SPORTS
Bill Murphy Sports Editor | 770-718-3415 | sports@gainesvilletimes.com
Unties
gainesvilletimes.com
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL I Class A-Privateplayoffs
Well-decorated Eagle
Riverside Military Academy’s Khalid Duke (1) lines up before the snap during a 2018 game.
CHRISTIAN E. MIMS I For The Times
Riverside Military’s Duke named Atlanta Falcons Athlete of Week
BY NATHAN BERG
nberg@gainesvilletimes.com
For Riverside Military Academy’s do-
it-all athlete Khalid Duke, the goal has
always been to play football on Sundays.
When the Atlanta Falcons return to
Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Nov.
18, Duke will get his first taste of
being under the NFL spotlight.
Duke will be awarded as the
Atlanta Falcons Athlete of the
Week, before kickoff and dur
ing halftime of the Falcons’ NFC
matchup with the Dallas Cow
boys. He and his family will have
sideline passes to the game, and
his athletic accomplishments —
including 10 Division I offers to
play at the next level — will be
recognized in front of the Atlanta
crowd.
When Duke first received the
news of his accomplishment from
Eagles head coach Nick Garrett
last Thursday, the senior’s initial
reaction was shock, but it quickly
changed to excitement.
“I was speechless,” he said. “I
didn’t know what to say. I just was taking
it in.... Since I was a sophomore, I worked
very hard to get to my level now, each year
lifting, running, getting yelled at. I was just
happy for myself.”
The award builds on a relationship
between the Eagles and the Falcons that
coach Garrett has worked to foster since
arriving to the school nearly two years ago.
Duke, along with two other members
of Riverside Military’s football team, has
experience as a member of the Falcons’
ball boy program, and earlier in the year,
Garrett took his players out to the Falcons’
facility on military day.
“We’ve already kind of been down there
and built that relationship,” Gar
rett said. “It just made it that much
sweeter to have one of our guys,
and a Hall County guy, be selected
for it.”
It’s a fairy tale type of ending to
a turnaround season for both Duke
and the playoff-bound Eagles —
who will visit George Walton Acad
emy for a first-round matchup on
the road this Friday in Monroe.
Riverside Military was suffering
prior to Garrett’s hiring, failing to
qualify for playoffs in each of the
past 10 seasons, and the Eagles
were 2-8 in Garrett’s first year
with the program a season ago.
But both wins came in the final
three contests of that last cam
paign, and the team has built on
that base in 2018. Riverside Mili
tary finished the regular season
at 5-5, including a 4-3 mark in the Region
8-A Private, highlighted by a win over
Commerce — snapping a four-game losing
streak in that series.
“The kids just needed to get a taste of it,”
Garrett said.
“So once they got some of these small
victories and a couple wins, they wanted
that feeling to continue.”
Next up for the Eagles is a tough test
against the 8-2 Bulldogs, whose only two
losses came against a pair of top-five teams
— No. 3 Athens Academy and No. 4 Prince
Avenue Christian. Both defeats were one-
score affairs.
“They’re very disciplined, very struc
tured, very aggressive, very fast,” Garrett
said of his team’s upcoming opponent.
“They play really, really well-rounded
football. They play together, and that’s the
reason they are 8-2.”
Both Garrett and Duke pointed to win
ning the line of scrimmage as a key to ulti
mately winning the game.
The Eagles will look to dominate time
of possession with their ground attack as
much as possible to keep George Walton’s
explosive offense — averaging more than
30 points a game — off the field. Garrett
said a successful run game should open up
mismatches with receivers on the outside,
which the Eagles will have to exploit if they
want to capture their first postseason win
since 2006.
Defensively, Riverside Military will
focus on stopping the run, the Bulldogs’ big
gest strength according to Garrett. Stout
ness from the front seven will be the only
way for Garrett’s squad to avoid an early
exit in the Class A-Private tournament.
“If we can stop the run or subdue the run
and obviously capitalize on special teams,
then we can win,” he said. “If not, it’s going
to be a long night.”
HIGH SCHOOL
BASKCTBALL
Helping a
good cause
Cherokee Bluff
scrimmage will aid
hurricane relief
Based on a spur of the moment deci
sion, the basketball programs of Chero
kee Bluff High chose to assist a good
cause.
Boys coach Benjie Wood announced
the high school’s plans
to donate all proceeds
from this Thursday’s
home scrimmage
with Jefferson and
Johnson toward
Hurricane Michael
relief efforts.
Wood said all profit
from ticket sales for
the exhibition games
will benefit Rutherford High School in
Panama City, Florida, one of the many
institutions impacted by the Category 4
storm last month. Michael was the third-
strongest hurricane to make landfall in
the U.S., ripping through the Florida
Panhandle before doing more damage
in parts of Georgia, North Carolina and
Virginia. Rhondie Ross, a close friend of
Wood’s, coaches at Rutherford High.
“You know, they are completely dev
astated,” Wood said.
“(Coach Ross) was actually on his
way to the store (Tuesday) to buy bot
tled water for his kids to practice. And
they are just hoping to have some sort
of season. In an effort to give some sort
of bright spot after what they’ve been
through ...Whatever they need, we want
to help. Just do the right thing and help
your neighbor.”
Admission is $5 at the gate. The girl’s
team will play Jefferson at 6 p.m., and
the boys game versus Johnson will
immediately follow at 7:30 p.m.
Compiled by Sarah Woodall
ATLANTA HAWKS
Lin scores 19 for
young Hawks in
113-102 road
loss to Hornets
Kemba Walker had 29 points and
seven assists, extending his strong start
to the season as the Charlotte Hornets
beat the Atlanta Hawks 113-102 on Tues
day night.
Marvin Williams added 20 points for
the Hornets (6-5), who won for the third
time on a four-game homestand. Walker
has scored 25 or more seven times in 11
games.
Jeremy Lamb and Malik Monk each
had 13 points for Charlotte. Nic Batum
scored 10.
Playing against his former team, Jer
emy Lin had 19 points off the bench to
lead the Hawks (3-7), who led by seven
late in the first half.
The young Hawks started 2018 first-
round draft picks Trae Young, Kevin
Huerter and Omari Spellman for the
first time this season and pushed Char
lotte before losing for the eighth time in
the last nine meetings.
Young finished with 18 points and 10
assists. Kent Bazemore added 16 points.
Associated Press
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Fast-paced Auburn offense next task for No. 5 Georgia
BY NATHAN BERG
nberg@gainesvilletimes.com
Following Georgia’s SEC
East-clinching victory on the
road against Kentucky on Satur
day, the fifth-ranked Bulldogs’
visiting locker room was full
of energy, according to head
coach Kirby Smart.
“Guys were fired up,” Smart
said. “Guys were excited. Any
time you play another top-10
team and you have a big win, it’s
something to get excited about. ”
Those emotions followed the
team all the way back to Athens,
staying with the players through
Saturday night. Then, it was
back to work.
“Sunday we move on,” Smart
said. “It’s on to Auburn.”
The win over the Wildcats
finished off Georgia’s SEC East
conquest for the second year
in a row. The Bulldogs were a
perfect 6-0 against East teams,
beating those opponents by an
average of three touchdowns,
while holding all but Missouri
No. 5 Georgia
vs. Auburn
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
TV: ESPN
to 17 points or less. Regardless
of what happens over the next
three contests, Georgia has
already punched a ticket to
Atlanta for an SEC Champion
ship bout against No. 1 Alabama
— likely a play-in game for the
College Football Playoff.
But for the members of the
team, all that matters right now
is the task at hand.
“You can’t skip to anything,”
running back Elijah Holyfield
said. “You have to go through
your schedule. Auburn’s a
really good team, and we’re
focused on them.”
The Tigers haven’t quite lived
up to the lofty expectations set
for them at the beginning of the
season, but things have been
looking up of late. The team hit
a low point a month ago when
it lost to Tennessee, but they’ve
won back-to-back games since,
including last week’s comeback
victory over Texas A&M.
Smart pointed to an excep
tionally experienced defen
sive unit as perhaps the most
dangerous aspect of Auburn’s
team. That, combined with a
veteran, mobile quarterback in
Jarrett Stidham and a number
of speedy receivers makes the
Tigers more dangerous than
their record might suggest.
“It’ll be a tremendous chal
lenge for our guys as they move
on from the Kentucky game into
this game,” Smart said. “I know
our players and our coaches
have a lot of respect for the way
Auburn plays the game.”
Smart’s players echoed that
sentiment.
From a defensive perspec
tive, lineman Jonathan Led
better said the speed at which
Auburn operates can make it
difficult to keep up.
“They’ve got a really fast
■ Please see GEORGIA, 2B
BRYAN W00LST0N I Associated Press
Georgia running back Elijah Holyfield (13) stiff arms Kentucky safety Mike Edwards
(7) during the second half of a game on Saturday, Nov. 3, in Lexington, Ky.
