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Junior High Roundup
Bullpups intercept North Hall’s Trojans 24-6
GAINESVILLE Four interceptions by Matthew
Hughes and another by teammate Kelly Whitmire spear
headed an Otwell defensive effort which limited a frus
trated North Hall squad to its lowest point total of the
season, and a pair of first-half touchdown runs by Ricky
Tanner sent the ninth grade Bullpups on their way to a 24-
6 victory last Thursday.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Bullpups put to
gether a 40-yard touchdown drive in the second period.
An 18-yard run by Whitmire and a nine-yard pass from
Ritchie Pirkle to tight end David House propelled the
Bullpups to the North Hall 13.
After Pirkle’s quarterback sneak garnered the Bul
lpups a first down on a fourth-and-inches play, Tanner
swept around left end for his first of two touchdowns
from eight yards out. Pirkle’s conversion pass to Hughes
gave the Bullpups an 8-0 lead with 4:46 left in the half.
Otwell’s defense held the Trojans without a first down
on their next possession and a North Hall punt put the
Bullpups’ offense back in business with just three min
utes left before intermission.
After gaming a first down to their own 40, Tanner
exploded through a huge hole on the left side of the line
and streaked untouched into the end zone for a 60-yard
touchdown run. Pirkle’s pass to House on the conversion
play gave the Bullpups their 164) halftime advantage. On
the day, Pirkle connected on eight of his nine passing
attempts, giving the Bullpups an aerial attack that kept
the Trojans from overplaying the Otwell running attack.
North retaliated with a 10-play scoring drive on its first
LADY BULLDOGS
“I've been pretty well pleased with
our defense,” understated Forsyth
Coach Johnny Tallant of his Lady
Bulldogs, who allow their opponents
an average of but 2.9 runs per game.
“We’re pretty well making all the
plays we’re supposed to, and we come
up with a few outstanding plays from
time to time that have helped keep us
out of some jams.”
Tallant terms Bennett “the best
defensive player I’ve ever had,” and
watching the senior in action, one can
see the validity of the coach’s boast.
Graced with an abundance of speed
and an uncanny knack for getting a
lightening-quick jump on any hit ball,
Bennett has the range to turn many
would-be hits into routine outs and
turn potential extra-base hits into
singles.
“She’s from a softball family, and
anybody who’s seen her mother and
sisters play know where she gets her
ability,” said Tallant. “She’s got a lot
of naturall ability, but she works at it
too. She keeps up with what the
batters have done early in the game,
so she’ll know how to play them
later.”
Bennett is flanked by junior Kathy
Diggle in leftfield and senior Leda
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Bulldog territory as Rinehart sliced
through the Forsyth defense on a
series of misdirection plays that
would prove devastating in the next
half.
But Bulldog tackle Joey Edmond
son outfought a pair of Patriots for a
fumble recovery in the Berkmar
backfield to end the threat at the
Forsyth 39.
Forsyth failed to take advantage of
the turnover, however, and a strong
rush by the Patriots blocked Nichel
son’s punt at the 39, giving Berkmar
one more chance to score with
slightly under a minute remaining in
the half.
But Forsyth’s 20-7 advantage re
mained intact (until the intermission,
at least) as Edmondson and Belich
sacked Caldwell for a seven-yard loss
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Defensive back Scotty Wilson returns interception
possession of the second half, but Otwell defensive end
Terry Roper stood up the Trojans running back on the
conversion run to maintain a safe 16-6 Bullpup lead.
The Bullpups closed out the scoring late in the fourth
quarter when, after a Pirkle pass to Hughes resulted in a
key first down, Whitmire reached paydirt on a four-yard
run. Matt Stancil’s conversion run upped the Bullpups to
a commanding 24-6 advantage.
Twice in the final four minutes, Hughes (who had
already thwarted two North Hall drives with intercep
tions) picked off Trojan passes to help preserve the
victory.
With the win, Otwell remained undefeated with a 3-0
mark.
Otwell 14 N. Hall 6
GAINESVILLE With just under two minutes left to
play in last Thursday’s game, Matt Wright’s 60-yard
kickoff return for a touchdown lifted Otwell’s seventh
and eighth grade Bullpups to a 14-6 victory over North
Hall.
The Trojans, who had trailed 6-0 since the opening
quarter, knotted the score with 2:00 remaining in the
contest on a 20-yard touchdown pass that just escaped the
reach of an Otwell defender.
Defensive back David Markey batted down the Tro
jan’s conversion pass to maintain the tie.
La them in center, and junior Dana
Ledbetter joins the trio in right to
give Forsyth quite possibly its best
outfield ever.
The four have been credited with
but three errors in 14 games, and
have accounted for seven assists on
throws back to the infield or to home
for outs.
As Tallant noted, on more than a
few occasions the Lady Bulldogs have
frustrated its opponents with the out
field’s defensive prowess. “Teams
have a tendency to get down when
they hit the ball well, but see it caught
for an out or run down for a single.
Big plays in the field can give you the
momentum and take the wind out of
the other team,” Tallant said.
To coin a Ted Turner phrase, the
Lady Bulldogs’ infield “ain’t too
shabby” either, with senior Rene
Major at third, Sutko at shortstop,
Waldroop at second and Deanna
Wood and Christi Woodham splitting
time at first.
As on any softball team, the short
stop Sutko (only a sophomore) is the
central figure in the Lady Bulldogs’
infield. “Ideally, you want your best
infielder at shortstop, because that’s
the key (position on the field).
on a fourth-and-four play as time
expired.
The Bulldogs looked to be driving
toward a score that would put the
game out of reach in the early min
utes of the second half, as the Veer,
still working under the guidance of
Payne and utilizing the running of
Ballard and Ingram, chewed up yard
age on a drive to the Berkmar 32.
But the march ended with a For
syth fumble on the 34, and the game’s
momentum took a definite swing to
ward Berkmar with the Patriots’
recovery.
Operating out of a Wing T forma
tion unfamiliar to Forsyth, Berkmar
took advantage of the Bulldogs’ ag
gressive defensive pursuit with re
peated misdirection plays that sent
Continued from Page IB
“It came down to Sutko and Wal
droop (in the battle for the shortstop
position) before the season, and I
decided to leave Gina there because
her arm’s stronger she can go into
the hole and still make the throw for
the out and because Lisa had
showed that she could play second
well. I think it’s worked out well —it’s
made us solid all the way around (the
infield),” Tallant said.
“And Rene is steady at third and
she has a good arm. I like to see the
ball hit to her,” Tallant said, stres
sing the confidence he has in Major
and the rest of his infield corps, which
has now turned in six double plays
thus far in the season.
And last Thursday, the Lady Bull
dogs’ defense supported the pitching
of starter Dana Waters and reliever
Kim Dixon with the first-ever no-hit
ter in Forsyth history.
If one fault can be found with the
Lady Bulldogs’ defense, it may be
that while they regularly turn in the
spectacular play, they also some
times have trouble with the routine
one. “That just comes from a lapse of
concentration,” explained Tallant.
“Sometimes they just don’t concen
trate on an easy play because they
know they can make it or they have
too much time to think about it.”
the defensive flow to one side and
countered with a run the opposite
way.
Rinehart rambled for 62 yards on
the Patriots’ 11-play, 67-yaird drive
and scored on his second attempt
from the two to cut the Forsyth ad
vantage to 20-13 with 8:50 left in the
game.
A bad snap ruined the Patriots'
chances for a successful point-after
kick, but the Bulldogs were guilty of
roughing the kicker on the play, and
Berkmar found itself kicking off from
the Forsyth 45.
The ensuing onsides kick caught no
one by surprise, but bounded off the
chest of one of Forsyth’s men up
front, allowing the Patriots to recover
on the 36.
Relying solely on their bread-and
butter runner Rinehart, the Patriots
quickly advanced inside the Forsyth
20, and on a third-and-eight play,
Caldwell completed his only pass of
the game to tight end John Orman,
who struggled over the goal line for
the touchdown.
Rinehart found the end zone on the
Berkmar conversion run to send the
Patriots to a 21-20 lead.
A 44-yard kickoff return by Payne
gave the Bulldogs excellent field posi
tion for their attempt at a come-from
behind win, but another fumble on
their first play from scrimmage was
pounced upon by the Patriots. And
seven plays later, Orman took an end
around handoff around the left side
and into the end zone for his second
touchdown.
Ballard broke through the middle
to block the conversion kick, how
ever, to keep the Bulldogs’ hopes of a
comeback alive with Berkmar’s lead
holding at seven points.
But the Bulldogs failed to mount a
serious threat on their final two pos
sessions, the first which aided when
Payne’s apparent passing attempt
was ruled a fumble when his arm was
hit by a Berkmar defender and the
last which sputtered on four straight
incomplete passes.
Payne led the Bulldogs’ rushers
with 68 yards on five carries, while
Ballard and Ingram followed with 37
and 35 yards, respectively. Payne
connected on two of his eight passes
for 73 yards with Belich pulling in
both of the completions.
The Bulldogs, now 1-3, will face
Winter in their next game on Thurs
day at 5 p.m. in Forsyth County
Stadium.
On the ensuing kickoff, Wright gathered the ball in at
his own 40-yard line, shed a head-on tackle attempt with
a full 360-degree spin at midfield and streaked untouched
into the end zone for the go-ahead score.
Quarterback Chris Bennett’s conversion run gave the
Bullpups a 14-6 lead, which the defense protected in the
waning moments.
The Bullpups had scored on their first possession of the
game on a drive highlighted by a 30-yard gain on a well
executed option pitch from Bennett. Bennett used the
blocks of Wright and Markey to reach the end zone on a
two-yard run to give the Bullpups an early 6-0 advantage.
A short punt by the Bullpups gave the North Hall a
scoring opportunity right before intermission, but Derek
Mathison intercepted a Trojan pass on the goal line on
the final play of the half to preserve the Otwell lead
North Hall threatened again in the fourth quarter with
a drive that reached the Otwell 12, but on fourth-and-one,
Markey and Wright teammed up for a tackle that
prevented the Trojans from picking up the first-down
yardage.
North 12 Gilmer 0
ELLIJAY North Forsyth halfback Stacy Pickle
siemer scored on touchdown runs of 70 yards and 20
yards to propel the seventh and eighth grade Wildcats to
a 12-0 shutout win over Gilmer County last Thursday.
Picklesiemer’s 76-yard scoring run came in the open-
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Lady Bulldogs cheer teammates on from the bench during wins over Berkmar
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ing quarter on a sweep around the right side, and gave
the Wildcats a 6-0 advantage.
North Forsyth’s defense shut down the Bobcats the
entire afternoon, and fumble recoveries by Andy Burt,
Terry Hanson and Larry Stewart prevented the host
team from ever mounting a serious scoring threat.
The Wildcat offense rolled up big yardage against the
Bobcats, primarily behind a running attack led by
Picklesiemer and Stewart, but stalled three times inside
the Gilmer 20. A six-yard scoring run by Picklesiemer in
the second quarter was negated by a clipping penalty
against North Forsyth, and the Wildcats clung to their 6-0
lead until the game’s final play when Picklesiemer broke
loose on another sweep from 20 yards out to close out a 12-
0 victory.
The Wildcats evened their season mark at 2-2 with the
victory.
E. Hall 6 South 0
GAINESVILLE East Hall greeted South Forsyth’s
seventh and eighth grade Gators with a game-opening
kickoff return for a touchdown and then clung to that
early advantage for a 6-0 win in last Thursday’s meeting
of the two teams.
The game developed into a defensive struggle after the
touchdown return, as neither team could mount a serious
scoring threat.
“We played an outstanding game on defense, but just
couldn’t get anything going offensively,” said Coach
Jimmy Hill, whose team dropped to 0-2 with the loss.
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