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Clinch Tie For Region Crown
Hornets Foil “Injun ”
Ambush; Win 20-15
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The Westfield Hornets,
shot ked by a powerful charge
by the unheralded Southwest
Georgia Warriors, last Friday
night raced a rapidly dwin
dling fourth quarter clock to
score with 4:53 left and edge
the Warriors 20 15 in a contest
played at the Hornets Nest in
Ferry The scintillating
triumph assured Westfield of
at least a tie for the Region 1-
AA SEAIS grid title, but saw
the loss of All Middle Georgia
center Donnie Fountain to a
broken leg.
The “Mean Green” Hornets
of Coach Marvin Arrington
upped their record to 8-0 for
the season, but were forced to
come from behind twice due to
an outstanding effort
displayed by the lightning
Home
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Diving Bryant Saves TD
.... By Tipping Away Warrior Aerial
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Eubanks Eludes Hornet Tacklers
. . . . SWG Rack Was Stopped On 3-Yard Line
The Hornets Did It!
quick Warriors from
Damascus. The Hornet
defensive umbrella sprung
several leaks, but two clutch
pass thefts by Mall Mellette in
the final 4:53 of play foiled
redskin upset hopes.
The 6'2”, 180 pound senior
scatback, Mellette, almost
certainly assured himself of a
berth on the SEAIS All-Slate
Team by exploding for 223
yards on 28 carries Friday
night, and in the process
eclipsing the coveted 1,000
yard mark for season rushing,
with Iwo games left in the
regular season. (Unofficial
IIMJ figures show Mellette
with 1,038 yards overland, and
an average of over six yards
per carry.)
Head Coach Marvin
Arrington said that a key to
Mellette’s success was, as all
season, outstanding line
blocking, added to superior
blocks by fullback Jep Liip
ferl. One outstanding example
of Arrington’s reasoning was a
08 yard TD jaunt by Mellette,
where ‘‘a hole wide enough to
drive a truck through” was
blasted open by the Hornet
offensive line.
Jep Liipfert and Matt
Mellette served as co-captains
for Westfield, as a crowd of
about 1,400 watched. South
west Georgia won the toss and
received the kickoff, setting
up shop at their own 42 after a
fine return. But the Warriors
sputtered and punted 35 yards
to the Hornet 15, with 10:14 left
on the first period clock.
Faced with an 85 yard
march before them, the
Hornets promptly set to work.
Three rushes netted nine
yards, two feet and ten inches,
bringing up 4th and two inches
at the Hornet 25. Courageously
Coach Marvin Arrington told
his charges to “blow em out”
and QB Tom Malone kept to
the 28 for a chain mover.
Liipfert netted five to the 33,
then Matt Mellette set sail for
21 yards to the Warrior 46,
recovering his own bobble at
that juncture. Two plays later,
on 3rd and 7 at the SWG 43, QB
Malone swept for eight yards
and another first down. An
elligal procedure call against
the redmen and a fine six yard
burst by Jep Liipfert moved
PAGE 2-B
the leather to the Warrior 21.
Three more cracks gave
Westfield a first and goal at
the SWG-9. So Mellette broke
three SWG tackier grasps and
hurtled into the end zone with
2:44 showing in stanza number
one. The PAT kick was
blocked, but the Hornets led 6-
0.
The gold-clad Hornets
kicked off to Southwest
Georgia who made offensive
noises of their own. Blending
quick bursts into the line by
Tracy Moulton and Jay
Eubanks, the small but
scrappy redmen took the ball
right at the heart of the Hornet
defense. For thirteen plays the
Warriors hammered at the
Westfield defense, setting up a
first and goal at the seven with
10:02 showing on the second
period clock.
VALIANT GOAL LINE
STAND,.,
Jay Eubanks carrened to
the Hornet 4, then Moulton
swept to the two. But James
Newberry was stacked at the
one by a host of ladders. On
41 h down at the one, Newberry
tried again, but Mayo Sexton,
Phil Gentry, and Ken Simpson
met him head-on and held. So
the Hornets look over on their
own two, with 8:03 left before
intermission.
A DIVING BREAK-UP...
A 24-yard scamper by
Mellette keyed a short Hornet
drive which eventually
sputtered at the Warrior 37.
Then with 1:39 left, James
Newberry dropped back,
spotted Tony Everson wide
open racing down the sideline
and threw the ball in his
direction. A touchdown was
surely ahead, but Hornet
cornerback David Bryant left
his man and dove through the
air, tipping with one fingernail
the pigskin away from
Everson.
Seconds later the clock
expired with Southwest on
their own 44. And the Hornets
were clinging precariously to
a 6-0 lead.
DISASTER STRIKES...
The Hornets got the second
half kick-off but were forced to
punt. But as George Richerson
got the center snap, his fingers
could not contain the spheroid
and it slipped through his
grasp. A hard charging rush
by Fred Harting resulted in
Richerson falling on the ball
on the Hornet seven, giving
the Warriors excellent field
position.
Four plays later SWG was
on the scoreboard, although it
was by no means easy. Three
plays gained only three yards
bringing up 4th and goal at the
four. So Tom Newberry
(James’ brother) dropped
back, sent Tony Everson
across the middle and flipped
a short pass to Everson with
8:19 showing on the 3rd
quarter clock, tying the game
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Mellette Sprints Away
.... From Warrior Defender
at 6-6. Southwest Georgia
edged ahead 7-6 on a suc
cessful PAT kick by James
Newberry.
BUT THE HORNETS
REBOUND...
Newberry kicked off to Jep
Liipfert who returned 12 yards
to the Hornet 22. Mellette
sauntered left to the 32, just
short of a chain-mover. On 2nd
and inches, Mellette was sent
crashing off right tackle.
A huge, gaping hole faced
the surprised Mellette, who
lost no time in taking ad
vantage. Cutting quickly by a
linebacker, Matt swerved
outside, then slightly inside
and raced 68 yards to paydirt,
his lead getting larger and
larger as his stride left pur
suers behind. The clock
flashed 12-7 with 7:05 left on
the 3rd period clock. (Good
blocks by Mayo Sexton, Phil
Gentry and Liipfert opened
the hole). A two-point PAT try
went awry and the Hornets
continued to miss extra points,
and thus were ahead by only
five.
The Warriors made one first
down before punting, but the
third period saw no more
scoring by either team. As the
final period opened, Hornet
George Richerson boomed a
“rain-maker” punt dead on
the SWG 23.
James Newberry wasted no
lime, hitting Jay Eubanks for
34 yards on a square-in pat
tern to the Hornet 43 yard line.
Two more aerials moved the
pigskin to Westfield’s 29, as
the Hornet pass defense
looked shaky. Two cracks by
Tracy Moulton moved SWG to
the Westfield 19.
Then Brian Rizer catapulted
15 yards up the middle to the
Hornet 4. A play later Tracy
Moulton went in, scoring a TD
with 7:50 left in the game, and
going ahead 13-12. SWG lined
up for a PAT kick, but
Newberry straightened up and
hit Tony Everson for two
points in the end zone, putting
Wfestfield behind 15-12.
NOW ORNEVER...
An undefeated season now
looked beyond hope, but fate
reckoned without the poise of
the Hornets. A fly pattern
perfectly run by George
Richerson resulted in a 23
yard pass from QB Tom
Malone to Richerson good to
the Warrior 30 yard line. This
play was preceded by two
rushes by Matt Mellette.
Three rushing attempts by
Mellette netted five yards,
bringing up a 4th and 5 at the
Warrior 25 with 4:59 left to
play. Calling timeout, the
Hornet coaches hastily drew
up a play on the sidelines, and
dispatched it to QB Tom
Malone.
Malone took the snap, faded
back, evaded a tackier, and let
fly to David Bryant who had
circled out of the backfield.
Bryant juggled the ball, then
gathered it to his chest and
fled into the waiting end zone
as the Hornet stands exploded
into a cacaphony of sound.
“Their” Hornets were now
ahead 18-15! Malone passed
for two points to Richerson,
and Westfield led now 20-15,
with the game seemingly
wrapped up.
But the Warriors kept
coming, getting to Westfield’s
Hornets
W Sting SWG
WESTFIELD SWG
13 First Downs 11
45-281 Rushes-Yds. 32-89
2-2 Passing 11-17
0 Had Intercepted 2
48 Passing Yards 109
2-34.0 Punts-Avg. 2-37.5
1-5 Penallies-Yds. 3-15
329 Total Offense 198
1-0 Fumbles-Lost 0-0
25:00 Possession 23:00
HORNET RUSHING: Matt
Mellette - 223 yards on 28
carries; Jep Liipfert - 46 yards
on 11; Tom Malone - 18 on 6;
David Bryant - 6 on 4; George
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Ending A Career
.... Donnie In Pain
39 before Mellette reached up ,
and intercepted a sure TD'*
pass from Newberry with 3:41
left, on the Hornet 22. The
Hornets couldn’t move,
however, and returned the
pigskin to SWG on the Warrior
30 with 55 seconds left.
A play later Mellette again
picked off a James Newberry
aerial, on the Hornet 20. Matt
raced 65 yards to the Warrior
15, and sewed up the contest
for the Hornets.
Richerson - minus 12 on 2.
Total - 281 yards on 45 rushes.
HORNET PASSING: Two
for two. Tom Malone to
George Richerson - 23 yards,
and Malone to David Bryant -
25 yards. Total - 48 yards.
LEADING TACKLER:
Johnny Clay - 9 tackles
assists; Edwin Ellis - 9
tackles-assists; Ross Tolleson
-9 tackles-assists; Phil Gentry
- 8 tackles-assists; and Stan
Wills -7 tackles-assists.
INTERCEPTIONS - Matt
Mellette two.