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1983: The Year in Sports
A Year of Change, Triumph, Sportsmanship
For Forsyth County athletes and
teams, 1983 proved to be a successful
year of competition and left behind a
number of titles for local competitors,
including five district championships,
one region championship, one state
championship and one third-place na
tional finish.
The top local sports stories of 1983
represent successes and triumphs not
only in terms of wins, but also in terms
of competitive sportsmanship. And in
addition to the success stories, the year
1983 was a year of change, especially at
the high school level, where a new head
football coach was named and junior
varsity squads were added to the base
ball and football programs. At the
youth level, the Cumming Recreation
Department successfully initiated a
soccer program.
' The stories of the year in chronologi
cal order and excerpts from The News’
coverage of those follow:
January-February
Head Football Coach Jim Cooper
Resigns; Ronnie Jackson Named Suc
cessor. Jim Cooper, the Forsyth
•County Bulldogs’ head football coach
for six years, announced his resignation
from that position in late January.
Cooper’s resignation came on the
heels of a season that saw the Bulldogs
post a 3-6-1 overall record, and a 1-6
mark in Region 8-AAAA. At Forsyth,
Cooper compiled a 24-35-1 record, in
cluding a mark of 12-17-1 since the
Bulldogs' return to a region schedule in
1980.
Cooper’s replacement was six-year
Bulldog assistant Ronnie Jackson, who
was named coach in February. In ac
cepting the post, Jackson said, “I think
what we have to do here is create a new
attitude about Forsyth football. We
need a positive attitude, not only on the
-team and in the school, but in the
community. We have to have that in
.order to build a winning tradition. And
;I’m going to do everything I can to
make that happen.”
• In the spring, coaches Bob Penland
and Robert Mills also announced their
[resignations from the Forsyth football
[staff, and Jackson chose Forsyth tea
cher and former coach James Smith,
North Forsyth ninth grade coach Richie
Taylor and Fayette County assistant
So Long Forsyth This Time It’s For Real
By GREG LITTLE
Well, it’s time to say goodbye . . . again.
If you'll recall, I was supposedly leaving Forsyth County and The News back in
September to begin work on my master’s degree in public relations (specifically
sports information) at the University of Georgia.
But things didn’t work out as expected, and plans to start school were postponed
until January, allowing me to hang around for the end of the local football and
softball seasons, and see what the basketball and wrestling teams had to offer as
their seasons opened.
Well, January is here, so it’s time to depart.
This time, it’s for real. I won’t tempt fate by saying that nothing will stop me
from being in Athens when classes begin Jan. 6, but if I’m not there, you can look
for my name in the obituaries.
As far as high school athletics are concerned, team members and coaches are
probably dropping to their knees and offering thanks for my departure.
You see, I have come to the conclusion that I have jinxed the Bulldogs and I,ady
Bulldogs, condemning them to losses by my mere presence.
Foolishness, you say?
Look at the facts.
Since I began covering sports in Forsyth, in the spring of 1982, the high school’s
overall athletic record in both varsity and junior varsity team competition is 93-
150-4, and 55-97-1 in region play. That computes to winning percentages of 37.7
percent and 36.0 percent, respectively.
If you take away coach Johnny Tallant’s lady Bulldogs’ softball record of 29-8-1
(23-8 in region games), those winning percentages drop to 30.6 percent and 26.2
percent, respectively.
Now, I’m not sure of Forsyth’s record in the two years before I arrived, but it
Forsyth Cagers
Tip Off New Year
Rested and well-fed from the holi
days, with firm resolutions to win in
mind, Forsyth County’s high school and
junior high basketball teams take to the
courts next week to tip off the new year.
The Bulldogs begin the second half of
Iheir 1983-84 schedules Jan. 6, when
Jthey will host the Berkmar Patriots.
The next day the varsity squads have a
rematch with Cherokee County, on the
Warriors’ home court this time.
In their last confrontation, the varsity
split with Cherokee, the Lady Bulldogs,
3-2 in season play, edging the Warrio
rettes 43-41, and the boys, 1-4 on the
Community Basketball
Season Begins Jan. 3
The Cumming/F orsyth County Rec
reation and Parks Department men’s
open, men’s church and women’s open
league basketball seasons will get un
der way the first week of January.
Seven teams registered for the men’s
open league, which plays six Wednes
day night games at 7, 8 and 9 p.m.—
beginning Jan. 4 at the old gym in
Cumming. The teams which entered
the open league represent: the Bank of
Cumming, Strict’s, Coal Mountain, Vil
lage Hair Styles, Mack’s, Midway
Building Supply and L.C. Tax Service.
The men’s church league also regis
tered seven teams, which will play six
Sunday games at the old gym, begin
ning Jan. 8, with matchups at 2,3, and 4
coach Pete McGinnis to join Allen Prit
chett and Jerry Hogan on the staff.
Success, in terms of wins, eluded
Jackson’s Bulldogs in the fall, as For
syth managed but one win in an injury
filled season in rugged Region 8-AAAA.
This month, Jackson announced the
Bulldogs will compete on a non-region
level the next two years in order to
build a winning attitude and develop a
feeling of confidence among the players
and coaches.
Lady Gators Complete Undefeated
Season. “With five girls back from 1981-
82’s 11-1 team, including four starters.
South Forsyth coach Jerry Cauley and
his players set a goal of a perfect
season, and saw that dream realized
when a 41-19 defeat of Crestwood in the
final game ended the Lady Gators’
season at a spotless 15-0.
Cauley cited the Lady Gators’ great
est plus as being the team’s balance.
“We didn’t look to any one player to
lead us in scoring every game. I think
each one of the starters led us in scoring
in at least one game, so it seemed
anytime one or two girls would have a
bad night, the other girls would step in
and pick up the slack.”
Four of the Lady Gators Angie
Fagan, Glynis Caldwell, Dawn Wiesner
and Kerensa Shoemake are now
playing for the Forsyth County Lady
Bulldogs’ varsity team as sophomores.
Swanger Wins Region Wrestling Ti
tle. Senior Jeff Swanger captured the
first-ever region title for a Forsyth
County wrestler at the Region 8-AAAA
Wrestling Tournament at Berkmar to
lead a Bulldog effort that qualified
seven local wrestlers for the AAAA
state meet.
Swanger’s road to his wrestling title
was not an easy one, as he entered the
188-lb. weight class seeded third. The
championship match was a dramatic
one, and one in which both Swanger and
Parkview opponent Stacy Chadwick
went down with injuries after having
butted heads in a ferocious collision.
But Swanger fought off the pain and
light-headedness in the final period to
record an 11-8 decision and claim the
region title. v
Joining Swanger at state competition
were seniors Kerry Ward, Chris Clan
ton, Ben Wofford, junior Scott
season, losing 63-56.
In junior high basketball action, the
South Forsyth ninth grade Gators are
first to tip off in 1984, with a busy, three
game week beginning Jan. 3 at Lump
kin County, followed by a Jan. 5 contest
at home against Crestwood, and a Jan.
9 game at North Hall. South’s seventh
and eigth grade Gators resume play
Jan. 9 at home against Gainesville.
All four Otwell teams tip off the new
year at home against South Hall, fol
lowed by back-to-back ninth grade con
tests at home against Brook wood, Jan.
10, and at Brookwood, Jan. 13.
p.m. Entered in the men’s church
league are teams from: Cumming First
Baptist, Concord Baptist, two teams
from the First Christian Church (green
and white), Community Bible Church
and two teams from Cumming United
Methodist Church (blue and grey).
Three teams registered for women’s
open league play, which has combined
with the Hall County recreation depart
ment and will play Sundays at 2,3 and 4
p.m., with home contests at Forsyth
County High School Jan. 15,29 and Feb.
5. The Forsyth women’s teams rep
resent Ingram’s Heating and Air Condi
tioning, the Bank of Cumming and
Dairy Queen.
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SOUTH S LADY GATORS POSTED PERFECT SEASON
...strong team play led by Kerensa Shoemake
surely was better than 93-150-4.
I first began to suspect the jinx last spring, while covering the varsity and junior
varsity baseball teams.
The varsity won four games, and while I sat in on most of the losses, I was
present for only one of the victories.
The first win came over Berkmar on a Tuesday, the day we newspapermen
spend most of the day in Lawrenceville piecing the paper together. Cedar Shoals
fell to the Bulldogs on the day of the boys region track tournament, so again I was
conspicuous by my absence.
I thought for sure I would get to see a win when Berkmar traveled to Gumming
for the season’s second game, but when I left in the fourth inning the Bulldogs were
trailing 4-2. With me gone, they rallied for a 6-5 triumph.
Hmmmm.
The lone win came as senior outfielder I>ee Williams overcame long odds, not to
mention my jinx, and smashed a seventh-inning grand slam to give the Bulldogs a
12-9 eome-from-behind victory.
My luck with the junior varsity was no better (or should I say the junior varsity’s
luck with me was no better?).
Apparent losses became wins in my absence and sure victories turned into
defeats with my presence.
Again, an outstanding individual effort (actually two outstanding individual
efforts) broke my jinx and allowed me to see a win. Heading into the final inning
nursing a 5-3 lead over Johnson, the Bulldogs surrendered one run and the tying
runner was rounding third as Jason Munday fielded a two-out single in leftfield and
threw toward the plate. Catcher Tony Yarbrough caught the perfect throw to nail
the runner at the plate and preserve the win.
And that was my only win.
Chase Is
The Goal
Fox hunting with hounds is a cen
turies-old tradition transplanted
from England to the American colo
nies, where the sport has since flou
rished.
Since 1949, five hunts have been
established in Georgia, the oldest
being the Shakerag Hounds Hunt,
located in southeast Forsyth County.
The Shakerag Hounds Hunt, under
the direction of joint huntmasters
Henry Muller and Marty Levine,
recently got its first biweekly hunt of
the season under way.
It was a hurdling procession of
formally dressed horsemen on spir
ited mounts, a pack of over 50 highly
trained hounds that received their
direction from the toots of huntsman
major Peter Wainwright’s horn and,
in the lead of course, the fox.
The real goal of the hunt is not as
much the actual catching of the fox,
but the cross-country chase it gives
over fields, streams and fences.
The chase takes place over 10,000
acres of picturesque countryside,
most of which is owned by various
club members.
Martin Marietta’s director of gov
ernmental affairs, John Long, who is
also a hunt enthusiast, consented for
the club to hunt on the 836 acres of
rolling woodland his company leases
in the southeast comer of Forsyth.
Shakerag Hounds hunters also
have permission of club members to
hunt on land they own in the north
west part of the county, near the
Etowah River.
II I M Mm fm |
Sanford Named to Metro All Star Team
Mike Sanford, a senior offensive tackle for the Forsyth
County Bulldogs during the past football season,
accepts congratulations from coach Ronnie Jackson for
being named to the 22-player Metro Atlanta All-Star
Team. WSB Radio and Stone Mountain Park, sponsors
of the annual all-star team, honored Sanford with a
plaque at an awards banquet on Saturday, Dec 10 at
THE FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS—WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1983
Blackstone and sophomores Mike Sla
ton and Jeff Lord. Slaton, competing in
the 170-lb. class, finished fifth in the
state, winning two matches before los
ing two in a row, while Swanger won his
opening match, but was defeated in his
next two.
March
Concord Takes District Basketball
Title. The Concord Baptist Church bas
ketball team swept three games at the
GRPS 7th District Church league Bas
ketball Tournament in Gainesville to
claim the district championship and
earn a berth in the state tournament.
The title was the second in six months
for Concord, which also captured the
district church league softball
championship last August.
Concord downed St. Thomas, of Ros
well, in the district finals 63-44 as Phil
Moore led four Forsyth players into
double figure scoring. Moore finished
with 19, Chuck Moore scored 14, Steve
Sweat totaled 12 and Barry Slaton
added 10.
But in the first round of the state
tournament, held in Augusta, Concord’s
hopes of another championship were
shortlived as the team dropped a 74-67
decision to First Baptist of Augusta,
despite 28 points from P. Moore.
14-And-Under, 12-And-Under Softball
Teams Place In State Tournament.
Cumming’s youth softball teams domi
nated play in the Georgia Recreation
and Parks Society (GRPS) 7th District
Softball Tournaments in Toccoa, scor
ing with two district champions and
three runners-up in the four tourna
ments.
Cumming placed teams in each
double-elimination tournament’s
championship game and the 12-and-un
der division finals pitted two Cumming
teams against one another for the title,
with Cumming I scoring a thrilling 7-6
come-from-behind victory to claim a
berth in the state tournament in Dan
ielsville.
Like its 12-and-under counterpart,
the Cumming I 14-and-under squad
rolled through its tournament unde
feated, and captured the championship
with a seventh-inning rally against
I,awrenceville in the title game. The
triumph assured the local team a spot
in the 14-and-under state tournament in
Okay, it’s just coincidence, I convinced myself.
But then the string continued this fall. The Bulldogs lost nine of their ten football
games, each of which I attended. (I guess even my jinx couldn’t turn the Lumpkin
game into a loss.)
Tallant’s I>ady Bulldogs lost only four softball games this season. You got it I
was at every one of them.
Take a look at the current basketball season. Both teams are 2-5 and while I have
seen both Bulldog wins (maybe my jinx is not as effective against the fairer
sex), I have yet to see the Bulldogs on the right side of the scoreboard at the end of
a game.
The first win came against Parkview in the Omni, an assignment which my
replacement here at The News, Doug Allinger, drew. “Okay, they’ve got their act
together now, so I’ll get to see a win over Cedar Shoals,” I thought.
Wrong. Strike up another loss.
Then, in the first round of the Greater Atlanta Christian Basketball Tournament,
the Bulldogs again won, and Doug again covered the game while I was in
Dahlonega taking in the Lumpkin Wrestling Tournament.
With a chance to see a Forsyth team capture an honest-to-goodness tournament
title, I made plans the second night to watch the Bulldogs go up against
Westminster for the crown.
I should have stayed away. Without me, the Bulldogs might have had a shot to
win the close game, but with me there had to instead settle for second place.
So, as I head off to Georgia, I leave my best wishes to the Bulldogs and Lady
Bulldogs of Forsyth, as well as all the other athletes, coaches and friends in the
county. Maybe, without having to deal with my jinx, everybody can begin getting
the wins they work so hard for and rightly deserve.
I just hope I don’t take my jinx over with me to Athens.
Claxton.
After falling to Effingham County in
its second game of the state tourna
ment, the 14-and-under team fought its
way through the losers bracket to face
Effingham again in the double-elimina
tion tournament’s championship round,
and avenged the earlier loss with two
straight wins to claim the state title.
Two one-run losses to eventual fi
nalists Monroe and Fitzgerald cost the
12-and-under team a chance to win its
state championship, but when play
ended in the tournament, everybody at
the Danielsville event knew that this
group of softball players would have to
be reckoned again in years to come.
Despite the two narrow losses, Cum
ming finished the state tournament as
the third-place team.
May
Bulldog Golfers Place 10th In State
Meet. For the third year in a row, the
Forsyth County Bulldogs competed in
the AAAA State Golf Tournament and
for the second consecutive year, the
Bulldog golfers placed tenth out of a
field of 16 teams.
This year’s tournament, held on Je
kyll Island’s Oleander Golf Course, saw
the Bulldogs shoot a team total of 336,
the same total that earned the Bulldogs
runners-up honors in the Region 8-
AAAA tournament at Forsyth’s Canon
gate On Lanier course.
Senior Rhett Sinclair led the Bulldogs
in the one-day tournament, posting an
18-hole round of 81, followed by junior
Tracy Stansell’s 83, senior Raymond
Meadows’ 84 and junior John Redd’s 88.
July-August
14-And-Under, 16-And-Under Base
ball Teams Advance To State Tourna
ments. Forsyth County’s 14-and-under
baseball team played what manager
Tony Martin called “our worst game of
the year” in the championship game of
the Dixie Boys League District I Tour
nament in Dahlonega and dropped a 12-
3 decision for its first loss in the double
elimination event.
But the local team, made up of
members of the Forsyth County Youth
Baseball Association champion
Friendship squad, and all-stars from
the league’s other teams, rebounded
from that loss to easily win the second
Continued on Page 5B
the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel in Atlanta. Georgia
Tech coach Bill Curry spoke to the group of all stars,
among which numbered eight members of the 1983 All
State teams, including Peachtree quarterback Todd
Rampley, Southwest DeKalb quarterback Eric Jones,
Gordon defensive back Rory Turner and Fulton lineman
Tracy Rocker.
PAGE 1B