Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2B
i-Reporter
November 28, 2012
Dogs-Tide on Sat.
the National Title in Miami on
Jan. 7. The press is calling it
Georgia’s biggest football
since its 1982 season some
30 years ago. (Photos/Donn
Rodenroth)
The Georgia Bulldogs kept their national title hopes alive on Saturday with a 42-10 thrash
ing of arch-rival Georgia Tech in Sanford Stadium. At left, Georgia linebacker Alec Ogle-
tree bodyslams a Georgia
Tech running back as team
mates Jordan Jenkins (No. 59)
and Shawn Williams (No. 36)
assist. At right, Georgia cor-
nerback Devin Bowman, a
Ridgeland High School alum,
knocks a Tech receiver out of
bounds. Georgia will play Al
abama for the SEC Champi
onship on Saturday at 4 p.m.
and the winner will play un
beaten No. 1 Notre Dame for
MP
continued from the front
advance to the AA state
semis in the Georgia
Dome, where the Bulldogs
were dispatched by Early
County. The Bulldogs also
improved their overall
record to 10-2, winning at
least 10 games for the first
time since 1998.
MP will now face 7-
AAAA champion
Ridgeland, 11-1 overall,
who beat La Grange 41-34
in the second round. The
game will be played at
7:30 p.m. on Friday night
at Ridgeland's home stadi
um in Rossville, which is
located just south of the
Tennessee border. The two
teams have never met.
MP will likely have to
score more than three
points to beat the
Panthers, but it was just
enough to dispatch the
Syrupmakers as neither
team performed well offen
sively.
Both MP and Cairo had
the ball 12 times each in
regulation, and on only
two occasions, one by
Cairo and one by MP, was
the ball advanced more
than 26 yards on an offen
sive series.
In fact, the Bulldogs'
very first offensive play
resulted in disaster. After
forcing a Cairo punt on the
Syrupmakers' opening
series, MP took over on
offense at its own 20. MP
senior quarterback Jordan
Banks, who has been
steady all season, immedi
ately made a critical error.
Banks fired a pass over
the middle directly into
the hands of Cairo free
safety Deonte Dismuke
who returned the pick to
the MP 21-yard-line.
Two plays later, Cairo
gave the ball right back to
MP as Cairo quarterback
Donald Thomas fumbled
on MP's 16-yard-line.
The Syrupmakers' stout
defense forced an MP
punt, and Cairo's next
offensive possession looked
promising after a 23-yard
screen pass from Thomas
to Dontra Anderson moved
the ball down to MP's 20-
yard-line. However, on the
very next play, Cairo's cen
ter snapped the ball over
the head of the diminutive
Thomas and though
Thomas fell on the loose
ball, the play resulted in a
loss of 23 yards. Cairo was
then forced to punt.
The two teams traded
punts on their next posses
sions as the game moved
briskly into the second
quarter. MP fumbled twice
on its next series and
while the Bulldogs were
able to recover the first
one, Cairo pounced on the
second one by MP’s Dee
High. The Syrupmakers
once again had good field
position at their own 45-
yard-line but once again
the MP defense held as
Cairo crossed midfield and
forced a punt.
MP's next series started
backed up at its own 10-
yard-line. However, MP
running back Nick Davis
created the team's first big
offensive play of the game
when he burst for 22 yards
on the first play of the
series. Banks then com
pleted his first two passes
of the game, an 11-yarder
and 9-yarder, respectively,
to Malik Bledsoe later in
the drive. However, the
Bulldogs came up one yard
short of a first down at
Cairo's 48-
yard-line and
were once
again forced
to punt.
Backed up
for the first
time them
selves, the
Syrupmakers
took posses
sion at their
own 16-yard-
line and pro
ceeded on
their best
drive of the
whole game.
Cairo
marched 53
yards on eight
plays with the
biggest play
being a 32-
yard-run by
running back
Paul Davis.
After receiver
Reese Wooten
dropped a
would-be first
down, the
Syrupmakers
faced a critical
4th-and-5 at MP's 34-yard
line with just 37 seconds
left in the first half. Once
again, MP’s defense stoned
the Syrupmakers as senior
defensive tackle Lawson
McComb stuffed Thomas
after a gain of just two
yards. MP got the ball
back with only 21 seconds
left before halftime, and
Banks knelt down to end
the half.
The Bulldogs and
Syrupmakers traded punts
to open the second half
and despite getting good
field position at its own
46-yard-line on its second
drive of the third quarter,
MP was forced to punt
once again.
On Cairo's second drive
of the third quarter, MP
got what it thought would
be the break it needed to
finally get points. MP safe
ty Akebren Ralls blasted
Thomas in the open field,
stripping the ball loose.
Ralls recovered the fum
ble, and MP took over at
the Cairo 36-yard-line. On
the second play of the
fourth quarter, MP faced a
3rd-and-6. However,
Banks threw too high for
Davis in the flat, and the
Bulldogs were forced to
settle for a field goal
attempt. Unfortunately for
MP, Kenny Miller's 35-
yard attempt missed low
and left, and the game
remained scoreless.
Cairo once again was
forced to punt on its ensu
ing possession, but a 53-
yard punt by Donalson
successfully flipped the
field. After another MP
punt, Cairo took posses
sion at its own 49-yard-
line with just 6:40 left in
the 4th quarter. However,
Cairo couldn't take advan
tage of its excellent field
position as Thomas threw
an interception on the first
play of the series. Ralls
appeared to deflect
Thomas' deep pass, and
the ball was intercepted by
cornerback Josh Mays at
Cairo's 9-yard-line.
After yet another MP
punt, Cairo once again got
the ball at its own 49-
yard-line. A costly offen
sive pass interference
backed the Syrupmakers
up once again on second
down. On the next play,
Thomas fired deep over
the middle to an open
Wooten, but MP senior cor
nerback Donta Shannon
caught up to the pass and
batted it harmlessly to the
ground.
Following a Cairo punt,
MP took possession at its
own 37-yard-line with just
3:30 left in regulation. The
Bulldogs began utilizing
Davis on toss sweeps and
fullback Terri Dewberry on
dive plays and successfully
moved into Cairo territory.
Davis ran for a four-yard
gain on 3rd-and-5, setting
up 4th-and-inches at the
Syrupmakers' 33-yard-line
with just 56 seconds left.
Banks hobbled the 4th-
down snap and MP lost
four yards, ending the last
chance at avoiding a score
less regulation.
Mary Persons won the
ever-critical overtime coin
toss and elected to play
defense first. Cairo then
curiously chose to go
toward the open end zone
at West Thomas Stadium
away from most of the
Syrupmaker fans. Starting
at the 15-yard-line,
Thomas was stopped for a
loss on first down and
then missed an open
Wooten on second down.
After the lefty Thomas
once again threw incom
plete on third down, Cairo
head coach Tom Fallaw
sent out Donalson for a 33-
yard field goal attempt.
Donalson missed wide left,
but the Syrupmakers were
given a reprieve when the
Bulldogs were called for
running into the kicker.
The penal
ty did not
result in
an auto
matic first
down but
did allow
Donalson
a second
field goal
attempt
from five
yards clos
er. This
time
Donalson
shocked
the Cairo
faithful by
barely
missing
wide right.
As MP
players
and coach
es cheered
in excite
ment
along the
visiting
sideline,
the
Bulldogs
knew they
had their chance. Ralls
ran a sweep for eight
yards on MP's first play,
and then Davis carried for
four more and a first down
on the next play. Facing
lst-and-goal from the 3-
yard-line, MP's Terri
Dewberry carried twice in
a row, each time gaining a
yard. On 3rd-and-goal
from the one, Dewberry
was stuffed for a loss of
two, forcing MP to attempt
a field goal. This time,
Miller booted the ball
straight through the
uprights from 20 yards
out. MP players immedi
ately mobbed him near the
end zone, jumping on top
of one another in celebra
tion.
MP outgained Cairo 217
to 164 in total yards, and
187 to 130 on the ground.
Nick Davis led MP in
rushing with 106 yards on
21 carries. Paul Davis led
Cairo with 90 yards on 18
carries.
Both quarterbacks strug
gled in the game. Banks
completed just three of 13
passes for 30 yards and an
interception. Thomas was
equally ineffective, com
pleting six of 18 passes for
34 yards and an intercep
tion. He also rushed for
just four yards on 15 car
ries while also fumbling
twice.
MP's defense was the
star of the game, amassing
six tackles for a loss,
including two sacks.
Sophomore defensive end
Demarcus Davis was MP's
top tackier with nine
stops, including one-and-a-
half for a loss.
MP defensive coordinator
Biff Parsons, who is in his
first year at MP after help
ing Lamar County reach
the state quarters in 2011,
said he knew his defense
was ready to play after the
first couple of series.
Parsons said, "I'll be hon
est with you. If there was
a concern going into this
game, it was can we tackle
No. 21 (Paul Davis)
because he's a great
freakin running back. And
that was my only concern.
. . And after the first two
series when we hit him in
the mouth, I knew that we
were going to show up and
play for four quarters. We
were put in some situa
tions because that's the
way the ball bounces in
football. Who knew Jordan
was going to throw a pick
on the first play of the
game? Who knew we were
going to fumble the snap
on 4th-and-l? That's just
part of football. But I
think we as a defensive
staff, Coach (Pat) Burdette
and Coach (Brandon)
Murphy, do a great job of
preparing those guys. And
they had the confidence
after those first two series
when they realized, 'Well
these guys aren't any bet
ter than us.' And they had
a lot of swagger tonight."
Demarcus Davis said
"swagger" is exactly what
Parsons has brought to the
MP defense.
"He brings hype," Davis
said of Parsons. "I really
can't explain it, but it's
something about it.
Everytime he says some
thing, you get up and
you're ready to go. You're
ready to do some work."
Nelson, who served as
MP's defensive coordinator
for six seasons before
being promoted this year,
said he has had to dele
gate more responsibility to
Parsons than he expected
in 2012.
"He brings a ton of expe
rience and knowledge for
starters," Nelson said of
Parsons. "That was one of
the things that I thought I
was going to be able to
keep doing, but as duties
play out, I've delegated a
little more responsibility
to him, and he's taken off
and went with it. Coach
Parsons, Coach Murphy,
Coach Burdette, I mean
that was just one heck of a
job. A shutout in the sec
ond round of the playoffs."
Nelson thanked MP fans
for traveling more than
three hours to Cairo and
nearly filling the visitor
bleachers.
"It's a testament to the
town of Forsyth and to the
community of Monroe
County," Nelson said. "Did
you look at the bleachers
over there? I mean it was
packed. So it's a complete
team, community effort.
It's amazing when every
thing gets going in the
same direction what can
happen."
TEAM
STATS
MP
C
First Downs
9
9
Rushing yds.
187
130
Passing yds
30
34
Total yds.
217
164
Att-Comp-Int
13-3-1
18-6-1
Fumbles-Lost
3-1
3-2
Penalties
5-64
4-38
MP vs. Cairo
MP 0 0 0 0 3 - 3
C 0 0 0 0 0 -0
BULLDOG SCORING
• Kenny Miller
- 20-yard field goal
Individual MP Stats
OFFENSE
RUSHING
Carries
Yds.
Nick Davis
21
106
Terri Dewberry
7
33
Dee High
8
28
Akebren Ralls
2
20
Josh Mays
1
2
Jordan Banks
4
-2
PASSING
Jordan Banks
Comp. Att. Yds.
.3 13 30
RECEIVING
PUNTS
Yds.
Punts
Yds.
Avg.
Rec.
J. Banks 7
235
33.6
Malik Bledsoe 3
30
PUNT RETURNS
INTERCEPTIONS
Yds.
Ints
Yds.
Avg.
Ret.
Josh Mays 1
0
0.0
None
KICK RETURNS
FUMBLES RECOVERED
No.
Yds.
Avg.
Ret.
Yds.
Keven Jones 1
0
0.0
None
J. Scandret 1
0
0.0
DEFENSE
Tackles Assists
D. Davis
Tra Taylor
Keven Jones
L. McComb
J. Scandret
Akebren Ralls
Quen Head
Quen Shannon
Drew Goolsby
Heath Warren
Josh Mays
Heath Warren
D. Shannon
Demario Webb 0
John Perkins 0
MP safety Akebren Ralls (No. 6) celebrates a big defensive
play with teammate Donta Shannon during MP’s 3-0 playoff
win over Cairo. The Bulldogs’ defensive backs will need to be
at their best again this week against a high-flying Ridgeland
offense. (Photo/Kim Holderfield)