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THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS • THE COMMERCE NEWS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2016
Wrestling preview
Leopards look to build upon last season's success
BY CHARLES PHELPS
Last season, the Banks County wrestling program fin
ished fourth in Class AAA. That wasn’t where the team
wanted to finish, according to head coach Kasey Hanley.
Some of the wrestlers ran into eligibility issues because
of grades. That’s what he “hopes” doesn’t happen this
season.
“How good we are at the end of the season is really
going to be determined by if everyone stays eligible or not,”
Hanley said. “We’re not super, super deep. In some of the
classes, we’ve got some good backups. We are really just
young and trying to get some more experience.”
The Leopards have dropped down into Class AA for the
2016-17 season. They are led by four returning area champi
ons from last season: Devin Mullinax, Chris Guthrie, Corey
Turner and John Brooks.
“They are spread out throughout the lineup, which is a
good thing,” Hanley said. “You don’t want everybody all
together. Having those guys at different points in the lineup
keeps people from scoring points in bunches on you.”
Dropping down into Class AA, Hanley knows two of the
upper-echelon teams in the state are in the team’s area:
Elbert County and Social Circle.
“It’s going to be a dog fight, definitely, just making it to
the state duals, because someone could make an argument
Coaching the squad
Banks County wrestling head coach Kasey
Hanley talks to the team at practice last Thursday.
The Leopards’ season begins Nov. 23.
Photo by Charles Phelps
that the top two teams in the state are Elbert and Social,”
he said.
He’s going to stress that his team be warriors.
“I want them to have that mentality that it doesn’t matter
how many times they get knocked down, they get back
up,” Hanley explained. “They want to prove they were bet
ter than the time before. As long as they have that mentality,
they are going to win.
“You get beat by somebody the first time and come back,
now it’s a challenge that, ‘I’m going to beat this person.’
No matter if that person is a state champion or whatever it
is, you’ve got to have that mentality that you’re going to get
your revenge and ultimately end up winning.”
The Leopards’ season begins with the D. Marlow Duals
at Banks County High School on Nov. 23.
Other area programs
The Commerce Tigers’ wrestling team begins its season
this Saturday at the Panther Scramble at Jackson County
Comprehensive High School and the Panther Invitational
on Dec. 2-3, also at Jackson County. Check next week’s
edition for a full Tigers’ season preview.
The East Jackson Eagles’ wrestling team begins its sea
son this Thursday with a Wrestling Takedown Tournament.
The team also competes in its first competition on Nov. 19
at the Warrior Round Robin tournament at Oconee County
High School. Head coach Forrest Garner leads the Eagles.
Father-son moment
East Jackson runner Ethridge Chaisson is embraced by his dad after
finishing his run at the Class AAA state meet in Carrollton. He finished the
race in 17:31,18th place. Photos by Charles Phelps
Prayer time
The East Jackson boys’ cross country team has a team prayer after win
ning the Class AAA state championship last Saturday in Carrollton.
Roaring start
East Jackson, and all the other teams competing for the Class AAA state
championship, take off at last Saturday’s race in Carrollton. East Jackson
won the Class AAA state championship.
Eagles ... Cont. from IB
nitely going to take this
home and show our school
that just because you’re a
small county doesn’t mean
you can’t do great things.”
Shane Shelafoe finished
seventh overall and third
for the team with a time
of 16:53. Senior Ethridge
Chaisson finished in 17:31
and 18th overall and senior
Andres Perez rounded out
the finishing order in 20th
at 17:36.
“I’m very proud of this
group,” Sitton said. “They’ve
worked hard the last two
years after that tie when the
tiebreaker went to Blessed
Trinity. Not just this past
summer and fall, but the
past two years; they really
wanted it.”
Sitton told the team the
night before the race to just
do what they’ve done all
year and not do anything
different.
“The seniors have been
great,” he said. “Great lead
ership, helped me a lot as
a coach, because by them
doing what I asked them
to do, then that helped the
other kids to see that exam
ple.”
East Jackson girls
The Lady Eagles finished
ninth at state. Sue Ann
Morales led the way with a
third-place finish in 18:55.
Elizabeth Herring finished
in 22:50, Anna Fox at 24:18,
Abigail Howington four sec
onds behind Fox at 24:22
and Shiquita Sturdivant in
25:02.
Dashing past defenders
Commerce running back Cole Chancey blitzes by the George Walton
Academy defense during last Friday’s 42-6 blowout victory. Chancey rushed
for 192 yards and two scores in the win. Photo by Amy Flint
Commerce ... Cont. from IB
row bounced over defend
ers for a 12-yard touchdown
later in the first quarter to
extend the lead, 14-0.
Chancey joined in on
the scoring with a 3-yard
dive over the offensive and
defensive linemen four min
utes into the second quar
ter. Sorrow then threw his
first passing touchdown of
the night to Kyree Ware for
22 yards and Chancey ran
in a two-point conversion
to give Commerce a 28-0
halftime lead.
“That first long run was
just a bust out,” Sorrow said.
“Our guys executed well.
We were expecting a grind
all the way to the finish.
We were expecting a close
game, but we just came out
and executed and it worked
out in our favor. I don’t think
we attempted a pass last
week. This week, our game
plan was to throw more
passes and see if we could
get them on their heels a
little bit and open up the run
game a little bit more.”
George Walton came out
of halftime with a ton of
energy and scored on its
opening possession, but
missed a point-after attempt,
which left the score at 28-6.
“We came out after the half
and had a little lull there,”
Brown said. It seemed like
we couldn’t execute and
there was one penalty after
another, so there’s a lot of
things we’re going to have to
work on and fix. We came
really close to letting them
back in the game.”
A fumble by Sorrow at
the Bulldogs’ 5-yard line
was returned all the way to
the end zone but penalties
backed the Bulldogs out to
the Tigers’ 40-yard line.
Another personal foul
killed their momentum and
they were forced to punt
after three plays.
The Bulldogs tossed an
interception in the end zone
on the next possession.
The final quarter went just
like the opening two quar
ters. Chancey rushed for 73
yards on a 95-yard drive and
ended it with a 30-yard run
down the Tigers’ sideline
to bring the Tigers’ lead to
35-6.
Thomas scored on the
Tigers’ final drive from eight
yards out to set the final
score at 42-6.
Brown said penalties and
execution are the biggest
things that his team needs
to improve upon before its
playoff game.
Athlete of the Week!
sponsored by:
HYMAN BROWN
INSURANCE
AGENCY, INC.
SOUTHERN TRUST
INSURANCE
COMPANY
Bryce Bennett
Banks County High School
Banks County’s Bryce Bennett
collected 237 total yards and scored
four touchdowns.
HYMAN BROWN
INSURANCE AGENCY, INC.
11 State Street • Commerce
(706)335-3900
