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OCTOBER 1, 1998 AUGUSTA FOCUS
6A
Area football rules on Friday nights
AUGUSTA
Football Friday Night started
early last week at ARC, with the
Westside Patriots and Laney
Wildeats (J.V.) trying to decide
who’s field they were on. The
Patriots got off to an early 7-0
lead, and held it until the third
quarter, when Laney’s Nativus
Walker scored and the Wildcats
completed the two-point conver
sion totake an 8-7 lead. Westside
answered with a touchdown, but
missed the extrapoint. “Westside
13” and “Laney 8” stayed on the
board until there waslessthana
minute left on the clock. Then
Walker, facinga fourth and long,
made three bad passes, then con
nected with his receiver on the
20 yard line. Three plays later,
calling his own number, Nativus
Walker scored the winning touch
down. Final score: Laney 18,
Westside 13.
Friday means football
throughout the CSRA, and last
Friday saw the Purple People
Eatersof Richmond leaving their
new home (for the first time this
year) for (Josey) Eagle country,
looking forward to feasting on
some fried bird. With the final
score being 17-14, in ARC’s fa
vor, the only thing left to do was
the feast.
While away from home, ARC’s
turf was invaded by a hungry
pack of (Greenbrier) Wolves.
Which is better, a Wolf or a
(Laney) Wildcat? Everybody
knows a wolf can tree any cat,
and Friday night showed no dif
ferent. On the opening kick-off,
Tony Smith went 95 yards for
the first touchdown. And it was
all downhill for the Wildcats af
ter that. Final score: Green
brier 35, Laney 8. Talk about a
slaughter.
f Looking ahead, the Wolves will
he invading Purple People Eater
thrf again, October 30, this time
huntingthenatives. Thematch-up:
THE MONLY GAME
Weekdays, 2 to 5- PM on
1480 AM
XMI 8/1 A
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5%
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Financial wealth is
' NOT
a game of chance
SPORTS
Dn t"'e y "Q“l By Jimmy Carter
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‘ z‘:f | W oot
&
(Above) Greenbrier Varsity
holds on the ball as they win
” over Laney 35-8.
N ® L (Left) Westside JV stops #35
® "} y ¥ o Brodrick Green, but Laney JV
3 v P T takes win 18-13.
N Ve Photos by Jimmy Carter
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at quarterback, Larry Lee and
Mohammad Rasahada against Tony
Smith and Finis Messick on the line.
Will the Wolves survive? Or will they
end up as another feast for the
Purple People Eaters?
Augusta Focus is an
award-winning Walker
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There’s $l.B billion in Black buying power in Augusta.
Bungling “Bucs” in trouble!
Did you get a chance to see the
Tampa Bay “Bungleers” in action
on Monday Night Football, asthey
squared off against the (0 and 3)
Detroit Lions? The 27-6 setback at
the hands of Detroit left the Bucs
with a 1 and 3 record and a share
of third place in the NFC Central.
The only club the Bucs have been
able to beat have been the lowly
Chicago Bears (0-4 in '9B).
Is this the same NFL franchise
that the self-proclaimed pro foot
ball experts at Sports Illustrated
forecast as “one of the teams to
beat” in the National Football
Conference? Is thisthe same Bucs
squad that was projected to go to
the Super Bowl in January? SI,
please, give American abreak! How
cu 'ld anyone feel that this club
could seriously compete with the
49’ers, the Packers, the Bronco’s,
or the Kansas City Chiefs? Right
now, the resurgent Atlanta Fal
cons (2-1) could beat this team,
with or without @B Chris Chan
dler in the line-up for the “Birds of
Prey!” That'’s just how low these
Bungleers are floating right now.
The hazard lights are blinkingand
this Bucs schooner is on the verge
of sinking right in the middle of
Tampa Bay.
Third year Buccaneers head
coach Tony Dungy is one of the
most talented and gifted coachesin
the league, but right now he’s a
man with no clue. How can Dungy
remain so cool, calm and collected
when the Bucs make mistake after
mistake on both sides of the ball?
Dungy and his staff have no plans
tomake “any changes” in the start
ing line-up with his squad strug
gling tomove the ballup and down
the field, much less score points. Is
something a little blurry with this
picture?
The usually proficient defense of
the Bucs gave up 131 yards rush
ingagainst all-world runningback
Barry Sanders in 27 rushing at
tempts, but given the amount of
time all-pro’s Warren Sapp, Hardy
Nickerson, and John Lynch were
on the field it’s a miracle that
Barry Wonder didn’t scorch the
Pewter clad crew from the Sun
shine state for a three hundred
yard game. Just take a look at the
numbers. Tampa'’s time of posses
sion for the entire game was just
under 22 minutes (exactly 21:51)
while the Lions held the ball for a
whopping 38:09! A little lopsided
indeed. Ifyoudon’t have theballin
o
A
Timeout
with Tony (!
your possession, it'sa difficult task
toscorein the NFL. The Bucs had
only six first downs, versus seven
teen for Detroit. Tampa Bay’s
heralded ground game (featuring
fullback Mike Alstott and running
back Warrick Dun) had no where
to run in route to a dismal 55-yard
rushing performance. It’snowon
der ABC hasn’t invited the Bucs to
be a part of the Monday Night
party in over a decade. This team,
like those in years past in Tampa
Bay, is slowly turning out to be a
team of destiny, but that destiny
includes a one-way ticket to the
bottom of the NFC cellar.
Quarterback Trent Dilfer is not
the man to take this club to the
promised land filled with champi
onship banners and Super Bowl
rings. The Fresno State product is
an overrated hurler who can barely
lead himselfout of thelocker room,
much less an entire team. The
franchise would be well served to
end this six year Dilfer project and
start scouting around for a QB
that can make plays and lead by
example each and every Sunday
afternoon. In a nutshell, these
high-priced “choke artists” clearly
aren’t ready for prime time. This
weekend’s match-up against the
giants could mark the end of
Tampa’s post-season dreams. If
the Bucs are unable (or worse yet,
unwilling)to get by the G-Men in
their brand new multi-million dol
lar stadium, stand clear of the man
who rely on Pewter Power to get
the job done. After the furorof the
irate fans subsides, there may be
an explosion in the locker room
that this franchise may fail to re
cover from this season.