Newspaper Page Text
Reporter
1B November 14, 2012
Pigskin Picks Page 3B-4B
Terry Johnson Page 4B
Senior Cheerleaders Page 5B
Public Record Page 8B
The best
coverage
for Monroe
County sports
MP to host Statesboro in first round
Tickets available at MP,
Monroe County Bank
Ticket sales for this Friday
night's Mary Persons football
playoff game against Statesboro
will go on sale Wednesday, Nov.
14 for season ticket holders. They
can be purchased at Monroe
County Bank and Mary Persons
High School. This does not
reserve your seat, but it does give
season ticket holders the opportu
nity to purchase their tickets early.
All general admission tickets will
be sold Thursday and Friday at
Mary Persons High School and
Monroe County Bank.
The cost is $10 in advance and
at the gate.
Statesboro at Mary Persons
Friday, Nov. 16 • 7:30 p.m.
Dan Pitts Stadium, Forsyth, Tickets: $10
Last met: Nov. 20, 1970: Statesboro 41, West Laurens 14
Prediction: MP 17, Statesboro 14
BY RICHARD DUMAS
Mary Persons will play host to
Statesboro at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in the
program's first home playoff game in nine
years.
The Bulldogs last played a home playoff
game in 2003 when MP beat Monroe
(Albany) 35-19 in a first-round game. MP,
8-2 overall, finished head coach Brian
Nelson's first regular season with the
same record it had in 2011 in former
head coach Rodney Walker's final season.
The Bulldogs and Blue Devils, who fin
ished third in Region 3-AAAA, will be
playing for only the second time ever. The
only prior meeting between the schools
came in 1970 when the Blue Devils beat
MP 41-14 to knock the Bulldogs out of
playoff contention.
Statesboro will not likely be intimidated
by the hostile atmosphere at Dan Pitts
Stadium Friday. The Blue Devils are a
perennial state power with five state
championships, including most recently
in AAAA in 2005. Like MP, Statesboro
has compiled an 8-2 overall record in
2012 with its only losses coming to
Wayne County and to defending AAA
state champion Burke County. The Blue
Devils closed out the regular season with
See PREVIEW page 7B
midfield to MP's 34-yard-
line on its next drive.
However, the series was
thwarted on fourth down by
MP's defense when star jun
ior safety Akebren Ralls bat
ted down a Shannon pass
attempt at the line of scrim
mage.
Ralls wasn't finished
messing up West Laurens'
game plan. The Raiders'
next drive ended when Ralls
intercepted another
Quainton pass before later-
aling to linebacker Tra
Taylor, who returned the
pick 38 yards down the MP
sideline.
Even though the Bulldogs
got excellent field position
off of the West Laurens
turnover, they were once
again unable to capitalize.
On 4th-and-1 at West
Laurens' 24-yard-line,
Raiders' middle linebacker
and Georgia signee Johnny
O' Neal stopped MP running
back Dee High right in his
tracks short of the first-
down marker.
But then, with 6:34 left in
the second quarter, MP
finally got the break it need
ed. The Bulldogs got their
third interception of the first
half when Taylor dropped
back into coverage and
picked off a Quainton pass
that hit Taylor right
between the numbers on his
jersey. MP started its next
possession at the Raiders'
35-yard-line and took
advantage this time. On the
fourth play of the series,
wide receiver Macey Zellner
ran a hitch-and-go route toward the left
front pylon of the end zone. MP quarter
back Jordan Banks pump faked and
made the West Laurens cornerback bite.
Zellner exploded past the defender and
Banks' pass hit him right in stride for a
24-yard touchdown. Senior Kenny
Miller's extra point gave MP a 7-0 lead.
West Laurens' ensuing possession was
stalled by penalties, as the Raiders accu
mulated 11 accepted penalties for 95
yards in the game. MP's performance
Above: Josh Mays (No. 3), Drew Goolsby (No. 17)
and Akebren Ralls (No. 25) swarm a West Laurens
ballcarrier during MP’s 38-13 win over the Raiders
Friday. The Bulldogs will now host Statesboro in the
first round of the AAAA state playoffs on Friday.
(Photo/Kim Holderfield)
was not any cleaner as the Bulldogs
amassed nine penalties for 111 yards.
With just 34 seconds left in the first half,
Ralls returned a punt 75 yards for a
touchdown, but the score was nullified,
not surprisingly, by an MP facemask
penalty.
Despite the score being taken off the
board, Ralls' return gave MP the ball on
West Laurens' side of the field. Another
See MP page 2B
Macey Zellner #10
The senior wide receiver scored two 24-
yard touchdowns and had 123 total yards
in MP’s 36-13 win over West Laurens.
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Another
smother
BY RICHARD DUMAS
The Mary Persons Bulldogs' defense
continued its season-long tradition of
forcing turnovers against West Laurens
at home Friday.
The Bulldogs picked off four Raiders'
passes to win a sloppy penalty-marred
game 38-13 in the team's regular season
finale on Senior Night. The meeting was
the two teams' first since an infamous
brawl ended their 2011 matchup two
minutes early.
Senior offensive tackle Javone
Calloway said he and the other seniors
were feeling a lot of extra emotion play
ing their final regular season game at
Dan Pitts Stadium.
"I waited four years for this moment,"
Calloway said. "It doesn't get much bet
ter than this."
However, Calloway said MP head coach
Brian Nelson didn't want his team to get
too wound up and have another run-in
with West Laurens' players.
"You just have to be the bigger person,"
Calloway said of the on-field battles that
took place Friday.
Senior defensive tackle Zen Grier said
no matter the opponent it was important
for the MP seniors to go out with a victo
ry Friday even though MP had already
secured a home playoff game with its
Nov. 2 win over Rutland.
Grier said, "We needed extra momen
tum going into the playoffs, so yeah, it
was important to win."
At 8-2 overall (6-1 in Region 2-AAAA),
MP will now host the school's first home
playoff game in nine years against
Statesboro at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The
Bulldogs finished the regular season in
solo-second place in Region 2-AAAA, one
game behind first-place Westside.
MP's offense got off to a slow start
Friday, accumulating just 67 total yards
in the first half. The Bulldogs' defense
had to assume control of the game
instead, and it did just that.
On West Laurens' very first series of
the game, the Raiders' sophomore quar
terback Garrel Quainton learned he
would be in for a long night. Quainton
was intercepted by MP linebacker Tre
Davis off of a deflection by cornerback
Donta Shannon. MP did not take advan
tage of Davis' pick, however. Senior run
ning back Nick Davis, whose ankle injury
limited him to just two carries, fumbled
the ball right back to West Laurens.
The Raiders advanced the ball across
MP boys cross country places 11th at state meet
MP’s Nix finishes third overall in girls’ state race
BY RICHARD DUMAS
The Mary Persons boys
cross country team fin
ished up an excellent 2012
campaign with an 11th
place finish at the AAAA
state meet in Carrollton
Saturday.
Mary Persons finished
with 326 total points, com
ing up just one-point shy
of tying 10th place Eagles
Landing. Marist blew
away the AAAA competi
tion with its total of 44
points, as three of the top
five finishers including
champion Michael
Thurston were Marist run
ners.
Not surprisingly, Mary
Persons' top individual
boys finisher was senior
Caleb Watson, who placed
15th with a time of 17
minutes and 23 seconds.
Watson won the Region 2-
AAAA meet on Nov. 1.
Thurston, the meet's win
ner, finished the race in
16:12.
MP head coach Steve
Herr said Watson was
"thrilled" with his per
formance, as he was hop
ing for a top-20.
MP's next best finisher
was sophomore Addison
Chapman who finished
45th with a time of 18:22.
Finishing right behind
Chapman in 48th place
was junior Dennis Miller
with a time of 18:23.
Junior Ben Taylor was
MP's fourth-best finisher
with a time of 18:50.
Taylor placed 85th overall.
MP's final counting score
was posted by sophomore
Ryan Sheppard who fin
ished 146th in a time of
19:37. MP's Kyle Wheeler
and Joe Allen also ran
Saturday, finishing 152nd
and 159th, respectively.
The MP girls team did
not finish quite as high as
the boys on Saturday, plac
ing 25th overall with 631
total points. However, an
MP girl finished an
impressive third in the
state. MP junior Anna
Leigh Nix finished in third
place individually with
a time of 20:04. Like
Watson, Nix won the
Region 2-AAAA girls
championship on Nov. 1.
Marist's Morgan Ilse was
the state meet's top finish
er in a time of 19:16.
Marist also won the girls
team title with 46 total
points.
Herr said Nix could be a
challenger for the state
title next year with anoth
er year of training under
See X COUNTRY page 7B