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Sports
Sunday, December 3, 1989
Lady Bulldogs keep ‘Pace’,
stay unbeaten with 46-34 win
By Mike Webber
Sports Editor
Forsyth Central’s girls ran their unbeaten string to
four straight Friday night, capturing a 46-34 decision at
Pace Academy.
“It was a good win for us,” said coach Jerry Cauley.
“They have a tough team, especially down here.”
Last week the Lady Bulldogs had won all three
games to win the 1989 Route 400 basketball tournament.
As a result the Lady Bulldogs will be undefeated this
Tuesday when they open their 1989-90 subregion 8-
AAAA North schedule by hosting Heritage. The game is
scheduled for a 6 p.m. starting time.
“We wanted to be undefeated when we started our
subregion schedule,” said Cauley. “I’d say we’re just
where we wanted to be.”
Despite their 3-0 mark the victory over Pace Acade
my didn’t come easy. Forsyth Central, leading 13-8
after the first quarter, was outscored 11-4 in the second
period. As a result the Lady Bulldogs found themselves
I <Mike W*' •*»'
Webber ml M
Falcon s plan,
fault the coach
Nobody can say that Marion Campbell
didn’t give it his best shot.
This was his second time around with
these Falcons, a team which has been
prone to parading on Sunday as a profes
sional football team.
And most of the time they’ve failed
and miserably I’ll say.
This loss is not one of Campbell’s. In
stead you can stick this one to one of the
Smiths, whether it be Rankin, Sr., Rankin,
Jr., or just plain Taylor.
Tliey’ve sacked coaches before. It start
ed way back in the beginning when they
hired one of Vince Lombardi’s assistants.
Just because Lombardi won didn’t neces
sarily mean it rubbed off on Norb Hecker.
He didn’t last three seasons. Three games
into the I£3B schedule, with the Falcons
tailing off at 0-3, Hecker was dismissed.
Then it was Norm Van Brocklin’s turn. Van
Brocklin, hired to finish off 1968, lasted un
til 1974.
Even back then there was a trend. Ran
kin, Sr. loved to change horses in mid
stream. Six games into the 1974 season,
with the Falcons standing pat at 1-5, Van
Brocklin was dismissed.
If Campbell ever made a mistake it was
in accepting the head job with the Falcons.
I feel today as I did back then, that Smith
took the best defensive coordinator in all of
football for a long walk off a short pier.
That was the first time around. After that
there was the Marion Campbell/Pat
Peppier foul up in 1976. It looked as if they’d
finally turned the comer when Leeman
Bennett was hired in 1977. By 1980 they
were 12-4 and kings of the West Division.
Then in 1983 it happened again. Bennett
was released. Dan Henning, a man with a
way with words, took his place. The hope
was that Henning would improve on what
Bennett had left ir. Atlanta. By the next sea
son you couldn’t tell which player went
what way. A fire rale would be the best way
to describe Henning’s attitude toward
building his kind of team. In the next two
years Henning switched to the one-back of
fense and changed 11 starters. The results
of which gave the Smith’s a nine-game los
ing streak to brag about.
In 1986, with Henning’s coaching future
hanging by a mere thread, the coach hired
Campbell, then Philadelphia’s defensive
coordinator.
By 1987 Henning was gone. Once more it
was time for pappa Smith and his young
cubs to go hunting (and I don’t mean their
South Georgia plantation) for a quality
coach.
Once again they went out in search of the
coach that would take them to the top.
Dick Vermiel was offered the job. After
quick thought he turned it down. Terry
Donahue of UCLA did the same. Giant’s
coach Bill Parcells pretended to be inter
ested in the job. In the end what he got was
a nice raise from the Giants.
And then finally the Falcons got the play
er that pappa Smith said was under their
noses all the time. His name was Francis
Marion Campbell, Jr.
And today there stands a man of 60, a
man who when the Falcons didn’t know
which way to turn next, bailed out the own
ership. Today this man, proud and tall, has
been unceremoniously drummed out of of
fice. The report said he retired.
You can call it what you want but with the
Falcons going nowhere at 3-9, Campbell’s
future in Atlanta was to be about as secure
as a bowl bid for Georgia Tech.
And so he did the only thing he didn’t
want to do. He left the sinking boat in
midstream.
Ken Herock, the personnel director, ap
pears to be a good man. Though I’m still
concerned about a man who drafts people
like Aundray Bruce and Deion Sanders. In
Bruce they got a physical specimen but
also a player who covets being ready once a
month. And in Sanders they have a player
who plays only when the game is on the
line.
And meanwhile the search goes on again.
trailing 19-17 at halftime.
“I think that first half showed we were still feeling
the effects of winning that Thanksgiving tournament,”
said Cauley. “It just took us a while to wake up.”
Forsyth Central came back and captured the third
quarter in 17-7 fashion, leading 34-26 entering the final
period of play. They won the final quarter 12-8.
“We certainly had a good second half,” said Cauley.
“We had a little talk at halftime and that seemed to
make the difference.”
Brandi Bennett took over the playmaking role and
scored six points. Bennett played the role to perfection,
committing only one turnover, that in the fourth
quarter.
Alicia Mullinax led Forsyth Central in scoring as she
pitched with 16 points. Center Shannon Lindeland, de
spite finding herself in early foul trouble, managed to
scored eight points. She also found time to pull down a
team-high nine rebounds.
Paula Hubuard recorded serven points and pulled
down a team-high 12 rebounds.
~*—"•—~—■■. —-———
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Staff photo Mike Webber
South Forsyth’s Tyson Carroll (32) has shot rejected by Scott Davis
South Forsyth
football team,
is applauded
By Mike Webber
Sports Editor
South Forsyth High School held it’s
first annual football banquet on Tues
day evening. The event, headlined by
former Atlanta Falcon center Jeff
Van Note’s opening speech, also fea
tured several awards.
All cheerleaders, drill team mem
bers and players received letters and
certificates of participation.
“I feel we had a successful season,”
said head coach Charlie Cryer, whose
team went 3-7 in their first year. “We
had a real young football team. I feel
we started something special, some
thing we can build on in the coming
seasons. We’re excited about football
here at South Forsyth High School.”
The team’s Most Valuable Player
award went to Hank Gravitt, a defen
sive player who also handled the
team’s place kicking duties. Gravitt,
a senior, kicked four extra points and
averaged 5.4 tackles a game for his
defensive end position.
The Best Offensive Back award
went to quarterback Scott Gilbert. A
Please see awards, page 3B Former Falcon Jeff Van Note gave speech at banquet
Forsyth County News
I . . ...
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w Staff photo Mike Weßßer
Pace Academy wins battle,
stops Forsyth Central 33-32
By Mike Webber
Sports Editor
Forsyth Central’s boys battled Pace Academy down
to the wire Friday night before dropping a 33-32 deci
sion to the host Knights.
The winning basket for Pace Academy came in the
final two minutes when David Jones hit a short jumper.
A guard, Jones was held to one point in the first half. He
came on strong after intermission, scoring eight of his
nine points in the second half. His last basket gave Pace
Academy the only lead it would have on the entire
night.
Forsyth Central, which entered the game with a 1-2
mark and a fourth place finish in last week’s Route 400
basketball tournament, led 10-8 after the first quarter.
Coach Bobby Smith’s Bulldogs held a 17-12 advantage
at halftime. The visitors were up 26-23 entering the final
period of play.
In the fourth quarter Forsyth Central failed to con
vert on several opportunities from the foul line.
Season opener
Loganville girls win narrow decision,
SFHS boys fall short in their first game
By Mike Webber
Sports Editor
South Forsyth’s girls came close to
winning their opening game on Tuesday
at Loganville, falling to the Lady Red
Devils 47-45. Coach Richard Gill’s boys
had their hands full in the season opener
as Loganville posted a 101-45 decision.
“I was really pleased by our effort,”
said girls coach Jerry Smith. “They
hustled and gave me a 100 per cent ef
fort. We didn’t win but we made a ball
game of it.”
The waning seconds had the Lady
War Eagles trailing 47-39 but Amy Roe
buck’s pair of 3-point shots quickly
closed the gap.
“It’s too bad we didn’t have a few
more seconds on the clock,’ said Smith.
Loganville led 7-4 after the first quar
ter. With 2:04 left in the second quarter
South Forsyth managed a 17-16 lead. Lo
ganville then came back and held a 24-19
halftime advantage.
Loganville opened up the third quar
ter as if they intended to run South’s
girls out of the gym. With 6:06 left in the
period the Lady Red Devils held a 29-21
advantage. Roebuck kept South For
syth within striking distance by hitting a
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Staff photo Mike Webber
aura Cook (42) hits jumper
Wrestling season begins
as South falls to Pickens
By Mike Webber
Sports Editor
The 1989-90 South Forsyth High School wrestling season officially
operifed on Wednesday as Brian Dameron’s War Eagle varsity
dropped a close 39-34 battle at Pickens County.
The Pickens County 7-Bth grade team earned a 36-31 decision while
the South Forsyth Junior Varsity reversed scores with a 36-31 victory
over Pickens County. •
The War Eagles will return to the mats on Dec. 20 at Lumpkin
County as they face Lumpkin County and Dawson County in a tri
match.
“I was pleased with the results,” said Dameron. “We were wres
tling with only two experienced players (Shane Liveley and Brad
Garmon) so you have to feel good about coming that close. Our people
gave a determined effort and fought the entire match.
South Forsyth’s varsity wrestles captured six individual matches,
five of which were via pins. Jamie Stancill won his 103-pound event
with a third period pin. After Pickens County wrestlers won the 112
and 119-pound events Liveley’s pin of 1:59 in the opening period
brought his team even at 12-12.
Mike Pitts, wrestling in the 135-pound division, established a South
Forsyth school record with a pin in the first 11 seconds.
“That was something to watch,” said Dameron. “You had to watch
closely becase it was over nearly before it started."
The War Eagles’ Mark Limbaugh lost the match at 140 but Steven
Platt, going up against MatJ Jones, just missed bringing his team
even in the 145-pound division.
Jones, a fourth place finisher in last year’s area tournament, who
once led the match 12-0. He had to hold on for 15-13 victory over the
fast-closing Platt.
Please see WRESTLE, page 3B
“We played a strong defensive ball game,” said For
syth Central coach Bobby Smith. “And for the most
part we controlled the tempo of the game.” •
Eric Masaschi, named last week to the Route 400 all
star team, led Forsyth Central in scoring with 13 points.
Guard Jason Smith pitched in with nine points while
Michael Prince managed six more. Brandon Kemp and
Alex Cowdry rounded out the Forsyth Central scoring
with two points each.
Blake Ester led Pace Academy with 10 points.
Lytham Elliott scored six while Ryan Wilkins pitched
in four. Steve Smith rounded out the Knight’s Scoring
with three points.
“We did nearly everything we wanted to do,” said
Smith. “I was pretty pleased with our play.”
The Bulldogs will now prepare to open their 1989-90
subregion season. Forsyth Central’s boys will host Her
itage on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. The contest will be 9
the subregion opener for both schools.
pair of outside shots. South Forsyth had
managed to keep in close in the first
half.
At halftime Loganville held a 24-19
advantage.
“At that time we were still in the
game,” said Smith. “It made us feel
real good, going into the dressing room
at halftime, knowing we were playing a
real close game.”
A third-quarter scoring flurry fcy Ju
lie Hughes and Shelly Anderson enalfed
the Lady War Eagles to make the game
closer. Trailing by five points (37-32) af
ter three quarters South received points
from Roebuck (2), Hughes (2) and An
derson (1). Hughes’s field goal made it a
one-point (37-36) game and Anderson’s
free throw at the 5:29 mark pulled the
game even at 37-37. Anderson’s first
free throw brought the game even at 37-
37. Thoughts of a lead were quickly dis
missed when she missed the second.
Loganville missed on the following
possession and South had another op
portunity to take a lead.
“At that point I really felt we had a
chance,” said Smith.
At that point South’s Smith elected to
slow down the game’s tempo, going into
a four-comer style of offense. The deci
sion backfired as Loganville went on a 6-
1 run and gained a 43-38 lead.
Roebuck was South’s scoring leader
but Anderson and Hughes also had •
strong games, scoring eight and seven
points respectively. Rachel Fish
pitched in with five points while Laura
Cook rounded out the Lady War Eagle
point production with four.
Lisa Brooks (13), Christy
and Kristi Sears (10) were all in double
figures for Loganville.
South Forsyth’s boys ran into a
strong-shooting crew from Loganville.
The Red Devils, paced by five players ifi
double figures, raced to a 33-11 lead af
ter the first quartet. Loganville gained
the upper hand in rebounds, pulling
down 39 as opposed to 19 for South For
syth. In the first quarter Loganville hit
15-of-24 shots-At halftime-ifcc Red Dev
ils had taken 41 shots, hitting 24 of them.
South Forsyth had three players in
double figures. Cliff Bowen and Allen
Dixon hit for 12 points each while Scott
Gilbert had another 10. Davi Harvey
scored seven while Jason Glaze and Ty
son Carroll hit for two points each.
Michael Turner led Loganville with 18
points. Scott Davis (16), Fred Kilgore
(16), Todd Moncrief (14) and Mark
Green (10) also paced the Red Devils
with double figures.
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