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OCTOBER 5,
2011
Phone: (706) 367-5233
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Section B
i
Football preview: Jefferson at Oglethorpe Co.
Jefferson looks to rally from last week’s disappointment
ByBenMunro
JEFFERSON’S 38-28 loss to
North Oconee provided plenty of
frustration for the Dragons — frus
tration they hope to use as fuel for
the rest of what could still be a
special season.
The Dragons (4-1, 1-1) return to
action Friday on the
road at Oglethorpe
County as Jefferson
has five games left
this year.
“We’ll have a
good week of prac
tice (this) week; we’ll be more
focused,” Jefferson senior receiver
Will Puckett said Friday following
the loss to the Titans. “This loss,
Coming Up
•Jefferson at
Oglethorpe Co.,
Friday, 7:30 p.m.
I guess, really put us in our place,
and showed us what we need to
do.”
Jefferson coach T. McFerrin called
the North Oconee loss “one of the
most physical games I’ve seen since
I’ve been at Jefferson.” The glaring
difference in this battle of previ
ously unbeaten teams — turnovers.
Especially since Jefferson had been
ultra protective of the football in
its first four contests. The Dragons
turned the ball over three times this
past Friday.
“We haven’t had a turnover in
four games,” McFerrin said. “I
don’t know if I’ve had a team go
four games without a turnover ...
It just caught up to us at a bad time
against the best team we’ve played
so far.”
McFerrin isn’t saying his team
would have won if it wasn’t for the
turnovers, but “I sure would have
liked to have tried it out,” he said.
Jefferson moves on to face an
improve Oglethorpe County team,
but one that’s also reeling from a
30-13 loss to Jackson County.
The Patriots’ triple option attack
was limited to 92 yards against
Jackson County but has been effec
tive for most of the year. Oglethorpe
County’s offensive scheme is simi
lar to what Georgia Tech employs,
thus the Dragons must play assign
ment football.
See Dragons on Page 3B
TD-CATCH
Jefferson’s
Will Puckett
grabs one
of his three
touchdown
recep
tions this
past Friday
night in the
Dragons’
38-28 loss
to North
Oconee.
Jefferson
faces
Oglethorpe
County this
weekend.
Photo
by Clark
Buffington
Friday Night Countdown
Scott
stands out
Panther running back
emerges, credits offensive line
ByBenMunro
L IKE ANY gracious running back,
Jackson County’s Dustin Scott sees
his accomplishments and those of
his offensive fine as one and the same.
Scott enjoyed one of the best games of his career this
past Friday, scoring three times and running for 126
yards in the Panthers’ 30-13, bounce-back win over
Oglethorpe County. But he was quick
to point out the road-grading up front.
“Basically, the offensive fine came out
and showed them what we’re about,”
Scott said. “We came and popped them
in the mouth the first time and we just
kept on and kept on. We didn’t stop.”
Scott and the Panthers take on North
Oconee Friday on the road at 7:30 p.m.
Scott has run for 455 yards so far this year in what’s
turning into a breakout season for the speedy junior back.
He enjoyed a career-high 189 yards rushing during week
four in Jackson County’s 21-12 loss to East Jackson.
The Panther running game was touted as one of the
team’s strengths heading into the season, and mid
way through the year, that’s coming into fruition.
That’s due in no small part to the emergence
of Scott, who in turn thanks the large and expe
rienced offensive front blocking for him.
Coming Up
•Jackson Co. at
North Oconee,
Friday, 7:30 p.m.
See Scott on Page 3B
RUNNING STRONG
Dustin Scott ran for 126 yards last Friday and
three touchdowns as Jackson County got
back on track with a 30-13 win over Oglethorpe
County. Photo by Ben Munro
Softball
GOOD TIMES
Jackson County players celebrate after freshman Peyton Sorrells delivered a game-winning hit
Monday against East Hall in the Region 8-AA tournament. Photo by Ben Munro
Staying alive
JCCHS rebounds from loss, continues
on in region tournament play
ByBenMunro
ACED with region tournament elimina
tion and having a 20-plus win softball
season end prematurely, Jackson County
survived Tuesday thanks to its most impres
sive offensive performance of the postseason.
The Panthers (25-7) walloped East Hall 11-3
in six innings to advance in the 8-AA tourna
ment after being shutout 5-0 earlier Tuesday
Needing two more
•Jackson County needs two more wins in the losers’ bracket of
the 8-M tournament to qualify for the Class AA state tournament.
The Panthers play Thursday at 7 p.m. in Fannin County. If Jackson
County wins, it will play Saturday at noon.
against no. 6 Union County, which had rel
egated the Panthers to the losers’ bracket.
Coach Chessie Faird said that served as motivation.
“Just getting our loss earlier, there were some
things that we were not proud of” coach Chessie
Faird said. “We had 16 strikeouts in that game
See Advancing on Page 4B
High school football
East Jackson loses, but coaches grow more confident
ByBenMunro
DESPITE a 30-10 loss to Hart
County Friday, coach Brian Smith
and East Jackson maintain a glass-
half-full mentality heading into their
off-week.
Smith believes
the game revealed
more than a mere
20-point setback.
“Our kids are
getting better,”
Smith said. “I think it shows. To us
as coaches, we came out of this game
a lot happier than we had in some of
our wins. We weren’t really happy
coming out of Jackson County. We
felt like we did some positives
against these guys.”
East Jackson returns to the field
Oct. 14 against North Oconee.
Hart County’s Stephon Eades ran
for 198 yards and four touchdowns
Friday as the Bulldogs powered
past East Jackson in Hartwell. Hart
County scored two touchdowns in
the last three minutes of the first
quarter to take a 14-0 lead and put
East Jackson in an early hole.
“That just killed us,” Smith said.
Still, Smith felt good about his
team after it trailed 14-3 at the half
and even 21-3 in the second half.
‘And then we kind of got beat in
the fourth (quarter) a little bit,” Smith
said.
Smith said he’s certainly not
pleased with a loss but saw a lot
more fire out of his team.
“Here’s what I thought: I thought
our kids competed a lot harder
than they did against Oglethorpe
and Jackson County” Smith said.
“I thought they played a lot harder
than they did against Oglethorpe and
Jackson County.”
East Jackson (3-3, 1-2) has now
lost two straight. The Eagles’ only
points came from Nick Alvarado,
See East Jackson on Page 4B
Next week
•East Jackson
at North Oconee,
Oct. 14,7:30 p.m.