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THURSDAY,
NOVEMBER 9, 2006
The Home Journal's
SANDLOT
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ON DECK
Youth
Volleyball
Today
■ Warner Robins Recreation
Department volleyball champi
onship, teams and times to be
determined
High school
Football
Friday
■ Region 4-AAAA play-in game:
Mount Zion at Northside, 7:30
p.m.
■ Region 4-AAA play-in game:
Spalding at Perry. 7:30 p.m.
■ Westfield at Sherwood, 8
p.m.
■ Warner Robins at Lowndes,
7:30 p.m.
Saturday
■ Coffee County at Houston
County, 7:30 p.m.
High school
Cross country
Saturday
■ Houston County, Warner
Robins, Northside and Perry at
state meet in Carrollton, 9 a.m.
IN BRIEF
South Coast League to
hold tryout camp
The South Coast League of
Professional Baseball today
announced that its inaugural
tryout camp will be Saturday
in Bradenton, Fla. The camp
will be held at Robert C. Wynn
Field on the campus of Manatee
Community College, home
of the South Coast League's
Bradenton Juice. All participants
are required to pre-register for
the tryout. To pre-register, go
to http://www.southcoastleague.
com/tryouts.
The cost to tryout is S4O,
which can be paid by credit card,
check, or money order. South
Coast League uniform player
contracts - including the Macon
Music, which is part of the league
- will be offered on the day of the
camp to qualified participants.
In order to participate in the
camp, players must have prior
professional baseball playing
experience or have played at
least two years of college base
ball within the last three years.
Bradenton recently joined
Charlotte County, Fla., Albany.
Macon and Aiken, S.C. as the
fifth member of the SCL.
Directions from 1-75: Take Exit
217 (old No. 41). This is a west
bound exit onto State Road 70.
Take SR-70 to 34th Street West
(about eight miles). Turn left at
the traffic signal at 34th Street
West. Go south through the traf
fic signal at 57th Avenue West
and the field is on your left.
Waterford to hold Junior
Golf Clinic
Waterford Golf Course will
hold a Junior Golf Clinic Nov.
20-21. Times are: 10-11:15 for
ages 5-10; 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. for
those ages 11 and up.
The cost is SSO which includes
lunch for both day, prizes and
more. Visit the course to sign
up.
Prep Sports + to air
cheerleader competition
Prep Sports + announced it will
air the GHSA State Cheerleading
Championship Nov. 16 at 7:30
p.m., Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. and Nov.
19 at 12:30 p.m. on Georgia
Public Broadcasting.
The championships take
place Friday-Saturday atthe
Columbus Civic Center.
AAA state championship
to be televised
The GHSA announced
recently the AAA State Football
Championship will be televised
live Dec. 16 on Comcast Sports
Southeast. CSS is available in
5.5 million homes across the
Southeast. The game is sched
uled for 3 p.m. The class AAAAA
and AAAA finals will continue to
be televised live on GPB, along
with all 10 semifinal games from
the Georgia Dome Dec. 8-9.
Postseason bid hangs in the balance for Bears
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
Only one football team in
Region 1-AAAAA can rest
easy knowing that, despite
what hap
pens this
weekend,
it will be in
the GHSA
state play
offs. That
would be
first-place
Tift County
High, the
A
Coffee County at
Houston County,
Saturday,
7:30 p.m.
only team in the league with
one region loss.
For everyone else except
Valdosta and Colquitt
County, it’s the proverbial
pins and needles time.
Houston County High
School and Coffee Cour.ty
Eagles see formidable foe in Mt. Zion
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
Playoff football can some
times bring up the kind of
unique and unusual match-
ups never
before seen,
even for a
traditional
power.
That’s not
the case,
though,
for the
Northside
Mount Zion at
Northside. Friday.
7:30 p.m.
High Eagles, which is in
an early playoff game this
Friday at McConnell-Talbert
Stadium. It’s the Region 4-
AAAA play-in round, where
teams from each sub-region
cross over to battle it out for
a coveted spot in the GHSA
state bracket.
The fourth-place team
from the A sub-region is
Mt. Zion-Jonesboro, and
the reward for the Bulldogs
is to play not only the top
team of the B sub-region,
but the No. 1 ranked club in
all of AAAA. But according
to Conrad Nix, head coach
of the unbeaten Eagles, this
isn’t the first clash between
Northside and Mt. Zion.
“We’ve had some close
games,” he said. “We had to
kick a field goal with eight
or nine seconds to go about
three years ago. Ferlando
Williams was a senior.
“They are athletic. We are
going to have to make sure
we don’t have any mental
lapses or letdowns ... not
let them get any confidence
going. They have some speed
and a real good running
back. We should be ready to
play, though, no doubt about
that.
“They do a good job run
ning around, making plays
and being athletic.”
Mt. Zion and Northside
have two common opponents
this season. The Bulldogs
lost to North Clayton 32-
14 in a sub-region game.
Earlier, they crossed over
to the other sub-region and
beat Upson-Lee 26-17.
“I’m sure they’ll try to
Warner Robins, HoCo crack Dodge Cup standings
By DON MONCRIEF
Journal Sports Editor
There’s still a long, long way to go
- approximately 14 sports give-or
take - but things are looking good
right out of the chute for Houston
County and Warner Robins in regard
to the Georgia Athletic Directors
Association Dodge Director’s Cup.
The cup has been called an AD’s
dream - by them, along with assis
tants - because it is a measure of the
school’s overall athletic programs.
The way it works is teams are
awarded points based on how they
fare in the state playoffs. The state
Sports
High School have to sit on
those little sharp objects a
little longer than the rest.
But at least the Bears and
the Trojans will know what
the stakes of their Saturday
game at McConnell-Talbert
Stadium are when they see
the outcomes of the key
region Friday contests.
But what a 2006 season
it has already been for the
Houston County Bears. For
the first time ever this pro
gram earned wins against
state powerhouses and
region rivals Lowndes and
Valdosta, not to mention
the non-region road win
against another prime team,
Parkview.
After all of that, Houston
sits in a four-way tie for
second place in 1-AAAAA
at 3-2. Only three of those
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Contributed Billy Walter
The Eagles’ John Ridley and Marcus Hill head onto the field for the defense Friday in Northside’s win over
Westside.
throw the football on us,”
said Nix. “Especially after
Westside had some suc
cess throwing it deep (last
Friday). But what they do
best is run the football. I
expect them to do a little
bit of that throwing, but I
expect they’ll try to get (the
back) out there. Usually,
every week they have some
kind of series or formation
that’s a little bit different.
We will have to be prepared
to adjust.
“Defensively, they’re real
multiple, a 3-3 type deal. It
winds up being either a 4-3
champion receives 100 points, run
ner-up 80, third and fourth 60, fifth
eighth 40, ninth-16th 20 and 17th
32nd 10. Only a school’s top eight
state performances are counted.
All that said, Houston County
then, with strong showings in fast
pitch softball and volleyball is cur
rently tied with Union Grove and
Etowah for ninth in AAAAA. Each
has 60 points. Harrison leads with
150.
Warner Robins, on its strong
showing in softball, is currently tied
with four others for 14th with 40
points. Lowndes, Newnan, Parkview
"They are probably the most talented
group. In a couple of ball games they
lost, turnovers got them. But as far as
talent, they are probably the most
athletic group in the region."
- Houston County head football coach Doug Johnson
tied teams (the others being
Coffee, Lowndes and Warner
Robins) are going to vie for
the state championship.
“All the rest of us are
waiting to see who wins or
who loses,” said Bears head
coach Doug Johnson. “We’ll
know a little bit more before
we ever kick off. For us, it’s
just preparing for the foot
ball game. We tell our kids
"They are athletic. We are going to have
to make sure we don't have any mental
lapses or letdowns... not let them get
any confidence going. They have some
speed and a real good running back. We
should be ready to play, though, no doubt
about that."
- Northside head football coach Conrad Nix
or 5-3. We’ll have to stay
on our blocks, know who to
and Northview are the aforemen
tioned four others. The Demons
and Demonettes could add to their
totals with top finishes at the state
cross country meet Saturday in
Carrollton.
In AAAA, Northside has yet to
crack into the rankings but with its
girls and boys cross country teams
qualified for the state tournament
too, it could soon change that (espe
cially with how well the Lady Eagles
have been running).
Starr’s Mill and Sequoyah cur
rently lead AAAA with 140 points.
Perry is in the same boat with
that, whatever happens, our
job is just try to beat Coffee
County.”
Johnson had a list of
eight different combinations
of outcomes in the three
remaining 1-AAAAA games,
which includes Tift against
Colquitt and Lowndes host
ing Warner Robins on Friday.
One possible scenario has
the Bears finishing with the
block.
“We’re definitely going to
No. 2 seed from the region
in the state tournament.
Johnson and his staff, how
ever, aren’t concerned about
anything but figuring out a
talented and athletic Coffee
Trojan club from Douglas.
“They are probably the
most talented group,” said
Johnson. “In a couple of ball
games they lost, turnovers
got them. But as far as tal
ent, they are probably the
most athletic group in the
region.
“Defensively, they are
starting 10 seniors, and I
think they start six or seven
on offense. So it is a very
senior-laden football team.
All of those kids played last
year, and maybe even the
year before.”
For Coffee, it starts on
See BALANCE, page iB
have to make sure we don’t
get out-numbered or out
flanked or out of position
(on defense). They are big
and athletic (up front). We’ll
have to not let them run
around blocks or through
blocks. They haven’t given
up a whole lot of points (on
defense). We’re not going to
change a whole lot of what
we’re doing.”
The most points Mt. Zion
has allowed this season in
a key game was against
Griffin, the first place team
in the A sub-region.
See FORMIDABLE, page zB
Northside but the Panthers have
also been strong cross country con
tenders this year so they, too, could
soon be on the books. Plus, they
too - along with the Eagles, Bears
and Demons - still have high hopes
in regard to football and the post
season. In addition, Perry, Warner
Robins and Houston County will
each be sending their cheer compe
tition team to the state tournament
this weekend in Columbus. So there,
too, is an opportunity for points.
Blessed Trinity and Oconee
County are both tied atop AAA with
140 points.
SECTION
B