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Inside: Eagles CC place in Elite Eight— page 3B
NOVEMBER 12,
2008
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Section B
JHS FOOTBALL
Jefferson to host Coosa in playoffs Fri.
Dragons flatten East Jackson 48-0 in rain strewn game
MAKE A PATH
Kyle Mosley (47) and Steven Zeigler (38) clear the way for Tab Martin (3) to get into
the end zone during Jefferson’s rainy night victory against East Jackson.
Photo by Brandon Reed
AUTO RACING
KING OF THE SHORT TRACKS
Russell Fleeman is all smiles in victory lane after pick
ing up his first win in the World Crown at Peach State
Speedway Sunday. Photo by Brandon Reed
Fleemart charges late,
wins 25th World Crown
By Brandon Reed
SUNDAY'S WORLD Crown at Peach State Speedway in
Jefferson will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the greatest
come from behind victories in the event's storied 25-year history.
After losing a lap a quarter of the way through the 200 lap event,
Russell Fleeman charged back, using the cunning and skill of a
veteran driver, and won the crown, the trophy and the check that
had eluded him in several tries over the years.
“We've been trying to win the World Crown for five or six years,
and it seems like we'd either do good or have bad luck,” Fleeman
said after the victory. “We tested here earlier in the year and got a
game plan.”
That plan didn’t involve fighting back from the flat tire, but
probably did anticipate having to hold off a hard charging Taylor
Satterfield and defending winner Paul Kelley at the end.
“I knew I had to get as close to the front as I could, but I didn’t
want to use my tires up,” Fleeman said. “When I finally got out in
the lead, I knew I had to pace myself.”
For Satterfield, of Commerce, the runner-up spot was a good
showing on his home town track.
“Everything worked out good,” he said. “Lap traffic kind of got
in the way, but we saved the tires as best we could and tried to keep
the pace. Maybe we waited too long, because we were closing in
on him there towards the end.”
With 38 cars starting the race, it was the largest field for the
World Crown since 1984. Pole sitter Brandon Johnson led the field
to the green flag, and stayed on point through the first 11 laps.
The caution flag flew twice during that time, first when a flat
tire sent Richard Johns spinning in the third turn, and the second
when Senoia driver Bubba Pollard stopped on the back stretch after
experiencing a mechanical issue.
Race officials docked Pollard a lap for intentionally bringing out
the caution.
See World Crown on page 2B
JHS FOOTBALL
Dragons playoff tickets
go on pre-sale this week
TICKETS FOR Friday night’s round one playoff game in
Jefferson against the Coosa Eagles are being pre-sold, according
to JHS officials.
The reason, the school says, is that some passes may not be
honored in the post season.
Officials want everyone to have the opportunity to take in
Friday night’s game.
Tickets will be on sale on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
from 2-4 p.m. at the front office at Jefferson High School.
Game time Friday night is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
JHS CROSS COUNTRY
JHS takes 6th at State
By Brandon Reed
THE JEFFERSON Dragons
made some more history
Friday night.
For the first time in the
team’s 60-year history, they
have gone undefeated in regu
lar season play after crushing
the East Jackson Eagles 48-0
in the rain.
The closest Jefferson had
come previously to an unde
feated regular season was
back in 1973, when coach Jim
Lofton's team went 9-1, los
ing their last game of the sea
son to arch rival Commerce
28-3.
With the regular season now
behind them, the Dragons now
focus on their first post-sea-
son appearance as the 8-AA
champs. They will play host
to the Coosa Eagles on Friday,
a team that finished third in
their region with a 3-2 record,
and 6-4 overall.
On paper, Jefferson would
appear to by far have the
advantage over Coosa.
The Eagles have scored
only 186 points this season, as
opposed to the Dragons' 386,
a comparison of 18.6 average
points per game for Coosa to
Jefferson’s 38.6 per game.
Coosa has also allowed
nearly twice as many points
to be scored against them as
the Dragons, 215 total to 112,
an average of 21.5 per game
for the Eagles to Jefferson’s
11.2.
Coosa will hit the field
Friday off of a 17-8 victory
over Sonoraville, their second
win in a row since Oct. 31,
while Jefferson continues to
ride the momentum of a his
toric 2008 regular season.
JCCHS FOOTBALL
By Brandon Reed
THE JACKSON County
Panthers were hoping for a
little luck Friday night to give
them at least one region win
on the season, and a high note
on which to end their roller
coaster 2008.
They got neither, as the
Stephens County Indians
trampled the Panthers offense
to win 35-0.
That gave Jackson County
a final season tally of 0-7 in
the region, and 1-8-1 over
all, having defeated Our Lady
of Mercy to open the season
back on Aug. 29, and having
tied Prince Avenue Christian
on Sept. 19.
STEPHENS COUNTY
Stephens County entered
Friday night with an 8-2 over
all record, and tied for first in
8-AAA with a 6-1 record.
So for many, it was a fore
gone conclusion that, barring
some unforeseen circum
stances, the Panthers were
going to carry the short end
of the stick.
That was exactly the way it
worked out. Stephens County
held the Panther offense to
only 58 yards on that rainy
night.
It was the seventh consecu
tive loss for the Panthers and
their fourth shutout of 2008.
Quarterback Alex Crawford
had six completions on 13
pass attempts for 33 yards.
He also recorded five carries
for one yard.
Roderick Burks had six car
ries for eight yards, and Rob
Williams had three carries for
14 yards. Jonathan Holton
had two catches for 19 yards;
Zach Sticher had two catches
Kickoff is scheduled for
7:30 p.m.
EAST JACKSON
If East Jackson hoped the
wet weather would slow down
their in-county rivals, they
were soon to find that the
Dragons are capable of find
ing traction in rain or shine.
Before Friday's game was
even seven minutes in, the
Dragons were already up 14-0
off of two solid touchdowns.
The Eagles began trying to
work their way downfield, but
were stopped cold when Tab
Martin intercepted a pass with
three and a half minutes left
for 15 yards; Delvon Stephens
had one catch for five yards;
and Rod Burks had one catch
for six yards.
LOOKING BACK
Despite the loss coach Billy
Kirk said he saw improvement
over the team's 2007 season.
“We saw a dramatic
improvement from last year
considering the fact that we
played basically without a
senior class this year,” he said.
“We went with a sophomore
class and a junior class, and
in the first quarter, with the
Dragons taking over on the
Eagles' 49-yard line.
But East Jackson wanted
to show they had learned
a trick or two in their first
region season, and intercepted
a Jefferson pass on the next
play to take over on their own
24-yard line.
Jefferson's defense held
their ground, and after tak
ing over the ball in the sec
ond quarter, the Dragons once
again moved into the end
zone. A missed PAT gave
Jefferson a 20-0 lead.
The Eagles continued to
towards the end we started
playing freshmen. It's tough to
play without a complete class
of kids. We’re still struggling
from the school split, number
wise, but there’s nothing you
can do about that.”
Kirk said there wasn’t one
particular player that he saw
step up as a team leader, but
rather a collective leadership
formed for the team.
“From a team leader stand
point, we don't have that kid,”
he said. “We have a group
look for traction in the rain,
but caught no breaks from a
hard-charging Jefferson team,
who broke into the end zone
again with just over four min
utes remaining in the half. A
successful two-point conver
sion gave Jefferson a 28-point
lead.
As the rain began to fall
harder at Eagle Stadium,
things got a little slippery on
the field, namely the ball, as
Jefferson recovered an Eagle
fumble with just over two
minutes remaining in the
game.
See Dragons on page 2B
to Indians
of kids that keep everything
together, and I think this year
that group of kids decided
they didn’t want to have the
crap that other kids had cho
sen to do the wrong way.
“That’s when I knew things
were starting to go the way we
wanted them to go.”
Kirk said 21 starters will
return for next year and said
that the eighth grade team
from the middle school, who
See Panthers on page 3B
By Brandon Reed
IT WAS a successful trip
to state competition for the
Jefferson Dragons girls' cross
country team Saturday, as
WESLEY MILTON
they placed sixth in Region
AA competition out of a
field of 29 teams.
Alison Missler placed 26th
out of 182 runners taking
part with a time of 21:55;
Jessica Runkle finished 33rd
with a time of 22:14; Kathy
Buffington finished 36th
with a time of 22:23; Lauren
Phillips placed 47th with a
time of 22:50; Mariah Porras
finished 54th with a time of
23:20; Laura Price placed
70th with a time of 24:06;
and Caitlin Meads finished
78th with a time of 24:33.
Wesley Milton was the
only member of the Jefferson
boys cross country team to
qualify for state competition
this year. It was his fourth
appearance at state, where
he placed 48th out of a field
of 217 runners with a time
of 18:29.
MOVING PAST
Alex Crawford, pictured here from earlier action, went 6-13 against Stephens County
Friday night, and had five carries against the Indians. Photo by Lyn Sengupta
Panthers close season with loss