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| •;;nn m f ) 1 wm iiiMß^r^mHr N N^r %s \ k 3Sp I / a j<m m p» |, 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- wJSL... v ® ' > *' "' ? \/ : ' 7 SjKL ” ' L M ■yß irs afe s : ;;s ' m jKm ‘ . xj ' <T"»- -• " w m v ~-'J wK v^ s ft *'« IP ™ P - - fjjMmHHI J Hr Bl)Wffr • : a^ ! »!-: «n "IT |JP\ *$ l^*v r" 1 ' *“" : s, v .i&illill|ll - 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