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Muustun Baiig djmmtal 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. Alike in many ways % *■*'. *-V ■ ! Jj jsft : mSh/' frSB. i«> *,*«* ? ... . IBtB Bmp' Bk .•' <- H Wm IHI j.* ■%, JSf- . SR;- ißw WEBB 'fr- ■ W& : ' % * ,J. TjK* JgMßpik. , , ***£ H jp**, '** < : ’,»ji U, . *• •• ' '- r -'v , . » a 7 A • ** *'-•* Jr* "* i ? * r * * j,* -sfc... I— Li_ ■„ >■ , 3,„-i7fT,—l—-it—-t- : 1 „ : M ii——L-a ji —r : ' (A: 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 "fe I, / \ IWt 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 ———— 'Wf * v— / d tjjlM Jg jUy£\' jNj&s&m 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