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BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016
High School Volleyball: BCA
Knights to face
Heritage in playoffs
BCA one of 12 teams competing in 2-day tournament
Scott Thompson
Sports Editor
Bethlehem Christian Acade
my volleyball coach Karen Car
lyle doesn’t believe her team’s 9-10
record accurately reflects the season
it’s had.
Most of the Knights’ losses have
gone four or five sets, and they
haven’t been afraid to go up against
tougher competition, playing a
handful of GHSA schools.
Carlyle hopes that will serve BCA
well when it travels to Newnan
on Friday to take on the Heritage
School at 11 a.m. in the first round
of the GISA Class AAA playoffs.
The Knights are the No. 3 seed out
of Region 4-AAA while the Hawks
are seeded second in Region 3. Her
itage is hosting the entire two-day
12-team tournament.
“I know they have had a pretty
good season,” Carlyle said of the
Hawks. “Their region usually has
the top two or three teams in the
state. They will be tough, no doubt,
but if we play like I know we can
play, we can beat them. It will be a
hard fight, but we can beat them.”
After losing six seniors from its
10-member team last season, this
year could have been penciled in as
a rebuilding year for the Knights.
Not so, Carlyle said.
“They’ve worked hard since June
conditioning and going to camps to
get better,” she said. “Individually,
this is probably of the most talented
teams I have ever coached in my 10
years of coaching.
“We have many talented play
ers. If they can each play to their
God-given ability, we have a great
shot of going far in the state tour
nament.”
This year’s Knights also have six
seniors. That list includes Morganne
Brisby, Hannah Wilson and Bailey
Brown, who hold school records for
their respective positions.
The Knights have gotten a boost
from fellow seniors Haley Hensley
and Mary Grace Gaddy. Sophomore
Morgan Locklar rounds out the
BCA starting lineup. But Carlyle is
also confident in her bench players.
“I can play anyone who isn’t a
starter, and I know they will step
up and the team won’t miss a step,”
she said.
Carlyle said the team’s motto
is “FATE” (faith, attitude, team,
effort).
“We know with all four of these,
we will be the best team we can be
so we focus a lot on that,” she said.
“At the beginning of the season,
each player set three specific goals
for themselves and three goals for
the team. At this point, almost all of
those goals have been met, which
speaks volumes about their deter
mination.
“They just have to work together
to get to our final goal of the season
— getting to the championship.”
High School Football: BCA
Hawks soar past BCA
Football Pickers Contest:
Week 8
Kennedy wins in
4-way tiebreaker
Dale Kennedy of Bethlehem won the Barrow
News-Journal Football Contest last week, going
9-1 and winning a four-way tiebreaker over Bran
don Shedd of Auburn, Michael Cameron of Mon
roe and Johnny Suggs of Hoschton.
Kennedy predicted 60 points would be scored in
the Bethlehem Christian-Heritage game and was
just two off the actual total of 58. Shedd predicted
55, Cameron predicted 52 and Suggs predicted 38.
Contestants missing two games last week were:
Caleb Prickett of Monroe, Deborah Prickett of
Monroe, Kenny Coleman of Monroe, Larry
Manders of Winder, Bill House of Winder, Frank
McElveen of Winder, Ronnie Fields of Winder,
Larry McDaniel of Monroe and Ken Moore of
Winder.
Contestants missing three games last week were:
Vinson Wall of Dacula, Nathan Freeman of Beth
lehem, Charles Garrett of Winder, Rebecca Free
man of Bethlehem, Greg Prickett of Monroe,
Vince Sponacello of Winder, David McDaniel of
Lawrenceville, Bill Cartmill of Winder, Rhonda
Kennedy of Bethlehem, Eddie Wallace of Winder,
Dale McDaniel of Monroe, Michael McDaniel
of Monroe, Charles Perry of Winder and Angela
Smith of Winder.
Contestants missing four games last week were:
Hilga Rutledge of Auburn, Julie Franklin of Wind
er, Randy Franklin of Winder, Keith McElroy of
Winder, Gloria McDaniel of Lawrenceville, Billy
McDaniel of Lawrenceville and Steven Fisher of
Dacula.
Contestants missing five games last week were:
William Bennett of Winder.
Contestants missing six games last week were:
Elaine Moore of Winder and Robin Fisher of
Dacula.
Deadline for entries is 5 p.m. Friday. The Barrow
News-Journal office is located at 77 East May St.
in Winder.
Entries may be mailed but they must be post
marked by Friday.
Be sure to include your complete mailing address
on your entry so your prize can be mailed to you.
TOUGH GOING
BCA safety Isaac Hankinson makes a play in
last week’s game against Heritage. A win over
Loganville Christian could give the Knights a
home playoff game. (Photo by Jessica Brown)
Knights continued from IB
TRYING TO MAKE A PLAY
Bethlehem Christian Academy’s Tanner Schwebel fights for running room on Friday against the
Heritage School. The Knights kept things competitive in the first half, but the Hawks pulled away for an
easy 49-9 victory. (Photo by Jessica Brown)
Heritage uses strong 2nd half to overpower Knights
Scott Thompson
Sports Editor
Prior to Friday night’s
GISA Region 1-AAA
matchup at Bethlehem
Christian Academy, the
Heritage School had
steamrolled its previous
three opponents by a com
bined score of 163-9, and
the Knights weren’t able to
reverse that trend.
The undefeated Hawks
broke open a close game
in the third quarter behind
a balanced offensive attack
en route to a 49-9 throt
tling of BCA and moved to
within one win of a region
championship. Senior
quarterback Jacob Bryant
led the way for Heritage
(8-0,4-0 region), throwing
for 231 yards with three
touchdowns while running
for another. The Hawks
also did plenty damage
on the ground, rushing for
227 yards as a team.
“They showed why
they’re undefeated; they’re
a great team,” BCA coach
Lance Fendley said of
Heritage. “But our guys
played hard, and I think we
challenged them in ways
they haven’t been chal
lenged to this point. It was
a 14-2 ballgame at the half.
We don’t believe in moral
victories around here, but
we’ve seen some improve
ment and the things we did
well (Friday night) will be
a great building block for
our program.”
One of the main high
lights for the Knights
(4-5, 2-2) came early in
the third after Heritage had
stretched its lead to 21 -2 on
a 34-yard touchdown pass
by Bryant. On the ensuing
kickoff, the Hawks elected
to try an onside kick, but
BCA senior Austin Ben
nett scooped the ball up
at his 49 and galloped 51
yards untouched to cut the
deficit to 21-9.
The momentum was
short-lived, though, as the
Hawks marched back down
the field on an eight-play,
65-yard scoring drive. Will
LaGaudia caught a screen
pass from Bryant and
motored 38 yards to the
Knight 16-yard line, and
Bryant plunged in from a
yard out a few plays later
to make it 28-9.
Hayes Burns made it
35-9 later in the quarter
on a 17-yard scamper and
scored two more touch
downs in the fourth quar
ter — a 54-yard strike
from Bryant and a 23-yard
run — to put the finishing
touches on the blowout.
The other bright spot for
the Knights came in the
second when a bad snap
by Heritage deep in its ter
ritory led to the ball being
fumbled out of the back of
the end zone for a safety to
make it a 7-2 game.
After getting the ball
back, the Knights advanced
to the Hawks’ 49, but the
drive stalled there and Her
itage responded with an
86-yard scoring drive —
capped by a 29-yard lob
from Bryant to Brandon
Scruggs.
The BCA possession
following the safety was
not the only time the
Knights failed to cash in
on a Heritage miscue. Ben
nett picked off a pass by
Bryant at midfield, but his
20-yard return was negated
by an illegal block and
the Knights drive fizzled
quickly.
“We’ve got to be able to
convert on turnovers and
situations like (the safe
ty),” Fendley said. “You
have to take advantage of
your opportunities against
a team like that.”
H 7 7 21 14 - 49
B 0 2 7 0 — 9
H —Jake Barberio 71
run (Ryan Grant kick)
B — Safety
H —Jacob Bryant 29
pass to Brandon Scruggs
(Grant kick)
H—Bryant 34 pass to
Jay Macke (Grant kick)
B —Austin Bennett
51 kickoff return (Brian
Amaut kick)
H—Bryant 1 run (Grant
kick)
H—Hayes Bums 17 ran
(Grant kick)
H—Bryant 54 pass to
Burns (Grant kick)
H—Burns 23 ran (Grant
said.
The Lions’ pro-style offense is led by 6-foot-6,
225-pound senior quarterback Patrick Cory, who is
aided by an arsenal of playmakers at receiver and in
the backfield.
“They haven’t really varied off what they do best,
but they may throw it a little more because the quar
terback has only gotten better,” Fendley said. “The
main thing we’re going to have to do is try to put
the heat on him. He might not be as mobile as he
was in the past so we need to be able to put him in
uncomfortable situations and force him to make bad
decisions.”
On the other side of the ball, the Knights will be
tasked with stopping a strong Loganville defense
led by 6-foot-1, 215-pound middle linebacker Matt
Hardeman who Fendley said has caused headaches
for opposing offenses.
“He’s a real threat and if you let him have his way,
you’re going to be in for a long night,” Fendley said
of Hardeman. “They can be attacked on the ground
and in the air. We just need to stay balanced.”
Ultimately, Fendley said, the Knights will need
to be able to capitalize on its opportunities and any
Loganville Christian mistakes to have a chance.
That’s something that plagued them in last week’s
49-9 loss to Heritage when they failed to cash in on
a Hawks turnover and a safety and also had a field
goal attempt blocked.
“We have to be able to take advantage of those
moments,” Fendley said. “And after watching the
tape from last week, our effort has got to get a lot
better. We can’t get down a couple of scores and lose
our intensity like we did. We’ve got to be full speed
all the time.”
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Austin Bennett
BCA
Farm Bureau
would like to
congratulate the
Player of the Week
for their exceptional
performance!
770-867-2188