Newspaper Page Text
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
Sandlot
"The down and dirty"
Schedule
High school football
Friday
• GISA AAA semi
finals: Westfield at
Stratford, 7.
• GHSA AAAAA sec
ond round: Northside
at Camden County,
7:30 p.m.
In brief
Northside to host
cheerleading clinic
A cheerleading clinic
for kindergarten-sixth
grade will be held at
Northside High School
Monday-Tuesday. It will
run from 8 a.m.-1 p.m.
There will also be a
special exhibition Jan.
9, 2009 at a basketball
game. The cost is S3O
before Nov. 19, $35
after, with half price
for a family of two or
more. The fee includes
snacks and drinks and
an everit T-shirt (up
until the Nov. 19 date,
then a T-shirt is not
included).
Contact the school
for more.
Perryjakedown
Club sets practices
The Perry Takedown
Club will hold prac
tices Tuesdays and
Thursdays from 5:30-7
p.m. (practice will begin
Dec. 2). Any day that
school is closed due
to inclement weather or
winter holidays, there
will be no practice.
The cost is SSO,
which includes a team
T-shirt/shorts/hoodie.
Also, each wrestler
will be required to pur
chase 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).
Registration will be
the date for the first
practice, Dec. 2 at 5:30
p.m. All students ages
5-14 are eligible.
For further informa
tion, call Coach Randy
Moss at 478-988-6291.
Adult soccer camp
and registration set
Adult Soccer Camp
will be held Dec. 2
and, 6-8 p.m. at the
Central Georgia
Soccer Complex, 110
Snellgrove Dr., Warner
Robins. The cost is
S2O per person. Also,
the Central Georgia
Adult Soccer League
is registering teams
and individuals for
their upcoming Winter
Season beginning Dec.
6. Registration ends
Nov 26.
For more information
call 478-218-4625 or e
mail info@cgasl.org.
Water aerobics
resume at WR Rec
The Warner Robins
Recreation Department
has resumed its Water
Aerobics Program.
Classes meet Monday,
Tuesday, Thursday and
Friday from 9-10 a.m.
Monthly fees are: S4O/
city residents, s6l/coun
ty residents, $lO2/out of
county residents, S2O/
seniors 50+.
For more information,
call 929-1916.
Eagles' Gifford signs baseball letter with Alabama
.
- ..»fV In f nnr-..rt M ifcM^
Northside’s Kevin Gifford signs a scholarship Friday to play baseball for the University of
Alabama. Looking on are his mother, Michelle, and father, Dwayne (both seated) and back
row from left: Northside Head Baseball Coach Kevin Kinsler and Gifford’s broth and sister,
Jason and Iris.
Lost, found
Westfield returns to semifinals
By DON MONCRIEF
Journal Managing Editor
The Hornets were lost but now
they’re found.
That could apply to their salva
tion.
That could apply to their trip this
past weekend at Pinewood Christian
best
beating Pinewood 33-7.
It’s been two years since Westfield
has even been in the playoffs, let
alone reached a place in the post
season that used to be commonplace
(ditto for the finals).
They were lost but now they’re
found. And it’s been, “one of the
most different” group of kids that
have made it that way.
”1 mean that in a good way,”
Jones said, regarding the “different”
part. “I mean I knew we had some
good backs returning and a lot of
people have talked about our backs
as a reason we’ve been winning this
year.
“(But on the other hand) we’ve
got some talented kids that probably
we would have made tight ends or
even wideouts that we’ve had to put
them on the offensive and defensive
lines that have just amazed me.
“I’ve just got to give them
credit. It takes linemen to block.
Same on defense. I have one guy
See WESTFIELD, page 7B
Demons swim to first in season opener
Warner Robins girls third at North Forsyth Invitational
Special to the Journal
Warner Robins’ boys swim
team wasted little time in
picking up its first win of
the year. The Demons (14-0)
beat 14 teams at the North
Forsyth Invitational in
Gainesville this weekend.
They earned 156.5 points.
Host North Forsyth was sec
ond with 134, followed by
Riverside Military Academy
with 116.5 and Pace Academy
with 115.
The top scorer for Warner
Robins was Erik Hanson
SPORTS
F -—A aS"' -^W'
Ew yJ ' fcjF
11 J| l^F
lß| *lllk 1
«r -p
m WimBIF JBr%
' JW Jfl|K «PpPRf ' Ak
jH|
j IEmBBF ' 7 V ■ ■&-
V| ▼ jP^
H VBMH IHi
. .' .——;
(arriving
about 30
minutes
late because
they got a
bit “turned
around”,
Head Coach
Ronnie Jones
said.
That could
apply to
their semi
finals berth,
L— * —— v ■' ~ ENI/Gary Harmon
Westfield defenders Drew Payne (32), Will Jenkins and company bring down a Mount de Sales runner during
the Hornets’ game against the Cavaliers Nov. 7. Defense might very well be the name of the game Friday when
Westfield travels and plays Stratford in the semifinals.
who earned 20 points for his
first place finish in the 500
Free and second place in the
100 Fly. His finishing time
in the 500 Free was also a
state qualifier.
Michael Gregory earned
15 points for the Demons
with his 50 Free and 100
Free finishes.
“Michael really demon
strated that hard work pays
off by earning personal bests
in both his swims,” said
Coach Barbara Hawkins.
Paul Poorman added 15
points and edged closer to a
state time in the 500 Free.
Freshmen Danny Hogan
scored 5 points in the 200
IM while Sean Taylor had
2 points and Bill Hops 1
point.
Warner Robins’ girls team
(12-2) took third place, while
beating 12 teams. First place
was North Forsyth with 210
points. Pace Academy was
second with 161.
The top scorer for the
Demonettes was Brittani
Wharton who scored 16 with
efforts in the 200 IM and
See SWIM, page 6B
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
If a region or even a state baseball championship is
on the line in 2009, Kevin Kinsler and the rest of the
Northside High Eagles will likely want Kevin Gifford
standing at the plate.
Sometime in the next four years after that, with
the Southeastern Conference or
College World Series champion
ships on the line, Jim Wells will
likely be hoping for the same
thing.
Kevin Gifford, for his high
school career at Northside, is a
.500 season waiting to happen.
That didn’t go unnoticed among
the NCAA’s elite programs in
the southeast portion of the
country. Gifford decided he
wants to roll with the Alabama
Crimson Tide, and made it offi-
cial on Friday signing his national letter of intent.
“I got along with the players real well when I went
over there,” said Gifford, who turned in a*.500 season
with 39 hits and 27 runs scored as a Northside fresh
man in 2006. “The atmosphere was real good.”
Gifford even played on the Crimson Tide field in
Tuscaloosa as a member of the Chain Baseball sum
mer program. He added that some of his teammates
and friends from his traveling teams also signed with
Alabama.
The native of London, Ontario, Canada, didn’t
See SIGNS, page 6B
ENI/Gary Harmon
Locally; 1 goes up, 1 comes
down in 4-ball tournament
From staff reports
Ron Baggett and Eddie Wiggins of Warner Robins saved
their worst round until last. After carding 72 and 70,
they shot 75 Friday at the 17th Annual Georgia Senior
Four-Ball Championship held Wednesday-Friday at The
Hampton Club at St. Simons Island and The Golf Club
at Sanctuary Cove in Waverly. The Championship Flight,
which is where all the local golfers could be found, played
at The Hampton Club.
Baggett and Wiggins, as a result of their 75, fell from
15th to finish in a tie with one other team for 34th.
Richard Farage of Warner Robins and partner Dennis
Hanson of Macon shared an opposite different fate.
They shot 70 the first day and 75 the second. That had
them down in 35th. But a 70 the final day Friday enabled
them to jump all the way up into a five-way tie for 24th.
See TOURNAMENT, page 6B
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2008 ♦
5B
INSIDE:
Northside
football
team rolls
into next
round