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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