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SPORTS
Bill Murphy Sports Editor | 770-718-3415 | sports@gainesvilletimes.com
Unties
gainesvilletimes.com
Friday, October 26, 2018
HIGH SCHOOL
SCOREBOARD
North Hall
sweeps at
7-3A meet
North Hall’s Devan Crow won the indi
vidual title at the Region 7-3A champion
ship with a time of 15 minutes, 30 seconds
and carried the Trojans to a team title on
Thursday at Unicoi State Park in Helen.
For the Lady Trojans, Elissa Oliver took
second place overall (19:53) as they won
the team title.
The Trojans boys had four runners in
the top 10, including second-place Andrew
Jones (15:40), seventh-place Lance Robin
son (16:40) and Bryce Hartis who finished
eighth overall (16:41).
The Lady Trojans had five runners fin
ish in the top 10, including fourth-place
Caylee Wagner (20:12), sixth-place Emily
Britt (20:41) seventh-place Morgan Mize
(20:45) and 10th overall Ella Randall Lee
(20:59).
Also earning a spot to the state meet
were both Cherokee Bluff teams. Kyle
Boyd took fifth place in the boys race
(16:26) for the Bears who finished third
overall.
The Cherokee Bluff girls were fourth
overall, led by Sierra Wainer who ran the
■ Please see MEET, 3B
LAKE LANIER
FISHING REPORT
Bass bigger
as weather
cools down
BY ERIC ALDRICH
For The Times
Lake Lanier’s water level is 1,069.37
which is 1.63-feet below the normal full
pool of 1,071. Lake surface temperatures
are in the low to mid 70’s.
The main lake and lower lake creeks
mouths are clear. The backs of the creeks
are clear to slightly stained. The upper
lake and rivers are clear to stained and
we are starting to see some signs of lake
turnover above Browns Bridge. The Chat
tahoochee below Buford Dam remains
stained from lake turnover.
Check generation schedules before
heading out to the river below Buford
Dam at 770-945-1466.
Bass fishing is good and the fish are fat
and healthy as they feed up in anticipa
tion of the colder winter months. The bass
are grouped up in the right locations and
if you can find them feeding you can load
the boat.
There are still plenty of big spotted bass
eating out on main lake humps and points.
This is where it pays to have a milk run
of productive brush piles located in 15 to
30 feet. My best lure this week has been a
Sammy 115 with a front runner set about 2
feet above my plug.
The front runner is a small shad imi
tator designed to run in front of your top
water plug. You can also take a feathered
treble hook, tie it to the main line with a
palomar knot and a long leader. Then tie
your top water plug on about 2 feet below
the treble hook. You will often catch two
fish at a time on this rig.
Top and drop fishing has been work
ing well. Cast a top water plug or a swim
bait over the brush then move in over the
brush and dissect it with your drop shot
rig. I have a big 12-inch Lowrance Carbon
unit mounted on the bow of my Nitro bass
boat. This unit really helps with “sight”
fishing while using your Lowrance graph.
Rig your drop shot with a Lanier Baits
Fruity Worm or a Big Bites Baits Shakin’
Squirrel and dip the tails in chartreus JJ’s
Magic.
There have also been some bass moving
shallow to chase shad back in the coves
and on secondary points. These fish will
hit a variety of top water plugs, swim baits
and crank baits. My best producer has
been to “stupid fish” with a SPRO McStick
110. Just cast this lure to the shore or to
schooling fish and reel it medium steady.
This plug closely matches the blue back
herring that Lake Lanier’s spotted bass
population love so much.
Other techniques are also working. Cast
a spinner bait to wind blown points. You
can also work a shaky head around docks
and rocky banks. Crank a SPRO Little
John 50 to flats and points that hold fish.
You can also cast and work a drop shot rig
like you would a Carolina Rig. The bass
are also biting crank baits and spinner
baits after dark.
Striper fishing is good and the fish are
starting to migrate up into the rivers and
creeks. That being said, a large percent
age of Lake Lanier’s striped bass never
venture above Browns Bridge but instead
move shallow into the lower lake creeks
in winter.
We have started to see some stripers
■ Please see LANIER, 2B
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL I Game of the Week
Playoffs coming into focus
Photos by AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
West Hall running back Jeremiah Prather tries to slip past a Johnson defender during the first half of the game Aug. 24 in Oakwood.
Flowery Branch’s Jalin Strown competes for a pass with Blessed
Trinity’s Quinton Reese during the game Oct. 12 in Flowery
Branch.
Falcons and
Spartans both
in the running
BY NATHAN BERG
nberg@gainesvilletimes.com
With the high school football
regular season winding down
and playoff scenarios slowly
starting to solidify, every
region game carries signifi
cant weight.
Tonight’s Region 7-4A show
down between No. 9 Flowery
Branch and West Hall is no
exception, as both squads find
themselves in the thick of the
playoff hunt with two games
left.
“These two games are prob
ably the most important games
we’ll play,” Flowery Branch
offensive lineman Tucker
Rothschild said. “We still
haven’t locked up a playoff
spot. We just need to finish the
season off right.”
Through the first six games
of the year, the Falcons
seemed destined to glide into
the postseason, sitting at 6-0
and ranked as the No. 5 team
in Class 4A.
But a heartbreaking loss in
overtime against No. 1 Blessed
Trinity followed by a 20-0
defeat on the road at the hands
of No. 7 Marist has the Fal
cons’ region record at just 2-2,
narrowly holding onto third
place in the 7-4A.
Still, Flowery Branch head
coach Ben Hall said the con
secutive losses are not the
result of poor play on his
team’s part. He also said the
defeats will not affect the way
his Falcons perform going
forward.
“Just because we’ve had two
tough games, that’s not going
to change who we are and the
way we approach our busi
ness,” Hall said.
Much like his opponent this
week, West Hall coach Krofton
Montgomery has a full grasp of
the importance of today’s con
test. Montgomery’s Spartans
are sitting at 1-3 in a region
that will likely require three
wins to merit a playoff berth.
He said he’s looked at the dif
ferent ways playoff seeding
could play out but isn’t focus
ing on that right now, prefer
ring to deal with the task at
hand before looking toward
the future.
“I haven’t really paid too
much attention to that, except
for the fact that we’ve got to
play ourselves into the play
offs,” Montgomery said. “We
have to win tomorrow night.”
Montgomery’s Spartans will
go head-to-head with a Flow
ery Branch squad that he said
doesn’t really have any obvi
ous weaknesses, particularly
on the defensive side of the
ball.
After watching the tape on
the Falcons’ narrow loss to
Blessed Trinity, Montgomery
came away as impressed as
he ever has following a film
session.
“That may be one of the bet
ter defensive performances
I’ve seen in about five or six
years on film, the way they
played against Blessed Trin
ity,” Montgomery said. “It was
impressive. They were flow
ing. They were attacking the
ball. They were relentless.”
Montgomery added that in
order for his team to take the
victory, his players will have
to win individual battles all
over the field, and be precise
in their execution of plays.
“It’s going to come down to
player vs. player in certain
scenarios, one on one, being
able to make the pitch and the
catch and being able to hit the
hole at the right time,” he said.
Hall noted one of the big
gest matchups to look for in
this game is the battle in the
Tonight’s games
■ East Hall vs. North Hall
■ Flowery Branch at West
Hall
■ Gainesville at
Apalachee
■ Lakeview Academy vs.
Towns County
■ Buford vs. Walnut
Grove
■ Cherokee Bluff at
Dawson County
■ Chestatee at White
County
■ Riverside Military at
Commerce
■ Lumpkin County vs.
Fannin County
■ Habersham Central at
Winder-Barrow
trenches. He and Rothschild
acknowledged the size and
strength of the Spartans line
men, noting that offensive
success will come down to get
ting good push at the point of
attack.
Rothschild said the key to
winning that trench battle
starts with high effort.
“They’re pretty talented
on defensive line,” he added.
“They’re big. We’ve just got to
play more physical than they
do and just do our best every
single play.”
With rain and thunder
storms in the forecast, the
matchup between two pro
grams that take pride in their
physicality could end up being
a close quarters fight. Inclem
ent weather should make
throwing the ball more diffi
cult than usual.
And with each team
approaching the game as an
essential must-win contest,
both are preparing for a high
effort, grind-it-out style slug-
fest come kickoff.
“They’re physical on the
line of scrimmage, and they
have explosive playmakers
on both sides of the ball,” Hall
said. “They’re a team that we
feel like is improving every
week. We expect a physi
cal ball game against a well-
coached team.”
STEVE HELBER I Associated Press
Georgia Tech quarterback Tobias Oliver
(8) looks for running room as Virginia Tech
linebacker Dax Hollifield (25) pursues during
Thursday’s game in Blacksburg, Va.
GEORGIA TECH 49, VIRGINIA TECH 28
Backup QB Oliver goes
for over 200 rushing yards
Associated Press
Backup quarterback
Tobias Oliver ran for 215
yards and three touch
downs and Georgia Tech
ran all over Virginia Tech
for a 49-28 victory on Thurs
day night.
The Yellow Jackets (4-4,
2-3 ACC), playing without
starter TaQuon Marshall,
finished with 465 yards —
all on the ground. Jordan
Mason also scored three
times as Georgia Tech won
its third straight against the
Hokies and third straight in
Lane Stadium — without
completing a pass.
Virginia Tech (4-3, 3-1),
which led 21-14, faded after
its defense forced a punt
and Sean Savoy muffed it,
setting the Yellow Jackets
up for a tying 12-yard touch
down drive. The Yellow
Jackets had a 20:34 to 9:26
time of possession advan
tage in the first half and an
overwhelming 42:18-17:42
edge for the game.
Georgia Tech scored the
next 35 points and became
■ Please see TECH, 3B
