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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2010
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 3B
STEPPING IN FRONT OF THE RECEIVER
Jefferson linebacker Wesley Simonton picks off a pass Aug. 14 during the Dragons’
preseason scrimmage with Lumpkin County. Photo by Ben Munro
JHS-CHS continued from IB
To that end. Jefferson has been banged up in the
preseason and enters the Commerce game with
question marks.
All-region offensive lineman-linebacker Kyle
Mosley is still out, while three others may miss
the game as well, though McFenin didn’t want to
speculate about who the others might be.
This is the third consecutive year that Jefferson
has opened with Commerce in a series that dates
back to 1947, and McFerrin likes starting the year
with a natural rivalry, especially one of Jefferson-
Commerce’s magnitude.
“It’s good for the community and for bragging
rights between the two city schools,” McFerrin
said. “You sort of like to play your traditional
rival either first or last. With the way our region
schedule is, we couldn’t play them at the end of
the year, so this makes sense.”
Commerce coach Steve Savage, who has a 17-5
record against Jefferson, holds a similar view.
“Heck, you’ve got to play them sometime,”
said Savage, who has been a part of 37 Jefferson-
Commerce games as either a player, assistant or
head coach. “We might as well play them the first
game since they’re not in our region.”
Savage said Jefferson’s program has a lot going
for it right now.
“One, they’re going to be well-coached,” he
said. “They lost some kids, but they’ve also got
several coming back. Plus, they’re on a winning
streak. They’ve won 20 regular season games in
a row. So they’ve got those three things going for
them.”
Commerce is coming off a runner-up finish
in Region 8-A last year and a trip to the second
round of the playoffs.
But the Tigers lost eight offensive starters from
last year’s 7-5 team. Streetman at quarterback is
seasoned in the Tigers’ triple-option attack but
other three starters in the backfield “are rookies,”
Savage said.
On defense, the Tigers lost six starters, includ
ing two standout safeties.
WRAPPING UP
Jefferson’s Derrick Perkins drags down a
Lumpkin County receiver Aug. 14 in the
Dragons’ scrimmage with the Indians.
Photo by Ben Munro
Though excited, Savage said he’s also a tittle
apprehensive about the season given the holes
Commerce must fill.
“You’ve just got to go out and play,” he said.
Likewise for Jefferson.
The Dragons are coming off a shaky Aug. 14
performance in a scrimmage against Lumpkin
County. Jefferson turned the ball over three times
in the first half and trailed by an unofficial score
of 21-0. No score was kept.
The scrimmage has served as motivation for the
Dragons, who had four solid days of practice last
week before Friday’s practice was canceled due
to lightning.
“I think they were upset about it,” McFerrin
said. “I think it hurt their pride a little, but I think
they’ve responded. We had an intense week of
practice and that’s what it needed to be,”
Of course, Jefferson won’t know how it has
responded until it tines up against Commerce.
“It will be Friday before we know,” McFerrin
said. “Hopefully, we’ll respond to the challenge.”
Dragon seniors continued from IB
“Playing them the first game gets you pumped
up for the season,” Mosley said. “First game,
you come out hitting hard and just come out
playing good. It gets you ready for the rest of
the season.”
Nine miles separating these schools creates a
lot of familiarity, too. Mosley said he’s gotten to
know several guys at Commerce over the years
through different sports.
“I’ve got a few friends that I’ve played foot
ball with and basketball with ... It’s going to
be fun though, playing with your friends you
played with back in the day and in middle
school and stuff, so it’s going to be fun,” Mosley
said.
There are family ties, as well. Jackson’s father
went to Commerce High School, for example,
“My mom went to Jefferson and my dad went
to Commerce, so it was two different things
about which way I was going to go, and I ended
up going to Jefferson.” Jackson said.
Now entering his final year of his Dragon
career, Jackson said this game will be one these
seniors remember, noting that a player’s final
game against a rival leaves a lasting impression.
He wants to recall this one fondly.
“Right now, I get this opportunity to go ahead
and try to win one and take it back to the house,”
Jackson said.
After Commerce owned the rivalry for so
long — winning 11 straight from 1996-2006 and
22 of 24 from 1983-2006 — Jefferson’s seniors
have a chance leave their legacy on the series.
The Dragons broke through with a victory over
Commerce in 2007 and now have a chance for a
fourth-straight win.
“It would be awesome, considering we were
the first ones to beat them in tike about 10 years
or 12 years,” Mosley said. “It had been a while
since we’ve beaten them. So it’s going to be awe
some to try to continue that legacy and keep the
tradition going.”
HANGING ON
Jackson County linebacker Kelly Moates tries to drag down an Athens Christian
ball carrier by the shirt tail in Friday’s scrimmage. Photo by Ben Munro
TOUGH
RUNNING
Jackson
County running
back Austin
McDonald
looks for his
hole during
the Panthers’
Friday scrim
mage with
Athens
Christian.
Photo by
Ben Munro
TOUCHDOWN-SAVING
TACKLE
Jackson County corner back K.J.
Washington tackles an Athens
Christian ball carrier
deep in Panther
territory Friday.
Photo by
Ben Munro
Panthers continued from IB
We’ve stepped our schedule up where we’ve
got Johnson, Walnut Grove and then Fannin
County. So we’ve got to fix Jackson County to
get ready.”
Jackson County enters the Johnson game no
longer searching for a starting quarterback. Kirk
announced Monday that sophomore Kyle Daniel
won the job over junior Jalen Banks, who started
the last six games of the 2009 season.
“I think they’re both mature enough to handle
where we’re at.” Kirk said.
But Daniel had the better scrimmage Friday,
Kirk concluded, after film review.
Though both quarterbacks had their struggles
with a combined four interceptions, Daniel helped
direct a nice drive inside the Athens Christian
red zone in the second quarter before a Panther
fumble killed it.
“He graded out better,” Kirk said. “We’re just
looking at simple numbers ... We just feel tike
we’re going to be more productive that way.”
That doesn’t mean no playing time at all for
Banks, who had third-quarter touchdown runs
of 51 and 10 yards against Athens Christian’s
backups. Regardless of who got the starting nod
for game one. Kirk has plans for the no. 2 quar
terback, too.
“I think Jalen is going to get some reps.” Kirk
said.
In the meantime, Jackson County will seek to
repair what was a sputtering offense Friday.
Kirk joked that he needed a blood transfusion
following the scrimmage “because our offense
was so anemic.”
That performance included six procedure pen
alties and five turnovers, not to mention too many
bad reads and bad receiver routes, Kirk said.
“The good thing about the way this is set up.
is that you get a week to fix your mistakes,” Kirk
said.
Kirk was more encouraged with the Panther
defense, which gave up just 114 total yards. The
coach noted that the defensive unit was put in
some bad spots by Panther turnovers.
“Our defense, they did a great job,” Kirk said
after the scrimmage. “They played on this side
(Jackson County’s side) of the 30 (yard tine) all
night.”
Facing Athens Christian’s Wing-T offense
should also help the Panther defense prepare foi
what it will see on many Friday nights.
“A lot of teams in our region run this offense,
and it’s good to scrimmage a team that runs the
offense,” Crawford said.
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