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PAGE 8 REASONS From page 3 would have won a game or two because our region is so tough. Everybody who gets in does a good job." Aside from Banks, Houston graduated three starting mem bers of the secondary. Brandon Aikens and Hilton left two holes on the offensive line, and Tariq Polley was a defensive line starter who signed to play junior college football. "In the spring we got a start on (replacing these players)," said Johnson. "We're still in the find ing-out department. I think we'll still be in that situation for the first two or three ball games. You hope by the third, fourth or fifth game you have everything squared away and hope you don't get in juries that may set you back." There's no need for the Bears staff to find out what kind of quarterback or running backs are on campus. Martez King was the pleasant surprise of 2005 by tak ing over the quarterback job. The offensive front has three veteran starters in Ben Collins at tight end, Reggie Smith at center and Jimmy Bailey. Believe it or not, a freshman was able to make a splash on varsity, that being 6-1 receiver Craig Pre sley. Michael Gibson and Brian Dyke are two other experienced senior receivers who should fill out the flanker corp. Johnson doesn't want to leave out 209- pound senior wingback Lydel Jones and the strides he made last year. When Houston County hit the field for a scrimmage against Jones County on Aug. 18, senior DJ Dodson found himself with a LIFE IS FULL OF CHOICES! T iigg L “Our kids have bought into our scheme. We’re going to try to play fundamentally sound football.” -Houston County headfootball coach Doug Johnson lot of carries with a lot of good re sults. At 5-8 and 160 pounds, he is the right compliment as a scat back type to O'Neal and Jones and their power running attack. "Offensively we have a lot of kids who have at least been on the field," he said. "Sometimes you have to make that group mesh. We have a few new faces in there. We hope they fit in. "Defensively, we are really look ing hard (at the secondary). We moved a kid from offense, Ded rick Early, who has done a great job at comer so far. (Junior) Wes Johnson has done a good job so far." Raiding other positions filled the linebacker slots. Chris Prewett, a junior, moves over from defen • sive end as does former fullback Anthony Harris, a 210-pound se nior. Kyle Griffin is a returning senior starter as is 225-pound se nior Princeton Dean. "Up front, (senior) Dexter Hol man had a great spring," said Johnson. "We have Jacob Walker, a move-in who's looked good so far. We really have 10 guys on the defensive line who could play a lot. Gavin Whitfield, Brandon Craig, (senior) Chris Dilworth at nose guard, Trenton Powell has really come on. "We feel good now, but you don't know until you start play ing. Kids who look good now may not look good in that first game or two. About every team will still be shaking out some things as the season goes on. RM Warner Robins. RE U. iORS Jfas 2 Convenient locations to Serve you! 921 Hwy. 96 2711 4 Watson Blvd Warner Robins, CA Warner Robins, 6A 31988 31088 478-218-8080 478-953-8080 W\\ \\. W \R\ j |.Rt >j:| NSH.OMI S.« < i\t "We still have a depth problem we have to work on as far as our crossover kids. But we feel good at some spots. Martez is at quar terback, and we have two good kids behind him, Don Jones and Jeff Thompson. Jeff's just a 10th grader and we feel he has a good future. That's a good position to have some back-up." King is running the wing-T of fense with the adjustments the coaches make as they do every year. King never played the po sition before 2005, which limited what the coaches called as far as multiple plays go. But Johnson said now he is capable of much more than his rookie season. "He's more sure of himself," said Johnson. "He's a really good athlete, which allows him to do more. Our other kids allow us to do more. Eric O'Neal has looked real good so far. "Different from last year, we're hoping to be able to control the football more to help our defense. Some games we did 0.K., some Remnant pARPET.SALE! 10*x10* ChcßKiibrtPlush.,,„.w... S4O 9 4 xlV° BrownTweedSerber. 10*xl2 BeigeGrophltßerber S4O 12x11 TonjbrtPtush S4O 9xl Q 6 BraSwiTweedßerber S4O 12x19 Brown Level Scoop .........InM 12x13 ChocoloteLoop 12x11 Beige Short Plush „/.....SBO 12x18 GoldShortPlush —s4o 12x19 Green Level Loop ... SOO 10x15 Gold Heavy Plush «... sßo* 12x11 Short Plush S9~OI 9x20 Cream Beige Thick Hush JvM 12x19 TaupoleveJLoopf. $9.0 llxlsTaupePlusb... slo<^ 13x15 Cream BerbgL,., — (y »s IQfL CARPET SALVAGE 4588 LOG CABIN DRIVE • MACON, GA 478-474-4447 SEPTEMBER 1,2006 games we didn't. I hope we can be more versatile with the pass ing game. "I know everybody hollers 'Throw, throw, throw.' We do try to throw some, but we know you have to have people who can throw and catch. We will prob ably throw more this year. We're in pretty good shape (at receiver). We'll still be a basic run team ... our main thing will be wing and slot, the base formations we start out of." With more experience on the front side of the defense, John son is sticking with the same scheme with adjustments made game-to-game as they are need ed. He knows, against a team like Northside, the Bears have to be prepared for a lot of spread of fense based out of the I forma tion. Later, Houston will go from a primary passing team in Berk mar to a run-oriented attack from Parkview. "We're not extremely fast on de fense, which is not good," said Johnson. "Our kids have bought into our scheme. We're going to try to play fundamentally sound football. When we get to the re gion, our league is a running foot ball league. Tift County probably See BEARS, page 13 oms Talk To F/fIST About Your ■S" ' ?'i w. V arpet NeedsC '' omiif.Miii'