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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
YMCA
From page iB
volunteers and the commu
nity together under a com
mon cause.
HEALING
From page iB
putting on the GISA, 46-
14.
Young reinjured the same
ankle he sprained back on
Sept. 1 at John Milledge.
He had two touches against
Tattnall Square, returning
the opening kickoff about
40 yards and then suffering
the injury on the second
play from scrimmage.
Jones said on Monday it
is a high ankle sprain, and
the preliminary plan is to
hold Young out of the non
region contest this weekend
against Brentwood.
That would give Young
two weeks to heal as
Westfield has a bye date
on Sept. 29 before begin
ning South Region play the
following weekend against
Stratford.
As for Rowland, Jones
said it’s possible he’ll be
able to see action against
Brentwood. Rowland, who
came out in the second
quarter against Tattnall
Square and seen walking
on crutches after halftime,
had a strained ligament
of some kind, according to
Jones.
Westfield has been the
proverbial snake-bitten foot
ball team with only three
weeks gone in the regular
season. In addition to the
Young injury in the John
Milledge game, the club lost
senior Austin Madruga for
the whole campaign. Young
was able to play the follow
ing weekend against Mt. de
Sales, but sophomore Chase
Ellis, part of a two-player
rotation at quarterback,
came out of that game early
with a knee injury.
Even without Young in
the backfield, Westfield
staked a 7-0 lead on Tattnall
Square after a takeaway on
defense in Trojan territory.
But the home team didn’t
ACTION
From page iB
second half.
“You can’t ever bring
a loss back (the follow
ing week),” said Scott,
remembering how last year
Perry lost to Mary Persons
but came back to upset
Washington County. “At the
same time you can learn
from it and continue to get
better. We played a lot bet
ter against Dougherty.”
Jackson is also 1-1,
having opened its season
against the 5A classifica
tion.
The Red Devils beat
Union Grove 22-21, but
lost to East Coweta 31-19.
“I don’t know how good a
match-up it is,” said Scott.
“They are a whole different
type of team than we are.
They are more of a spread
it-out, throw-it-around
type team. We try to play
that physical game, run the
ball and things like that to
be successful.
“They have (athletes) all
over the field. They return
10 starters defensively, so
they are going to be real
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“The YMCA is a great
place for families to gath
er.
“As the YMCA grows
stronger, it will be an even
greater asset to the com
munity.”
"We're not going to lean on that. Wfe
can't. Wte just have to go on, and
whoever conies in has to step It up and
play well."
- Westfield headfootball coach Ronnie Jones
score again until after the
visitors ran off 40 in a row.
“I don’t think it did any
thing,” said Jones about the
possible impact of the inju
ries on the Hornets’ effort.
“You still have kids whom
you’ve worked with all
week to try to get out there
and do their job. Injuries
happen to everybody. When
you put somebody else in
those positions, you expect
them to do their jobs just
like the ones who were in
there first.
“We’re not going to lean
on that. We can’t. We just
have to go on, and whoever
comes in has to step it up
and play well.”
Jones and the Hornets
were only looking at a 12-
point halftime deficit (19-7),
which is closer than any of
Tattnall Square’s previous
opponents were at inter
mission. Westfield has the
takeaway, saw the Trojans
botch two PAT tries and
held them out the last time
they had possession.
However, the way
Westfield approached the
second half indicated to
Jones that the team felt it
was down by much, much
more.
“We got beat by a better
football team, but I thought
we quit a little bit in the
third quarter,” he said. “I
don’t think we played very
hard after halftime.”
Trojan quarterback Brett
Layson added to that by
running an option play 71
yards for a touchdown on
the first snap of the half.
So much for being down
good. Offensively they are
going to line up four wides
and throw it everywhere.
They have a quarterback
who is a three-year starter
who can put it on a dime.”
Jackson is also trying to
stock some Southeastern
Conference schools with its
talent. John Keye, a 6-6
receiver, has committed to
the University of Kentucky.
Neland Ball, also standing
at 6-6 and playing defen
sive end, has committed to
Georgia.
“No doubt about it,
they’re going to be real
good,” said Scott. “We are
going to try as much as we
can to mess them up as far
as our coverage, try to rush
as many people as we can
in certain situations.
“It’s kind of a guess
ing game. If you bring
everybody, you don’t have
enough in coverage. If you
have too many in coverage
(the quarterback) stands
there all day and throws
it. We will mix things up as
best we can.”
With Perry’s wishbone
rushing attack, Scott said
a major key in the game is
ball control on offense.
For more information on
how YMCA members and
program participants, Civic
or Church groups, or busi
nesses can provide volun
teer labor or supplies, con
tact Mercer at 922-2566.
by 12.
“That’s when leadership
has to step up,” said Jones.
“It’s not just that one play.
We just didn’t play well in
the second half at all. You
can say they were better
than we were, but a lot of it
was sloppiness and a lack of
intensity.”
The 1-2 Hornets will
look to get back even with
their only non-region game
against a Class AA school.
Under Perry native and
former Westfield assistant
Bert Brown, Brentwood is
coming off a 34-7 loss at
John Milledge. Considering
the success, though, Brown
has brought to Brentwood,
Jones does not consider
this a break in Westfield’s
schedule.
“Brentwood is always in
the top half of AA when
they get to the playoffs,”
said Jones. “(Brown) runs
our offense, so he probably
knows us better than any
body. They moved the ball
on John Milledge and fum
bled a couple of times inside
the 10 and had an intercep
tion. It sounded like our
John Milledge game at the
end.
“They have some young
people, but so do we right
now. We have to go to there
place, and it’s going to be
tough. We have to play a
complete ball game, and I
told them we have some
kids who have to play hard
er than they are right now.
Don’t ever give up. That’s
how I want our kids to feel.
I want our kids to play a
little harder.”
“The best place to play
defense is on the sidelines,”
he said. “If our offense can
go out there and manage
the clock, we are going to
be a lot better.”
As high school football
followers whose teams
are in a sub-divided situa
tion knows, the end of the
regular season is actually
the start of the playoffs.
Region 4-AAA will have
such a scenario the top
four teams from each sub
region will play each other
(1 vs. 4, 2 vs. 3) with the
winners advancing to the
state tournament.
It’s not out of the ques
tion that, regardless of
Friday’s outcome, there
will be a rematch on Nov.
10.
“I hope we only have to
play Jackson once,” said
Scott. “You definitely don’t
want to play a team like
that twice. We probably get
to see the best team from
that side of the region, and
it will get us ready for our
side.”
After Jackson, Perry faces
another school from the
north sub-region, Henry
County High.
SPORTS
Weaksml ACC good for Georgia Tech?
By Adam Van Brimmer
Morris News Service
ATLANTA - Atlantic Coast
Conference pundits talk fer
vently about the talent in a
league they consider peren
nially underrated.
April’s NFL draft validated
their claims. Twelve of the 32
first-round picks played for
ACC teams - the most from
one league in NFL history.
The top overall pick, defen
sive end Mario Williams,
starred at North Carolina
State.
Those departures created
a vacuum, however. Three
weeks into this season, the
sucking sound is drowning
out all the pundits talk.
North Carolina State lost
to Akron and Southern
Mississippi. Virginia got
hammered by Pittsburgh,
struggled against Wyoming
and lost to Western
Michigan. North Carolina
lost to Rutgers at home.
Boston College squeaked
past Central Michigan and
needed overtime to defeat
Brigham Young.
Maryland gave up 28 points
in the first quarter of a hum
bling loss to West Virginia.
Florida State rallied late
to beat Troy and is averag
ing just 49 rushing yards per
game. Those struggles lead
to the inevitable questions.
Slow start? Or down year?
And how good is the league’s
Dunn deserves recognition for
his play as well as charity work
If Warrick Dunn could
write his own newspaper
headline, it might read:
“Dunn dominates on field,
too.”
After all, he is the league’s
f
Adam Van
Brimmer
Moms News Service
payments on new homes
for single mothers through
his Homes for the Holidays
program. And last year he
helped raised $8 million for
Hurricane Katrina survi
vors.
Those good works will occu
py the headlines this week
as Dunn’s Atlanta Falcons
get ready for Monday night’s
game in New Orleans.
As tired as Dunn professes
to be about reading about
his benevolence, that’s how
it should be.
Charity trumps rushing
yards every time.
Warrick Dunn the human
itarian has made a bigger
impact on people’s lives than
“W.D.” the football player
ever could.
Nearly 60 single mothers
live in new homes thanks
to him. His Homes for the
Holiday program is a trib
ute to his mother, Betty
Smothers, who raised
Warrick and his five sib
lings all by herself in Baton
Rouge.
She always dreamt of own
ing her own home. Tragically,
the Baton Rouge police offi
cer was killed in the line of
duty before she could move
into one.
But just as he’s helped
others surmount obstacles,
{02006 by King Fe*ure* Syndicate Inc Worid nghu rtwvtd
Building lives, families, andcommume^^m
weakness for Georgia Tech?
“We definitely believe with
the talent we have on our
team we have a chance,”
Yellow Jacket fullback Mike
Cox said. “With no one domi
nant team in the conference,
we feel like this is our year.”
The Yellow Jackets have
been one of the few impres
sive ACC teams in the
season’s early weeks. The
Jackets open conference play
against Virginia Thursday
with a 2-1 record, their lone
loss coming to No. 12 Notre
Dame.
The difference between
Georgia Tech and most of its
ACC brethren is experience.
The Yellow Jackets have vet
erans at every offensive posi
tion as well as on the defen
sive line and at linebacker.
Their peers, meanwhile,
are breaking in new players
at key positions. Virginia and
North Carolina have new
quarterbacks. Maryland has
a veteran trigger man in Sam
Hollenbach but nothing but
youngsters to throw the ball
to.
The NFL draft gutted the
defenses at Virginia, NC
State and Florida State. The
Wolfpack and Seminoles com
bined to send six first-round
ers to the NFL.
The losses have led to loss
es, or at least struggles, and
have frustrated some coaches
to the point of excuse mak
ing.
headlines should also high
light how he, too, has per
severed.
Dunn is often frustrated
that his mama’s boy reputa
tion -- underscored by his 5-
foot-9, 190-pound frame and
good-natured personality
extends to the football field.
When Tampa Bay drafted
him out of Florida State, the
Bucs paired him with Mike
Alstott, a 250-pound bruiser.
When the Falcons signed
him as a free agent in 2002,
coach Dan Reeves drafted
T.J. Duckett, another quar
ter-pound battering ram, a
few weeks later.
Yet two weeks into this
season, the 31-year-old leads
the NFL in rushing yards. He
is tied for third in attempts.
“W.D” is one of the NFL top
backs, if not THE top back.
But mention his name in
casual conversation, and you
are more likely to hear how
nice a guy he is than how
his production rivals that
of the Chargers’ LaDainian
Tomlinson and the Seahawks’
Shaun Alexander.
Dunn gets bogged down
disproving skeptics. He has
heard every criticism in his
10-year career: He’s not
durable enough to be a sea-
leading
rusher.
Y e t
Dunn
also hap
pens to be
football’s
leading
humani
tarian. For
10 years
he’s made
down
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NC State coach Chuck
Amato alluded to the Mid-
American Conference allow
ing its schools to recruit
non-qualifiers following the
Wolfpack’s loss to Akron, a
MAC team. Non-qualifiers
are student-athletes who
don’t meet the NCAA’s ini
tial eligibility requirements.
They can attend college as
freshman but cannot practice
or compete in football nor
can they receive an athletic
scholarship. The ACC pro
hibits its schools from taking
these players.
“Do you know what kind
of players non-qualifiers are?
They are inversely propor
tional to what their grade
point-average is,” Amato
said.
Given a chance to clarify
his statements a day later,
Amato refused.
“I don’t think anything’s
easy,” he said. “It’s all
hard.”
Georgia Tech coach Chan
Gailey insists his team real
ize that. But he said there’s
nothing wrong with his play
ers seeing opportunity in the
rest of the league’s strug
gles.
It’s bad “only if you let it
affect your play,” Gailey said.
“There is nothing wrong with
being confident and excited,
as long as you don’t get lack
adaisical in your preparation
or believe this isn’t a hard
week.”
ture back; he’s too small to
pick up that tough yard on
third or fourth down or on
the goal line; he’s too shifty
to wear down defenses over
the course of a game.
All fallacies, said Falcons
offensive coordinator Gregg
Knapp.
Knapp is the first man to
believe Dunn could be an
every-down back. He calls
Dunn “by far the best ver
tically challenged running
back with an ability to run
between the tackles.”
Knapp said Dunn’s con
version rate on third and
fourth down with less than
two yards to go is 100 per
cent over the last two sea
sons.
It is no coincidence that
Dunn has posted his best
career rushing numbers
in his two seasons under
Knapp.
“His knowledge of the run
game and how he fits in the
hole is a knack a lot of guys
will never acquire,” Knapp
said. “It’s just a natural feel
he has.”
So go ahead, praise Warrick
Dunn the humanitarian this
week. Just don’t forget to
cheer for W.D. the football
player Monday night.
3B