Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 12
FEW
From page 7
I think we got better to
ward the end of the year,
and that's what you al
ways hope for.
"You hope to win the re
gion; we didn't do that. We
haven't accomplished that
in the last two years. For
four or five years straight
we won the region. You
want to win it all, but get
ting to where we got to is
an accomplishment."
Jones pointed out that
one of the big reasons
it's hard to compare one
year to another is that a
school always loses a se
nior class. Westfield had
just 10 on last year's ros
ter, but with this program
losing one player actually
means losing an offensive
and defensive starter. The
Hornet coaches are going
to work with the players
available to them with the
same expectations of be
ing the best team they can
l?e.
And if that happens
Westfield will find itself
playing for the state cham
pionship. Jones said that's
always going to be the tar
get as long as he leads the
Hornets.
The planning for the 2006
season began once that last
buzzer sounded in Macon
in November. Right away
Jones could see where the
nucleus for success this
year would lie: in the of
fensive backfield:
"The thing I'm most ex
cited about is we have two
backs," said Jones. "Aus
tin Madruga, our fullback,
has actually gained weight
but lost baby fat. This will
be his third year (as a start
er). He's 220 pounds. He's
got his 40 down to a 4.6.
He looks so much quicker
than he's ever looked and
certainly a lot stronger.
"We have Zach Young
back who ran for us at one
of the halfbacks. The other
was Andrew Arnold, the
senior we lost. Zach, it
was his first year being a
‘OS
From page 2
in 2005, though Westfield wasn’t by any
means going to let this school dictate a final
score. Oh, the visitors won 23-7, but it wasn’t
sealed until the speedy Carl Robinson scored
a 74-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Antwan Hamilton, 109 yards rushing. Bran
don Anderson, 102 yards rushing. Warner
Robins 52, Hardaway 7. When is Oct. 21 go
ing to get here? Mary Persons appeared to
have handed Perry a serious setback. The 7-
back and he might have
been the hardest runner
we had. He is about 170
pounds."
It seems like the whole
Westfield running back
crop is. gaining weight.
Jones said usually the big
gest he puts in there is
140 to 150 pounds. Trent
Usher, a junior, looks to
be the other halfback this
season, and he registered
195 pounds on the scale.
"On the line on offense,
Jeremy Rowland, who
played a lot of guard, is
back," said Jones. "We
have Ryan Campbell,
who played a lot of guard,
back. We have Daniel
Payne, who played some
offensive tackle, and we
have Matt Mcßride, who
did not start on offense
but got some playing time
at tackle. That's where
we feel our strong points
are."
The concerns lie with the
quarterback position and
the overall depth. One
injury, Jones said, could
shake up the lineup sig
nificantly, like with a tight
end moving to tackle.
With a limited number of
coaches, practice time is
divided between offense
with everyone involved
and defense with every
one involved.
"I have three or four
guys ... we're still waiting
for somebody to step for
ward," said Jones about
the quarterback battle.
"All of them are getting
better, but somebody has
to get a lot better. I have
two sophomores and two
juniors working there, and
some of those guys may
have to go (to another po
sition) once we find a cou
ple we can depend on.
"At wideouts we do have
Tanner Williams back, an
other senior. One of our
most important positions
is our tight end. I would
think Nash Murph is our
leading candidate right
now. Some people are still
pushing for those jobs."
Whoever does become
3 loss to the Bulldogs wasn’t for the faint of
heart, or it was just what the doctor ordered
to those who love punishing defense.
Did Houston County play? Yes, and beat
Liberty County 12-8. Must have been a bad
night for cell-phone reception, though.
Week 6, Sept 23
The week actually started on Thursday with
Warner Robins cruising one more time, 42-0
over Westside in Macon.
Stop the presses, though, we have quite an
upset. Somebody went to the House of Pain
in Sandersville and beat down those Wash
ington County Hawks. Well, it wasn’t a beat-
“You want to win it all, but getting to
where we got to is an
accomplishment.”
- Westfield headfootball coach Ronnie Jones
the starting quarterback,
his job will be to direct the
wing-T offense. Jones ex
pects to run a lot of power
sets with his big backs,
though there may not be
as many wide-open type
runs due to a lack of quick
ness. In other words, look
for long, three-yards-and
a-cloud-of-dust drives.
"More important than
running hard is blocking,"
said Jones. "The wing-T of
fense is fun to me because
you have to block. Every
body knows they get to
carry the ball close to the
same amount. Holding
the ball is more important,
and more important that
this is blocking.
"In our offense, we're
going to pass it about the
way it's gone the last 13
years. In an average ball
game we'll throw it 12
or 14 times according to
what the defense is giv
ing us. We're not going
to be a drop-back team
but a play-action team. It
doesn't take a great arm,
but it does take a smart
individual to make good
decisions and good play
action fakes. Not that we
throw deep a lot, but we
like to keep people off of
us and throw the deep ball
occasionally."
On the defensive side,
again most of these offen
sive starters have key roles
in keeping the opposition
off the scoreboard. The
lineup, Jones said, will be
a multiple 50 front with
perhaps two of the best
linebackers in the state in
Madruga and Campbell.
Madruga actually played
defensive end when the
Hornets had a split look.
Rowland, a senior, gives
the front line a 185-pound
nose guard, and Payne, at
240 pounds, and Mcßride,
at 255 pounds, return as
the defensive tackles. John
Blount is a returning se
nior strong safety, and
Young will join him in the
secondary.
"I think we have six
people on defense who
have started," said Jones.
"I probably feel better de
fensively than offensively.
Coach (Jamey) Watson is
our defensive coordinator,
and I don't know what I'd
do without him.
"I think any good defen
sive team that we play
is not all about stunting.
You're going to make a big
play every now and then,
but for us it's all about
reading and learning,
reading your keys and do
ing the things you're sup
posed to do, not just tak
ing off for the football.
"Those are the kind of
teams we like to play
against. The ones we
don't like to play against
are those that do a good
job reading and finding
things."
Tyler Brooks, a good
athlete from the baseball
team, is working out to
be the Hornet punter and
displaying some good
hang time. Jones said the
kicking game is a project
in the works. Joel Revis,
a sophomore, is in line to
handle the Hornet place
kicks. Jones said it's go
ing to be a matter of a lot
of practice for them to get
better.
Here is where things re
ally get different from
Westfield and GISA sea
sons overall of the past
several years. In football
only, there are now two
regions for Class AAA, a
north and a south region.
Four teams from each re
gion will compete in the
state tournament.
So gone for now are the
days of mainly four-team
down, it was only 28-27, but Perry had just
beaten the No. 7 team in the state and may
have sent early visions of Valdosta dancing
in Rick Tomberlin’s head. Part II of the rivalry
trilogy in Houston County went to Northside,
27-0, against the Houston Bears. Basically,
the Bears managed just 117 yards against an
Eagle defense that was just getting warmed
up.
Speaking of upsets, though, the Westfield
club had about enough of taking things on
the chin. First Presbyterian Day journeyed
down from Macon to Perry only to get stung
and stung some more 41-31.
SEPTEMBER 1,2006
regions and a guaranteed
spot for at least one post
season contest. For the
Hornets, a member of the
seven-team south region,
their main competition
comes from Deerfield-
Windsor, First Presbyte
rian, Southland and Strat
ford.
There are six schools in
the north, including de
fending state champion
Riverside, George Walton,
John Milledge and Tattnall
Square.
"There's going to be some
good teams, for the first
time in a long time, who
are not going to make the
playoffs," said Jones. "Es
pecially when you look at
our side. Once you get to
those region games, that's
six important games. It
hasn't been that way be
fore. It's usually two or
three.
"I guess it's better. Teams
that make the playoffs are
going to be the teams not
only good, but real lucky.
You may have a week
there (before) where you
could afford to sit some
body out, but this year
you may not be able to do
that."
Can Westfield be one of
the lucky four? The sched
ule for the south region
also includes Pinewood
Christian and Sherwood
Christian, and the Hornets
don't want to disregard
them though they don't
have the playoff history.
Jones can testify that the
dedication among the
Hornets is there. Back dur
ing the summer volunteer
weight program, he made
the weight room open for
33 possible days.
Knowing everyone likes
to take vacation time when
school is out, all he asked
for was for each player to
lift 20 out of those 33 days.
Well, the number may be
15 or may be 20 out of the
50-player roster, but Jones
said it that many Hornets,
an unofficial school re
cord, only missed six of
the 33 open days.
Week 7, Sept. 30
Again, Oct. 21, Oct. 21, we want Oct. 21.
Northside 41, Hardaway 0
For Warner Robins, Anderson scored four
touchdowns in a 48-21 win against Central-
Macon.
The real fun was at the Panther Pit. Hay
ward - maybe it was by design or maybe it
was some great improvisation - took off run
ning while a lot of the opposing players from
Spalding stood and watched. It was a 35-yard
touchdown for the quarterback and a 27-6
win for the still rolling Panthers.
See ‘OS, page 15