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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2006
Jackson live
The Chargers, Falcons, Bengals and Bandits were a few of the
Warner Robins Recreation Department teams in action Wednesday
at Tanner Field. (Note: See Saturday’s HDJ for more).
Photon by Gary Harmon
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ENI/Gary Harmon
Eric Jackson of the Bandits is stopped after a short gain.
DEMONS
From page iB
to play.”
This won’t be the first
time Houston and Warner
Robins have been in the
same region. Way said, even
when both schools were in
the same league, their game
always took place on opening
weekend. Now, the contest’s
been positioned as the first
of six in 1-AAAAA, so one
school will leave the stadi
um 0-1 in the all-important
league standings.
“You don’t want to go 0-1
to start off with and have an
uphill battle,” said Way.
Both teams can share the
distinction of knocking off
a major Atlanta-area power
in the 5A classification this
season.
Warner Robins moved up
to the state’s top division
this year and opened things
up by dominating Parkview
in the Georgia Dome.
Houston County had its
chance at the Panthers,
but had to go to their home
turf in Lilburn last week
end. Turns out the location
BEARS
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with the other backs who
took a pounding will be suit
ing up on Friday.
Quarterback Martez King
missed his second start in a
row due to a sprained ankle,
but could be ready to lead
the Bears offense against
the Demons. It could be a
case, though, that he shares
time with Jeff Thompson,
the quarterback in the
wins against Parkview and
Berkmar. Thompson only
made four throws in Lilburn
with two completions, one
for a touchdown and one on
3rd-and-14 that kept a Bear
series alive.
“(King) is practicing this
week, and if we get a chance
we may end up getting him
in,” said Johnson. “I’m not
sure if that will work out
or not.
“Jeff has already prov
en to me that he does a
good job. We’re a different
type of offense with Jeff in.
Hopefully we can get Martez
up and running again. That
will give us two guys at quar
terback who will be really
good the rest of the year.”
The kudos for the
Parkview win, Johnson said,
goes to the offensive line.
He said Houston got stron
ger, Parkview grew tired,
and the running backs like
O’Neal and DJ Dodson ran
harder than' anyone he’s
seen in Bears uniforms. He
said they broke tackles and
absorbed tackles enough to
pick up more yards.
Sounds almost like the
Warner Robins game against
the Panthers.
“At Parkview, I thought
they looked as good as
I’ve ever seen them,” said
Johnson. “They didn’t turn
the ball over and had few
penalties. They executed on
offense extremely well and
played hard, tough defense.
When they get it all going,
they are a good football
team.”
Even though the Demons,
didn’t matter as the Bears
stormed from behind to win
its third non-region 5A game
in a row.
“I knew when I saw them
scrimmage that they had
a good football team,” said
Way. “They have an awful
lot of talent. They’re big like
they always are and faster
than they usually are, which
is a good combination for
them but not a good combi
nation for us.
“I’m very impressed with
how they played against
Parkview. They got down
early 10-0, and it would be
easy to pack it in after that.
But they came back and
dominated the second half
of the ball game.
“Coach (Doug) Johnson
and his staff know what’s
going on. They appear to
have the right people in the
right spots, and like they
always do they get better
throughout the year. We will
have to play well to win the
ball game.”
Johnson and his staff are
pondering what to do with
the quarterback position.
Junior Martez King entered
the season as a second
unlike seasons past, haven’t
found that one tailback
to carry the rushing load
play after play, Johnson is
impressed with their depth
in the backfield and says
there is no drop-off in pro
duction when they make a
change.
“I think the years you have
your great teams, especially
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Colby Price of the Bengals is stopped after a run up the middle.
year starter, but suffered
a sprained ankle against
Windsor Forest. Sophomore
Jeff Thompson did his job
as a backup perhaps beyond
his team’s expectations in
the next two games, victo
ries against Berkmar and
Parkview.
King is back in practice
for the first time since his
injury, but his playing status
against Warner Robins was
yet to be determined as of
mid-week.
That may have created
more of a dilemma in the
Warner Robins side of town,
leaving the opposition won
dering which quarterback to
prepare for.
“We’re preparing for
both,” said Way. “I have a
pretty good feeling that King
is going to be ready to play. I
think he could have played
last week if they needed
him. So we’re preparing for
both of them.
“With King, he’s a bit more
of a running threat, and
Thompson may be a little bit
better of a drop-back type
passer and throw the ball
better. But King throws it
well enough, that’s for sure.
in a wing-T, all three backs
would be contributing,” said
Johnson. “You wouldn’t be
one-back dominated. There’s
no doubt the running back
in the wing is going to get it
more because of the setup of
the offense. I think there is a
lot of talent in that backfield
just waiting to get loose.”
Warner Robins did have a
Houston Pai-lg llouirwal
P.O. Box 1910 • 1210 Washington Street • Perry, GA 31069
478-987-1823
SPORTS
It may be one of those deals
where they end up playing
both of them. We have to be
ready for anything.”
So far Thompson has not
been asked to win games
with his arm. At a setting
like Parkview, he made his
only two completions count
with a third-down conver
sion and a touchdown. King
had two touchdown throws
against Northside and just
two attempts in his one-half
against Windsor Forest.
For both teams, howev
er, it will all come down to
the running game. Houston
County has had production
galore from seniors Eric
O’Neal and DJ Dodson so
far. The Demons had 450
yards on the ground with
six touchdowns in the Beach
game.
“If we can make them
throw, then we’re doing
what we need to do,” said
Way. “I’m not sure we can
do that, but if they have to
throw the ball we’ll be satis
fied.
“We have to be very bal
anced on offense. Their front
eight (on defense) is as good
as anyone we’ll play. They’re
bit of an injury problem dur
ing the two-game skid with
quarterback Mark Wright
Jr. He has recovered with
a strong showing against
Beach last Friday after some
struggles in the Central
Gwinnett game.
Johnson also knows the
Demon defense isn’t to
blame for the .500 record.
ENI/Gary Harmon
big, rangy and fast. They do
a good job of running to the
ball. We have to keep them
off-balanced, confuse them
some and do a good job of
overall execution.”
Way has been looking for
consistent execution and
intensity all season. When
the Demons lost the two in
a row, the offense didn’t reg
ister any points even though
they played high-qual
ity teams in Northside and
Central Gwinnett. While the
Beach game ended all of the
negative streaks, it didn’t
carry with it the kind of
atmosphere that Houston
County is sure to bring.
Way said he has already
been in touch with other
coaches in 1-AAAAA, and
the sense he’s getting is that
all seven teams are about
the same.
“It’s who plays good in any
particular game who looks
like he has a good chance to
win,” he said. “Somebody’s
going to have to catch fire
and play very well to run the
table. You have to play well
every week, and if you have
a chance to beat somebody,
you better beat them.”
“They didn’t move the ball
against Northside, which
put their defense against
the wall,” he said. “They
gave up a couple of touch
downs against Beach, but
Beach will throw it around
and catch it every now and
then. Defensively, though,
they are as solid as they’ve
ever been.”
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WINS
From page iB
earned the victory through
spot serving and forcing
the Lady Granger’s into
making mistakes.
“There were three or
four hot hands served well
and had a lot of aces,” he
said.
As far as the match with
Perry, he said once again
“solid defense put them in
contention and then down
the stretch our front row
had some very key blocks
and kills.”
Presently, Jones
said Houston County -
although they still can’t
seem to break through in
the rankings - have the
most wins in the state
in the AAAAA classifica
tion. The wins Tuesday
improved their season
record to 29-7. They are
7-1 in Area 2-AAAAA.
Next up, they travel
to Ola to play Ola and
Jackson on. That is set for
Tuesday.
They have their final
home match Thursday
with Morrow, which Jones
said “snuck” by them a
few weeks back in a non-
Area match. This time it
will be to deterriiine the
second and third Seed for
the Area Toumanient.
“The Lady Bears would
like to have a big crowd
to cheer them ohto vic
tory,” said Jones. Warner
Robins will play Morrow
first followed by Houston
County.
Statistics:
HCHS vs. LaGrange
Sam Moncada - 3 assists, 1
Ace, 2 Digs
Devon Preston - 1 Kill, 5 Aces
Brittany Pierce - 1 assist, 3
Aces, 3 Digs, 1 Kill
Leah Justin - 2 kills, 1 assist,
2 blocks
Morgan Hollars - 1 block, 7
assists, 4 Aces, 2 Digfe
Catherine Goodman - 2 kills, 1
block, 1 Ace
Adrienne Pate - 1 Kill, 4
blocks
Jennifer Doebereiner - 1 kill,
3 Aces
HCHS vs. Pern!
Sam Moncada - 5 assists, 5
Digs
Devon Preston - 2 assists, 1
Ace
Brittany Pierce - 1 Assist, 2
Digs, 1 block
Leah Justin - 1 kill, 1 Ace
Morgan Hollars -10 Assists, 2
Aces, 3 Digs, 1 Kill
Catherine Goodman - 3 kills, 1
block, 2 Aces
Adrienne Pate - 4 kills
Paula Ivey - 1 Ace, 2 Digs, 2
assists
Jennifer Doebereiner - 2 Aces,
4 kills, 1 assist
Shannon Scott -2 Digs, 1
assist
Exp:
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