Newspaper Page Text
Inside:
Jefferson holds on to defeat Bowdon
in the first round of the Class A state
football playoffs/ page 4B
November 21,
2007
Sports Department
Phone: (706) 367-2348
Fax: (706) 387-5418
sports @ mainstreetnews. com
Section B
www.mainstreetnews.com
PREP BASKETBALL
First annual event
gets season going
M 'd
IT DIDN’T take the Jackson County girls
basketball team long to notch its first vic
tory of the season.
On Monday night, the Lady Panthers
opened up play in the first annual Tip-Off
Classic tournament, hosted by JCCHS at
The Pit.
BASELINE DRIVE
JCCHS’s Jessica Stevens drives on
Monday night. Photo by Allen Luton
The event, which features teams from
Dawson County, Johnson-Gainesville,
North Forsyth and JCCHS, will run through
Tuesday night.
The Lady Panthers (1-0) used a strong
first half performance to pull out a 52-45
victory over Dawson County, which made
a furious comeback attempt in the game’s
final quarter but came up a bit short.
Jackson County was led by Alyssa Esco,
who poured in a team-high 17 points in the
Ahead Next Week:
Season previews of local 2007-08 prep winter
sports teams.
win and was a solid presence in the paint.
Some hot shooting helped the home side
mount a double-digit lead in the first half
before the two teams went to the locker
room with JCCHS ahead 27-18.
Dawson County rallied in the fourth
quarter to take a brief lead before the Lady
Panthers sealed the win thanks in large part
to some solid free throw shooting down the
stretch.
The victory sent Jackson County into the
tournament’s championship game Tuesday
night against North Forsyth (results not
available as of press time Tuesday).
In boys action Monday, the Jackson
County boys fell to Dawson County, 74-38,
despite 15 points from guard Marquice
Gillespie.
CLASS A STATE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS: SECOND ROUND
EMOTIONAL LIFT
After a sluggish first half in last week’s state playoff opener, Mack Rakestraw (1) and the defense came
on strong while Tyler Hill (below) and the Jefferson offense lifted its game as well. This week the Dragons
travel to Warren County looking for payback for an earlier defeat this season. Photos by Allen Luton
Second round game with Warren County lies ahead Fri. night
BY ALLEN LUTON
O N Friday night, the
Jefferson football team will
travel to Warren County for
its second game against the Screaming
Devils this season. The Dragons are
hoping the return trip home this time
will be much more enjoyable than the
last one was.
Back on Sept. 21, Warren County
handed Jefferson its second loss
through the first three games of the
Coming up:
WHAT: Jefferson at Warren County
WHERE: Warrenton, Ga.
WHEN: Friday at 7:30 p.m.
season, winning 40-28 thanks in large
part to quarterback Tommy Seals who
accounted for five touchdowns by
himself.
Since then the Dragons (8-3) have
reeled off six wins in seven games,
knocked off arch-rival Commerce for
the first time in 12 years, and won
their first playoff contest since 2003.
Now they’ll be looking to make even
more history, as Jefferson has not won
a second-round playoff game since
1977.
Warren County earned the top seed
out of a very tough Region 7-A that
includes two-time defending Class A
state champion Fincoln County.
see Jefferson football on page 4B
ATLANTA DRAGWAY
Dragway banquet wraps
up 2007season of racing
ATFANTA Dragway racers
and their families came together
again to honor their members, at
the Georgia Mountain Center in
Gainesville, Ga over the week
end.
Participants in the O’Reilly Jr.
Drag Racing program were rec
ognized, with the top finishers
in each division also honored.
Qualifying Shootout winners
included Dalton Rogers (8-9 year
class), Dylan Hutchins (10-12)
and Morgan Wood, Kelsey Fynn
and Jacquelyn Fastinger sharing
the 13-17 division.
The top finishers (except for
the champions) in Super Pro,
Pro, Sportsman and Motorcycle
were then recognized for their
accomplishments. Two per
fect runs were made at Atlanta
Drag way in 2007. A perfect run
is when the driver has a perfect
.000 reaction time and the car
goes exactly on its dial in time.
see Dragway on page 5B
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Davis continues to play
major role for Bulldogs
ATHENS, Ga. - As has
become customary this year,
local product Chris Davis start
ed and played the majority of
the game this past Saturday for
the University of Georgia. The
Bulldogs rallied for a 24-13
victory over Kentucky and
improved to 9-2 overall and
finished 6-2 in the SEC.
Following the win, Georgia
head coach Mark Richt praised
the play of the offensive line,
of which Davis is a part.
“Our offensive line did a
good job. We’re creating more
seams, and the backs are start
ing to find it better,” Richt
said. “We had good blocking
and running, and it was a good
hard-nosed football game. We
were concerned about taking
the clock away from the UK
offense by running the ball as
much as possible.”
After spotting the Wildcats a
10-0 lead, the Bulldogs found
their rhythm. Georgia’s first
touchdown came on tailback
Knowshon Moreno’s 1-yardrun
just before halftime. Thanks in
part to a solid O-line perfor
mance, Moreno finished the
game with 124 yards, becom
ing the first Bulldog since
Herschel Walker in 1982 with
five straight 100-yard games.
Tailback Thomas Brown also
had 73 yards on the ground
in his final home game as a
Bulldog.
Georgia will end the regular
season this Saturday at Georgia
Tech at 3:30 p.m.
CREATING HOLES
Jefferson product Chris Davis battles on the line of scrim
mage for Georgia during last weekend’s win over Kentucky.
Photos by Allen Luton
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