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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
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From page iB
scored points.
For most of the time in
those previous 17 games,
Georgia just flat out didn’t
do any scoring. From a
time period between 1990
and 2003, the most points
Georgia scored in a loss to
Florida were 26, and that
was in 1993 (a 33-26 loss).
The game was still pretty
competitive in the early
1990 s with the game in ’92
decided by two, 26-24.
But there was a stretch
when things really got bad
for the Bulldogs. Take the
three years of 1994-96.
Florida outscored us 151-38
combined. We, Georgia, had
more points on Saturday (42)
than in those 12 quarters.
Things got a little bit bet
ter in the first three years of
the Mark Richt era, 2001-3.
It was still three losses, but
the combined score was 60-
36. Still a better offensive
output in one day last week
end than in those 12 periods,
HOCO
From page iB
will bring a 4-1 region
record to McConnell-Talbert
Stadium today to face the
Bears.
In the last two 1-AAAAA
contests (both of which were
on the road), Houston County
stayed within striking dis
tance, and with a break here
or there could be looking at 2-
2. First, it was a 21-7 setback
at Colquitt County High on
Oct. 12. On Oct. 19 in Tifton,
the Bears were tied with Tift
County 7-7 at halftime but
fell 21-14.
“At Colquitt, we just made
mistakes,” said head coach
George Collins, whose team
had its bye weekend on Oct.
26. “We had two costly turn
overs that gave up 14 points.
When you do that, and you’re
not very good, it’s hard to
SWEEP
From page iB
and Coffee County rounded
out the field in seventh with
177.
On the girls’ side of the
house, Warner Robins was
first with 24 points. Lowndes
was second with 59, fol
Middle school championships
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ENI/Gary Harmon
Northside and Thompson Middle School seventh grade players battle at the line during
their championship game Wednesday at McConnell-Talbert Stadium.
BELOW: Perry Middle School’s Martavis Williams goes up for a catch between two
Warner Robins players during their eighth grade title game held Thursday at the Mac. For
more on the winners, as well as more pics, see Wednesday’s Houston Home Journal.
.diLfy.-sL. ■
but look at the difference in
points allowed in the two
examples.
We actually had a defensive
coach who cared. Whatever
happened to him?
I know today is a Trojan
War, but I can’t help but get
some early jabs in for next
Saturday and the game with
Auburn. This is modified
from an old joke about the
entrance exam for Auburn
football players, the test they
have up to three weeks to
complete.
Did you hear about the
Auburn player who signed
up to take a class in
Shakespeare? He failed, and
had to explain why to his
coach.
“I was told this guy
Shakespeare wrote plays.
So I was expecting to learn
about double reverses and
flea flickers.”
Next week, we come to
bury the War Eagle, not to
praise him.
In this edition, there is a
story based on my interview
with Wofford College and for-
overcome. Other than that
we played with them pretty
good.
“Tifton was probably our
best game of the year. We had
a chance at the end of the
ball game ... lst-and-goal at
the 5 with about 35 seconds
left. We got off four plays, ran
one, killed the clock on one
and threw two passes in the
end zone and didn’t get them
completed.
“Obviously you look at the
record and you don’t see any
progress. When you look at
tapes on Sunday and Monday
you see improvement. We’re
just playing good football
teams, and it’s hard to mea
sure when you get better
when you play good people.”
One player living up to
his expectations is receiver
Craig Presley, and not just
on catching the football. He
ran a reverse for Houston’s
only score in the Colquitt
lowed by Tift County with
60, Colquitt with 110 and
Houston County in fifth with
130. Coffee County against
came in last with 154.
“The Warner Robins T
shirt logo was the Energizer
bunny,” said Head Coach
David Erpelding, “with the
words ‘we keep running and
mer Houston County High
quarterback Josh Collier.
This gives me a great oppor
tunity to provide another list
of accomplishments by local
athletes in college sports: the
football version.
We all know that Quintin
Banks, also from Houston
County High, is getting his
playing time in the UGA
defensive secondary. He even
got a lick in on Florida quar
terback Tim Tebow (see play
on words above, now you get
it) Saturday.
Here, though, are some
facts you may not be aware
of.
It’s not the kind of year
Southern California expect
ed, but it’s interesting to
note who leads the Trojans
in interceptions. It’s anoth
er ex-Bear from Houston
County High, defensive end
Kyle Moore. For a few weeks
now, he has sat on two picks
for the season, but no one
else on USC has more than
one.
Moore even returned one
of his INTs for 24 yards.
Eric O’Neal - yes, he too
game in addition to making
six receptions for 52 yards.
At Tift, Presley turned four
catches into 192 yards and
both touchdowns.
Junior quarterback Jeff
Thompson also set a career
benchmark at Tift with a
300-yard passing game. His
percentage was 38.7 (12-for
-31), which matches the per
centage for the season (58-
for-150), but in that game
he had no interceptions. As
the coaching staff expected,
though, Thompson’s need to
make plays are much greater
than last year when he could
just hand off to Player of the
Year Eric O’Neal.
“All of the sudden, he is in
an offense where it’s kind
of all thrown on him,” said
Collins. “We’re not running
the ball real well. If Jeff can’t
execute, the offense doesn’t
move. This year we are ask
ing him to throw the ball and
running and running and
running and winning’ and
on this day the kids lived up
to it.
“The kids deserve all the
credit for the success of the
2007 season. (For example)
in the girls race April Meeks
fell at the beginning of the
race and they had to do a
came from Houston County
High - is a statistical lead
er as a true. freshman at
Coastal Carolina. As of last
Saturday, he stood tied for
' the team lead in all-purpose
yards with 564. That total is
due in part to his 274 yards
on kickoff returns, which is
second on the team.
O’Neal also has a rush
ing touchdown, 205 yards
on the ground and 85 more
yards receiving. Staying at
Coastal Carolina, former
Warner Robins High Demon
Dominique Davenport, a
sophomore safety, is fourth
on the team in total tackles
with 44.
Michael Howard, brother
of Perry High assistant coach
Torrey Howard and a for
mer Northside High Eagle,
has started every game for
Eastern Kentucky at left
offensive guard (that one
was a little harder to find,
seeing that linemen don’t
appear on statistics lists).
Eastern Kentucky leads
the Ohio Valley Conference
standings and is No. 16 in
the FCS.
hopefully we can establish
the run off the pass.
“He’s learning. I think he’s
a little more comfortable. He
did a great job in Tifton of
stepping up in the pocket,
getting rid of it and find
ing open receivers. Like the
rest of the team, he’s worked
hard all year. He’s had some
adversity, but he’s stuck with
it.”
Houston’s defensive unit
is composed mostly of under
classmen and is led by Chris
Prewett, Rico Hendricks and
Wes Johnson. This group has
done its part to keep the
team in the last two games,
21 points respectable con
sidering the potential of
Colquitt and Tift. And in
that Colquitt game, Collins
points to the offensive turn
overs, one that spotted the
Packers five yards from the
goal line.
“You still see a mistake
restart but she was able to
run despite the fall and get
ting back up and finishing a
strong 10th place. And that
shows just what kind of girls
team we had this year and
what determination they
have.
“On the boys side Matthew
Drapeau finished 10th and
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To learn more of the signs of autism, visit autismspeaks.org
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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2007
Another Northside play
er making a little splash
as a true freshman is
Western Michigan’s Mario
Armstrong. The defensive
back has one interception
and one fumble recovery for
the Broncos.
Speaking of interceptions,
Maurice Gray, ex-Warner
Robins High player, has two
at Butler Community College
in Kansas.
I can also tell you that two
other Demons are on college
rosters. Antonio Felder joins
Gray at Butler while Mark
Wright Jr. is seeing playing
time at Clark University in
Atlanta. Some others are
hard to find out about, as the
web sites just don’t tell you
anything.
Earlier in this piece I men
tioned the flea flicker. I have
always understood that to
be a play where a running
back gets a handoff, but then
pitches immediately back to
the quarterback for a deep
forward pass.
There’s another play in
football I’ve heard called a
where a sophomore steps
inside instead of outside and
we give up a big play,” said
Collins. “Coach Stuart, Coach
Maddox, Coach McCook and
Coach Burch are doing a
great job getting them pre
pared. The kids are listening
to coaching.
“We’ve played some good
running backs. (Kareem)
Hess at Tifton is a great run
ning back. We’re getting after
it and hustling. You play your
assignment and hustle, good
things will happen.”
Can good things happen
against the Wildcats? Collins
expects Valdosta to load the
line defensively with eight
players daring the Bears to
throw the ball. Right now,
Garrick Davis is the leading
rusher for Houston with 198
yards and one touchdown.
“We have to create some
space,” said Collins. “We
have to get them to respect
Stephen Bassett finished
14th to help lead the boys
to their first back to back
championship in 21 years.
We had seven runners make
all-region and that is the
most we have ever had in
one season. I would like to
thank the parents for all of
their hard work in putting
flea flicker by some and a
hook-and-ladder by others.
Whatever it’s called, it’s a
statistical nightmare and one
I forgot to mention in my
series about covering football
games.
This is a play where a
receiver catches a forward
pass, but then pitches back
wards to a nearby running
back teammate. When I first
saw this, I thought it was
a pass play all the way, but
with the last guy touching
the ball getting the receiving
yards, like it was intention
ally deflected.
Instead, what you have is
a pass and a run rolled up
into one. The receiver gets
receiving yards, but the run
ning back gets rushing yards
... from the point where the
catch was made to the end of
the play. Great, now I have
to make a note of where the
football was caught in addi
tion to seeing who’s doing
everything.
Local coaches: don’t ever
do this. There will be scream
ing worse than you heard on
Halloween.
the pass because they are
going to come up. They are
very athletic defensively.
“The offensive line gets
off the ball. We just have to
make tackles and not give up
the big play.”
For Valdosta, this is the last
game of the season before
the playoffs. Houston County
next goes on the road on
Nov. 9 to play playoff-bound
Coffee County. For the coach,
what makes him the most
proud is how the Bears con
tinue to work until somebody
tells them the season is over.
“We’re never happy not
winning,” said Collins.
“We’re never happy with the
way the scoreboard turned
out. But a lot of the way you
can measure a football team
- especially in this situation
- how do you handle adver
sity? They’ve fought hard for
four quarters every week.
And they practice hard.”
on some great meets. I would
also like to thank the admin
istration and Coach (Bryan)
Way for the continued sup
port of our program.”
Both of Warner Robins’
squads - with the top four
“teams” qualifying - will
compete at the state meet
Nov. 10 in Carrollton.
AUTISM SPEAKS
It's time to listen.
3B