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2B 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 •- ♦*%'■ A,' *'s?/■? F , Ipfs **:*?<sM«»^a 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 From page iB 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 save OVER 50% Off THE COVER PRICE f Just Fill Out & Return The Form Below Or Call Our Office At 478-987-/823 * Name: ___ Phone: Address: City: State: Zip: Email: j - $10.20 - $30.52 - $06.34 (Above prices include tax) Credit: EH Master Card EH VISA EH Discover - Card #: ■OEgfe JBW/ f,\ if I 1 \ \ \ Imw r Wf ■ 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.” TRY m 4 AUTOPAY! And Bill Your Credit Card g Quarterly For Your Subscription All The Ha^elW HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL 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: ?7(M?