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Inside: Local softball
teams are starting their
schedules — Page 3B
www.MainStreetNewsSPORTS.com
AUGUST 11,
2010
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Section B
Prep Football
CAPUTO
COMING UP
•EJCHS
scrimmage
at Johnson,
Friday
Eagles to
scrimmage
Johnson Fri.
THE EAST JACKSON Eagles
will move one step closer to the
2010 football season this week.
As the second week of full
practice comes to a close, the
Eagles will travel to Hall County
to face the Johnson Knights in
scrimmage action on Friday.
It will be a chance for the
Eagles to get a feel for what they
will have to face once the season
gets under way on Aug. 27.
East Jackson
will open its
season on that
night at home
against White
County in the
first of three
non-region pair
ings that will
get the season
started.
Eagles head
coach Frank
Caputo said he
liked what he
had seen out of
his players in
the first week of
practice.
“The things that I saw were
that the kids were moving around
well and they handled the heat
well” he said. “The coaches did
a great job of keeping the heat
policy in effect and working by it.
Everything went really well.”
“I was very impressed Friday
with all the work they were
doing and how they were moving
around,” Caputo added. “They
were doing great. I was happy
for them.”
Caputo said that coming in, he
and his team knew the areas that
they needed to really focus in on
and look at.
“That's what we've been doing
primarily,” he said. “We’ve been
working on basic, fundamental
stuff, and that’s really what we do
every day. We're kind of boring
in a way, but that’s what works
for us.”
Caputo said that about 85 kids
came out last week, up from 72
that they had come out back dur
ing the 2009 pre-season.
“We had about 60 all summer,
and I thought we’d pick up about
25, and we’ve just about done
that.” he added.
One constant for all the area
teams has been the brutal heat
wave that has gripped the south
east. With heat indexes reaching
into triple digits, coaches have
had to adjust their practice regi
men to ensure the safety and
health of their players.
“We waited an hour later than
normal to go out to let the humid
ity drop a little bit,” Caputo said.
“We also do a lot of stuff in just
our pants, and leave our helmet
and pads on the sidelines. So
anything we can do in our pants,
we do that, and if we need to have
some contact, then the kids will
walk to the sidelines, put their
helmet and shoulder pads on, go
through the drill, and then if we
don’t need them any longer, we
take them off”
Caputo said that approach
has been satisfying for both the
coaches and the kids.
As practice has progressed,
Caputo and his coaches have
worked to fill the 10 or so slots
left open by graduating seniors
from 2009, including four vacan
cies on offense and six on the
defensive side.
See EJCHS on page 2B
E. Jackson at a glance
•2009 record: 10-2 (8-1 in region)
•Season opener: Aug.
27 vs. White County
•What else: East Jackson is
coming off its first-ever trip to
the postseason, advancing to
the second round of the Class
AA playoffs in 2009. This is only
EJCHS’s third full year of football.
- Scrimmage: JHS @ Lumpkin Co., Sat., 7 p.m.
Prep Football
FLYING TO THE FOOTBALL
Jefferson running back Chris Jackson is driven back by a swarm of
Dragon defenders Monday in practice. Photo by Ben Munro
A Lot On The Line
Dragons know rest of region will be gunning for them
By Ben Munro
TWO-TIME defending
region champion Jefferson
may have graduated 17
seniors off last year's team
— 12 of which played on
both sides of the football
— but the Dragons know
that no one in the region is
feeling sorry for them.
Senior Zach Allen, a
standoutfullbackand defen
sive end, said Jefferson will
most certainly be in oppo
nent’s cross hairs in 2010,
whether the program is
rebuilding or not.
“Definitely,” Allen said
during Jefferson’s picture
day on Saturday. “It’s pret
ty bad. Everybody wants to
beat us because we haven’t
been beat. We've just got to
stand up to the hype.”
There's been hype aplen
ty surrounding the Dragon
program in recent years.
Jefferson, which begins
Region 8-AA play in week
three against Dawson
SENIOR LEADER
Jefferson’s all-region
defensive end Zach
Allen says the rest of
the region will be eager
to try to knock off the
Dragons this year.
County, enters the year rid
ing a 20-game regular sea
son unbeaten streak and an
18-0 mark in region play
since moving up to 8-AA
— not to mention those
two region titles.
Dragons at a glance
•Scrimmage: @ Lumpkin
Co., Fri., 7 p.m.
•Season opener: @
Commerce, Aug. 27,7:30 p.m.
•Region opener: Vs.
Dawson Co. at home,
Sept. 10,7:30 p.m.
But the Dragons lost
much of their star power
from last year, includ
ing standouts like Darius
Minor, Lucas Redd, J.J.
Damons and Caleb Meek.
What's more, Jefferson
must lineup against a
schedule that includes six
playoff teams from last
year: Commerce (non
region game). North Hall
(non-region game). Hart
County. Elbert County,
North Oconee and East
Jackson.
In fact, the level of dif
ficulty could be of historic
proportions.
See JHS on page 4B
Prep Football
Returning Panthers
ready to step up
By Ben Munro
SURE, JACKSON COUNTY
said goodbye to 21 seniors off
last year’s squad, but that doesn’t
mean there isn't a host of Panther
seniors waiting to lead this fall.
Jackson County, which
kicked off its season unofficially
Saturday with picture day, has
16 seniors on this year’s roster as
it works toward its season opener
Aug. 27 against Johnson.
“We’ve definitely needed to
pick up the vocal leadership,”
Panther linebacker-defensive
back Nick Oney said Saturday.
‘There’s definitely a big gap we
need to fill, but our seniors this
year are stepping up and filling
that void.”
Jackson County, which moves
down to Class AA after going
4-6 last year, is in the middle of
week two of training camp.
Though all practices weren’t
conducted in full pads during
week one, that didn’t lessen
the intensity as preseason camp
started.
“It’s still cranked up,” Oney
said. “We're preparing as hard as
we can for the first game.”
Oney is part of a defense that
ranked fifth out of eight in teams
last year in Region 8-AAA. sur
rendering 22 points a game.
p Mi •mas
PANTHER VETERAN
Nick Oney said this year’s
seniors are stepping up
to fill the void left by the
graduation of 21 JCCHS
players.
Panthers at a glance
•Scrimmage: Vs. Athens Christian
at home, Aug. 20, 7:30 p.m.
•Season opener: Vs. Johnson
at home, Aug. 27, 7:30 p.m.
•Region opener: @Fannin
Co., Sept. 10, 7:30 p.m.
Expectations are high for this
year's defensive unit as Oney
said he hopes Jackson County
can hold opponents to around 14
points a game.
See JCCHS on page 4B
BALL-HAWKING
Garrett Holt intercepts a pass Friday during a Jackson
County practice. Photo by Ben Munro
Racing
Pro Late Models return to Gresham Motorsports Park
LOCAL RACING
Jefferson’s Nick Potts (45) and Rodney Benefield (36) feel their cars
out during a recent Pro Late Model event at Gresham Motorsports
Park. Photo courtesy GMP Media
A SPOT IN the World Crown 125
Pro Late Model race will be on the
line Saturday night when a full field of
PLM competitors take the green flag at
Gresham Motorsports Park.
The winner of the 100-lap main event
Saturday evening will be automatically
guaranteed a spot in the Pro Late Model
portion of the three-day, 27 th -Annual
World Crown classic event to be run at
GMP Friday-Sunday, November 12-14.
Earlier this season, Chase Elliott and
David Odell raced their way into the
‘Crown' with 100-lap Pro Late Model
victories on April 17 and May 15 respec
tively.
“There are only two opportunities left
to win your way into the Pro Late Model
portion of the World Crown,” said Dan
Elliott, general manager at Gresham
Motorsports Park. “If you don’t win this
Saturday or in our final regular season
Pro Late Model race on October 9. you
are going to have to qualify your way
in to the Crown. If we have the field of
cars we think we’re going to have here
for that event, that might be easier said
than done.”
In addition to the Pro Late Model
main event at GMP this Saturday, feature
events in the Outlaw Late Model, Truck,
Renegade and Mini-Stock divisions will
also be held.
Additionally. GMP will host the larg
est autograph session in the history of
the track as drivers in all divisions will
be signing autographs for the fans begin
ning at 6:30 pm. GMP has created a spe
cial limited edition collectible autograph
item especially for this event.
“This is going to be a great opportuni
ty for the fans to meet all the drivers that
compete at GMP,” said Elliott. “Short
track stock car racing is different than a
lot of other sports because the fans get to
interact with the competitors. Saturday’s
autograph session for all our divisions -
See Gresham on 2B