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About The Commerce news. (Commerce, Ga.) 1???-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 2016)
PAGE 2B 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
