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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
Softball teams fall at state
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
The depressing news com
ing out of Lovejoy Park in
Hampton last Monday in the
Class AAAAA state tourna
ment was that, for the first
time in two seasons, no
Warner Robins-based team
qualified for the Elite 8 round
in Columbus. Both Houston
County High and Northside
High got off to a good start
with two straight wins, but in
the games to earn one of those
eight spots, both the Bears
and the Eagles went 0-for-2.
Houston County High and
coach Angela Crawford went
to sectionals on the heels of
the program’s third straight
Region 1-AAAAA softball
championship. The Bears first
beat Newton High 8-0 and
then topped Newnan High 3-
1.
Up next was Greenbrier
High, the No. 1 AAAAA
team in the state. That was
EAGLES
From page $B
top passing team, Colquitt
County High, and what it
could mean to his career total
of interceptions.
Nope, wrong again.
“Warner Robins tries to
spread it around a little bit,”
said Morton, focusing on this
week’s scouting report. “I’m
going to try to get some inter
ceptions against them first.”
It’s not basketball season.
It’s not a football game that
won’t take place until Nov. 7.
Morton and the rest of his
Eagle gridiron teammates
have one thing at the top of the
priority list this week: Warner
Robins High School.
“I know the defensive line
will stop the run,” said Morton.
“They will have to throw the
ball. That’s when me and my
secondary have to step up and
play big, make big-time plays
in a big-time game.”
Morton’s name and No. 4
jersey quickly became synon
ymous with the pass inter
ception in the 2007 season.
A junior at the time, Morton
picked off eight passes as part
of Northside’s repeat state
championship club. The only
thing missing was getting ihto
the end zone.
This year, Morton has three,
the first two of which he
returned for touchdowns.
“I almost took one back,”
said Morton about his junior
season. “I finally got one (as a
senior), and it was like, “I got
to keep going.’ Keep getting
more touchdowns.
“I just keep praying, ‘God,
help me get into the end zone.’
He helped me.”
Defensive coordinator Kevin
Kinsler was hard pressed to
think of any previous Eagle
player with more than 11
career picks.
“It’s the most that I can
remember,” he said. “If it’s not
DEMONS
From page ;B
Whether it’s on Davis Drive
or Green Street, everyone at
a football practice has to be
chanting the same mantra,
“Stop the run, make them
throw.”
“(Northside) gives the illu
sion of throwing the ball a
lot, but they really prefer to
run the ball,” said Way. “Not
that they can’t throw it. They
throw very effectively. They
want to be balanced, and if
you can keep them from run
ning and make them be one
dimensional, that increases
your chances of being suc
cessful.”
The truth of the 2008 sea
son is that Northside isn’t
getting the passing yards
of the past several seasons.
Only two times in eight
games have the Eagles gone
over 100 yards through the
air, but one of those was the
most recent win against Tift
County. Otherwise, this sea
son has been about the run
ning of senior transfer Xavier
Bacon, who will look to pass
the 1,000-yard mark on the
STATE
From page fB
to add even more credibility to
Huelsman’s statement about making
a position briefly held by
Houston County this season.
Greenbrier won the game 6-
2.
East Coweta High, which
had earlier lost to Northside,
won the one of the last two
elimination games 3-0.
“We didn’t hit the ball well
on Monday,” said Crawford,
particularly alluding to those
two losses. “We fought hard
and played good softball, but
in the last two games we
didn’t play at that level we
needed to.
“It was pretty much deja
vu from last year; we won our
first two games and then lost
the next two. (The Elite 8)
was our goal at the beginning
of the year, so we are very dis
appointed.”
Sarah Ling, the only senior
starter Crawford will lose,
hit a three-run home run in
the Newton game. Kourtny
Thomas, a highly recruited
rising senior shortstop, also
hit a three-run shot to sup
the record, it’s awful close.”
On a defensive unit that has
the big stars - in both size
and ability - at defensive end
(Abiy Jones) and linebacker
(Eric Fields), Morton has done
all he can to be noticed as well
playing on what several call
“the island.”
And he’s not afraid to tackle
somebody, a trait not often
associated with the comers.
“If you’re going to be in the
secondary,” he said. “That’s
the first thing coach Kinsler
sees, if you will come up and
make a big hit. Pad on pad and
wrap up.”
What else can be said about
Morton?
“I’m a hard working kid,
very coachable and very
respectful,” he said.
He’s also carrying that pro
verbial torch of successful
defensive backs coming out of
the program. Taking a look at
recent results from the last two
weekends of college football,
former Eagle safety Mitchell
Bell returned an interception
32 yards for Western Carolina
against Georgia Southern this
past Saturday.
Two weeks ago, ex-Northside
comer Mario Armstrong made
his second pick of his career
for Western Michigan - and
returned it 28 yards - in a game
against Central Michigan.
“Them guys, they are like
my big brothers,” said Morton.
“When I was in the ninth
grade they always pushed me
to strive to be the best player
I could be. I was the httlest
thing out there, but always
had a big heart. They knew I
had the potential.”
So what is it about defensive
backs coming out of the Eagle
program?
“Defensive backs really have
to be tough,” said Morton.
“We do all the running. Got
to come up and make big-time
plays. If anybody gets past the
defensive line, you have the
linebackers. If anybody gets
ground Friday.
“They’ve had a lot of good
running backs over the
years,” said Way. “He’s in
the mold of most of them.
He’s got good vision, breaks
tackles and has good speed.
He’s what you want in a run
ning back.”
The running game is also
crucial to Warner Robins’
offensive output, but in
the case of the Demons it’s
spread out among a num
ber of names. One of those
players, Aaron Allen, made
his way back into the lineup
after about five weeks off
with an injury. Way said he’s
not quite 100 percent as of
Monday, but much closer
than before.
Allen is one of six Demons
with more than 100 rush
ing yards for the season,
and three have more than
200 yards. They are Chris
Mallard, Jonathan Jackson
and Dominique Primus.
“We probably had our best
two performances as far as
running the ball the past two
weeks,” said Way. “Mallard
has played very well. Primus
has played well. D.J. Butts
and Joe Dempsey have run
the Final Four (that’s where Kell is
now).
All said: “30-8 is a great record and
one that we are really proud of,” she
said. “It is a great building block for
next year. The girls are already asking
port a shutout for Brianna
Hancock.
Northside High had two 2-0
shutout wins to start Monday’s
action, one against Luella
High and the other against
East Coweta. The Eagles next
drew Lowndes High, and
for the third straight game
the Vikettes topped Mitch
Horton !s club 1-0. The previ
ous two 1-0 losses were in the
1-AAAAA tournament.
Union Grove ended the
Eagle season in a 4-1 final
that went extra innings.
Heather Langston and
Becky Studstill had big hits in
the Luella game, and against
East Coweta Bethany Home
got an RBI hit. Lowndes
pitcher Ashley Chapman
threw a no-hitter, according
to Horton.
“It was another difficult loss
against them,” he said. “Sarah
Purvis pitched outstanding
for us. In 29 innings she gave
up 14 hits, three earned runs
and had 51 strikeouts.”
past the linebackers, you have
us. If anybody gets past us,
the only thing there is the goal
line. That’s six points.”
So it’s no surprise that
Morton could one day join his
former teammates as a col
lege player. He said Kentucky,
Vanderbilt, Georgia, Auburn,
UAB and the brand new pro
gram at Georgia State arfi
recruiting him. He has a
visit planned for Kentucky in
December.
“I’m thinking about going
to college for sports medicine,”
said Morton, who right now
isn’t leaning towards any one
school.
“I’m sure K.J. has the poten
tial and the ability to go and
play somewhere,” said Kinsler.
“What’s he’s trying to do right
now is be the best he can be
right now. Those things will
take care of themselves if you
are getting better and making
plays and doing what you’re
supposed to do.”
In addition to Morton,
Brison Williams and Brian
Jones each had interceptions
last Thursday in the region
home win against Tift County.
“We threw a lot of coverages
at Tift County, and the big
thing is our guys up front put
a lot of pressure on the quar
terback,” said Kinsler. “That
always helps the secondary.”
Jones is a first-year starter
with eight games of experi
ence now, and Kinsler said he
does a good job of playing the
run and gets more confident
as he improves. Another first
year starter is safety Brandon
Brown, and Kinsler likes the
way he’s gotten around the
football.
“Williams has made a bunch
of good plays for us,” he said. “A
DB, if you don’t see him a lot,
that means they’re not throw
ing the ball his way. That’s
sort of how it is with Brison.
He’s doing a good job in cover
age, and he’s also doing a good
job playing the run.”
the ball well at fullback.
We’re becoming more consis
tent in the backfield.”
So how will they fare
against the Northside
defense with major prospects
like Abry Jones at one end
and Eric Fields at an outside
linebacker?
“We have to run the ball
some and throw the ball
some,” said Way. “We have
to be pretty balanced, too.
It’s going to be one of those
hard-fought games, and the
team that executes the best
and make the fewest mis
takes has a good chance to
win it.”
Warner Robins actually has
less yards through the air
than the Eagles (597 to 631),
but the Demons have the
better ratio of touchdowns to
interceptions (4/3 to 2/3).
Also looking at numbers,
Warner Robins may have
given up more yardage than
gained in eight games, but
the Demons own the edge
where it counts in scor
ing with 168 points to 119
allowed-. Much of that can go
to more takeaways than give
aways (22 to 16). Cameron
Eddy, in fact, accounted for
SPORTS
ENI/Gary Harmon
Westfield’s Rainey Arnett and Elizabeth Campbell run with each othqr on the
first lap of the GISA state cross country tournament held Monday at the Georgia
Childrens Home in Macon.
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Mallory Eubanks (327) closes in to pass another runner.
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The varsity boys begin competition.
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eight of the 39 points against
Colquitt County last Friday
with a safety and a recovered
fumble in the end zone.
With the two Weekends
left in the regular season,
there are several match
ups between the top five
teams in 1-AAAAA, includ
ing Warner Robins’ Nov. 7
home game with first-place
Lowndes. Lowndes has still
to play Coffee County (tied
with Northside in the region
for second place at 4-1)
while Coffee, earlier winners
against the Demons, also has
Tift remaining on its sched
ule.
There is a new tiebreaker
rule for 1-AAAAA, which
involves points given up
against playoff teams in the
region. Way said it is just one
of the criteria for breaking
ties. The Georgia High School
Association established a new
tiebreaker after head-to-head
that involves percentage of
wins in all games within the
same classification, not just
non-region games.
Way hasn’t figured out all
the scenarios that favor the
Demons making the play
offs, but it would be safe
when they can get in the weight room to
get ready for next year.
“I have some great looking talent
coming back up in Jayde Sparks
and Sidney Lorrance, and Kristi
Malohi.”
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2008 ♦
State cross country
to assume all would involve
Warner Robins winning both
remaining games.
“Nothing is set in stone,”
said Way. “You may have a
chance to get in at 4-3. It
depends on what else hap
pens. If you are 3-4, you’re
not in. We have to win and
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