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PAGE 2B
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2016
High School Football: Winder-Barrow
Greater expectations
Webb: Bulldoggs no longer satisfied with just being in postseason
GREATER SUCCESS
Third-year Winder-Barrow coach Heath Webb has
guided the Bulldoggs to three consecutive state
playoff appearances. Photo by Jessica Brown
By Scott Thompson
Sports Editor
In the not-too-distant
past, a trip to the state
playoffs was a rare accom
plishment for Winder-Bar
row football.
Prior to its first appear
ance in 1993. the highlight
of the program’s history
came in 1989, when the
Bulldoggs went undefeat
ed in the regular season,
only to fall to Stephens
County in the region semi
finals.
Since the magical 1993
campaign that saw Wind
er-Barrow go 11-3 and
reach the GHSA Class
AAA semifinals before
losing to Thomasville, the
Bulldoggs have gone win
less in their past four trips
to the postseason (1996,
2003. 2014, 2015).
But as they prepare for
Friday’s Class AAAAAA
first-round matchup at top-
ranked Dalton, there is a
different buzz and level of
enthusiasm reverberating
around the Bulldoggs.
“The cool part of making
the playoffs this year is that
it was completely expect
ed,’’ said Winder-Barrow
coach Heath Webb, who
has now guided the Bull
doggs to the playoffs in
each of his three seasons
with the program.
Prior to Webb’s arrival,
the Bulldoggs had never
reached the postseason in
consecutive years.
“We’ve gotten to a point
where we’re not just hop
ing to make the playoffs.
We’ve moved beyond that
and it’s no longer our goal,”
Webb said. “Our goal now
is to win in the playoffs.
That’s a great thing for this
program to be able to raise
that bar higher.”
Webb is no stranger to
building up programs, tak
ing over a brand new North
Paulding program in 2007
and eventually building it
into a 6-4 squad in 2010.
And now he has found
unprecedented success
with the Bulldoggs. Webb
said the difference has
been the stability in his
coaching staff.
“The commitment has
been there from day one by
our (school) administra
tion to allow us to go out
and hire quality assistant
coaches,” he said. “The
other part of that equa
tion is keeping the guys on
staff once they’re here. The
continuity of it is import
ant because you want your
kids constantly having to
learn new systems and ter
minology every year. We
want to be able to keep
moving on with what
we’ve been doing.”
The other crucial factor
for the program’s height
ened expectations is the
players themselves, Webb
said.
“They have really bought
into what we’re trying to
do here,” he said. “You
can have good coaches and
good schemes and ideas.
But if your players don’t
believe in them, you’re not
going to go anywhere.”
A history of
Winder-Barrow
football playoff games
Below is a list of Wind
er-Barrow’s previous state
playoff games in chrono
logical order. Friday’s
matchup with Dalton will
be the Bulldoggs’ eighth
playoff game.
Nov. 26, 1993
Winder-Barrow 7
Woodward Academy 0
The Bulldoggs’ first-ev
er state playoff game was
a cold, rain-soaked affair
against Woodward Acad
emy at W. Clair Harris
Stadium. In a defensive
struggle. Woodward Acad
emy blinked first, fum
bling inside its own 15 and
setting up the Bulldoggs
in excellent field position
with just over a minute left
to play in the third quarter.
A few plays later early in
the fourth, senior tailback
Richard Heard ran into the
end zone from 3 yards out
for the game’s only score,
Dec. 3,1993
Winder-Barrow 15
Clarkston 7
Senior running back
Steve Duncan, who would
go on to rush for 1,000
yards during the 1993
campaign, led the charge
with 126 yards on the
ground, and quarterback
Dan Townley threw for 72
yards on 9-of-14 passing.
Townley’s 13-yard
touchdown pass to Heard
put the Bulldoggs up 7-0
late in the first before
Clarkston tied the game
late in the half.
After Winder-Barrow
fumbled inside the Clark
ston 1 early in the third,
the Bulldogg defense stiff
ened and forced a three-
and-out. An errant snap on
Clarkston’s punt attempt
then sailed out of the back
of the end zone for a safe
ty, giving the Bulldoggs a
lead that would hold up.
Duncan padded the lead
on Winder-Barrow’s ensu
ing possession, and the
Bulldoggs staved off a late
Clarkston drive with an
interception inside their 15
to preserve the victory and
advance to the Class AAA
semifinals.
Dec. 11, 1993
Thomasville 21
Winder-Barrow 0
Kevin Thompson threw
for 171 yards to fuel the
Bulldogs’ victory, and
Thomasville’s defense
held Winder-Barrow to just
155 total yards in the shut
out. Thomasville would go
on to lose in the state finals
the next week to its cross
town rival, Thomas County
Central.
Nov. 22, 1996
Alexander 20
Winder-Barrow 17
Down 20-10 in the
fourth, the Bulldoggs
staged a comeback, march
ing 72 yards on 13 plays
and cutting the Alexan
der lead down to 3 on an
11-yard touchdown strike
from Brent Murphy to
Michael Reynolds with
2:32 left to play.
The Bulldoggs then
successfully executed
an onside kick and were
poised to pull off the mir
acle.
But a few plays later, the
Cougars intercepted a pass
deep in Alexander territory
to hold off the rally and
win.
Nov. 21, 2003
Westlake 28
Winder-Barrow 21
Overtime
The Bulldoggs were the
hosts, but a heavy under
dog in the first-round
matchup against Westlake,
but stood their ground
throughout the night, send
ing the game into over
time. Westlake got the ball
first, and Dexter Jackson’s
15-yard scamper on the
first play of the extra peri
od gave the Cougars the
lead.
Winder-Barrow took
possession and the moved
the ball down to the West-
lake 4 with a fresh set
of downs. But the drive
stalled there, and on fourth
down. Bulldogg quarter
back Tyler Wilcher was
brought down by Cougar
defenders at the 3 to end
the game.
Nov. 14, 2014
Kell 31
Winder-Barrow 7
In their first playoff
appearance in 11 seasons,
the Bulldoggs were over
powered by the unbeat
en Longhorns in the
first round of the Class
AAAAA playoffs.
Winder-Barrow was
largely undone by sever
al self-inflicted miscues,
including multiple turn
overs.
CeCe Green, playing
with an injured thumb,
still managed 84 yards
rushing and a touchdown
on 21 carries. Noah Chap
man was 13-of-25 for 166
yards for the Bulldoggs in
the loss.
Nov. 12, 2015
Allatoona 52
Winder-Barrow 3
The Bulldoggs took an
early lead on a 28-yard
field goal by Andrew Mat-
tison, but that was the only
offense they could muster
against the high-powered
Buccaneers., who respond
ed with 52 unanswered
points for the easy win
that would eventually help
catapult them to the Class
AAAAA state champion
ship over Glynn Academy.
Note: Old game recaps
were compiled from the
archives of The Barrow
Journal, The Barrow
County News and The
Winder News.
Dacula overpowers
Bulldoggs 43-13
By Scott Thompson
Sports Editor
For a few minutes late in
the first half Friday night,
Winder-Barrow had all the
momentum.
But the Bulldoggs’ fail
ure to score a touchdown
and tie the game when they
had the ball inside Dac-
ula’s 1-yard-line — they
instead settled for a field
goal — led to an 11-point
swing and an eventual
43-13 drubbing by the Fal
cons in the teams’ regular
season finale.
Winder-Barrow fin
ished at 5-5. 2-3 in GHSA
Region 8-AAAAAA and
will visit Region 6 champi
on and top-ranked Dalton
in the first round of the
state playoffs next week.
Dacula (6-4. 5-0), which
clinched the Region 8
crown last week, will host
Sequoyah to start the post
season.
After a slow start that
saw them fall behind 10-0
midway through the first
quarter, the Bulldoggs
clawed their way back
into the game when Brock
Landis pump-faked and hit
a wide-open Gavin Phillips
to make it 17-10 with 3:12
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left in the first half.
The Bulldoggs recov
ered an onside kick and
immediately went back to
work. Landis completed a
third-down pass to Casey
Thurmond at the 9 to set
up first-and-goal and then
connected with him again
to get the ball just inches
from the goal line.
But after running back
Jamar Mack was stuffed
by the Falcon defense on
consecutive running plays,
an illegal motion penalty
pushed the Bulldoggs back
to the 6 and forced them to
trot out kicker Omar De La
Rosa, who hit a 23-yarder
to cut the deficit to 17-13
with 51 seconds remaining.
The Falcons then levied
the backbreaker on Wind
er-Barrow. Two plays after
they returned the ensuing
kickoff to their 43, Shayne
Buckingham hurled a
44-yard touchdown pass to
Kenny Severe to boost the
lead to 24-13.
Dacula poured it on in
See Game on Page 3B
LMsiS! £
Austin Jones
AHS
TIGHT ROPE
Winder-Barrow running back Jamar Mack
sprints down the sideline inside the Dacula
5-yard line during Friday’s game. The
Bulldoggs lost 43-13. Photo by Jessica Brown
minn*
Ke’von Mooney
WBHS
Farm Bureau
would like to
congratulate the
Players of the Week
for their exceptional
performances!
Bulldoggs continued from IB
per carry — and 15 touchdowns.
“They’ve got playmakers all over the place, and any of
those guys can take it to the house at any time,” Webb said.
“I don’t know that we’ve faced an offense like this from
a standpoint of balance. You can’t load up in the box to
take away the run from them and you can’t drop back to
take away the pass because they move the ball so well both
throwing and running.”
And it won’t get any easier against Dalton’s defense,
which has allowed under 13 points a game to this point.
“They’ve got two really big 300-pound defensive tack
les who are going to try to control the line of scrimmage
on you and let their linebackers run free.” Webb said.
“Then they’ve got two really good corners so we’ve got to
be able to win the battle at the line of scrimmage.”
The Bulldoggs (5-5), who finished fourth in Region 8,
will need a strong night from their key offensive play
ers, including junior quarterback Brock Landis who has
thrown for 1,601 yards and 15 touchdowns.
The Winder-Barrow ground game has also been effec
tive. After a mid-season injury to top running back
Javonne Hughes, sophomore Jamar Mack has filled in
nicely, running for 596 yards (an average of more than
5 per tote) and a touchdown. The production allows the
Bulldoggs to not shy away when it comes to running the
ball or Landis throwing to a corp of receivers that includes
Deon Williams. Casey Thurmond, Teague Moore. Latrell
Scott and Gavin Phillips.
“We’re going to take whatever the defense gives us,”
Webb said. “We’re not afraid to throw the ball 70 times or
run the ball 70 times if we feel like we can do it and that’s
what it’s going to take to win.”
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