count will be for grades 9-11. Moore said
he hopes the process is complete by early
December.
Most of the anxiousness from schools is
because the GHSA plans to expand from five
to six classifications. Early talk speculated
WBHS may move to 6A with AHS going to
5A.
Nothing is official at this point, however.
HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS
Reclassification continues to be
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Allen promoted to lead WBHS defense
By Chris Bridges
cbridges@barrowjournal.com
When David Wagner was putting together
his coaching staff after being named the
Winder-Barrow High School head football
coach, one assistant he felt “lucky” to get was
Stanley Allen.
“There were several schools who wanted to
hire him, so we feel fortunate he decided to
come aboard with us,” Wagner said.
Now, Wagner is turning the Bulldogg
defense over to Allen. In fact, Allen coordinat
ed the defense last Friday in Winder-Barrow’s
final game of 2011 against Cedar Shoals.
“Part of the reason was that I spend a great
deal of time overseeing the entire program,”
Wagner said Monday. “I didn’t want any part
of our team to be neglected in any way. Since
we had someone on staff who was very quali
fied for the position, I decided to make this
move. I was going to wait and do it for next
season, but then decided it would be best to
go around and turn the defense over to Coach
Allen.”
A coaching veteran with stops at several
schools, Allen said he thought the promotion
might happen next season.
“When I was hired, Coach Wagner told me
he would handle the defense to start with,”
Allen said. “I never asked about coordinating
the defense. I was just rocking along with
everyone trying to get the program going in
the right direction.”
Allen, who worked at Salem High School
in Conyers before moving to WBHS, said he
will employee a different scheme. Allen will
use a 4-4 split defense.
“It’s not a usual 4-4.” Allen said. “It has
some different wrinkles in it. I see potential for
our program. We have some young kids who
are getting stronger in the weight room. We
only played a handful of seniors on defense
this season. If we can get everything right, I
foresee us taking some big steps soon.”
“I wanted to see how the kids and coach
es responded to how he runs the defense,”
Wagner said. “I wish now I had made this
move sooner. This will be a good move for
the program.”
Wildcats continued from IB
“We had high expectations coming into the
season,” Davis said. “That’s the way it will
always be with us. Suddenly, we found our
selves 0-4. It would have been easy to cash it
in at that point but we kept fight, kept battling
and kept trying to turn things around.”
AHS did turn things around winning four
of its next six games. In the two losses, one
was not decided until late in the fourth quarter
and the one came down the final play of the
game.
“It shows a lot of heart and character on
behalf of everyone involved with our pro
gram,” Davis said. “We will try and use that
momentum to go into next season and into our
offseason workouts.”
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