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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
What’s in a name?
A lighter' shade of Green
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
Northside High’s
Tijuan Green holds
numerous acco
lades. He’s a state champion
ship football player, and he’s
scored 54 touchdowns and
gained almost 4,000 total
yards in 28 games over the
last two seasons.
This is a day, however,
when he represents an
important color, one that
symbolizes the future sur
vival of all mankind. So what
must it be like for Tijuan
Green, playing for one of
the best high school football
teams in Georgia, to be the
most environmentally friend-
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- i—_____ J
Journal/Don Moncrief
Perry’s Tony Davis (81), Kanorris Davis (43) and Garrett Stokeling go after a North Clayton punt from the endzone in
the Panthers’ GHSA AAA state tournament quarterfinal loss Friday in Gainesville.
So close
Turnovers cost Panthers trip to semifinals
By DON MONCRIEF
Journal Managing Editor
Beat up.
Yep, those two words effectively sum
up what happened to Perry in its 12-10
loss to North Hall in the two teams’
GHSA AAA state quarterfinal game
Friday in Gaineseville.
The big, big problem with that state
ment is it had nothing to do with what
the Trojans actually did to the Panthers
- Perry held its own quite nicely, thank
you - but, it had everything to do with
what Perry did to itself.
“We just had too many turnovers,”
said Head Coach Andy Scott. “That
killed us. That was the telling point
in the game ... the telling point in our
year.”
Even Scott was not immune to the
“beat up” reference. He was quick not
to beat up the strong, strong Panther
contingent that made the trip up north,
as well as the community for: “the way
9jWaßy jg £aKm. flp -jmm j||Bb
SCHEDULE
High school wrestling
Thursday
■ Westfield and Piedmont at Windsor, 4:30 p.m.
Friday
■ Warner Robins at Sequoyah tourney (through
Saturday), time to be determined
Saturday
■ Warner Robins at Sequoyah tourney, time to be deter
mined
■ Northside at Baldwin tourney, time to be determined
Monday
■ Monroe, Tiftarea and Sherwood Christian at Westfield,
7 p.m.
Tuesday
■ Dublin and Warner Robins at Northside (Tabor gym),
INSIDE: Eagles headed back to the Dome
ly athlete in his hometown?
“It really doesn’t bother
me,” said Green during a
special interview with the
Houston Home Journal
Monday as Northside pre
pared for Friday’s Georgia
Dome clash with Tucker
High in the GHSA Class
AAAA semifinals. “I’m just
trying to win another state
championship for Northside.
We’re just trying to do it for
Chris (Johnson), and we’re
focused on winning the next
game and going to the next.”
But there must be some
they’ve supported us has been out
standing.”
But he was fast to beat himself up,
second-guessing his call to go for what
would have been a 37-yard field goal
versus first taking a shot in the end
zone.
Initially that decision appeared clear.
With 10.1 seconds showing on the
clock, the field goal unit - including
Bill Freeman, who had earlier hit on
a 28-yard attempt as well as the point
after touchdown when Perry finally
finished off a drive - took to the field.
But North Hall called timeout. That
gave Scott and company time to think
about it. Subsequently, when time
resumed they sent quarterback Casey
Hayward and the offensive corp onto
the field. The Trojans again called
timeout - one they didn’t have as it
turned out, Scott said. That resulted
in a long conversation between Scott
and the officials, but in the end didn’t
change anything, except following that
5 p.m.
High school basketball
Friday
■ Warner Robins at Perry, 7 p.m.
■ Westfield (boys only) at Riverside Military, 5 p.m.
■ Northside at Dutchtown, 7 p.m.
Saturday
■ Americus at Perry, 6 p.m.
■ Houston County at Westside, 4 p.m.
Tuesday
■ Perry at Northeast, 6 p.m.
■ FPD at Westfield, 4 p.m.
■ Northside at Houston County, 6 p.m.
■ Warner Robins at Peach County, 6 p.m.
High school swimming
Saturday
■ Warner Robins at Pace Academy, 10:15 a.m.
111% B-AS§C.ETES^\LL
BAS El ALL
ecological advice this Green
player can give that will
make our planet a better
place to live?
“Just keep growing trees
and plants and stuff,” he
said.
Green could have a tree
named after him by the
Northside campus. His high
school numbers this year
alone (an average of 142
rushing yards per game)
make him a sure-fire college
prospect.
No other college team
represented the Green bet
ter than the University of
Oregon ... at least until
quarterback Dennis Dixon’s
injury knocked the Ducks
out of Pac-10 contention.
Still, those uniforms would
be enough to catch this run
ning back’s eye.
“I like them. I really do,”
said Green. “My favorite
color is green. But
that’s too far
for me for a
college.”
The team . - rr
that usually
represented
the Green -j IS&M
year after year
is the Notre Dame ™
Fighting
See GREEN, page §B
long break, Scott changed his mind
and sent the field goal unit back out
onto the field.
Freeman’s kick sailed right, leaving
them all but devastated - many falling
to their knees, some others lying prone
in disbelief - while on the east half of
the field North Hall players celebrated,
knowing they had dodged not one but
many bullets.
“I don’t know,” Scott said. “Hindsight
being 20-20 ... We had 10 seconds left,
no timeouts on third down. If we kick it
and they block it, we can kick it again. If
we tried for the end zone and made it, it
would have been the greatest decision.
“If we don’t make it, I would be an
idiot.”
Freeman, no doubt left beating him
self up and is probably even doing so
today - and for who knows how long -
but the cold, hard truth is his was just
the last in a long line of cases where
the Panthers either stopped their
See PANTHERS, page 108
■ Houston County at Bainbridge, 9 a.m.
IN BRIEF
Perry wrestle club set to start
The Perry Youth Wrestling Club has begun and will
practice Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. The cost
is S4O which includes a club T-shirt, hoodie. Also, each
wrestler will be required to purchase a USA wrestling
card on-line prior to the first practice. The USA Wrestling
Card is $35. Cards can be purchased at Team Georgia
Wrestling (www.themat.com). All students ages 5-14 are
eligible. For further information, call Coach Randy Moss
at 988-6291.
Soccer referee course offered
There will be a soccer entry level referee course held
Jan. 18-19, 2008 at Tabor Academy in Warner Robins.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2007
' / \ H mi
HoCo swimmers first,
second versus Walton
7 Bears, 1 Lady Bear qualify for state
Special to the Journal
Houston County’s girls
and boys swim teams trav
eled and took on Walton
at Mountain View Aquatic
Center this past weekend.
For the Lady Bears that
was a ' second-place fin
ish. They had 117 points.
Walton, which finished
sixth at state last year - the
school itself has an enroll
ment of 4,300 to Houston
County’s 2,200 - had 253.
There was some good
news to come out of it for
the Lady Bears, however,
as Annie Bratcher posted
a state qualifying time in
the 100 Free. She swam
Warner Robins earns first
trophy of the young season
Special to the Journal
Warner Robins High
School’s Demonettes (13-
1) finished second out of
15 teams this past week
end at the Lee County
Trojan Invitational. Lee
County’s girls won the
meet with 195 points while
Warner Robins earned 114
and defeated third place
Bainbridge High and other
local/nearby teams Perry
Northside swims to third in Columbus
Special to the Journal
Northside’s swim team
opened the 2007 swim sea
son up with, according to
assistant James Parker,
a “very impressive” third
place finish at the Columbus
Blue Devil Invitational.
The team was led by
Tyler Bettencourt who fin
ished third in both the 200
and the 500 yard Freestyle
events.
“The down and dirty ’
The cost for the course is $55. You can register on-line
at www.gareferees.com or contact Russ Grant at russ.
grant@cox.net or 478-396-0727 for more information.
HoCo baseball coaches to offer camps
The Houston County High School coaching staff will
be conducting a one-day hitting camp for players ages
7-14 Saturday at HCHS. Morning and afternoon ses
sions are available. Signups are limited. The cost is $35,
which includes a season pass for all. Bears games. For
more information, contact Stacey Gay at 954-9399 or
sgay@drs-tsi.com. Also, the coaching staff will be con
ducting a one-day camp for pitchers and catchers play
ers ages 7-14 Dec. 15 at HCHS. Morning and afternoon
sessions are available for it as well and signups are also
limited. The cost is also $35, which includes a season
pass for HCHS games. Contact Gay for more.
The Eagles’
Tijuan Green
talks about
his last name
during an
interview
Monday at the
school.
ENI/Gary Harmon
it in .57.70 and was first.
That earned the team eight
points. Her second-place
finish in the 50 Free - with
a time of 26.60 earned six
more.
Other scorers for Houston
County’s girls were: Kaitlyn
Merrifield, who was fourth
in the 100 Back - with a
time of 1:13.93 - as well as
the 100 Fly - with a time
of 1:09.27. Each earned the
team four points. Ansley
Campbell was third in the
100 Breast - with a time
of 1:06.90, which was good
enough for five points.
“Our girls are young
See FIRST, page 9B
High, Central, Rutland and
Westside High.
Also, team Capt. Anne
Culpepper qualified for
state in the 200 Free and
the 500 Free and earned two
first places and 18 points in
both events. Junior Rachel
Sundry brought in 13 points
with a thirrd-place finish in
the 200 IM and second in
the 100 Back.
See TROPHY, page 9B
Other noteable per
formances, Parker said,
were turned in by Kurt
Thornberg and Chance
Kitchens.
“This was a nice way to
open up the season and
the team’s (girls and boys)
overall performances were
very encouraging. I was
pleased at how well the
team did overall especially
See SWlMS,page 9B
3B