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PAGE 14
DEMONS
From page 9
Dewayne Jackson is a se
nior and Brandon Jordan is
a junior, all have done good
things and have been com
petitive. None has a solid
lock on who's going to be
the guy. It may be that we
play all three of them.
"Our tailbacks have a
tendency to carry the ball
a lot. That may be a good
thing if we can keep a fresh
body in there."
The Demon backfield isn't
all about the tailback. Se
nior Ryan Powell returns at
fullback with fellow senior
Jeremy Grant in line as the
backup. Way said Grant
may have the best "natu
ral" speed and quickness
on the team but does lack
in game experience.
"Antwan Hamilton is
back as our wingback, and
he is probably our most
dependable receiver," said
Way about the other end
of the passing game. "He
runs great routes, has ex
cellent hands. At split end,
we have three guys we feel
good about who will all
play: C.J. Jackson, Michael
Proulx and Laureal Rich
ardson.
"They're all good-sized
kids with good speed and
hands.
"Our backs catch the ball
well. Jacob Vargas and
Justyn King play at tight
end and do a good job
EAGLES
From page 13
as exciting and ex
plosive. There were
times, as with the
playoff win against
Rome High, when
Northside was all
about its defense with
a 10-2 final score.
There are just as
many familiar names
back for 2006 as those
who moved on to
play college football.
The defensive front,
just like its offensive
counterparts, has the
most holes to fill with
Sam Robinson, Omar
Smith, Sante Jones
and Eric Manns all
gone. But Northside
can boast among the
top players in the state
at linebacker and in
catching the football."
Everything on offense will
come down to the 'hogs'
up front, and a rushing
attack needs a line group
that will create space down
after down. Warner Robins
has two returning starters
up front with a lot of new
blood mixed in.
"They've shown a lot of
improvement, but they
still have a lot of improv
ing to do," said Way. "We
have Robert Luciano who
anchors the bunch. He's a
three-year starter at center.
They look to him for lead
ership and stability."
Lee Hoph, a senior, is the
other returning starter.
Brian Buford is also a se
nior with some experience
filling in at guard.
Looking at the defensive
side of the football, names
like Antonio Felder on the
line and Dominique Dav
enport and Maurice Gray
in the secondary stand out
from last season, then you
remember that they are
now in the college ranks.
Then some other names
come to mind when think
ing about big-play per
formers, and these players
will be in the red and white
uniforms one more yean
"Coming in, just looking
across the board, you could
say we have some experi
ence at all three levels,"
said Way. "Our leading
tackier from the last two
years is back. Brian Buford
the secondary.
"We lost some good
guys, guys who were
really strong, not only
physically but mental
ly as far as being de
termined to win and
do good," said Nix.
"We have some good
players back, and the
coaches have done a
really good job bring
ing them along. We're
not going to be quite
as big and strong and
physical as we have
been, but we have
guys who run to the
ball pretty well.
"It's going to be dif
ferent as far as the
dominant guys we
had. Robinson, Smith,
Mann, those type
guys."
Again, just like with
the offensive front,
has averaged over 100 tack
les the last two years. He
makes all the other players
out there better.
"Roderick Rose is back
for his third year starting,
so we expect good things
out of him. Justin Cowart
started for us at defensive
end and Jordan Sanders
split time at defensive end.
We don't have much expe
rience at defensive tackle,
but we have four bodies
we feel will do a good
job: Brian Lawson, Ivory
Pettis, Decardo Pettis and
Thomas Bruce."
Helping Rose and Buford
at linebacker are Luke
Waller and Josh Laurit
sen, two seniors promoted
from the special teams
unit. Other names to look
out for there are Andrew
Jones and Josh Palmer.
"In the secondary, Laron
Scott was a starter last year
and probably our best ath
lete," said Way. "Xavier
Jackson played a lot of
good football for us and
he's back at free safety.
"Tim Green is a senior
who's battled injuries
his whole time here. We
planned on him being an
outstanding player, even as
a sophomore. He's missed
a large majority of the last
two seasons with injuries.
He's healthy now and has
had a good camp."
Other safety candidates
for the strong side are Ryan
Reid (Willie's brother),
putting together a
new defensive front
takes time to get all
the techniques down.
With coach Kevin
Smith leading this
group, Nix said they
are progressing well,
but it will take game
experience to see how
far they have come.
"Whether they can
play and take blocks
on from bigger, stron
ger guys, that's going
to be a big question
mark," he said.
While the defense
is also missing Brian
Holder and Antoine
Rice, the foundation
at linebacker is solid
with Deonta Jordan
while Mitchell Bell
and Mario Armstrong
give Northside two
quality safety men.
Ronald Moss and Darius
Lane.
"We're a 4-3 defense
mainly," said Way. "We
don't do a lot of stunting
or slanting. We play basic
football, try to keep them
from running and make
them one-dimensional, be
that running or throwing.
We're not real fancy, but
we try to be aggressive and
physical."
Gray and Davenport cer
tainly gave Warner Robins
the threat of the intercep
tion if the front line shut
down the running game.
Way still feels he has strong
athletes in the secondary,
and he gives a lot of credit
to coach Richard Hodges
for teaching them how to
make those takeaways.
Davenport was the De
mon punter last season for
the first time. David Clark,
the only freshman on the
2005 roster, emerged as a
solid placekicker with just
two field-goal misses all
year. Way said his kickoffs
in practice are going to the
end zone, and Clark is also
in the mix for punter.
As of the second week in
August, no one - not even
the University of Georgia
- has called Way with an
offer to switch schedules.
Following Parkview in
the Georgia Dome, is the
game of all games in Geor
gia as Warner Robins faces
Northside. This time it's a
non-region game as the
"Those are guys who
will definitely have
to make plays," said
Nix. "Deonta's go
ing to make plays, no
doubt about that. He
is as good a linebacker
as there is in the state.
I just hope he doesn't
get frustrated ... he's
used to’playing with
those guys up front.
Not having quite that
dominant guys up
there, we talked about
not getting discour
aged when things are
tough and he's not
getting help around
him.
"I think he'll be fine
at some point in time.
The bad thing is we
have to start out the
shoot with Houston
County and Warner
Robins."
Jordan is finding
himself in another
role for the Eagles as a
fullback on offense.
In the Eagle defense,
Nix has another long
time assistant in Kev
in Kinsler handling
the schemes, sets and
personnel alignments.
Nix said he likes the
base five-man front,
but that most offens
es don't allow you to
stay like that.
"We're more of a 4-3
off the five-man front
with a four-deep sec
ondary," said Nix.
"Guys really have to
focus and do their job.
It's like a puzzle. Ev
erybody has to mesh
together. You can't
leave running lanes.
We have to squeeze
to the ball, and hope-
SEPTEMBER 1,2006
Eagles are still in AAAA.
The non-region slate also
includes Central Gwinnett
and Beach High of Savan
nah.
Sneak a peek at the end
of the schedule as there
are the two-time defend
ing 5-A champions from
Lowndes. To make that
game a possible region
title game, the Demons
only have to go through
Houston County, Colquitt
County and Valdosta.
Way admitted that Hous
ton coach Doug Johnson
would know more about
the 1-AAAAA power
houses than him in any
advanced scouting re
port. Any coach in Geor
gia, though, knows about
the legacy of all of these
schools.
"(Lowndes) is doing
something right down
there," said Way. "Coach
McPherson does a great
job. At Valdosta you have
(Rick) Tomberlin coming
in, and his record speaks
for itself. Valdosta is still
Valdosta. Colquitt, Coffee,
Tift and Houston ... you
better be ready to play ev
ery week.
"Who's going to be the
best team out of the crowd?
Who knows? I hope we
are. Five out of the seven
teams in the region have
won state championships,
and three of the five have
won multiple champion
ships."
fully we'll be strong
enough to do that."
As Nix mentioned,
Northside starts play
with two county ri
vals.
The Warner Rob
ins game is early this
time around because
the Demons are in the
5-A classification for
the next two years.
Region 4-AAAA for
the Eagles is still sub
divided, and the only
holdover from last
year is Westside-Ma
con.
One interesting new
comer is Baldwin,
Northside's opponent
last year in the Geor
gia Dome's semifinal
round. Dutchtown,
Jones County, Stock
bridge and Upson-
Lee round it