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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS | forsythnews.com
4B
What to look for in the SEC this week
per game. The Tigers will
counter with a rejuvenat
ed running game that
rushed for more than 300
yards in last week’s 41-3
win over Kentucky. “They
are who they are,” Ole
Miss coach Hugh Freeze
said. “It’s very difficult to
stop.”
MATCHUP OF THE
WEEK: Alabama offen
sive coordinator Lane
Kiffin vs. Tennessee fans:
No. 4 Alabama’s a
17-point favorite to beat
Tennessee for an eighth
consecutive time
The Associated Press
Here are some things to
watch in Week 9 of the
Southeastern Conference
season:
GAME OF THE
WEEK: No.. 3
Mississippi at No. 24
LSU. Ole Miss is off to
its best start in more than
50 years, but now must
face what appears to be
an improved LSU team at
night in Death Valley. The
Rebels are leaning on a
fantastic defense that’s
giving up just 10.6 points
for a touchdown and had
another sack in last
week’s 3-0 upset victory
over Northview.
“Defense is easier than
I expected,” said
Dunavant, who plays on
Lambert’s state champi
onship baseball team and
is committed to Wofford
as a catcher. “I’'m just try
ing to master my pass
rush, getting my reads
right.”
Jacob Whitten
North Forsyth, Jr., K
Gone was Joshua
Bailey, the Raiders’ sure
thing kicker. Gone was
Cody Gottberg, the
Raiders’ booming punter.
Transition was the theme
for North this offseason
after losing nine starters
on defense and a host of
playmakers on offense, so
why spare special teams?
In came Jacob Whitten
from the junior varsity.
His only varsity experi
ence last season had been
with the kickoff unit
against Chattahoochee
and West Forsyth, and so
the nerves were there.
“I knew I had to step up
a lot this year,” Whitten
said.
Indeed, Whitten has
been a bright spot in
North’s disappointing 1-6
season. He’s made 5 of 6
field goals, with his long
coming from 34 yards,
and made 6 of 6 point
after attempts. At punter,
he’s kicked 28 times for
828 yards. He’s handled
all of North’s kick-off
duties.
“He’s just matured,”
North head coach Jason
Galt said. “He’s a little
stronger. He’s gotten his
opportunity, and he’s
doing a good job for us.”
Whitten figures to only
get better. He started
kicking at Little Mill
Middle School in eighth
grade, though he wasn’t
used much. He didn’t
kick much more his
freshman season at North.
So this offseason he
went to a National
Kicking Service camp
where he got instruction
from college kickers. He
got help with his tech
nique and accumulated
drills he could use in
FROM 1B
attitude and the way he
worked over the spring
and summer.
“1 think I've gotten bet
ter at just going hard on
every play — even if I'm
not doing anything spe
cial,” Nufer said. Nufer
notched three sacks in an
Oct. 10 win over North
Atlanta, and that’s what
he does best. “I love
being ruthless and attack
ing the quarterback,” he
said. The goal for Central
now, Nufer said, is to fin
ish the season undefeated
at home.
Will Dunavant
Lambert, Sr., TE/DE
Last season, as the
Longhorns put a scare
into eventual region
champion Alpharetta,
then-junior Will
Dunavant spent much of
his time on the sideline
switching jerseys.
The Longhorns were
using different offensive
sets and were low on line
men. When Lambert
needed him at H-Back,
Dunavant wore his usual
No. 27. When they need
ed a lineman, a coach
helped him switch into a
No. 67 jersey to play
tackle.
“Never complained,”
Lambert head coach
Louis Daniel said. “Never
said a word. He just
comes to work, works his
tail off and has a great
attitude.”
The senior has given
Lambert little to complain
about this season. He still
starts on offense at
H-Back where he helps
block for running back
Trevor O’Brien and has
two catches for 18 yards.
And when Lambert
needed a joit on defense
after a disappointing loss
to Centennial, the
Longhorns turned to
Dunavant, inserting the
6-foot-3, 207-pounder at
defensive end where he
immediately made an
impact. He had a sack
against Alpharetta, forced
a fumble against North
Forsyth that was returned
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ed victory ever against a
ranked opponent.
Alabama had beaten No.
14 Syracuse 61-6 in the
Orange Bowl on Jan. 1,
1953. It also marked
Alabama’s largest margin
of victory overall since a
66-3 blowout of
Vanderbilt on Sept. 29,
1979. Alabama scored 35
points in the second quar
ter of the Texas A&M,
which represented the
most points the Tide had
scored in a single quarter
since at least 1945, the
earliest year Alabama has
Saturday, but Kiffin’s
return to Neyland
Stadium still makes this
game worth watching.
Kiffin coached Tennessee
in 2009 and left after only
one year to take over
Southern California’s pro
gram. Four years after
that unexpected exit,
“Kiffin” remains a four
letter word in Knoxville.
NUMBERS GAME:
Alabama’s 59-0 victory
last week over Texas
A&M — ranked 21st at
the time — represented
Alabama’s most one-sid
that’s what he’s always
done.
A soccer player grow
ing up, Witalis picked up
football ,and found that
soccer had put him in
physical condition to run
all day. Witalis said he
does extra running in the
summer to prepare —
more than what would
otherwise be necessary —
so that he can play nearly
the full 48 minutes. Sit in
the stands at War Eagle
Stadium on a Friday night
and it seems as though
No. 10 never even takes
his helmet off.
The biggest surprise for
Witalis in his senior sea
son has been South’s sud
den success throwing the
football.
“It was one of the first
two games, we were
down by the goal line and
practice.
He came back ready to
give North a true weapon
on special teams.
“I’m still learning,”
Whitten said, “but I've
gotten a lot better even
from last year.”
1
Jake Mangan
Pinecrest Academy,
Jr, 0B
When Pinecrest quar
terback Jake Mangan gets
a chance under center, he
makes big plays.
Exhibit A: Mangan’s
62-yard touchdown run
up the middle in the
fourth quarter of the
Paladins’ blowout win
over Walker.
Exhibit B: the junior’s
29-yard throw on first
and-27, falling out of
bounds, to Nick Palmer,
on a 90-yard Pinecrest
drive that put away
Whitefield.
Mangan started the
Paladins’ first three
games last season before
breaking his collarbone.
Ryan McCarthy started
the rest of the way for
Pinecrest and has started
each of the Paladins’
seven games this year.
“It was definitely frus
trating last year when that
happened, but it made me
more of a man,” Mangan
said. “I realized that you
can’t take starting for
granted, because one play
can bring you down. I
work as hard as I can to
make Ryan compete
every single day.”
Mangan said he’s back
to full strength and has
been working to bulk up.
For now, he bides his
time, minding the details
of coach Todd Winter’s
triple-option offense,
knowing that one play
can change everything.
Drew Witalis
South Forsyth, Sr.,
WR/S/KR
South Forsyth senior
Drew Witalis fills so
many roles, you’d think
he played for a Class A
school that needs its best
athletes on both sides of
the ball. Nope — Witalis
does it because, well,
Volleyball state playoffs
South Forsyth at Johns Creek
When, where: Saturday, 2 p.m., in Johns Creek.
Records, rankings, seedings: South is 36-19, ranked
No. 7 in Class AAAAAA and the No. 5 seed; Johns Creek
is 36-14, No. 5 and the No. 4 seed.
What to know: Here is arguably the most compelling match of the
Elite Eight in Class AAAAAA, if only because of the teams’ familiarity with
one another from playing in Area 6-AAAAAA. They've met three times
before — once during the regular season, twice in the area tournament —
and Johns Creek is 3-0 against South, though each match has been close.
The Lady Gladiators won 25-20, 23-25, 25-18 on Sept. 30, 23-25, 25-18,
25-13 on Oct. 8 and 26-24, 23-25, 21-25, 25-10, 15-13 on Oct. 9 in the area
championship.
Johns Creek is led by junior Mikaela Gauthreaux (325 kills, 282 digs),
junior Madeline Savage (310 kills, 92 aces, 427 digs) and senior Olivia
Durrence (237 kills, 64 blocks). Alisha Hinrichs leads the team with 588
assists, though Madison Harty (255) and Jessica Pia (204) are capable set
ters.
South reached this re-re-re-rematch thanks to a 25-18, 25-14, 25-13 vic
tory over Rockdale County onTuesday. Erin Yeatman had 19 digs while
Savian Jordan added nine digs, Courtney Darling and Hannah Larson had
12 and 9 assists, respectively, and Amanda Nugent had nine kills while
Taylor Svehla added eight kills. And so the Lady War Eagles are in the Elite
Eight for the third straight season, securing their place among the upper
echelon programs in the state. South, though, is eager to improve on last
season’s historic Final Four appearance.
What's next: The winner plays the North Gwinnett-Harrison winner on
Wednesday.
records on that particular
topic.
LONG SHOT: No. 1
Mississippi State at
Kentucky. The Wildcats
looked like an up-and
coming team in the SEC
before falling flat in a
41-3 loss to LSU last
Saturday. But Kentucky,
which is a 13%-point
underdog to the Bulldogs,
has another chance at a
marquee win, hosting the
nation’s top team in a rare
CBS game at
Commonwealth Stadium.
Kentucky quarterback
they called a pass,”
Witalis said. “I turned
around, like, ‘What?’ But
it worked — I ran a slant
route and caught a touch
down.”
Alan Pearson
West Forsyth, Sr., OL
A rebuilt West offen
sive line heard the nega
tive talk while struggling
to gel early in the
Wolverines’ season. West
had to replace Andrew
Marshall, a three-year
starter, and it was senior
Alan Pearson tasked with
filling Marshall’s shoes.
The 6-foot-1, 244-
pound Pearson learned
from Marshall to not back
down, and people will
follow. Pearson made
sure the Wolverine offen-
whether he thought the
league was serious about
bringing an NFL team
full time to London.
He said it might pro
vide the best home-field
advantage in league his
tory, so long as the visit
ing U.S. team didn’t get
the time to adjust their
body clocks.
FROM 1B
Falcons
cult here with this time
difference, five hours.
It’s been rough on me.”
Jones was asked by an
English journalist
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014
Patrick Towles has had a
solid season, and he’ll
challenge a Mississippi
State pass defense that
ranks last in the SEC.
IMP A C T
PERFORMER:
Missouri tailback Marcus
Murphy scored on a
96-yard kickoff return, an
82-yard punt return and a
5-yard run from scrim
mage last week in a 42-13
victory over Florida. He
became the first Missouri
player since 1976 to score
three different ways in a
single game. '
sive line didn’t back
down.
“It’s been fun and hard
all at the same time,” he
said. “It’s made me a bet
ter football player
because I have to study
harder so the younger
guys can lean on me.”
After the Wolverines’
first two games, West is
now firing off the ball,
giving Grant Torgerson
and Austin Reid room to
run. Pearson made an
assurance to quarterback
Hampton McConnell that
has proven true in recent
weeks.
“I told him we were
going to keep him safe
the rest of the way,”
Pearson said. “It’s not
like we didn’t want to
win. We just had to be
more consistent.”
“A permanent fran
chise?” he said. “Y’all
would definitely have
the upper hand — if you
don’t let guys come in
too early to get acclimat
ed. Let them come in on
Friday. Play them
Sunday. You’d kill ‘em
every time.”