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Mcrusimt pally journal WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2006 The Home Journal’s SANDLOT —m ON DECK High school Softball Today ■ Westfield at Mount de Sales, 7 p.m. ■ Warner Robins at Rutland, 5:15 p.m. Thursday ■ George Walton at Westfield, 4:30 p.m. ■ Houston County at Lee County, 6 p.m. ■ Peach County at Perry, 6:30 p.m. ■ Jones County at Northside, 5:30 p.m. Friday ■ Northside at Brookwood Invitational (through Saturday), times and teams to be deter mined Saturday ■ Northside at Brookwood Invitational (through Saturday), times and teams to be deter mined High school Cross country Saturday ■ Northside and Warner Robins at Mercer Invitational, time to be determined High school Volleyball Thursday ■ Perry at Houston County, 5 p.m. Saturday ■ Martin Luther King at Houston County, 11 a.m. High school Football Thursday ■ Dutchtown at Northside, 7:30 p.m. Friday ■ Perry at Henry County, 7:30 p.m. ■ Houston County at Warner Robins, 7:30 p.m. IN BRIEF Demons-Bears tickets to go on sale Remaining reserved seat tickets - those that weren’t sold Tuesday - for the Bears- Demons game Friday are on sale in the office of the school. General admission tickets are $7 in advance, and can be pur chased at each school. All tickets at the gate will be SB. Booster clubs to hold 4 quarters for career Also, at Demons-Bears game Friday, the booster clubs from each school will be heading a fund-raising effort sponsored by the Rally Foundation called 4 quarters 4 cancer. All money collected will go directly to funding research to cure and prevent childhood can cer. Perry’s boys track team to sell Fair tickets The Perry High School boys track team will be holding a fund-raiser. The group will be selling a three-day student pass (ages 11-18) for the Georgia Nationa Fair. The tickets are for gate admission and cost $lO (a savings of $8). The pass is good for Oct. IQ -12. Tickets can be purchased at the Perry High School front office. The last day to buy will be Friday. Money raised will help buy uniforms and equipment for the team. Contact Cassandra Dixon at 988-6299 for more. Houston County YMCA to hold spruce-up day The Houston County YMCA has set a spruce-up day for Saturday. During that time will get together to update the interior of the building. The time will be from 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. and the organization is looking for 50 volunteers to help out. A continental breakfast will also be provided. The facility is located on the corner of Moody Road and State Road 96. Call 922-2566 for more infor mation. Eagles' defense succeeds despite inexperience By MATTHEW BROWN Journal Sports Writer The sight of a zero still on one side of the score board when the game is over is a delight for any defen sive football coach. The Northside Eagles have had their share of shutouts over the years. The first one of 4^^ Dutchtown at Northside, Thursday, 7:30 p.m. the 2006 season occurred in week No. 4 in a sub-region game at Jones County (45-0). It came at a pretty good time as Northside, just the week before, survived a tough bat tle at North Clayton, 28-21. The standards are cer tainly there when it comes to playing defense for the Eagles. But the challenge of replacing nine starters from a team that went 14-1 in 2005 can take some time. “The biggest challenge is the inexperience,” said \ Bh jraiPv'i « JLM jm ’ UK/ j \ W&k W kAi ||B | ENI/Gary Harmon ENI/Gary Harmon Perry head football coach Andy Scott talks to the players during a break this past Friday. The Panthers will travel and play Henry County Friday. Perry preps for Henry County trip By MATTHEW BROWN Journal Sports Writer As much as celebrations of victory in high school football can last only as long as the weekend, so to must the agony of defeats. Perry High came within one snap from a possible upset of Jackson High at home last Friday. This weekend, it’s another crossover to the north sub-region of 4-AAA for head coach Andy Scott and & Perry at Henry County, Friday, 7:30 p.m. the Panthers. On Friday Perry, at 1-2, goes to McDonough to face a former Class AAAA member, the Henry County High Warhawks. Henry County sports a 2-1 record after victories against Class AAAA Dutchtown (25-6) and 4-AAA south sub-region member Central-Macon (39-6). The loss came against Jones County by a score of 29-21. “They are blessed with a good wide receiver,” said Scott. He is refer ring to Chris Jackson, a junior who already reportedly has three written offers (Georgia Tech, Tennessee and Florida) from three Division I schools. The Panthers just got finished facing Jackson’s John Keye (though only for one half due to his ejection), who is committed to Kentucky. “Their quarterback’s a sophomore, 6-5, 230, and he throws it real well, so that’s a major concern for us right now. We’re struggling to cover the Sports "Right now, our biggest problem Is we're just not being consistent, we'll do little things right, do what we're being coached to do, then we'll turn around and take a couple ot steps backwards." - Northside defensive coordinator Kevin Kinsler defensive coordinator Kevin Kinsler, a 17-year coach ing veteran of head coach Conrad Nix’s staff. “And getting them enough reps in different situations they will see to get them up to game speed. There is no See DEFENSE, page iB "We'ne continuing to get better each week. We have a young offensive line, but they are starting to play well." - Perry head football coach Andy Scott pass. They will probably try to mir ror a Jackson. I know if I was any opponent playing us now, I would take Jackson’s game plan and run it until we figure out a way to stop it.” From Henry County’s perspec tive, it’s just as much a challenge for the Hawks to figure out how to stop Perry’s wishbone running game that accounted for four touchdowns against Jackson. “They base out of a 4-4 alignment, an eight-man front,” said Scott about the Henry defense. “They will get into some 50 front, but other than that they really like to bring pressure, an aggressive defense. “We’re continuing to get better each week. We have a young offensive line, but they are starting to play well. The running backs are playing well. We had 292 yards rushing (against Jackson), which is great at any level.” Perry is 1-2 so far against opponents capable of playing for a state champi onship. The Panthers need this win not only because it is the next game, but because also it would send them into the south sub-region schedule of 4-AAA on a positive note. Jackson defeated Perry 28-27 mainly due to two failed conversion attempts after Panther touchdowns. mm IB I ■~'r' ENI/Gary Harmon Northside defenders bring down a Warner Robins runner Sept. 8. Northside will host Dutchtown Thursday. The most memorable for Perry fans would be the lost two-point attempt after Kenny Davis scored his second touchdown with 45 seconds remain ing. The Panthers were running the ball at will on the Red Devils, but saw a three-yard play turn into an eight yard play after illegal procedure on the offensive line. It was the only such call made against the young line all night. The head coach, though, said this group got stronger as the game moved on, and with four sophomores and one junior, it’s a unit that will get stronger year by yean “You never want to say one situa tion cost you a game,” said Scott. “It was a series of things we could have done better. That’s just part of it. You have to overcome adversity and make plays when you have to.” Junior quarterback Casey Hayward did his part to make plays with touchdown runs of 70 and 44 yards. Scott said offensive coordinator Chad Alligood has designed good plays for Hayward, and Hayward is developing into a strong leader on the field. On the other side of the ball, Perry did give up big plays in the pass ing game. Jackson used as many as See PERRY, page 2B SECTION B Lady Hornets clinch at least a tie for first By MATTHEW BROWN Journal Sports Writer It took until the final week of the regular season, but Westfield finally found a dry day to get Region 3-AAA soft ball action in against Sherwood Christian. O n A HORNETS Westfield 4, Sherwood 0 Monday, the Hornets clinched a tie for first place in the final region standings with a 4-0 win in Albany. If Westfield fol lowed that up with a win against Sherwood in Perry on Tuesday, the league championship stays with the Hornets. The game on Monday saw several opportunities for both teams to register big numbers on the board. Kelsey Gilliam pitched the shutout for Westfield with two hits allowed and 13 strikeouts, but there were five walks. Sherwood left six • runners on base. The Hornet offense had nine hits, but coach Rodney Culverhouse said they See CLINCH, page 2B Why did NCAA need to beat around the Bush? There’s no statute of limitations with the NCAA. Don’t you find it interest- ing that the No Cash Allowed Anytime waited until Reggie Bush left the University ofSouthern California for the pros Joe Sersey Journal Correspondent before they began an inves tigation into allegations that Bush took money from an agent? I can’t believe the accusa tions didn’t surface while he was attending USC. But if they had, think of the quandary the NCAA would See BUSH, page 2B