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PAGE 2B PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. OCTOBER 21.2010
Continued from IB
Cross Country
Hamey finished 1st in 13:06.14
followed by Hayden Love
Edgar Martinez
Dalton Presley
Jonathan Baxter
Slade Hillhouse
Lucas Pilla
Avery Williams
Josh Baxter
Jason Fowler
and Justin Morris
(13:12.99),
(13:30.89),
(14:17.10),
(15:22.85),
(16:12.66),
(16:58.03),
(17:03.93),
(17:19.31),
(17:55.53)
(18:39.35).
The high school varsity girls
were off and running at about
9:45 with 113 girls competing
over the 5K (3.1 mile) race dis
tance. Marcie Merriman of Las
siter finished 1st overall in
19:39.71 to lead her teammates
to the girls’ team title in a close
finish with Kennesaw Mountain.
Lassiter finished with 64 points,
while Kennesaw Mountain was
very close with 67 points. The
’Nettes finished 8th out of 16
teams scoring with 217 points,
and a team average time of
23:28.35. Finishing in 1st posi
tion for the ’Nettes was Ashley
Logan who finished 21st overall
in 21:34.32 followed by team
mates Erin Dean (39th/
23:06.71), Sarah Ballard (40th/
23:08.37), Jordan Heffner (50th
/23:38.77), Moran Bailey (82nd
/25:53.54), Mollie Shaw
(28:15.82) and Allie Turner
(30:03.11).
Next the Dragons joined a
field of 116 runners in the HS
varsity boys race. Justin Weaver
of PHS led for most of the race
but was tracked closely by Dar-
ryn Hutchinson of Mt. Paran
Christian School from the 3200
meter mark on. In the end.
Weaver could not match
Hutchinson’s (16:42.63) finish
ing kick for this race but still fin
ished 2nd overall in a very quick
16:55.01 to lead the Dragons to a
9th place team finish (18:47.70
team average) out of 17 teams
scoring. The Dragons team finish
could also be considered re
spectable in that the Dragons
were missing 2 of their top var
sity runners. Kell placed 1st as a
team with 83 points, followed by
Mt. Paran Christian School with
87 points. Also running well for
the Dragons were Drew Bellows
(20th/l 7:53.87), Levi Bruce
(55th/l9:06.24), Jason Walker
(77th/19:51.14), Turner Moranos
(82nd/ 20:12.24), and Jake Shaw
(94th /20:58.14).
Running well for the ’Nettes
JV team were Jade Stancil
(30:55), Olivia Lee (33:30) and
Jessica Grantham (37:43). For
the Dragons, Tanner Jordan
(20:16), Clayton Johnson
(20:45), Nathan Thompson
(21:28), Riley Shaw (21:49),
Dalton Word (22:53) and T.J.
Levy (35:32) all had good races.
PHS Head Cross Country
Coach Jesse Scott and Asst./
Community Coach Robin Dunn
would like to thank the entire
Pickens County Parks and Rec.
staff for their permission and as
sistance in hosting their 2 invita
tional meets at Roper Park this
season. The efforts of many par
ent volunteers and countless
horns also went into course set
up and take-down, concession
stand, admission and general
meet management - and are all
greatly appreciated. PHS Cross
Country also sends a special
“thank you” to Pastor Russ
Woody and other members of
Mt. Hope Community Church
for their volunteer efforts in sup
port of both the Pickens Preview
and Sharptop Invitationals.
The ’Nettes and Dragons will
run next at the Carrollton Last
Chance Invitational on Saturday,
Oct. 23. Also of note - Wyatt In
gram of PCMS will run in the
Georgia Middle School State
Championship at Bleckley
County Middle School - also on
October 23rd. Good luck Wyatt!
North Georgia Falcons middle school
team wins nail biter
By Gordon Thigpen
For the second week in a row,
the North Georgia Falcons mid
dle school has played in a very
challenging football game to say
the least and one that was de
cided by under three points. The
Falcons played Christian Her
itage Lions in their season finale
on Thursday at Pickens County
Middle School. The Falcons
were looking for redemption
after last year’s loss to the rival
Lions.
The Falcons received the ball
from the Lions who tried an on-
side kick. The Falcons offense
were unable to move the ball on
the Lions’ defense, going three-
and-out and had to punt it away
to the Lions who then fumbled
the ball on their first play to give
the ball back to the Falcons. On
first down, Dylan Cason took the
hand off for a 20 yard run to the
Lions 35-yard line, on the next
play Tevon Valdez ran for 15
yards for a first down to put the
ball on the 21-yard line of the
Lions. On the next four plays,
the Falcons turned the ball over
on downs to the Lions who drove
the ball down the field in three
plays to score on a hand-off up
the middle for a 68-yard TD.
PAT failed, leaving the score at
6-0 Lions.
The Falcons then took a short
kick-off received by Cody Rick
etts putting the Falcons in great
field position. From the Falcons
own 42-yard line Cody Ricketts
took the hand-off from Luke Jar-
rett and ran for a 58 yard TD to
tie the game at 6-6. Falcons fail
at the PAT. Lions took the kick
off only to fumble the ball again
four plays later toning the ball
over to the Falcons. Again
Valdez took a handoff from QB
Noah Bieber for 9 yard run. On
the next down, the Falcons fum
bled and turned the ball over to
the Lions. The Falcons faced a 6-
6 tie at halftime.
The Falcons kicked to the
Lions after the half and were pe
nalized 15 yards for a face mask
penalty resulting in the Lions
first down. The Lions then
turned the ball over on an inter
ception by Dylan Cason on the
Falcons 15-yard line. The next
play was a hand-off to Luke Jar-
rett who ran for a 75 yard TD
that was called back for a hold
ing penalty. Falcons then turned
the ball over on downs.
The fourth quarter came and
the Falcons undefeated season
was in jeopardy. The Lions ate
up the field and the clock as they
drove into the Falcon territory
scoring on their next eight plays.
PAT failed, making the score 12-
6 Lions with under five minutes
left in the game.
The Falcons, however, would
not be denied. Time ticking
away, the Falcons took the kick
off from the lions with Cody
Ricketts returning it into Lions
territory. Tevon Valdez then
takes a hand-off for a 20-yard
run. Finally with under two min
utes left, the Falcons QB/S Noah
Bieber kept the ball and ran a 23-
yard QB sneak into the end zone
for a touchdown. Cody Ricketts
was good on the two point con
version to make the score 14-12
Falcons. On the following kick
off, the Falcons’ Patrick Thigpen
tackled the Lions’ runner within
the Lions’ 5-yard line. The Lions
drove into the Falcons side of the
50, only to have time run out.
The final score: Falcons-14,
Lions-12.
With this win the Falcons end
the regular season at 6-0-1. The
Falcons enter the Glory for
Christ Football League playoffs
as the number one seed. They
will play the Horizon Christian
Academy Warriors in the semi
finals at North Springs High
School on Saturday, Oct. 23 at
1:30 p.m.
North Georgia gets win over Christian Heritage
By Hank St.Denis
It was another thrilling foot
ball game where the second half
saw the lead change four times
and at the end of the game, the
Lions had three chances from the
13-yard line, but couldn’t get into
the end zone before the clock ran
out.
The Falcons missed on a field
goal early in the first quarter.
Late in the first quarter, Falcon
defensive tackle Josh Pack re
covered the first of three fumbles
at the 39-yard line. Nine plays
later at the 8 minute mark of the
second quarter, Brett Snyder kick
a 23-yard field goal to give the
Falcons a 3-0 lead. On their next
possession, the Falcons went 80
yards in four plays scoring on a
Michael Jefferson 45-yard run.
Snyder’s extra point kick made it
10-0 Falcons with 3:40 to go in
the half. Christian Her
itage took the kickoff and drove
39 yards scoring on a 1-yard run
by Daniel Pierce. Jang’s kick was
good to make the score 10-7. The
Falcons move the ball to the 32
but time ran out and it was half
time.
The Falcons took the second
half kickoff and drove to the 24,
but a field goal attempt was no
good and the Lions took over.
Eight plays later Pierce con
nected with Mason Sikes for a 5-
yard touchdown pass. The kick
was no good, but the Lions now
had the lead at 13-10 with 3:57 to
go in the third quarter.
The Falcons responded by
driving 73 yards in 14 plays
using up almost 8 minutes of the
game and scoring on a Michael
Jefferson 5-yard run. The extra
point by Snyder was good. Fal
cons had the lead again at 17-13
with 8 minutes to go in the game.
The Lions took the kickoff and
marched 59 yards in 4 plays scor
ing on a Pierce to Wilson pass of
25 yards. The extra point kick
was good and the Lions had the
lead back at 20-17 with 5:47 left
in the game.
The Falcons took the kickoff
and drove 78 yards in 11 plays
with Jefferson again scoring
from 6 yards out. This drive had
a big gain of 27 yards on a Tim
Howard to Brett Snyder pass that
put the Falcons in scoring posi
tion. The extra point kick was
good and the lead was now 24-20
in favor of the Falcons with 1:17
to go.
Christian Heritage had one
last drive in them and were suc
cessful in moving the ball down
the field to the 8-yard line by
throwing the ball and completing
3 passes of 10, 13 and 17 yards,
however, they couldn’t complete
the last 3 passes from the 13-yard
line and the game ended when
the last pass was knocked down
by the Falcon’s Riley Davis.
The Falcons had 365 total of
fensive yards while Christian
Heritage had 262. Both teams
came in averaging over 30 points
a game on offense. The Falcons
go on the road this week against
Holy Ground Christian, their last
regular season game before the
playoffs.
Racing Views
Oil Operas-week five:crabgrass moves in
By Jumper Cable Man
These “Oil Operas” (weekly
racing drama sponsored by oil-
related companies) are begin
ning to loose most of their drama
as we get closer to the final race
of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Se
ries for 2011. A writing acquain
tance of ours from Nashville,
Tn., Larry Woody, who writes
for the Web site
RacinToday.com has written that
crabgrass has taken over and is
ruining “the Chase”. To quote
Woody, “Jimmie Johnson has
become the crabgrass of
NASCAR. Once he moves in
there’s no getting rid of him.
Oh, once in awhile he may
shrivel a bit, but he quickly
sprouts right back up, as fresh
and entrenched as ever.”
At the same time Johnson is
peaking in his racing form, his
competitors are self-destructing.
Quoting Woody again, “While
other driver’s performance
charts zig up and down like a
pacemaker at a hoochie-koochie
show, Jimmie’s is steady and
even-keel.” Kurt Busch finished
the worst of all the “Chasers”
with a 13th position, seven posi
tions behind pole-sitter Jeff Gor
don in the Bank of America 500
at Charlotte Motor Speedway in
Charlotte, N.C. this past Satur
day night. And Gordon was only
two spots behind Tony Stewart
who finished in the 21st slot.
Where has Jimmy Johnson
finished during the past four
“Chase” races? First, second and
third twice. His pacemaker is sit
ting on the “coast” setting with
no zigs or zags in any direction.
The only chase competitor in
front of him at the finish in Char
lotte Saturday night was Kyle
“Rowdy” Busch who is fifth in
“Chase points” 177 points be
hind Johnson. That means that
Johnson could almost park his
car for one race and Rowdy
would have to win it in order to
catch up with Johnson. Busch
moved up 15 points on Johnson
and he is still 177 points from
beating him. If he keeps this up
for the final five races in “the
Chase”, he will have cut the lead
by 75 points. Big deal! Get used
to watching crabgrass!
If Johnson was going to have
another bad race it would have
been when on lap 34 Saturday
night he spun. No one else was
involved and Johnson kept the
car from coming into contact
with the walls or any other ob
structions. After falling to the
37th position, he was able to re
cover and finish in the 3rd spot.
The final 20 laps or so he was all
over Rowdy trying to pass for
the second position. He may be
crabgrass but he has a horseshoe
on each comer of his race car.
So what do you do after fin
ishing in the 3rd position and in
creasing your points lead on the
second place “Chaser” by five
points? You get up early on Sun
day morning and race in a 5K
foot race charity event sponsored
by his on-track competitor non-
Chaser Kasey Kahne.
The Sprint Cup driver to
watch is David Reutimann. This
week it was a 9th place finish.
The week before he finished in
the 10th position. This driver is
one to watch for next year’s
“Chase”. This year he is working
to finish in the top 15 in points
but his end of the year perform
ance is not just a “lucky dog” as
he is making this move on his
own hard work and good driv
ing. He is walking in the foot
prints of his dad, Buzzy, and his
uncle, Wayne, Sr., two winning
Sprint Car and Modified cham
pions.
First up this weekend will be
the Showdown On The Coast at
Golden Isles Speedway in
Brunswick with a full racing
program. The National Late
Model Series will headline the
event. Practice will be held on
Thursday night with racing on
Friday and Saturday. Oops - This
just in, this event will be moved
out one weekend to Oct. 28, 29
and 30 in order to avoid a con
flict with sister-track Waycross
Motor Speedway in Waycross.
Waycross will host a $3,000 to
win Topless Late Model feature
race along with 1st Annual
Dewey Corbitt Limited Sports
man class feature race paying
$1,500 to win. They will also
have racing in the SuperStreet
classes, the Pure Stock class and
the TQ Late Models.
This Friday night the racing
starts at Boyd’s Speedway in
Ringgold with a full racing pro
gram with Steel-head Late Mod
els, Crate Late Models, A & B
Hobby and Front-wheel Drive
class cars. The track will come
back on the following Friday,
Nov. 5 and hold a big $4,000 to
win Super Late Model feature
race. Other big news on Friday
night will be the Georgia Racing
Hall of Fame (GARHoFA) in
Dawsonville having their induc
tion banquet at 6 p.m. on Oct.
22. The inductees will include
motorcycle racing champ Ted
Edwards of Atlanta, engine
builder and crew chief for bother
Bill, Ernie Elliott of Daw
sonville, open wheel and stock
car driver Jack Etheridge of At
lanta, sportsman championship
stock car owner Laveme
Kendrick of Tifton and early
stock car racer and racing offi
cial Jerry Wimbish of Atlanta.
Saturday night Oct. 23 will
see the final race of the 2010
season at North Georgia Speed
way in Chatsworth with a big
feature race by the Volunteer
Racing Series paying $3,000 to
win. There will also be racing in
all the local classes with recog
nition of the top five in each
class for their points perform
ance during 2010. Cochran
Speedway in Cochran will offer
a full racing program in all
classes on Saturday night.
For the asphalt race fans,
Lanier National Speedway in
Gainesville will offer a 100-lap
Pro Late Model feature race plus
racing in all the other divisions.
For this event it is Ladies Night
with all ladies getting in the
grandstand or track side for only
$ 1. Men will still pay the regular
$10 price.
Give us your comments, in
formation, questions and correc
tions by mail at PO. Box 1522,
Woodstock, Ga. 30188-1522, or
by e-mail at
Jcableman@aol.com
JV Dragons
The JV Dragons continue
to have a solid season as they
improved their record to 4-0
with a 22-7 win over Lump
kin last Thursday. The Drag
ons scored on a Tanner
Brumby TD pass to Clay
Lawson; two rushing touch
downs for John Massey. The
JV Dragons will travel to
Sonoraville on Oct. 21.
QB Tanner Brumby going
for the TD.
Photo/Tamela Stone
Congratulations to Screaming Eagles
PCRD's 2010 Men's Softball Champions
The Pickens County Recreation Department would like to congratulate the Screaming Ea
gles for winning the 2010 Men's Softball Championship. The Screaming Eagles finished
the season with a perfect season, 15-0. They scored a total of 312 runs with the avg. of 20.8
runs scored per game. Team Members: Jason Hamby, Terry; West, Steven Thacker, Miles
Carpenter, Jason Johnson, Matt Debes, lan Stewart, Scott Hooper, Jr. Whaley, Seth Boyd,
Ted Buchanan, Dan Dobson, Brandon Ridings, and Andy Rogers.
Two lots for sale
(7.75 acres and 6.25acres)
Off of Grandview Road, across the road from lake, near dam (close to back gate of Bent
Tree). Easy access. Very secluded, surrounded by conservation land. Nice ridge running center
of property, mostly hardwoods, down sloping. REDUCED AGAIN! from $ 14,000 &
$12,000 per acre to $9,500 per acre, NOW $6,800. A share of Class A stock in Grandview
Lake Corp. also available to give full use of Grandview Lake only 2 minutes away.
770-893-7230
GREAT VIEW OF SHARPTOP MOUNTAIN