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PAGE 2B BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2016 The Game Plan High School Football: Scouting Report Takeaways from week one of the new college football season I n all my years of watching college football, I can firmly conclude this: that Alabama is not fun to watch from a neutral perspective. This past weekend was the most memorable opening weekend of college football in a very long time. There were several amazing games, a handful of upsets and just a lot of excitement. I have been waiting months for this weekend to come around and it didn’t disappoint. So let me break down some of the big gest takeaways from the weekend. The first takeaway is the state ment I made at the beginning of this column: I’ve never liked Alabama (nor will I) and their dominating 52-6 victory over USC this past weekend further confirmed my dis like for them. And it’s not because I’m mad or upset that they keep dominating teams. Honestly, they’re just boring to watch. From a neutral perspective, their games always have so much hype (like this week end) and then the Tide just comes out there and dominates. Kudos to you, Alabama, it’s not personal, I just don’t care for you. Another takeaway from this weekend: LSU is still overrated. The Tigers always have a great defense, they seem to always have a great running game, but for some reason they can never find a suitable quar terback. They are going to have to figure something out, because there is no way they are going to compete with Alabama when they are losing to Wisconsin. Here is a third takeaway from the week end: Texas is back! Well, I think they are. The Longhorns had a huge opening win of the season against 10th ranked Notre Dame. Notre Dame could have been overrated, but I believe that Notre Dame team was pretty good and Texas hung with them all night and gave us an instant classic to go back and enjoy. The Big 12 better look out, looks like the Longhorns are back! And although it seems like Texas is back in the picture, Okla homa sure didn’t look too pretty in its opener of the season against Houston. Houston — a proud member of the American Athlet ic Conference — came into the game as the 15th ranked team in the country. There were a handful of people taking Houston in the upset over Oklahoma and I’m proud to say I was one of them. Houston seems to be the real deal. If they can go undefeated and win their confer ence, they might have a legitimate shot of being in the College Foot ball Playoff this year. Last and biggest takeaway: College foot ball is always better when the big teams schedule good out-of-conference matchups. I think everyone would agree with this, but isn’t it nice? There were so many exciting out-of-conference matchups this weekend and so many of them delivered. Matchups like Georgia/UNC, Clemson/ Auburn, LSU/Wisconsin, Texas/Notre Dame and so many others. The biggest teams really went out of their way to make the opening weekend of college football special and it is one that we won’t forget anytime soon. Tyler Rollason is a Winder-Bar row High School and Universi ty of West Georgia graduate. You can e-mail comments about this column to ty rollason @yahoo. com. WINDER-BARROW HIGH SCHOOL COACHING LEGENDS Cook Holliday and Isaiah Berry talk before a recent Winder-Barrow High School football game. Holliday and Berry have been long-time friends and coaching colleagues dating back several decades. The two contin ue to help coach track at WBHS while Berry remains a trusted football assistant coach. ¥ Run continued from IB Also Lanier High School, Locust Grove High School, Loganville High School, Newnan High School, Oak Hill Classical School, Pinecrest Academy, Walnut Grove High School and West Cobb Stampede. Middle School runners will be from Bear Creek Middle School, Haymon-Morris Mid dle School, Russell Middle School, Westside Middle School, Renfroe Middle School, Riverwatch Middle School, Loganville Middle School, Habersham Central Middle School and Summerour Middle School. The varsity girls race will start at 8 a.m. followed by the varsity boys at 8:30 a.m. The junior varsity girls will take the course at 9 a.m. followed by the junior varsity boys at 9:30 a.m. Middle school races Saturday will begin at 10:15 a.m. (girls) and at 10:45 a.m. (boys). MILLER CRAIG •The Game: Apalachee High School @ Discovery High School, Friday, 7:30 p.m. •Records: AHS 0-1-1; Discovery 0-3 •Last meeting between the teams: First meeting • Last Week: Apalachee tied Union Grove 22-22; Discovery lost to Pinecrest Academy 28-7 •Coaches: AHS: Steve Sims, second season at Apalachee, 0-12 overall; Discovery: Efrem Hill, first season, 0-3 •Key Players: AHS: WR Ethan Morris, QB Ryan Miller, WR/DB Will Smith; TE/DE Jason Craig; RB Stephen Massillon; K Justin Pretel; FB/LB Coree Dunlap; Discovery: QB Kaleb Cook •Notes: The Apalachee High School football team likely felt like it had victory within its grasp last Friday at Union Grove High School only to see the game — and victory — end up in a somewhat dissatisfying tie. Leading 22-2 at one point in the contest, the Wildcats were not able to hold on in the second half. It took a blocked extra point attempt by Jason Craig late in the game to keep Union Grove from taking a lead. AHS quickly moved down the field in the final minutes but with its kicker injured, the Wildcats had to try and throw the football into the endzone. The game's final play was an interception by Union Grove. Discovery High School is in its first full season of varsity play and enter this week's game 0-3. The team was defeated 48-0 by Jefferson and 42-6 by Cedar Shoals before losing by three touchdowns to Pinecrest Academy last week. For fans to understand how far the Discovery program still has to go, the Titans, despite being in Class AAAAAAA, fell to Class A Pinecrest Academy, an almost unheard of event in Georgia high school football. A win this week would be a confidence boost for AHS. While the Wildcats did not lose last Friday, the fact that Union Grove was able to tie the game late was disappointing for Apalachee players, coaches and fans. Head coach Steve Sims said a win is vital for his team, regardless of the opponent. On paper, the Wildcats are primed to get that win this week. Of course games are not won on paper. In its brief existence, Discovery has already had two head coaches. The Titans went 5-3 in its debut season, playing a junior varsity schedule under head coach Frank Hepler, who then left the school in January. Efrem Hill, then an assistant coach, was promoted to lead the program. They Said It: AHS coach Steve Sims: "Our kids are not focused on the other team's records or how good the team is. A win will be a win. It doesn't matter against who.” Apalachee High School @ Discovery HERE COME THE WILDCATS The Apalachee High School football team, after tying Union Grove High School last Friday, will remain on the road this week against Discovery High School. Photo by Jessica Brown August 31,2016 ~ Crossword Answers 1 D 2 A 3 T ‘a ■ 5 b 6 L 7 0 •g S F 10 D 11 A 12 I M A G "r A B A 1 0 N 17 M E M E N 18 T 0 M O R 19 R 0 T 20 E X P O S E 21 B E N C 22 H E R S 23 L U N 24 D 25 E T A s • 26 W 27 A 28 R D R O 0 M 30 T A L c 32 A L E 33 E N V 0 34 Y 35 c O R P 36 s 37 S L A V 39 E R A 40 s E R E 41 H O R S 42 T 43 R E c 44 A 45 P 46 E E L R I s 48 T 49 s H R A p N E L ’’A G H A 52 T O R E 53 W 54 I N N 1 P 55 E 56 G 57 S E N 58 A 59 T 60 E 61 H 0 G 1 62 R E V E R E N T i A L 64 A T E 65 T R I N E U N I s 67 T A D 68 s L E D 69 p U L E Follow the Bulldoggs, Wildcats and Knights each week. Call 770-867-6397 to subscribe NOTICE OF PROPERTY TAX INCREASE The BARROW COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION has tentatively adopted a millage rate which will require an increase in property taxes by (X07 percent. All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearings on this tax increase to be held at the Barrow County Board of Education, 179 West Athens Street, Winder, GA 30680 on the following dates: September 15,2016 at 11:00 AM September 15,2016 at 6:00 PM September 27,2016 at 5:00 PM This tentative increase will result in a millage rate of 18.50 mills, an increase of 0.013 mills. Without this tentative tax increase, the millage rate will be no more than 18.487 mills. The proposed tax increase for a home with a fair market value of $100,000.00 is approximately $0.49 and the proposed tax increase for non-homestead property with a fair market value of $75,000.00 is approximately $0.39.