Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2008
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
PACE 3B
BANKS COUNTY LEOPARD FOOTBALL 2008
Road win: BCHS takes region victory at Rabun
BIG PERFORMANCE
Banks County High School senior running back Justin Beasley had an
other big night last Friday against Rabun County. Beasley rushed for 177
yards as the Leopards improved to 2-1 in Region 8-AA play.
Photo by Randy Crump/Rudeseal Photo
2008 Schedule
Aug. 29
@Wash.-Wilkes
L14-39
Sept. 5
Riverside*
L 28-56
Sept. 12
Dawson County
W 48-27
Sept. 19
@ Rabun County
W35-6
Sept. 26
North Oconee*
7:30 p.m.
Oct. 3
@ East Jackson*
7:30 p.m.
Oct. 10
OPEN
Oct. 17
Jefferson*
7:30 p.m.
Oct. 24
Fannin County
7:30 p.m.
Oct. 31
at Oglethorpe Co.*
7:30 p.m.
Nov. 7
@ Union County*
7:30 p.m.
•denotes Region 8-AA game
Region Roundup
8-AA Standings
Team
Reoion
Overall
Jefferson
3-0
4-0
Union County
3-0
4-0
Riverside
2-1
3-1
North Oconee
2-1
3-1
Fannin County
2-1
3-1
Banks County
2-1
2-2
East Jackson
1-2
2-2
Dawson County
0-3
1-3
Oglethorpe County
0-3
1-3
Rabun County
0-3
0-4
Last Week's
Scores
Jefferson 48, Oglethorpe County 20; Banks
County 35, Rabun County 6; North Oconee,
23, Riverside 21; Union County, 35, East
Jackson, 14; Fannin County 28, Dawson
County 17
This Week's Games
Rabun County @ Dawson County; North
Oconee @ Banks County; Oglethorpe
County @ Fannin County; East Jackson @
Riverside; Jefferson @ Union County.
Class AA Top 10
1. Buford (3-0)
2. Charlton County (4-0)
3. Westminster (3-0)
4. Fitzgerald (3-0)
5. Jefferson County (4-0)
6. Pepperell (3-0)
7. Blessed Trinity (3-0)
8. Henry County (2-1)
9. Thomasville (0-3)
10. Laney (2-1)
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
he Banks County
High School foot
ball team ventured
up Hwy. 441 last Friday
and recorded a 35-6 Region
8-AA win against old rival
Rabun County.
The victory helped push
the Leopards to 2-1 in region
play and evened their overall
record at 2-2 overall. BCHS
will return home this week to
host North Oconee in another
key 8-AA contest.
Last week’s road win
didn't come easy as the the
Rabun County Wildcats,
led by first-year head coach
Danny Durham, proved to be
a stingy bunch despite still
looking for their initial win
of the 2008 campaign.
“I was pleased with the our
progress our defense made,”
said Leopard head coach
Blair Armstrong. “It may be
the first time we've played
four quarters of defense that
aggressively. The coaches
were very excited about
that.”
BCHS led 14-0 at halftime
as it took some time to break
through the Rabun defense.
Armstrong said once the
coaches watched the film of
the game he felt better about
his team's offensive perfor
mance.
“They were putting eight
and nine men in the box
to stop the run,” the coach
said. “Rabun gambled some
on defense. We had some
more opportunities to score.
We turned it over on downs
some. We still had over 300
yards and Justin (Beasley)
had 177. Our linemen graded
out better than we initially
thought they would.”
The Leopards took the
game's opening kickoff but
was forced to go three and
out. BCHS tried a fake punt
but the play was stopped by
Rabun.
The Wildcats were also
unable to move the football
on their initial possession
thanks to a backfield tackle
by Lyn Hester. Kane Duncan
just missed blocking Rabun's
punt attempt.
The Leopards put the first
points of the game on the
board at the 6:33 mark of the
first quarter on a 3-yard run
from Beasley. Tyler Hulsey
added the point-after kick for
a 7-0 lead.
Rabun County's next se
ries was stopped by a fum
ble which was recovered by
Hester. BCHS was unable to
move the football, however,
and punted it back to the
Wildcats.
Rabun County attemped
a 36-yard field goal on its
fourth series of the first half
but the attempt failed.
The Leopards then stormed
down the field and capped the
drive on a 14-yard pass from
Chris Porter to Duncan with
2:20 left before halftime.
Hulsey’s kick would make
the score 14-0 at halftime.
BCHS began to put the
game out of reach in the third
quarter. The defense forced
the Wildcats to go three and
out on their first series of the
second half.
Following the Rabun
County punt, the Leopards
went on a 65-yard drive
which ended on a 6-yard run
by Beasley with 8:40 left in
the quarter.
The Wildcats did pull to
within 20-6 on a 1-yard run
with 9:08 left in the game but
the Leopards' answer with
4:51 closed the door on any
possible comeback attempt.
Beasley went in from 20
yards this time and then
caught the 2-point conver
sion pass from Porter.
The final score of the con
test came on an interception
return by Bill Redmon with
less than five seconds left
in the game. Rabun County
was still passing allowing the
interception to occur.
Once again helping clear
the way for the offense to
score 35 points were linemen
Jeff Smith, Hulsey, Justin
Bowen, Zach Dale, Nathan
Mathis and Hester.
Run continued from page IB Softball continued from page IB Preview continued from page IB
McDuffie comments that she is “excited and fired up” about
the upcoming season for both the men's and women's running
teams.
“The first meet was an opportunity to take a look at it where
we are,” she said. “Some of the guys ran times at this meet that
are just seconds off what they ran at state last year and our girls
are running nearly exactly where they ended last season.”
With several returning runners who have competed at the state
level, McDuffie has high expectations for the program.
She claims her prospects are “state, for both teams.”
Combined with coaching assistance from fellow high school
teacher Josh Purcell, and Banks County High School head track
coach Tressa Moore, as well as the “fierce determination of the
runners,” state may be possible again this fall for the BCHS
cross country program, McDuffie said.
However, it will take regional wins against Dawson County,
Fannin County, Riverside Military Academy, North Oconee, Jef
ferson, Rabun County, Oglethorpe County, Union County, and
East Jackson to contest in the State meet.
To this challenge, Coach McDuffie voices the Banks Coun
ty Cross Country battle cry, “victory in the heart, run ‘till you
puke,” and said she believes both teams will be ready for that
challenge.
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706-652-2967 or email
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BANKS COUNTY
111 AMERICAN LEGION
Post 215
Meets each 3rd Thursday, 7 p.m.
In Homer, GA at the
American Legion Building on
Historic Highway 441 pd.06/09
t§% VETERANS OF
W FOREIGN WARS
Post 4872, Hurricane Shoals Convention Ctr.
Each 4th Monday, 7:00 p.m.
Mike Buffington, Commander
Phone 706-335-6532 26.1
JEFFERSON LIONS CLUB
Meets 2nd & 4th Monday
Jefferson City Clubhouse
6:30 p.m. *(706) 387-1156
Mack Cates, President
542
A UNITY LODGE
F&A.M.
No. 36, Jefferson, GA
1st Tuesday of each month, 7:30 p.m.
Dwight Wier* 706-367-5882
Borders St. behind Tabo’s 260
JEFFERSON ROTARY CLUB
Meets Tuesdays
Jefferson City Clubhouse
12:30 p.m. • (706) 367-7696
Gina Mitsdarffer, President
547
BANKS COUNTY
HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
meets first Monday each month
7:00 p.m. in the Banks Co. Historial
Courthouse at 105 U.S. Hwy. 441
North in Homer pd.-07/09
Citizens Organized for
Pipeline Safety
investigating the health risks to citizens from
underground pipelines and booster stations in
Madison Co. Meetings 6:30 p.m. at the Colbert
Grove Baptist Church the 2nd Thurs. of each
month. 706-783-4702. Pd.04/09
JEFFERSON
Hr AMERICAN LEGION
Albert Gordon Post 56
Each 3rd Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
Harvie Lance, Commander
Phone (706) 654-1274 310
White Plains Baptist Church Pd 02/09
Faith Bible Class meets every Sunday morning
at 10:00 a.m. It is a place where strangers
become friends and friends become family.
706-367-5650
White Plains Baptist Church
3650 Hwy. 124 West, Jefferson, GA 30549
BCHS also fell to Dawson
County last week 8-1. The
Lady Leopards led 1-0 through
three innings when the wheels
fell off.
Dawson scored eight runs,
only four earned, in the fourth
inning.
“We have to buckle down
and avoid giving up the big
inning,” Lord said. “Dawson
swung the bats better than we
we saw them earlier, but we
did not help ourselves.”
“They have a good line and
good backs,” Armstrong said.
“They are a very solid team.”
Despite being four games
into the regular season with
out a week off, the BCHS
coach said his team is healthy
overall.
“We have the normal bumps
and bruises that you are go
ing to have,” Armstrong said.
“However, we are doing pretty
good.”
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
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