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Barrow News-Journal INSIDE THIS SECTION Award-winning local sports coverage •The Game Plan •Photo scene — 2B — 2B •Scouting Reports — 2B, 7B •AHS Volleyball — 7B August 31, 2016 Phone: 770-867-6397 Fax:706-621-4115 cbridges@barrowjournal. com Section B ★★★★ Iso in today’s snorts section: Barrow natives prepare for new season on college football field. — Page 2B Pick the winners and win $$$. Our annual Football Pickers Contest enters week two. — Page 4B BCA looks to rebound this week as the Knights return home. — Page 7B High School Football: Winder-Barrow High School WBHS back on the road after season’s first victory Landis throws for four touchdown passes in win against Walnut Grove By Chris Bridges Sports Editor An old football adage is that a team makes its most improvement of the season from week one to week two. The Winder-Barrow High School football squad added more proof to that line of thinking last Friday night in the Bulldogg 2016 home opener at W. Clair Harris Stadium. After falling by 31 points the previous week, WBHS rebounded in a big way by defeating Walnut Grover 41-7 in the second game of the new campaign. Javonne Hughes rushed for 122 yards and a workmanlike 23 carries while quarterback Brock Landis finished 14-of-21 through the air for 207 yards and four scores. “A lot of the improvement wasn’t so much football-based, but mindset," said Winder-Barrow coach Heath Webb. “From 2 p.m. last Sunday all the way through the final whistle Friday night. there was a group of players and coaches bound and determined to get it right. It was great to see everyone on the same page, working to get better. It was a tough lesson on how we need to approach each week. We had to get away from assuming that we are good." See Bulldoggs on Page 8B 8-AAAAAA: Team Reaion Overall Dacula 0-0 1-0 Hab. Central 0-0 1-0 Gainesville 0-0 1-1 Lanier 0-0 1-1 WBHS 0-0 1-1 Apalachee 0-0 0-1 Battle of Barrow: Softball Showdown SOFTBALL CLASH Apalachee High School’s Holly Janco reaches third base safely during the Lady Wildcats’ 7-4 victory against Winder-Barrow High School last night. Lady Bulldogg player Cathleen Nugue is shown attempting to make a defensive play to prevent Janco from making it to third. Photos by Jessica Brown LADY BULLDOGG LEADER T.K. Sauls, shown preparing to bat against Apalachee, is one of the top offensive and defensive players for WBHS. Round one goes to Lady Wildcats By Cliris Bridges Sports Editor A determined Apalachee High School softball team made the short trek to face Winder-Barrow High School last Thursday and returned home with a 7-4 victory. Savannah Butler went the distance for the Lady Wildcats who remained undefeated in region play entering this week. It was More Softball: •AHS stuns Lanier Tuesday with seventh inning rally, remains undefeated in region. — Page 6B the first region setback for the WBHS Lady Bulldoggs. The two teams will meet again on Sept. 15 at AHS. WBHS scored the game’s first run in the bottom of the first inning on a RBI single by Krystal Merrill. See Softball on Page 6B High School Football AHS senses change for victory Fri. By Chris Bridges Sports Editor There were some definite bright spots in the season opener for the Apalachee High School football team last week. A new program record was estab lished and the Wildcats battled well into the season half before visiting River Ridge High School eventually took a 27-14 win. “As always, there was some good and bad, “ said coach Steve Sims. “We turned the football over five times and you aren’t going to beat anyone like that. We played hard though and I am proud of how we got up off the deck after getting in the hole that we did." River Ridge jumped out to a 13-0 lead and that advantage proved to be a little too much for AHS to recover from. “We made it too hard on our selves," Sims said. River Ridge scored an 11-yard touchdown on its first series of the game and later returned an inter ception for a score. AHS meanwhile fumbled at the River Ridge two-yard line, preventing a possible score in the second quarter. The Wildcats did have a 96-yard touchdown run by Stephen Massil lon late in the first half which estab lished a new program record. The score kept AHS in the game when it appeared River Ridge was on the verge of possibly putting it away. After a turnover, River Ridge had a first and goal at the Wildcat 10-yard line, but the Knights would then be bit by the turnover bug with 1:09 left in the half. See Wildcats on Page 3B More Football Action: •BCA looks to rebound after first loss of 2016 football season. — Page 7B Cross Country: Apalachee High School AHS runners begin new season with tough meet in Savannah The Apalachee High School cross country team began a new season this past weekend, running at the Saucony Kickoff Classic in Savannah. “I think we ran pretty well,” said AHS coach Alex Holmes. "The course changed from the previous two years and times were significantly slower. In 2015, Marietta’s boys averaged a 16:07. This year, they averaged roughly a 17:30 with three of their top five runners returning. We averaged a time in the 18:00 in 2015. But this year we averaged a 19:30.” Fabian Martinez ran a 17:58 in 2015 for AHS but his time was 19:06 this year, his coach noted. The Wildcat varsity boys finished in sev enth place overall among 30 teams. "We had the fastest 1-5 split among all of the team with a 38-second split," Holmes said. “That was good to see." Fabian's time led the AHS boys followed by freshman Kevin Ellington at 19:31. Senior Robert Bowers had a 19:33 with freshman Kyle Donahue at 19:38 and senior Juan Morales at 19:45. The AHS varsity girls finished in ninth place. “We have a very young team with no seniors," Holmes said. Junior Maddie Highfill was injured with a sprained ankle and did not run in the event Saturday. Junior Molly Silva led the Lady Wildcats with a time of 22:48. Freshman Katie Silva was second in 24:07 followed by freshman Taylor Salvaggio in 25:19. Sophomores Michelle Murdock (25:29) and Lilly Karsten (25:30) also had strong performances for AHS. The AHS JV boys and girls both ran a 3K event. The JV boys finished in third place overall. Sophomore Will Zapeta led the boys with a fourth place individual showing and received a medal with a time of 11:02. Junior Wesley Witter finished with a time of 12:04 followed by freshman Mitchell Green in 12:09. The JV Lady Wildcats only had four run ners so they did not qualify for a team score. The JV girls were led by Morgan Turner with a time of 15:16.