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SPORTS
Bill Murphy Sports Editor | 770-718-3415 | sports@gainesvilletimes.com
Unties
gainesvilletimes.com
Friday, November 9, 2018
CW\SS 4A STATE PAYOFFS
SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
West Halls quarterback Quentin Smith loses the ball temporarily as he’s hit by
Flowery Branch’s Grant Lackey and Cody Inman during the game Oct. 26 in
Oakwood.
Flowery Branch in
for first-round battle
BY SARAH WOODALL
swoodall@gainesvilletimes.com
As Flowery Branch High put a
wrap on its regular season last Fri
day with a win against Denmark,
second-year football coach Ben Hall
reminded his postseason-bound Fal
cons of a message he delivered to the
program nearly two years ago.
It was that the days of merely cele
brating a playoff berth are over. The
Falcons are in it to celebrate playoff
wins.
Hall’s message to expect success
on-and-off the field still floods the
hallways of the school and the Fal
cons’ locker room. And those that
remain from the
2016 squad, which
went from a losing
program to bringing
Flowery Branch its
first playoff victory
since 2011 the fol
lowing season, are
no longer surprised
to see the message
still come to life.
“It’s a feeling
I don’t ever want to get rid of, for
sure,” said senior Matthew Porter,
a four-year starter on the Flowery
Branch offensive line.
Ranked in the top-10 for much of
2018 and now in the playoffs for the
second-straight season, there’s no
reason for the ninth-ranked Falcons
(8-2) to re-visit the past.
“I feel like last year was our year
to kind of get adjusted, and this year
we came in expecting to win,” Porter
added. “And when we expect to win,
we do win .. And it’s just changed the
mentality of this program. ”
Even the small hurdles along the
way didn’t deter Flowery Branch
from eventually clinching the No. 3
seed in the Class 4A tournament by
the end of the season.
Hall’s Falcons experienced a dis
couraging stretch of games where
players at several key positions went
down with injuries in conjunction
with suffering back-to-back losses to
last year’s Class 4A finalists: defend
ing state champion Blessed Trinity
and runner-up Marist. Instead of
bowing out, other players relished
the opportunity to showcase their
worth.
It’s a little like those Atlanta Fal
cons at Flowery Branch headquar
ters, right across the street from the
high school.
After experiencing an injury epi
demic itself, Atlanta has flipped a 1-4
Playoff schedule
Today’s games
Class 6A
■ Gainesville at Creekside
Class 5A
■ Buford vs. Miller Grove
Class 4A
■ Flowery Branch at Ridgeland
Class 3A
■ North Hall at Lakeview-Fort
Oglethorpe
Class A private schools
■ Riverside Military at George
Walton Academy
start into a .500 record and is still in
the NFC playoff hunt.
Coach Hall laughed when he said
he didn’t think their injury bug was
contagious.
“Coaches talk about having a “next
man up” mentality, and if you truly
believe then you can’t treat it any
other way,” Hall said. We’re not
gonna say, ‘well so-and-so’s’ out and
so-and-so’s out. This is what needs to
be done.’ We just plug the next guy in
there and expect him to do his job.
And honestly, the kids are excited
about the opportunity.”
Junior defensive back Grant
Lackey felt that type of adversity
brought this particular group even
closer.
“We have a bunch of guys in the
locker room that we trust to go in
there and make plays,” Lackey said.
“Trusting everybody’s ability really
helps us get behind each other and
play well as a team. ”
While acknowledging his team is
in a healthier state, Hall confirmed
that the Falcons will be without the
talents of two starters for Friday’s
first-round matchup with No. 2
seed Ridgeland. Hall ruled out run
ning back Jaizen Ellingham this
week, while senior defensive line
man Ethan McKay (four sacks), the
team’s sack leader alongside senior
Jack Dodson, is done for the year.
Regardless, nothing has been
altered from a preparation stand
point to get ready for the Panthers
(7-3), who too reached the second
round last season and boast plenty of
speed on both sides of the ball.
This opening-round contest is the
only matchup with two ranked oppo
nents in Class 4A to open the post
season. This is also the third-ever
meeting between the programs and
first since 2009.
■ Please see BRANCH, 3B
BIFFY MARTIN DRIVE DEDICATION
HELD AT CITY PARK STADIUM
For The Times
Former Gainesville High legend Billy Martin was memorialized in a ceremony
at Gainesville’s City Park with the street leading to the football stadium
named Billy Martin Drive. Martin, a 1960 graduate of Gainesville High and
1964 graduate of Georgia Tech, earned All-State and All-American football
honors during his high school and collegiate playing career. He later played
professional football for Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta.
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL I Class 3A state playoffs
Road test awaits
SCOn ROGERS I The Times
North Hall quarterback David Seavey looks at receiver Daniel Jackson, right, during a first half
drive against Lumpkin County on Oct. 19 in Gainesville.
North Hall travels to Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe
BY NATHAN BERG
nberg@gainesvilletimes.com
There are five words writ
ten on the white board in the
North Hall football team’s
meeting room in the week
leading up to the Trojans’ first-
round playoff game against
Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe this
evening: Fight, scratch, strain,
claw and nasty.
North Hall coach David
Bishop put them there follow
ing the team’s overtime loss to
Dawson County in the
regular season finale.
After winning three
straight blowouts lead
ing up to the defeat
at the hands of the
Tigers, Bishop said
his team has had to
relearn how to fight in
tight situations. Play
ing tough, physical
football will be the big
gest key to the Trojans extend
ing their season past the first
round, according to Bishop.
“We didn’t do that Friday
night, because we haven’t
had to in a long time,” he said.
“And we have to realize that it
doesn’t matter who we play.
We have to approach it that
way.”
The loss to end the regular
season put a blemish on an oth
erwise magical season for the
Trojans.
North Hall averaged more
than 40 points scored a game
while allowing only 101 total
points on the season defen
sively — the second-lowest
total in school history. The
32.9-point average margin of
victory is the best mark the
program has ever seen.
“We’re excited about how
the season went,” quarterback
David Seavey said. “We broke
some school records,
which we weren’t
planning to do, but it
happened. But we still
have one goal. That’s
to see if we can win a
state championship.”
In order to reach
that ultimate goal, the
Trojans will have to
accomplish a couple
of firsts. For
starters, North Hall
has never won a road
playoff game, and as a
No. 3 seed this year, it
will most likely have
to travel every week.
Bishop said he’s
not shying away from
“the proverbial mon
key on our back” that
the team is facing.
“It’s not been a large focus,
but we’ve talked about it,”
he said. “I said ‘Guys I’m not
going to focus on the fact that
we’ve never won a road play
off game in the history of the
school, but it’s real. And if we
take care of business, that’ll be
a first. No one can ever take
that away from you.’”
In order to advance, North
Hall and its Wing T offense
will have to overcome Lakev-
iew-Ft. Oglethorpe’s triple
option attack.
The two teams are similar in
that both pick up the majority
of their yardage on the ground
and both pride themselves in
playing hard-nosed defense.
“The one thing that sticks
out on tape for me is every
body’s had to drive the ball
on them,” Bishop said. “..
They play hard, and they
make people have to drive it.
I don’t foresee us rip
ping off 50,60,70-yard
touchdowns like we
have over the last few
weeks.”
The Trojans have
depended on big plays
for much of the year,
so the Warriors will
present a unique test
in terms of the neces
sity to sustain drives.
Defensively, the biggest key
for North Hall will be staying
on assignment.
Against the triple option,
even one player losing dis
cipline could spring an
unmarked running back for a
big gain.
“We have to play assign
ment football,” Seavey said.
“We have to make sure that we
do everything we’re supposed
to do. If one person doesn’t do
their job, that play could be a
touchdown, and that could be
the turning point in the game. ”
But perhaps as important as
the scheme for the Trojans is
the attitude they play with in
what projects to be another
close contest.
If they want to flip the script
this time around, Seavey and
every member of the team
will have to fight, scratch,
strain, claw and be nasty.
“North Hall has always
been a very physical team, and
they’ve always been known as
getting after it,” Seavey said.
“We didn’t do that last Friday.
We just need to get back to
how we were.”
Bishop
Seavey
EAST HALL 7-AND-UNDER TEAM WINS SUPER BOWL
For The Times
The East Hall Junior Vikings 7-and-under team recently won the Super Bowl. East Hall finished the
season with an 8-1 mark. Team members are Shane Williams, Johan Castillo, Journey Poole, Rodrigo
Rangel, Tyler Jarrard, Amir Glasper, Landen Griggs, Jair Castillo, Dominic Contreras, Jarrett Major,
Mason Witherow, Leland Lott, Kayson Maloch, Prince Smith and K.J. Williams. Coaches were Hugo
Rangel, Justin Smith, Dusty Jarrard, Michael Maloch and Brandon Witherow.
