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Inside: Eagles begin spring practice — page 2B
MAY 12,
2010
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Section B
JHS BASEBALL
JCCHS FOOTBALL
Dragons face Titans Wednesday
TOUCH ‘EM ALL
Kyle Hardy rounds third after putting one out of the park in game one against
Crawford County last week. Photo by Brandon Reed
By Brandon Reed
A PAIR of victories last
Friday against Crawford
County advanced the Jefferson
Dragons to the Sweet 16 in
state playoff action.
The Dragons will continue
to have home field advantage
this week, as they play host to
the Titans of Blessed Trinity
today (Wednesday).
The Titans advanced to the
Sweet 16 last week by defeat
ing Chattooga County in two
games by wide margins. They
won game one 10-3 and game
two 19-5.
The Titans are 20-8 on the
year, going 10-2 in region
6-AA. They've scored 257
runs this year to Jefferson’s
230. However, the Dragons
have allowed only 94 runs to be
scored this year while Blessed
Trinity has allowed 112.
In their previous two meet
ings, Blessed Trinity has come
away the winner. They won
against the Dragons in state
play off action last year. 3-1
and 10-8.
First pitch in game one is
scheduled for 5 p.m.
CRAWFORD COUNTY
The Dragons played host in
the first round of state play
off action to the Eagles of
Crawford County.
The Eagles looked to take an
early advantage, getting two
runners across in the top of the
first. The Dragons answered
by getting three runs across
in the bottom of the inning to
take the lead. Jefferson then
proceeded to control the game,
not allowing Crawford to score
again while adding a run in
the bottom of the second, then
two more in the bottom of the
fourth. In the end, Jefferson
came away with the 6-2 vic
tory.
AUTO RACING
Jake Fields recorded the win.
giving up just two hits and two
runs while striking out nine in
seven innings.
Fields also led the team at
the plate, going 3-3 with three
RBIs, including two home-
runs. Jamie Sexton went 2-4
with one RBI and a home
run. Kyle Hardy went 1-3
with one RBI and a home
run. Timmy Kashuba went
2-3. Caleb Meek went 1-3.
Drew Carson went 1-3. Lucas
Redd went 1-3.
GAME TWO
A victory for Jefferson in
game two would send them
to the Sweet 16 in state play
offs, while a win for Crawford
would force a tie-breaking
third game on Saturday after
noon.
The game was a draw for
the first two innings, as neither
team could put together what
they needed to get a score on
the board.
But Jefferson broke out in
the top of the third, putting
JHS FOOTBALL
three runners across to take the
lead. The Dragons would add
another four in the top of the
fourth and two more in the top
of the fifth, all while holding
Crawford scoreless.
The Dragons would all but
put the game away in the top
of the sixth by adding two
additional runs in the top of
the sixth. The Eagles would
score one run in the bottom of
the inning, but couldn’t score
another to avoid the game end-
See Dragons on page 3B
Jm
COMING THROUGH
Kyle Daniel (center) pushes his way through during
spring football practice last week.
Photo by Brandon Reed
Panthers hit the field
for spring practice
By Brandon Reed
THE EXCITEMENT level is definitely up this week for the
Panther Nation, as spring football practice got under way last
week at JCCHS.
Panther coach Billy Kirk said around 93 kids came out last
week as the team prepares for a season of AA football after three
years against bigger AAA teams.
“There’s a lot of excitement around here right now,” Kirk said.
“With moving to the new region, it’s exciting for the kids and
exciting for the community. I think we’re seeing the benefits of
that excitement everyday that we practice. Kids are flying around
and we're getting more participation than we've ever seen here.
It’s good to see,”
Despite the move, Kirk says he feels the excitement level is
about the same as last year, which he credits to last year’s senior
class.
“We had a ridiculous senior class last year that was fantastic,
they did great things for us,” Kirk said. “They were genuinely
excited about football. Don't get me wrong, this (current) group
of guys are excited about football but they're so young that they
don’t know what’s right and what’s wrong yet.”
After graduating 22 seniors from last year’s team, the Panthers
have had several move-ins help to fill the holes, including players
from North Gwinnett, North Paulding, Grayson and Heritage.
See Panthers on page 3E
ROLLING THUNDER
Members of the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame and vin
tage racecars, like Donald Tyson’s 1957 Chevy, will be
on hand at Gresham Motorsports Park Saturday night.
Photo courtesy GMP Media
Gresham to host Hall
of Fame night Saturday
SOME OF the greatest driv
ers in the history of Georgia
Stock Car Racing will be on
hand this Saturday at Gresham
Motorsports Park as the track
presents Georgia Racing Hall
of Fame Night.
The event, part of the
Carquest 100 Pro Late Model
race, will honor the 2009
Georgia Racing Hall of Fame
inductees with a trackside
presentation during pre-race
ceremonies. Included in the
2009 class are Bob Burcham
of Rossville, Luther Carter
of Acworth, Tommie Irvin
of Baldwin, Ronnie Sanders
of Fayetteville, Leon Sells of
Villa Rica, Buck Simmons of
Baldwin, Herb “Tootle” Estes
of Knoxville. Tennessee and
Katron Sosebee of Lilburn.
Additional Georgia
Racing Hall of Fame mem
bers Jack Jackson, Bruce
Brantley, Charlie Bagwell,
James Marvin Mills, Jimmy
O
Sumerour, Gene Felton, Hoyt
Grimes, Bud Lunsford, Eddie
McDonald, Charlie Mincey
and Jimmy Mosteller along
with family members of Fonty
Flock, Weyman Milam, Bob
Flock and Gober Sosebee are
expected to attend.
An autograph session for
all the Hall of Fame members
is planned for 6 p.m. while
Opening Ceremonies are set
for 7 p.m. Saturday.
Meanwhile, several historic
racecars will also be on dis
play as part of the event.
Last week, the Dawsonville,
Ga. City Council announced
that Gresham Motorsports
Park in Jefferson would serve
as the Official Track of the
Georgia Racing Hall Of Fame.
The Hall - which is housed
at the Dawsonville City Hall
Municipal Complex - is in
its seventh year of honoring
See GMP on page 3B
Spring practice under way for Jefferson
By Brandon Reed
WITH THE warmer temper
atures come the usual things
you seen in spring. Flowers,
blue skies, wild birds and pig
skin flying through the air.
Yep, spring football practice
is under way in Jefferson.
The Jefferson Dragons hit
the practice field last week
to begin preparations for the
2010 season and the defense
of their hard earned region
8-AA title.
Last year, the Dragons went
undefeated in the regular sea
son, and didn't get their first
taste of defeat until the second
round of state action, falling
to the Buford Lions on Nov.
20.
But the title and the near
misses are behind them now.
Ahead lies a fresh new sea
son.
“The players are working
hard and I’m pleased with
their effort and their attitude,”
said head football coach T.
McFerrin. “The ones that are
out there, they're getting some
things done, but we're really
short-handed.”
That's because about 12
players aren't practicing right
now for various reasons. That
includes rising seniors Kyle
Mosley and Buddy Camp, who
are out due to surgery. Rising
HEADS UP
Bryant Sherriffs fires a pass off to Jack Dollar (9) during spring practice last week.
Photo by Brandon Reed
sophomore Cole Givens has
surgery pending.
“We’ve been short-handed
out there, so we’ve had to
mix and match a little bit to
change positions to get the
scrimmages going,” McFerrin
said. “But you’ve always got
that in the spring. You don’t
always have the injuries. I’m
upset that we’ve got the inju
ries. But it seems like we’ve
got more than normal out
right now.”
Also weighing on the
Dragons this spring is the loss
of a strong senior class. The
team lost 16 seniors this year,
including quarterback Darius
Minor and occasional quarter
back Lucas Redd.
“We’ve got young guys
working at quarterback,”
McFerrin said. “They're
doing a good job, but they’re
young.”
Another key position that
took some hits from gradu
ation was tailback, as Caleb
Meek and J.J. Damons move
on this year.
“We lost two great tail
backs in Caleb Meek and J.J.
Damons, with great speed,
and we certainly don’t have
that speed out there right
now,” McFerrin said. “We
have three tailbacks that are
missing spring practice right
now, so that’s been a position
that we’ve had to scramble to
fill. We’ve had to move peo
ple around to fill that. That’s
a big. big area.”
The Dragons were also hard
hit at wide receiver with the
See JHS on page 3B
O