Newspaper Page Text
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SATURDAY,
DECEMBER 9, 2006
The Home Journal's
SANDLOT
—rrr
ON DECK
High school
Basketball
Today
■ Westfield at Trinity Christian
tournament, teams and times to
be determined.
High school swimming
Today
■ Warner Robins at Bearcat
Bash in Bainbridge. 9 a.m.
■ Houston County at Chatham
County Invitational, 9 a.m,
High school football
Today
■ Warner Robins versus
Peachtree Ridge. 9 p.m. in the
Georgia Dome
IN BRIEF
Warner Robins Rec to hold
Christmas camp
The Warner Robins
Recreation Department is regis
tering boys and girls ages 7-12
for Holly Days Christmas Camp
to be held Dec. 21 through Jan.
4, 2007 (Christmas holidays
for Houston County Schools).
Monday-Friday. 7:30 a.m.-5:30
p.m. except Dec. 25 and Jan.
1, 2007. Each day, according to
a release, will be full of games,
songs and seasonal crafts.
Experienced camp counselors,
campers are well-supervised,
structured program. The cost is
$75 for city residents; sllO for
county residents and $l4O for
out-of-county.
Call the department at 478-
929-6946 for more information.
YMCA offers special
sign-up promotion
The YMCA is currently offer
ing a special promotion where
they are giving away one free
month of gym membership to
all new members. The center
offers: gymnastics, jiu-jitsu, fit
kidz, dance and much more. A
family membership consists of
an SBS joiner's fee plus the first
month of S4B. Under the promo
tion. you pay SBS and your first
month of service is free.
The offer will expire Dec. 31.
Winter Players Pass
available for golfers
A Winter Players Pass is
now available for purchase at
three northern state park golf
locations. It’s valid for play
at Arrowhead Pointe at Lake
Richard B. Russell in Elberton,
The Creek at Hard Labor in
Rutledge and Highland Walk at
Victoria Bryant in Royston. The
card provides the holder with
unlimited green fees at the three
courses for three months and
costs SIOO. The pass is avail
able in limited quantities and
for a limited time. It’s valid from
December until February 2007.
The pass can be purchased at
any of the participating courses,
online at www.GeorgiaGolf.com
or by calling 1-800-982-3691.
Museum to host its
annual walk/runs
The 11th annual Museum of
Aviation Foundation marathon,
half marathon and 5K run/walk
will be held at the Museum of
Aviation Jan. 13, 2007.
The Museum of Aviation
Foundation and the Robins
Pacers Running/Walking Club
sponsor the event. All three
courses are USA Track and Field
certified and all threes are also
run on Robins Air Force Base.
Runners and walkers whose
registrations are postmarked by
Jan. 5, 2007 are guaranteed,
according to the release, a “qual
ity colorful long-sleeve shirt on
race day.”
A variety of trophies/awards
will be offered.
Entry fees are SBO for a relay
team, S4O for the marathon, S3O
for the half marathon and $lB for
the 5K run/walk.
For more information call June
Lowe or Ma.y Lynn Harrison
at (478)-923-6600 or email
MaryLynn.Harrison@museum
ofaviation.org. On-line detailed
race information can be found at
http://robinspacers.org or www.
museumofaviation.org.
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many ways
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ENI/Gary Harmon
Warner Robins coaches consult the playbook during practice Thursday.
Demons, Lions follow similar roads
By MA TTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
Carrying a No. 1 seed in the 2006 GHSA
football playoffs was more like a curse than
a blessing.
In the 5A classification, only one “region
champion” is in the final four, and that
would be Tift County High of Region 1-
AAAAA. Along the way, many of the mighty
have fallen, and two such giant-slayers will
meet head-to-head today in the Georgia
Dome for a spot in the state championship
game.
First, there’s Warner Robins High, which
went on the road to beat two region winners,
Camden County (3-AAAAA) and Norcross
(7-AAAAA), in the last two weeks.
“We’ve played two very good teams, but
in both games our kids and our coaches
thought we were supposed to win,” said
Demons head coach Bryan Way, who led
this program to a state title in Class AAAA
in his rookie season of 2004. “That’s some
thing that never ceases to amaze me about
our players. No matter whom we’re playing
or where we’re playing, they think we’re
supposed to win. They go out there and give
great effort, and we’re going to go out there
(today) and see if we can keep doing it.”
On the other side of Atlanta’s huge sta
dium is going to be Peachtree Ridge High,
which finished fourth in the Norcross region.
The Lions from the Gwinnett County town
of Suwanee took that No. 4 seed and beat
6-AAAAA No. 1 Wheeler in the first round,
then last week upset 2-AAAAA champion
Stephenson in the quarterfinals.
“They’ve done the same thing we’ve
done,” said Way about Peachtree Ridge’s
charge to the semifinals. “They haven’t
turned the ball over. They’ve played good
defense, and they have a good kicking game.
We’re very similar to each other. Neither
offense necessarily runs up and down the
field; both defenses are good; both kick the
ball well; and here lately we haven’t made
many mistakes. When you do that, you have
a chance to win every.time.”
It may be part of an old joke, but Peachtree
Sports
"They've done the same thing
we've done. They haven't
turned the ball over. They've
played good defense, and
they have a good kicking
game. We're very similar to
each other. Neither offense
necessarily runs up and
down the field; both defenses
are good; both kick the ball
well; and here lately we
haven't made many mistakes.
When you do that, you have a
chance to win every time."
- Warner Robins bead football coach Bryan Way
Ridge is one of those numerous schools that
have popped up in the Atlanta area in the
past decade. This particular school is four
years old, so this type of postseason run
would put the Lions in new territory. But
Way said they have the type of athletes
you would expect to find in any Gwinnett
County school.
“It’s not like they built a school out in
the middle of nowhere,” he said. “A bunch
of people live in Gwinnett County. They are
very talented, have good size, tremendous
team speed. They are similar to Norcross
and Central Gwinnett and all those other
schools we’ve played.
“Defensively they base out of a 4-3 and
play a good bit of cover 2 behind it. Every
now and then they will run an eight-man
front with three deep behind it. They don’t
stunt a great deal. They have tremen
dous pursuit to the ball. Their secondary is
See DEMONS, page 4B
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Avery Sports Photography
BRANDON
TWIN
From page iA
BRIAN BUFORD
If Brian Buford gets 15
tackles in Warner Robins’
Class AAAAA semifinal
game today, he will set
the school record for total
tackles. Going into the
Peachtree Ridge contest, he
has 130 stops, 13 of which
were for a loss. He has also
broken up five passes.
“When they first told me,
I was kind of, ‘Wow!’ It’s
not every day you get an
opportunity to get an award
like that,” said Brian about
his region honor. “There’s
a lot of competition in our
region. I’m very pleased
with the year I’ve had. It’s
the most tackles I’ve ever
had. This is definitely the
best year I’ve had.”
The other record Brian
could break is for tackles
in a season, which stands
at 157. It would be a task
for him to get 27 today, but
there’s always the possible
state championship game
the following weekend.
“The only thing I can
say is I play with a lot of
passion,” Brain said when
asked what it is about his
play at linebacker that
stands out. “I always want
to win. I hate losing. I’m
all about the team. If we’re
doing good, that’s good.
“I concentrate a lot. I’m
looking at all the forma
tions, and a lot of things
go through my head about
what we watched on film
and what they’re going to
do, the down and distance.
I just read it and go.
“I can’t say enough about
coach (defensive coordi
nator David) Bruce. He’s
been an inspiration to me
since Day 1. You can never
be good enough with coach
Bruce.”
“I think that’s going to
look good in his recruiting
area,” said Brandon. “I was
real proud of him.”
Brandon ceded the title
of major college recruit in
the family to Brian, who
added he does have that
aspiration and will choose
whatever school makes him
the best offer.
Brian can also look
around to the other 10
Demons in the defensive
alignment and know he
doesn’t have to do every
thing by himself. He calls
his bond with fellow line
backer Roderick Rose like
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ENI/Gary Harmon
Brian Buford, shadowed by assistant coach David
Bruce, works out Thursday.
BECTION
B
Avery Sports Photography
BRIAN
“salt and pepper.”
“I’ve played with a bunch
of good players,” said Brian,
referring to current end
teammates Justin Cowart
and Tony Billings and
former secondary mates
Dominique Davenport and
Maurice Gray. There’s one
player in particular he
remembers fondly, Justin
Brown, a redshirt fresh
man lineman at Furman.
“He looked after me a
lot,” said Brian. “When I
was a 10th grader, he was
a senior. He just looked out
for me and helped me.”
That bond must have
worked out because it was
a part of Warner Robins’
unbeaten state champi
onship team of 2004. The
2006 senior class, which
both Bufords are a part
of, could be the first at
Warner Robins to win two
state titles. Those players,
though, had to go through
last year’s disappointing
first-round exit.
“It was a real bad feel
ing,” said Brian. “We lost
to a team we really weren’t
supposed to lose to.”
Now look at what the
Demons have done in 2006
with back-to-back wins
against Camden County
and Norcross, teams that
were probably favored
going in.
“When you go into a
game you’re not expected
to win, there’s no pressure
on you,” said Brian. “All
you can do is play the best
game you can play. That’s
what we did and came out
on top.
“(A second title) would
be sweet.”
BRANDON BUFORD
Fifth-grade students
aren’t usually thinking
about the dark side of life,
but about enjoying child
hood and maybe look
ing ahead to the future.
Brandon Buford’s future
looked a little cloudy,
though, at this stage and
forced him to face such
realities in regard to his
own wellbeing.
“At first, it really didn’t
hit me,” said Brandon,
recalling the time of his
diagnosis. “Once I started
going through all the treat
ments and stuff, that’s
when it really hit me. ‘I got
cancer!’
“It didn’t get me down
for long because I just dealt
with it.”
See TWIN, page 4 B