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— www.MainStreetSports.com —
October 2, 2008
The Banks County News
Chris Bridges, Sports Editor
706-367-2745, direct line
706-367-9355, FAX
chris@mainstreetnews.com
Family effort:
Bowens give
all to program
H igh school football has
been described as the
All-American sport.
From the heartland of America
to all four corners of our great
nation, the gridiron sport at this
level is indeed something to
behold. There is simply some
thing special about Friday night at
the local stadium.
In Homer — and at Banks
County High School — football
is a family tra
dition for the
Bowens. Senior
Justin Bowen is
a standout player
for the Leopards.
During the past
four years, Justin
has grown into
one of the top
members of the
BCHS team.
Playing on the
line, you may
not see his name in print as often
as some of his teammates. It’s the
nature of the game unfortunately.
Make no mistake, however, Justin
is as vital a part of the Leopards
as anyone on the 2008 roster.
In addition to his play in the
trenches, Justin has proven to
be a standout on special teams
and he recovered a fumble in
last Friday’s Region 8-AA game
against North Oconee which led
to a Leopard touchdown.
It has been amazing to see how
much Justin has improved each
season since he became a part of
the football program four years
ago. It’s hard to believe that much
time has elapsed. It has been fun
watching him become such a
standout player.
Tony Bowen, Justin’s dad, is
also a key part of the Leopard
football program as an assistant
coach. Coach Bowen, like his
son, has also grown in his role in
recent seasons. He is now a key
defensive assistant helping coor
dinator Paul Hoch each Friday
night.
Coach Bowen was on the previ
ous staff when current head coach
Blair Armstrong came in prior to
the 2007 season. Coach Bowen
told Armstrong he was going to
continue teaching at BCHS and
would love to be a part of the
football program in any way.
Armstrong saw Bowen’s obvious
dedication and love for the pro
gram and kept him on board.
Mom Angie is also heavily
involved with the football pro
gram. She helps lead the Mother’s
Huddle group, which supports the
entire program. She helps operate
the Banks County High School
athletic website.
During road games, Angie
helps coordinate postgame snacks
for the players to have before
their trip back to the school. To
put it simply, Angie does many
of the jobs that people think
magically get done. An athletic
program doesn’t succeed without
people like her.
Tony and Angie’s daughter
JC, while only 7, is perhaps the
team’s youngest booster and no
doubt will become even more
involved as she gets older. She
already has the necessary energy
for it to be sure. I’m not sure she
ever stops running for more than
a minute or so.
If you are looking for a family
to put on a poster to represent the
Leopard football program and
BCHS as a whole, you would
need to look no further than the
Bowens. The character each
member of this family displays
by their actions speaks volumes.
They are a true asset to the Banks
County community.
Chris Bridges is sports editor of
The Banks County News. E-mail
comments about this column to
chris @ mainstreetnews. com.
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Leopards face East Jackson in key contest
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
With four Region 8-AA games now under
its belt, the Banks County High School
football team is getting down to the nitty
gritty of the 2008 season.
That’s why this Friday’s short road trip to
East Jackson High School is so important.
With several schools in 8-AA beginning to
separate themselves in the standings, the
Leopards need a win to keep up. After last
Friday’s tough 12-7 loss to North Oconee
in a defensive struggle, the BCHS team will
try to regroup this week and be mentally
and physically ready for the East Jackson
Eagles.
While East Jackson is still a relatively
young program overall in terms of years
of existance, BCHS coach Blair Armstrong
has respect for the Eagles and is stressing
to his team this week the importance of not
overlooking this Friday’s opponent.
“They have some big
linemen,” Armstrong
said. “They also have
a good running back
and wide receiver and
a good overall support
ing cast. They do some
good things. We will have our hands full.”
East Jackson runs the Wing-T offense,
similiar to BCHS. Armstrong said since the
Leopards run the same offense it should
make preparing for it easier.
“We won’t be as nervous as if we were
facing a different formation but that is no
guarantee we will be able to stop them,”
Armstrong said.
Defensively, the Eagles will use a three-
man front. East Jackson has been effective
defensively this fall, Armstrong said.
See Preview on page 3B
At A Glance:
BCHS, 2-3 (2-2) @
East Jackson, 1-4
(1-3), Friday, 7:30
p.m.
FIGHTING
FOR
VICTORY
Chris Porter,
battling for
yards last
week, and
the BCHS
football team
will look to
earn a Region
8-AA win this
Friday when
they make the
short road
trip to East
Jackson.
Photo by
Randy Crump
Regular
season
concludes
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
With the 2008 regular season
behind them, the Banks County
High School fast-pitch softball
team is now focused on the
Region 8-AA tournament.
Coach Josh Lord’s team will
enter the Region 8-AA tourna
ment as the No. 7 seed follow
ing some tough losses to close
out the regular season. The
Lady Leopards fell in close
games to East Jackson (3-0)
and Oglethorpe County (3-1)
last week to wrap up the regu
lar season region slate.
“There were both, close
competitive games," the coach
said. “We have to be able to get
some timely offense. We had
very few baserunners against
East Jackson, but we had a few
scoring opportunities against
Oglethorpe. Kim (Thomas)
threw perfect in the final four
innings against Oglethorpe. She
has been pitching well enough
to win, but a costly error or two
has been too much for us to
overcome with our struggles at
the plate."
Thomas allowed just one
earned run against Oglethorpe
County and two against East
Jackson.
In the East Jackson game,
Laura Rose Pickens did have
two singles. Against Oglethorpe
County, Catlyn Free had a dou
ble and an RBI while Hayley
Baird, Ashley Denton, Kathy
Davidson, Madison Porter and
Thomas each had singles.
The 8-AA tournament will
begin Tuesday in Watkinsville.
BCHS is tentatively scheduled
to play Union County High
School at noon.
GOING FOR HOME
Banks County High School junior Hayley Baird attempts to reach home
during a game earlier this season. The fast-pitch Lady Leopards are
preparing for the postseason. Photo by Randy Crump/Rudeseal Photo
LOCAL STARS
Payne,
Angel
named as
All-Stars
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
Former Banks County High
School athletes John Payne
and Jeremy Angel have been
selected All-Stars following
play during the 2008 season
for Georgia Pride, a semi-
professional football team.
The Pride, which plays its
home games in Monroe, has
several players from the area
on its roster including Payne
and Angel.
The former Leopard stand
outs will travel to Nashville
for the All-Star game which
is scheduled to be played this
Saturday at Maplewood High
School beginning at 4 p.m.
Eastern time.
The Georgia Pride recently
completed its 2008 season
which included a trip to the
playoffs. The season began
in June and ran through early
September.
SOFTBALL
BCMS team
enjoying
success
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
The Banks County Middle
School softball team has been
a force to be dealt with this
season on the diamond.
The Lady Leopards are 7-1
and have recorded some big
wins to this point in the 2008
campaign, including victories
over some opponents twice.
See BCMS on page 2B
CROSS COUNTRY
BCHS teams take first at
recent Habersham meet
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
The Banks County High School
cross country teams made a state
ment recently about how far their
respective programs have advanced
in recent seasons with first-place
showings at Habersham Central High
School.
The BCHS Leopards were first
with 32 points followed by Johnson
High School, Habersham Central,
Hart County and Trinity.
Viet Phang turned in a personal
best time of 21:08 as did Jared Clark
in 25:00.
Jorge Diaz was the top runner
for the BCHS boys in 18:29 fol
lowed by Ivan Diaz (18:53), Keiffer
Hellmeister (20:07), Avery Chastain
(20:08), Nathan Holloway (20:33),
Simon Hurtado (20:38) and Trey
Martin (20:51).
Chastain’s time was also a per
sonal best.
The BCHS Lady Leopards also
captured first place outdistancing
Habersham, Hart County, Johnson
and Trinity.
Vanessa Hurtado was the top Lady
Leopard in 23:51 followed by Amy
Sims in 24:28. Maggie McCoy ran
a personal best of 24:51 followed by
Sarah Wolf in 25:17. Tiffany Sims
finished the course in 25:35.
See Run on page 2B
JV
ACTION
Alex Banks
and the Banks
County High
School junior
varsity football
team returns
to action this
week against
Oglethorpe
County at
home Thursday
(today) with
kickoff at 5:30
p.m. The JV
Leopards were
off last week.
Photo by
Randy Crump/
Rudeseal
Photo