Newspaper Page Text
November 30, 2016
PAGE 3B
^Reporter
PIGSKIN PICKS
FINCH IS TOP CELEBRITY PICKER
James Penamon won our final week of
Pigskin Picks, going 8-2. He wins a $20 Gift
Certificate from Jonah’s or The Anvil Room.
First-time winners also get a free T-Shirt from
The Sticker Shark. Marvin White and Kenny
Jones tied for second place at 7-3, with
Jones winning the tiebreaker and he wins a
$15 gift card to Shoney’s.
Among celebrity pickers, Clay Grant led
this week by going 8-2, catapulting him out
of last place. Keith Anthony gained a game
on leader Jim Finch but still fell two games
shy. Congratulations to Dr. Jim Finch, princi
pal at Mary Persons High School, for being
the top Celebrity Picker for 2016.
Thanks to everyone for participating in the
Reporter’s popular Pigskin Picks contest. We
can’t wait until next football season!
1) Jim Finch 2) Keith
91 -38 Anthony
89-40
3) John Cary
Bittick
87-42
4) Abbie
Davis
85-44
4) Ronnie
Daniel
85-44
4) Nancy
McComb
85-44
5) Eric
Wilson
82-47
6) Clay Grant
80-49
7) Carolyn
Webb
78-51
Bulldogs
continued from page IB
Another MP defender lined
up on defense reacted an
entirely different way. He
couldn’t watch.
MP senior defensive end Tre
Howard said, “I didn’t even
want to look. When I turned
around and saw everyone
screaming, I was like, ‘Yeah,
we got it.’”
The victory
puts MP in the
state semifinals
for just the 10th
time in pro
gram history.
The Bulldogs
will next travel
to Cartersville
for a contest
at 7:30 p.m. on
Friday with the
defending state
champions, who
will enter on a
28-game win
ning streak.
MP lost a post
game coin toss
to the Purple
Hurricanes,
ensuring that
the Bulldogs
will play on
the road for
the first time
in more than a
month.
Cartersville
features per
haps the top
junior foot
ball player in
America in
star quarter
back Trevor
Lawrence.
However, Howard said he
thinks the Bulldogs, fresh off
their great escape, are up for
the challenge.
“We’re ready,” Howard said.
“We’re going to pressure him
(Lawrence). I think we can
pressure him real good with
our d-line. If our linebackers
and DBs stay home, we can
catch some more intercep
tions.”
MP’s red zone defense
was critical against Blessed
Trinity, forcing the Titans to
settle for four field goals. Both
of Blessed Trinity’s touch
downs came on long passes
outside of the red zone area.
MP, on the other hand, was
much more efficient near the
goal line, scoring rushing
touchdowns on all three of its
red zone opportunities.
MP sophomore running back
Quen Wilson led the Bulldogs
with 152 rushing yards and a
touchdown on just 12 carries.
Senior running back Zach
Harvey, who was reportedly
suspended for the first quar
ter of Friday’s game, ignited
the Dogs’ floundering offense
upon his return, finishing
with 80 yards and a pair of
touchdowns on 18 carries.
Nelson said of Harvey’s early
absence: “I just sat him out for
some different reasons. We’re
all on the same page now.
We’re all good. It makes a dif
ference when he’s in there.
But on top of that, Quen
Wilson has come on. We’ve got
some confidence and faith in
him to do a job too.”
Akins was MP’s top receiver
on the night, catching three
passes for 100 yards and the
deciding score, a 69-yard
bomb to the post from Speir
with 10:44 left in the fourth
quarter. Speir’s perfect pass
dropped softly into Akins’
hands, as he reached up over
the top of the Titans’ defen
sive back. As the DB went
down, Akins cruised the final
25 yards for the touchdown
that put the Dogs in front
28-24.
The post route was virtually
identical to an unsuccessful
pass dropped by Akins that
would have beaten Peach
County in September. Speir
said of the play: “We put it in
at halftime. We talked about
it earlier in the game that
Roger could beat this guy on a
post. And so when we thought
we could take our shot, we
took it. And you’ve got to hit
stuff like that, and we did.”
With Harvey out early, it
was Blessed Trinity that
jumped out to a 7-0 lead
when Titans quarterback
Jake Smith found receiver
Ryan Smith wide open on a
left to right crossing route
for a 41-yard touchdown on
3rd-and-14. Hosea’s extra
point with 3:06 left in the first
quarter gave the Titans an
early 7-0 advantage. After a
second MP punt in as many
possessions, Blessed Trinity
had a chance to add to its lead
at the close of the first quar
ter, but the Titans were beset
by penalties with four on
the same drive. The miscues
forced Hosea to punt, and he
responded by booting a perfect
43-yarder to pin MP at its
own one-yard-line with 11:15
to go before the half.
That was when Nelson
inserted Harvey for the first
time. The senior, who has
rushed for just under 1,400
yards, busted a 22-yarder
down the left sideline on his
very first play, and a face-
mask penalty on Blessed
Trinity at the end of the
run gave MP a 3 7-yard
gain. Jatori Sims then car
ried the ball for 27 yards on
the next play, followed by
a 27-yard completion from
Speir to Akins, which coupled
with another defensive pen
alty, advanced the ball to the
Titans’ four-yard-line. Two
plays later, Harvey provided
one of the game’s many last
ing highlights with a Bo
Jackson-like leap over the
top in which he was upended
and landed sideways in the
end zone for a two-yard score.
Dawson Daniel’s extra point
tied the contest at 7-all with
9:57 left in the second quarter.
Midway through the second
quarter, Blessed Trinity got
outstanding field position at
MP’s 33-yard-line as a result
of a 61-yard punt by Hosea,
coupled with a three-and-out
by MP’s offense. Although
MP’s defense prevented the
Titans from marching much
further, Hosea put Blessed
Trinity back in front 10-7 with
a 44-yard field goal with 5:48
left before halftime.
MP answered right back
with lightning speed in the
form of Wilson. The sopho
more darted 67 yards through
a hole up the middle before
being caught from behind
by Blessed Trinity safety
Harrison Weltlich. Four plays
later, Wilson took a handoff to
his right and split two defend
ers for a nine-yard score with
4:30 left in the second quarter.
James Davis’ extra point gave
MP a 14-10 lead.
However, Hosea responded
with his second field goal,
this time from 47 yards out,
with 1:41 left in the second
quarter to pull Blessed Trinity
to within one point, 14-13, at
halftime.
After MP’s opening posses
sion of the second half result
ed in a punt, Blessed Trinity
struck almost immediately.
On the Titans’ third play of
its first series of the third
quarter, Smith found receiver
Will Carlton on a short right
slant. The MP cornerback,
Tyricus Danielly, fell down
as he dove unsuccessfully to
bring down Carlton. That left
Carlton with nothing but open
field between him and the
end zone, and the junior raced
away for a 50-yard score. A
two-point conversion on a toss
sweep to sophomore running
back Steele Chambers put
Blessed Trinity back in front
21-14 with 8:19 left in the
third quarter.
But Wilson once again was
the flame that ignited MP on
its ensuing series. Starting at
its own 20-yard-line, Wilson
ran straight up the middle for
40 yards down to the Blessed
Trinity 30. Seven plays later,
Harvey capped an 8-play,
80-yard drive with another
dive over the top from one
yard out. Daniel’s extra point
tied the contest at 21-21 and
finished off a four-minute
series.
Then, it was MP’s defense
that came up with a big play
when senior corner Quan
Davis picked off an over
thrown slant pass by Smith
to halt a Blessed Trinity
drive. Moments later, MP’s
special teams gave up any
advantage the Bulldogs might
have gained on the intercep
tion when a long snap eluded
punter Alex Rivera. The loose
ball traveled more than 40
yards before it was scooped
up by Blessed Trinity’s
Chambers, who carried it
to MP’s 17-yard-line. MP’s
defense rose to the occasion,
however, limiting Hosea to
another field goal, a 26-yarder
with 11:12 left in the game,
for a 24-21 Blessed Trinity
lead.
That lead turned out to be
the Titans’ final one, and it
lasted only 28 seconds. That’s
when on the second play of
MP’s ensuing series, Speir
connected with Akins, lined
up on the left side of the field,
running one-on-one down the
middle. The beautiful strike
and Davis’ extra point gave
MP a 28-24 advantage with
10:44 to play.
Blessed Trinity answered
back with yet another scor
ing drive, capped by Hosea’s
fourth field goal, a 38-yarder
with 8:38 left in the fourth
quarter to pull the Titans
to within one point again at
28-27.
Then, after another MP
three-and-out punt, Danielly
redeemed himself for his ear
lier miscue and intercepted
a Smith pass that was first
tipped airborne by MP line
backer Vic Henderson. The
pick gave MP possession at
Blessed Trinity’s 38-yard-line
with 6:54 to play. However,
after Akins dropped a key
third-down pass, Nelson
elected to send out Rivera to
try a 50-yard field goal to put
MP back up by four. Instead,
Rivera’s attempt came up sev
eral yards short, and Blessed
Trinity needed only a fifth
Hosea field goal to take the
lead again.
On 3rd-and-16 from the
Titans’ own 26-yard-line, it
was Herring who
came up with the
biggest of a number
of huge defensive
plays on his night.
The senior recorded
his ninth sack of
the season, taking
Smith down for a five-
yard-loss and forcing
Blessed Trinity head
coach Tim McFarlin
to send out the punt
ing unit with just over
2:30 to play.
After a personal foul
penalty on Blessed
Trinity and two runs
that netted nine
yards, MP faced a 3rd-
and-1 from the Titans’
49-yard-line with 37
seconds left. Speir
intended to pitch to
Harvey, but the run
ning back appeared
to go the wrong way
causing Speir to have
to make a rapid deci
sion. The quarterback
decided to slide feet
first within the field of
play to make Blessed
Trinity have to burn
its final timeout.
Unfortunately for MP,
Speir slid short of the
first down marker by
a yard, creating a 4th-and-1
and a difficult decision for
Nelson. Nelson decided to
leave his offense on the field,
and Speir tried to draw the
Titans’ off-sides on a hard
count. Although a Titans’
defensive lineman appeared
to make contact with an MP
offensive lineman, the referees
determined it was MP that
moved first, resulting in a
five-yard penalty and forcing
Rivera to punt. The normally-
reliable junior, who dropped a
punt earlier in the game, then
booted one off the right side of
his foot straight over the MP
sideline for just nine yards.
The error gave Blessed
Trinity the ball at its own
45-yard-line with 31 seconds
to play and no timeouts. Jake
Smith found Ryan Smith
for 12 yards on first down to
move back across midfield.
Then, after an incompletion,
Smith escaped pressure and
dashed down the right side
line for 20 yards into Hosea’s
makeable range. After yet
another 12-yard completion
from Smith to Wesley Leckie,
Hosea lined up his field goal
try from the right hash from
just 28 yards out. The kick
appeared to come off his foot
cleanly but stayed out to the
right.
Speir said of watching
Hosea’s kick from the sideline
and knowing its consequences:
“It’s torture. And especially
how automatic he’s been the
whole game. I was sitting
there just praying, praying,
praying that he would miss
that thing just one time. And
sure enough he did.”
Mary Persons senior Jatori Sims dove forward for extra yards during this first-half run during Friday’s 28-27 win over Blessed
Trinity at Dan Pitts Stadium. Sims, a combination running back/receiver, has eclipsed 500 yards gained both on the ground and
through the air in 2016. (Photo/Kim Holderfield)