Newspaper Page Text
first playoff triumph for South football
By Jonathan Hamilton
Staff Writer
In a punishing football game that
came down to a dominating ran-
Itipg game and crashing defense -
,a$- most playoff games do - the
South Forsyth War Eagles clob
bered the Grady Grey Knights,
27 -12, before a jubilant crowd at
War Eagle Stadium.
The win, the first gridiron play
off victory in South's history, pro
pelled the War Eagles into the
Claps AA state second round
against Hart County - who tri
umphed over Central Carrollton,
22-12.
/‘Our players did a great job
tonight,” said War Eagle field
general Norris Vaughan. “We
played outstanding defense in the
second half. We played like a
team. The word is overused some
times, but it definitely applies to
this group. They played great.”
The ball-hawking South “D”
was the arrowhead on the opening
.round bulls-eye arrow as they
constantly harassed Grey Knight
QB Jamaal Brinkley, sacking him
three, times and forcing two costly
interceptions. The Eagles thor
oughly shackled Grady in the sec
ond half, holding them to a paltry
13 yards of total offense.
Lance Callas led a total team
effort, with seven tackles, includ
ing one sack.
Offensively, the War Eagles
buried Grady under 345 yards
rushing, including a Herculean
203 (and four touchdowns) by
Scon Smith and 106 by Elijah
Mitchell.
South took the opening kickoff
and drove 78 yards on 11 plays.
The drive was highlighted by a
■ Scott Hudgins reverse, as he took
a handoff from halfback Mitchell
on .third down-and-10 and sprint
ed 26 yards down to the Grady
seVeh-yard line.
• Two plays later, Smith finished
off the drive with a bruising seven
yard ran for the score and a quick
7-0 lead.
.The visitors’ first possession
was a harbinger of things to come
for'the No. 3 seed from Region 5-
-AA/ Five plays into the drive,
Derek Drew snatched Brinkley’s
■errant throw at the South 10 and
weaved his way to the 26.
> After several slashing runs by
Smith and Mitchell, the War
, Eagles were forced to punt. It was
one. of the few times that the
.guests’ “D” was able to corral the
stampede that was Eagle ground
• “South is definitely the best run
ning team that we have faced all
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SFHS football players converge on a Grady Grey Knight ball-carrier in the teams’ Class AA state
playoff game at War Eagle Stadium, with Dusty Tate (20) making the tackle.
year,” said Grey Knight head
coach Homer Hill. “Their offen
sive line controlled the line of
scrimmage and their backs ran
tough, usually breaking two or
three tackles before we could
bring them down.”
“Thank you, offensive line,” said
an exhausted, but appreciative
Smith. “I am tired, but it is a good
feeling.”
After the Grey Knights’ ill-fated
first.possession, South forced
their guests to punt the next three
times they touched the ball.
Midway through the second
quarter, the hosts hit paydirt
again, as Smith capped a 10-pl ay,
46-yard drive with a battering
two-yard plunge into the end
zone. Drew Holahan booted the
extra point through for the com
manding 14-0 lead.
Just when it looked like the War
Eagles would pull away, the
Knights recovered a fumble and
got their lethargic offense moving
- as Brinkley scrambled for his
life while South defenders
streamed, unmolested, into the
backfield. He picked up 15 and 29
yards on back-to-back scrambles
as the Eagle defensive line was in
hot pursuit.
With 33 seconds remaining in
the half, he fought his way in
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from the one to finally put Grady
on the scoreboard. But little else
seemed to work for the Grey
Knights as the holder couldn’t
handle the snap on the PAT and
was driven to the turf by a gaggle
of Eagles before he could turn
that misfortune into a two-point
conversion.
The visitors were staggered, but
content to go into the halftime
locker room trailing only 14-6.
The stifling “D” set the tone for
the second half holding Grady to
three plays and a punt on their
first possession.
The first time South got their
hands on the ball in the second
half, they drove 67 yards on nine
plays. Smith slammed into the
end zone for his third score,
behind the mind-numbing block
ing of Brian Fox, to increase the
lead to 21-6.
The War Eagles threatened to
turn the game into a rout on their
next possession as Smith slashed,
untouched, up the gut into the end
zone for his fourth score of the
night and a 27-6 margin. Grady
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salvaged a moral victory by
blocking the extra point.
The visitors tried to climb back
into the game, as a fumble propi
tiously bounced into Lugman
Khabeer’s hands and he raced 66
yards for the score, cutting the
lead to 27-12 early in the fourth
quarter. The South defense sacked
Brinkley on the two-point attempt
to halt any further scoring.
There would be no comeback
against the Eagles, as South
refused to let the momentum
swing to their guests.
Forced to pass on every down,
the relentless War Eagles
swarmed Brinkley, limiting him to
3-for-13 and 29 yards through the
air.
Playoff time usually brings out
the best in teams, it certainly has
in the case of the South Forsyth
War Eagles.
Next Friday they will try luck on
the road against Hart County
Bulldogs.
Published November 22,1998
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Thursday, January 14,1W9 I
Another playoff in Polo
Golf Classic - this time
Stevens is champion
By Stephen Underwood
Sports Editor
In another thrilling Polo Golf
Classic that had more contenders
for the lead than anyone could
keep track of, fans got to witness
another sudden-death, almost
too-dark playoff before a new
champion was determined.
This time it was two men
instead of four, and it took four
holes instead of seven. And for
Craig Stevens - and anyone who
wanted to see the tourney finish
before nightfall - the final result
couldn’t have been better.
The pro from Sugar Creek and
City Club Marietta bounced back
from losing his lead at No. 18 in
regulation a short time earlier
and used a fantastic second shot
to set up his winning birdie putt
on the fourth playoff hole. He
shot 69-68-137 in the two-day,
36-hole event, then matched pars
with Dicky Thompson for three
holes before emerging the cham
pion.
“I’m as nervous as can be ... but
this is absolutely wonderful,”
Stevens said when he took the
microphone on the stand minutes
later. ‘Tv i been hitting the ball
really well ... and I’ve had a real
good year. I really enjoyed it and
I’ll be back next year."
Stevens’ reward for his efforts
in the SIOO,OOO event was a
$25,000 first-place prize - both
records for a PGA Section event
anywhere in the nation - and the
revered Bobby Jones trophy.
Stevens and all of the other pros
had nothing but praise for the
efforts of tourney chairman
Butch Hansen and tourney direc
tor Dwight Hansen.
Thompson, meanwhile, had
staged quite a run of his own.
While fans were watching over
half-a-dozen players jockey
within a shot or two of the lead
over the back nine Wednesday,
the “unattached” pro was a few
groups ahead, carding the day’s
best score -a 67.
It was only as the final four
groups played the last two holes
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that word spread that Thompson
was in at 7-under after started the
day tied for 13th with his 2-
under 70. But the playoff partici
pant wasn’t entirely pleased with
his day. “I hit the ball really
well,” he said, “but I didn’t make
any putts. I was pretty frustrated
on the greens ... the birdies I did
make were really close.”
Two players came in at 138.
Craig Hartle of the Settindown
Creek GC went 68-70, while
Greg Lee from Harbor Club was
66-72. Lee shared the lead the
first day with defending champi
on James Mason, after both
matched the tournament 18-hole
record.
Mason headed what was finally
the log jam at 5-under 139,
shared by an amazing 10 players.
Others included Jeff Jordan,
Clark Spratlin, Brett Gorney,
Tim Weinhart, Chan Reeves,
Danny Elkins, Scott Hamilton,
*95 champ John Godwin and Jeff
Hull.
That’s 14 within two shots at
the end.
In the playoff, the pair each had
decent drives on their second try
at No. 18 - but Stevens’ second
shot landed just a few feet from
the cup, while Thompson’s
sailed to the far edge of the
green.
“I just pulled the second shot,”
said Thompson. He gamely went
for the birdie, but when it came
up a few feet short, Stevens’
winner was almost academic.
The duo had started the playoff
on No. 9, then went to No. 18
and repeated the sequence. The
first time at No. 9, Thompson hit
his third shot in the rough near
the green, while Stevens left
himself with a 15-footer - but
both wound up with pars.
Stevens did miss a fairly close
putt on the first trip down No.
18, but recovered nicely for a
close pitch off the slope off the
side of the No. 9 pin on the third
playoff hole.
Published October 23,1998
PAGE 19C