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DEMONS 2
From page 15
On the defensive side, the Demons lost
two of the top 10 tackles in school history,
including the one sitting at No. 1 in Brian
Buford. The secondary was practically gutted
losing Tim Green. Xavier Jackson, Ryan Reid
and Laron Scott.
“We don't have guys with that type of ex
perience who can come in and have that im
pact,” said Way “But we think the supporting
cast around the linebackers up front is going
to be much improved. We hope not to rely
on those guys to make 10 to 15 tackles a game,
but we feel good at defensive end with Jordan
Sanders, a three-year starter who's back after
getting hurt last year.
“Vet Miller came in and filled in when Jor
dan got hurt, so he has nine games of experi
ence. Thomas Bruce is our leading returning
tackier as a defensive tackle. At the other
tackle is Desmond King, who started the
last four games last year, and we’re expecting
good things from Jeffery Whitaker.”
The returning linebacker is Josh Palmer.
The other projected starters are seniors who
BEARS 1
From page 12
have to feed off each other, but they will have
to pick each other up.
“There will be times the defense is having a
rough night, and offensively we have to pick
How they fared
Northside Lost 26-1 4
Windsor Forest Won 35-6
Berkmar Won 27-7
Parkview Won 20-10
Warner Robins Lost 10-9
Lowndes Won 31-14
Colquitt County Won 25-14
Tift County Lost 20-17
Valdosta Won 14-9
Coffee * Lost 21 -28
Newnan Won 35-21
M.L. King Won 28-0
Roswell Lost 42-21
YEAR
Front page 9
season could go down as epics, and
Houston County hosting Tift County
was no exception. Tift County's Char
lie Edwards lined up for a 32-yard field
goal in overtime and split the uprights
to take away the win 20-17. Eric O'Neal
had 189 rushing yards, and the Bear
defense came close to a game-win
ning safety in the closing seconds of
regulation.
How tkey fared
Parkview
Northside
Central Gwinnett
Beach
Houston County
Valdosta
Coffee
Tift County
Colquitt County
Lowndes
Mundy's Mill
Camden County
Norcross
Peachtree Ridge
have paid their dues and know coach David
Bruce’s schemes. They are Desi King and An
drew Jones.
it up.
There will be nights the offense is not hav
ing a good night and the defense needs to rise
to the occasion. That’s why it’s the greatest
team sport there is.”
The Bear player who may be asked to pick
both sides of the ball up on the same night
is kicker Michael Thompson. Collins said the
senior has a stronger leg than in the past, and
he expects there may be times when Houston
will need a 30- to 40-yard field goal. He said
it’s a big responsibility, but believes his kicker
can get it done.
The kicking game actually determined two
of Houston’s region losses last year. In one
case, Tift County simply lined up for a field
goal on its first snap of overtime to beat the
Bears.
The Houston schedule not only includes
defending AAAA champion Northside, but
Parkview, Lowndes and Valdosta all com
ing to McConnell-Talbert while the Bears
must travel to Tift, Colquitt County and
Coffee.
“You can’t play in Region 1-AAAAA and
have an easy schedule,” said Collins, thinking
about his own alma mater, Warner Robins
High. “We have six games where you could
get beat. And our first four are Northside,
Parkview, Berkmar and Windsor Forest.
“I think you have to put Coffee up there
real high (as a region favorite), Coffee and
That was on Thursday. Things
calmed down on Friday, not that Perry
taking on Peach County is anything but
a calm situation. But the Peach Trojans
were not to be slowed down on the way
to another AAA state championship as
they rolled 43-14.
Northside, secure in its place in the
upcoming postseason, blasted Upson-
Lee 41-7. Westfield, with no guarantees
of a playoff position in the new set-up
for GISA AAA, lost in Albany to Deer
field-Windsor 28-14
Warner Robins was becoming ac
customed to pulling off late rallies.
Way said he is concerned about the lack of
secondary experience in that this is where an
opponent usually gets a touchdown. Lane will
take a safety spot, and Laureal Richardson
gained backrup experience last year. Theron
Anderson, Antonio Adkinson and Shawn
Monos should get most of the playing time
at cornerback.
Way said they can all get the job done, es
pecially Monos, whom the coach said can also
play safety.
“We have some good-sized young men, es
pecially in the middle,” said Way “The front
is all 6-2 or better and pretty rangy The line
backers are not that tall but pretty quick. The
secondary will have pretty good athletes. We
just have to make sure we don’t give up big
plays and get good pressure on the quarter
back so the secondary doesn’t have to cover
all day”
Warner Robins’ other valuable weapon is
placekicker David Clark with all the school
records he set last year. Clark has great overall
athletic ability as a Demon soccer player, but
Way said Clark’s kicking is too valuable to
use him in any other football capacity
“If there is a difference-maker as a kicker,
he’s one of them,” said Way “He won sev-
Won 30-3
Lost 28-7
Lost 1 7-0
Won 56-18
Won 10-9
Won 21-17
Won 24-7
Lost 17-10
Lost 24-14
Won 16-6
Won 40-14
Won 27-7
Won 14-3
Lost 13-7
No. Name Grade
1 Michael Thompson 12
2 Garrick Davis 11
3 Craig Presley 11
4 Robert Williams 10
5 Brock Daughtry 10
6 Alvin Matheny 12
7 John Bryant 11
8 Kevin Dees 11
9 Tony Larkin 11
10 Rico Hendricks 12
11 Kourtney Harris 10
12 Leland Perry 11
13 Jeff Thompson 11
14 Jabriel Burns 11
15 Jacob Gunter 10
16 Kevin Miles 11
17 Jalani Phillips 10
18 Jacob Walker 11
19 Kameron Brown 10
20 Jerome Gamboa 11
21 Tevin Appling 10
22 Nick Clay 12
23 Carey Clark 11
24 Shelton Whitley 11
25 Farris Norris 12
26 Justin Brown 11
Lowndes. You could probably put everybody lot of work to do, a lot of improvement, a lot
else in a bag and start drawing out, except
maybe we are in the third bag. We have a of young guys. It’s going to be an interesting
something it had to do on Saturday
against an emerging 1-AAAAA power
in Coffee County. Call them freak oc
currences, but one after another the
touchdowns came for the Demons on
defensive plays by Justin Cowart and
Thomas Bruce. The result was a 24-7
win at home.
Week 9
Oct. 27-28
It was a dark and stormy Friday in
Georgia; so much so that Northside
and Houston County felt it would be
a good time to take a bye week. And
Warner Robins had to put off its trip to
2007 Bears
27 Nic Adkins 10
28 Jontavious Smith 12
30 Derek Carter 10
31 Rashad Gay 11
32 Cameron Harris 11
34 Dexter Anderson 12
35 Greg Nelson 10
36 Jake Hickey 12
37 Rashad Stubbs 10
38 Ricky Williams 12
41 Karsten Tufts 10
42 Wes Johnson 12
45 Randall Collier 11
46 Zack Flowers 10
47 Chris Prewett 12
48 Johnny Goodman 10
49 Tim Dunman 11
50 Tremon Kessler 11
51 Brandon Hess 10
52 Micah King 10
53 Bryan Gibson 12
56 Joe Giles 12
59 Lee Johnson 11
60 Nicholas Owens 10
61 Chris Jackson 11
62 MattMazick 10
64 Jeff Arthur 10
Tift County until Saturday.
Those who braved the weather, not
so bad in Perry after all, were the Pan
thers and Hornets. Perry had six differ
ent players score in a 56-6 stomping of
Southwest. Westfield continued to fade
as Pinewood, a newcomer in GISA
AAA, won at Marvin Arrington 28-15.
When the Demons did head to Tifton
on Saturday, the offense forgot to pack
the touchdowns. Tim Green did score
for the defense on an interception re
turn, but the Blue Devils had more
than 200 offensive yards in the first half
alone and won 17-10.
HOUSTON COUNTY FOOTBALL 2007
eral games for us last year. He got bigger and
stronger, so we’re looking for him to have an
other great year.”
The Demons open 2007 back in the Geor
gia Dome,-this time facing Camden County, a
team that will surely have vengeance in mind
after that playoff loss in Kingsland. After that,
it’s the big clash with Northside, which this
time is coming off winning a state champion
ship. Way said this type of schedule makes
a team better, especially in going through T
AAAAA and the state playoffs.
“We’re going to go in thinking we’re going
to win every ball game,” he said. “Whether we
do that or not remains to be seen.”
The coach said Coffee County may have
the best talent in the league, and Lowndes
and Valdosta should be senior-dominated
and on a mission to get back to the postsea
son. It was Tift County that finished first in
2006, and Way said they should be outstand
ing again. He said none of the teams can be
called “great,” but none of them can be called
bad either.
“Those teams are working as hard as we are,
because football is important to all of them,”
said Way. “If we don’t play well, we won’t get
in. That’s the way it ought to be.”
66 Steven Jones 10
67 Aaron Blackwell 11
68 Kody Campbell 10
69 Briggs Defoor 11
70 OwasKhurshid 10
73 Michael Kratz 11
74 Justin Kitchens 11
75 Nathan Jones 11
76 Bruce Young 10
77 Michael Gilbert 11
78 Jacob Fruge 12
79 Ethan Tierce 12
80 Jamaal Sales 11
81 Jordan McKiver 10
82 David Riley 11
83 Tyler Heck 10
84 Michael Ragan 12
85 Brandon Hunter 10
87 Robert Yarbrough 11
89 Chris Williams 11
92 Raimontye Barlow 11
93 Tyler Alford 12
94 Adil Khurshid 12
97 Tyler Hightower 11
98 Keith Thomas 11
Week 10
Nov. 3
Jacobi Rodrigues had 100 receiving
yards, caught a touchdown pass and
made a key pass himself in Northside’s
27-7 win against Westside-Macon. Nick
Bass caught two touchdowns from
Marques Ivory, and Tijuan Green, be
ginning his march to playoff fame, ran
for 123 yards plus a touchdown.
Don’t look now, but Houston County
scored another first for its football pro
gram, a win against the storied tradition
of Valdosta High. The Wildcats may
See YEAR 1, page 18