Newspaper Page Text
July 30,2008
Section
B
The Banks County News
Sports Editor: Chris Bridges
Contact: 706-367-2745
www.mainstreetnewssports.com
First
&
Ten
★ ★ ★
chris@mainstreetnews.com
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
Memories of
trek to Falcon
training camp
T he Atlanta sports talk
radio stations were cov
ering the opening of
Falcon training camp in recent
days like it was the biggest news
since the invention of the pigskin
itself.
I found all the coverage and
hoopla a little ironic since most
everyone is predicting the Falcons
will finish in the neighborhood
of how the Miami Dolphins did a
season ago (remember 1-15?).
Believe it or not, I’ve only been
to one Falcon training camp ses
sion and that has been some time
ago. It was back during the sum
mer of 1992 although it really
doesn’t seem like 16 years ago.
In fact, as I write this column I
have to pause and ponder that 16
years have passed since that trip
to the old training headquarters in
Suwanee.
During the summer of 1992,
I was still a college student and
was interning at a newspaper in
the city of Jackson (note, Jackson,
Ga. not nearby Jackson County.) I
had written a story about the local
4-H group and some of the activi
ties they did during the summer.
Upon hearing the group had
a scheduled trip to watch the
Falcons practice, my face must
have lit up because the advisor
asked me if I would like to go
with them.
“You bet!” I said, taking about
half a second to respond.
“You could go with us as a
chaperone,” she said.
The trip would also give me
a chance to write a first-hand
account about the local group
making the trip. It would be great
all the way around, I thought.
I remember leaving early in the
morning, climbing on board a
school bus and venturing toward
the land of the Falcons. Practice
was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.
and even though we were there
a little before that the team was
already on the field.
The Man in Black Jerry
Glanville was directing the
Falcons in those days and see
ing him direct a practice was a
sight to behold in itself. With his
white cowboy hat, sunglasses
and airhorn in his back pocket,
Glanville could be heard all over
the practice facility.
While the practice session was
held in the morning, it was still
summer in Georgia and I was
amazed at how the players were
able to perform in such extreme
conditions. I do remember one
assistant coach wearing an all
black sweat suit during practice to
show the rookies “it wasn’t as hot
as they thought.”
See First and Ten on page 3B
Leopard Football
Armstrong's BCHS squad returns to practice field Friday
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
After months of offseason conditioning and
workouts, the Banks County High School
football team will begin official preseason
practice Friday.
Coach Blair Armstrong is entering his sec
ond season directing the Leopards and is
looking forward to the start of fall practice
which begins Friday at 8 a.m. BCHS players
will practice in shorts and helmets during the
first five days of practice before beginning full
contact work on Friday, Aug. 8.
“We will work on special teams and fine tune
what we have worked on this summer during
the first week since we will not be going full
contact,” Armstrong said Sunday night. “We
want to get the players used to going full time
again and get them back in complete, football
shape. We will begin pushing them a little
more.”
The Leopards have been extremely busy this
offseason. From camps to time in the weight
room, the players have shown their coaches
they are willing to pay the price to be success-
30 DAYS
ful, Armstrong said. Countdown
Several players have to kickoff:
been standouts including
senior running back Justin
Beasley, who rushed for
1,659 yards and scored 21
total touchdowns in 2007.
“Justin has done very well this summer,” his
head coach said. “He is a very hard worker. We
are looking for great things out of him.”
Beasley, who also participated in basketball
and track following the 2007 football cam
paign, is catching the eye of college gridiron
scouts. Already Ole Miss, Western Kentucky
and Middle Tennesee State have expressed
interest in Beasley who has been timed at 4.55
in the 40-yard dash. Beasley is still weigh
ing his post high school options concerning
football.
NOTES: The annual picture day has been
set for Saturday, Aug. 9, at 9 a.m. Photos for
football players, cheerleaders and band mem
bers will be taken. Rudeseal Photography will
handle picture day again this year.
Summer Work: Dedicated To Getting Better
CARNESVILLE CAMP
(From left) Jeremy Greenway won third place for the Skill players, Kenny Langston won first place in the bull pull for the Skill
players, Matthew Roper won second place for the Big Skill players and first place in the bull pull for the Big Skill players. Mitchell
Reeves also won first place overall for the Big Skill players and Jacob Blalock won first place overall for the Skill players. Caleb
McCoy won third place for the Big Skill players and Brett Bowman (not pictured) won second place overall for the Skill players.
7 know we will see the rewards this season from all this hard work'
Young players attend camp to begin preparing
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
“Camp” has become a word many
Banks County High School football
players have become very familiar
with this summer.
Recently, 34 Leopard players
attended a four-day, three night
camp in Carnesville.The freshmen
and sophomore
players, accompa
nied by Leopard
coaches, used the
time to prepare
and bond for the
upcoming season,
which is now a
month away.
Several varsity
upperclassmen
attended the camp
to help teach the
younger players as well.
Participating as demonstrators,
they, along with the coaches, helped
mold the underclassmen for the
future.
The varsity coaching staff held
three two-hour practices per day
working on fundamentals, tech
niques, plays and schemes.
BCHS head football coach
Armstrong said: “This is a very
important camp for our younger
players. Our coaches got to work
with them for four days and they
just got better and better. It was
very hard work, but the reward will
really pay off during the season.
I am especially proud of the three
sophomores who had just gotten
back from the defensive camp the
day before and still came out to get
better. The camp was perfect for
what we needed to accomplish.”
BCHS players and coaches were
appreciative of the camp officials
who made them feel at home during
the time they were there,
“The meals were incredible and
the hospitality was unmatched,”
Armstrong said. “And the Refuge
Baptist Camp is only 20 minutes
from our school up in Carnesville
off of Prospect Road. I really
have to thank Linda and Dillard
Hudgins, owners and operators of
the camp and their families. This
has been a fantastic summer. I
know we will see the rewards this
season from all this hard work.”
Up Next:
Aug. 1: First Day
of Practice
Aug 15: Hosts
Scrimmage
against Johnson
Aug. 29: Season
Opener @
Wash.-Wilkes
CANP WORK
Varisty underclassmen work during a three-day camp in
Carnesville earlier this month.
Summer Battles
BCHS hosts
Gladiator War
championships
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
The Lone Rangers rode again at
Banks County High School last
Friday morning.
In the finals of the Gladiator Wars,
the team of the Lone Rangers earned
the championship after competing
in events such as rolling a 55-gal-
lon drum filled with 20 gallons
of water up a hill, flipping large
tractor tires for 15 yards, carrying
tractor tires, pulling a weighted sled
while seated on the ground, push
ing a five-man sled and running the
“Leopard obstacle course.”
Captains for the Lone Rangers
were Justin Bowen and Nick
Sosebee. Other team members
included Matthew Paton, Dylan
Lackey, Logan Prater, Josh Staats
and Thomas Baker. They earned
first place in three of six events.
The second place team trailed by
just three points led by captains
Tyler Hulsey and Zack Dale and
team members Kane Duncan, Brad
Anderson, Nathan Krumnow and
Jacob Blalock.
The runner-up team used three
second-place individual finishes to
stay in contention along with three
third-place wins.
B any Whitfield, Zach Sprayberry,
Jameson Flyn, Clay Frink and
Brandon Law comprised the third
place team while Justin Lewallen
and Justen Scott led the fourth
place team consisting of members
Riley Nicholson, Mitchell Reeves,
Nathan Mathis, Joseph Denton and
Jeff Smith.
See Gladiators on page 3B
SHOW OF STRENGTH
Demetric Dempson takes part
in the Gladiator Wars Friday at
the Banks County High School
practice field.
Photo by Lyn Sengupta
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