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BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2021
FOOTBALL
Wildcats roll past Johnson with explosive first half performance
By Scott Thompson
sthompson@barrownewsjoumal.com
About halfway through
the second quarter of
Apalachee’s homecom
ing game against John-
son-Gainesville on Friday,
Oct. 15, Wildcat running
back Colby Sikes trotted
back to the huddle after
a holding penalty negated
what would have been a
44-yard touchdown run by
him. Moments later, on the
very next snap, Sikes was
holding both his arms up
in the air in celebration as
his fellow senior running
back Jeff Roberts motored
48 yards for a touchdown.
It was that kind of
night for the Wildcats,
who scored on all six of
their first-half posses
sions, tallying 42 points,
and kicked it into cruise
mode with the backups in
the second half in an easy
42-0 rout of the Knights
at R. Harold Harrison
Stadium. It was the sec
ond victory this season
for Apalachee, which im
proved to 2-5 overall and
evened its GHSA Region
8-AAAAA mark at 2-2.
But it’s the second part
of that record that matters
to Apalachee head coach
Tony Lotti and his staff
and players, and, minutes
after Friday’s win, the
team’s attention was al
ready toward its upcoming
home game with Walnut
Grove.
With just three weeks
left in the regular season,
Apalachee finds itself
right in the thick of about
as large of a jumble as one
could imagine this late in
the year for any region. At
the end of play Friday, six
of the region’s eight teams
stood tied in the standings
at 2-2, with Clarke Central
(4-0) at the top and John
son (0-5) bringing up the
rear. The Wildcats’ final
three games will come
against three of those
teams in the mix — Wal
nut Grove, Loganville and
Jackson County — as they
try to earn the program’s
first trip to the state play
offs since 2009.
“Tonight was just one
hurdle, and now we’ve got
three more to get over,”
Lotti said after Friday’s
win. “We’ve been playing
pretty good football the
last few weeks. We’ve ei
ther been on top or we’ve
been close, but we have
not met our goals yet and
the guys know that. So
we’re going to enjoy this
one tonight, but, come the
weekend and Monday, all
focus will be on green
(Walnut Grove’s primary
color).”
Apalachee came out of
the gate quickly Friday
and never looked back,
forcing a three-and-out on
defense to start the game
and getting a 17-yard punt
return by Ethan Middle-
brooks into Johnson ter
ritory before sophomore
running back Prince Tate
took a handoff on the
team’s first offensive snap
and ran around the left
end untouched for a 40-
yard touchdown. Then,
three plays after Thomas
Ouma recovered a fumble
at the Knights’ 20 on the
ensuing possession, Rob
erts scored the first of his
three touchdowns on the
night from 6 yards away.
Roberts would score again
a few minutes later on a
10-yard run that capped
a six-play, 58-yard drive,
and the blowout was on.
Tate, who totaled 82
yards and scored twice on
just three carries, punched
one in from 11 yards out to
extend Apalachee’s lead to
28-0 with 10:05 left in the
first half. An interception
by Mason Griffiths set up
Roberts’ third touchdown,
and, after Jahmal Wallace
picked off a Johnson pass,
the run-heavy Wildcats
nabbed their first passing
touchdown of the year as
Isaiah Skinner connected
with Ethan Middlebrooks
in the end zone from 15
yards away to boost the
advantage to 42-0 with
1:20 to go before the
break.
On the other side of the
ball, in addition to coming
up with three turnovers,
Apalachee’s defense held
a struggling Johnson of
fense to 79 total yards on
the night. The Knights
(0-7 overall) were shut out
for the fifth consecutive
game while surrendering
42 or more points for the
sixth time this year.
“I told Coach (William)
Harrell I know what it’s
like,” Lotti said. “I’ve
been there and tried to
build programs through
out my whole career, so
I know exactly what he’s
going through. He’s a top-
notch guy and I was really
impressed with the guts
his kids showed.
“I’m really proud of how
we came out. I’m proud of
how we executed. We put
some guys in some differ
ent situations to see how
they would react, and I
was able to get a lot of the
other guys a lot of quali
ty time on the field. I was
just really proud of our fo
cus, especially with all the
distractions of homecom
ing and everything that’s
been going on. We put
sustained drives togeth
er, ate clock and did the
things we needed to do on
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Photos by Scott Thompson
Apalachee’s Jeff Roberts scores the second of his three touchdowns on the night against Johnson on Friday, Oct.
15, all of which came in the first half of a 42-0 blowout victory by the Wildcats.
offense, and our defense
did a good job of getting
off the held.”
A complete perfor
mance, the coach agreed,
but one now firmly in the
rear-view mirror with big
ger battles and tests ly
ing ahead in the coming
weeks.
“The one thing this
region has shown this
year is anybody can beat
anybody,” Lotti said.
“You better come ready
to play, and that’s what
I’ve preached to my guys
since the start of the sea
son when we were dealing
with COVID, contact trac
ing and everything else.
The bottom line is we’ve
got to focus on being
ready to play every week.
We don’t have to be the
best team region; we just
have to be the best team
that night against whom
ever we’re playing.
“I’m just looking for
ward to seeing if we can
get over the next hurdle.”
J0000 —0
A 21 21 0 0 —42
A—Prince Tate 40 run
(Brody Ham kick)
A—Jeff Roberts 6 run
(Ham kick)
A—Roberts 10 run
(Ham kick)
A—Tate 11 run (Ham
kick)
A—Roberts 48 run
(Ham kick)
A—Ethan Middle-
brooks 15 pass from Isa
iah Skinner (Ham kick)
Apalachee’s Prince Tate scores on a 40-yard touchdown run on the Wildcats’ first
offensive snap of the night against Johnson.
Apalachee’s Thomas Ouma (14) runs off the field in celebration after recovering a
fumble in the first quarter of Friday’s game.
Barrow County Schools
Child Find
Developmental Screenings
for children ages 2 1 / 2 - 5
November 10,2021
8:30 am - 1:30 pm
Statham Elementary
1970 Broad St, Statham, GA
TO SCHEDULE A SCREENING,
please contact Karen Bedford at (770) 867-4527
For school-aged children (ages 6-21) enrolled in a home
school program or private school within Barrow County, you
may contact the Director of Special Education, Dr. Brad
Bowling, for information regarding the referral process at
770-867-4527.
For children ages 6 to 21 enrolled in the Barrow County
School District, please contact your local school for more
information about the referral process.
In accordance with federal regulations and Georgia State
Board Rule 160-4-7-03, for children ages 3 through 21, BCSS
is responsible for identifying, locating, and evaluating all
children within the jurisdiction of the LEA who are suspected
of having disabilities that may result in a need for special
education and related services.
"Child Find" del Sistema
Escolar de Barrow
Chequeos y evaluaciones del desarrollo
infantil para los ninos entre las edades de 2
1 / 2 hasta los 5 anos
10 de noviembre, 2021
8:30 am - 1:30 pm
En la Escuela Primaria de Statham
1970 Broad St, Statham, GA
PARA HACER CITA
Contacte a Karen Bedford
(770) 867-4527 (Deje mensaje en espanol)
Para los hijos ya de la edad de asistir a la escuela (6-21 anos) que
estudian o en casa o en una escuela privada dentro del Condado de
Barrow, podra contactar al Director de Educacion Especial, el Dr. Brad
Bowling, para obtener informacion sobre el proceso de pedir una
evaluacion, al 770-867-4527.
Para los estudiantes de 6 a 21 anos de edad que ya asisten a una
escuela publica dentro del Condado de Barrow, por favor, contacte a la
escuela local para obtener mas informacion sobre el proceso de pedir
evaluacion.
De acuerdo con los reglamentos federales y la ley estatal de Georgia
160-4-7.03, en cuanto a los ninos de entre la edad de 3 anos hasta los
21 anos, el Sistema Escolar de Barrow tiene la responsabilidad de
identificar, localizar, y evaluar a todos los ninos dentro de la jurisdiccion
de Sistema Escolar Local que quizas tengan incapacidades que
posiblemente ocasionen la necesidad de recibir educacion especial y
los servicios relacionados con la educacion especial.