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Mansion fhtUy .TJmmtal THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2006 The Home Journal's SANDLOT nffTfwir - 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 ppMH jm p | dflflL * f IH, Ilf Jkj m isl ISfe fl T I I X\ * ppm «K B jAk 111 1\ Bte HP* ' f I I I 1 Sill Mm JhHh ii t; • * J»F k 1 "-'fillip 1 ■ 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