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Fishing is a family affair—BA Sports PhiT jSgW Clark Clark looks at the weekend's games We did a little better in week two of our predictions, hitting nine our of ten. The only miss was Tift County and Coffee. Our pick was Coffee, but Tift rebounded from an opening night loss to Worth County and beat Coffee 21-17. Before we get into this week's picks, there are a couple of things to point out. First, the four defend ing GHSA champions are having a rough time early in the year. In Quad-A, Dunwoody is now C -2; in AAA, Thomas County Central is 0-2; in AA, Greene- Taliaferro lost their opener Friday night to Houston County, and in Class A, Lincoln County is 1-1, bouncing back to beat McCormick, S.C. after a season opening loss to Washington-Wilkes. So all four defending champions lost their openers, and are a com bined 1-6 this year. The other things, with region re classification, many area regions have more teams. Consequently, all games played from here on out by the four GHSA schools in Houston County will be region games. Now, let's get down to the busi - ness of picking this week's games. In the GISA, Stratford thakes a 3-0 record to Sandersville to play a 2-0 Brentwood team that's highly regarded. Region 4AAA doesn't do well against Region 3AAA. This will be no exception. Stratford is the defending GISA AAA cham pion, and is making a strong bid to repeat. Phil's pick, Stratford. Westfield will host John Milledge, another Region lAAA- Region 4AAA matchup. Ronnie Jones will turn has wing-T loose on the Trojans, and we could see backup quarterback Ben Hulbert take a few snaps late in the game. Westfield is 2-0, coming off an open date. Milledge is 2-1. Phil's pick, Westfield. Baldwin at Warner Robins, a Region 2AAAA matchup that's usually close when it's played in Milledgeville, but no so in Warner Robins. The game is at McConnell-Talbert Stadium. Nuff said. Phil's pick, Warner Robins. Northside and Southeast Macon. Southeast won their opener a cou ple of weeks ago, and matched their total number of wins of a year ago. It will be another long season for Jimmy Hammond at Southeast, be cause the region schedule has be gun. It will be just the second game of the year for the Eagles after a season opening victory over Griffin. The Eagles make it 2-0 under Conrad Nix. Phil's pick, Northside. Forest Park at Upson-Lee. This is a matchup of unbeaten teams from opposite sub-regions of 4AAAA. Though Forest Park is unbeaten, they are unranked in the GHSA top 10, at least at this writ ing. However, they beat number seven Parkview Friday night. There's a world of difference in number seven Parkview and num - ber one Upson-Lee, as Forest Park will find out. Phil's pick, Upson- Lee. East Hall at Macon County. It will be the third straight Class AA opponent for the thrid ranked class A Bulldogs. They have beaten Tri County and Sumter County by a combined 101-0 in the first two games, and feature a quick, swarming defense. East Hall is 1-1, and the trip home from Montezuma to Gainsville Friday night will be a long one. Phil's pick is Macon County, now sole owners of the GHSA's longest regular season winning streak, 25, and the best winning percentage in the GHSA in the decade of the 90s (.976) with a regular season record of 41-1 over that period. Phil's other picks include Thomas County at Coffee County. Ed Pilcher at Thomas has won two straight state titles, and was a fron - Please see Clark, page 9A Kelly Stevens first at PCC By VETO F. ROLEY Sports Editor Kelly Stevens became the first junior champion at Perry Country Club to win a major championship at the club, taking home the Ladies Club Championship Sept. 10-11. And, it wasn't even close. At the close of play Saturday, Stevens had a commanding lead of six strokes over her nearest com petitor, Terri Dicks, in overall play. She was also third in the battle for the President's Cup (lowest net score), trailing Nita Bridges by four strokes and and Margie Franklin by two. On Sunday, Stevens completed the 18 holes at the course 10 Hornets split with Southland By VETO F. ROLEY Sports Editor After playing doormat to the two top teams in the G.I.S.A. Region lAAA, Westfield struck back early Thursday, beating Southland in a region tiff 8-0. The scuttling of the Raiders broke a four game losing streak by the Lady Hornets. However, the Hornets were not so fortunate in the night-cap of the double header, los ing 8-5, despite a late rally. The first game saw the two teams deadlocked through the first two innings of play, until the Hornets stung the Raiders with two in the third and fourth and four in the fifth. Ashlee McCord started the Hornet third with a walk. Bristol Sullivan singled. However, it took a two-out double by Mary Katherine Walker to get the two runs across the plate. In the fourth, Jennifer Smith reached on an error by the shortstop and Stephanie Barr singled to put runners on first and second. Posey followed with a double to make the score 4-0 in favor of the Hornets. The fifth inning saw the biggest Hornet explosion of the day. Windy Biggers started the inning with a walk. A single by Walker put runners a first and second. Julie Fryer doubled to put runners at sec ond and third. One out later, Barr doubled to center to raise the score to 7-0 in favor of Westfield. Laura Posey fol lowed with a single to put runners on the comers. Jennifer Stewart fol lowed with a single to plate the eighth run of the game. McCord pitched the game for Hornets, getting the shutout on six hits and an error. The second game started well for the Hornets. Claire Hart singled to left and Biggers walked to put run ners on first and second. A grounder by Walker moved the runners up to second and third, where Hart scored on Fryer's grounder to second. Unfortunately for the Hornets, that would be the last offensive dis play for the Hornets until the fifth inning. The Raiders used the quiet time Peach County runs Perry out of Fort Valley with strong defense By VETO F. ROLEY Sports Editor Peach County head coach Donald Walker broke the wishbone Friday night and got what he wanted, a re sounding 27-7 thumping of Perry. The final outcome could have even been worse, but Walker called off his shock troops, choosing not to rub in the Panther defeat late in the game. "They were a lot better football team than I gave them credit for," said Perry head coach John Stephens. "They did a good job. They were more aggressive as a team than they were last year." One of the problems faced by the Panthers was that they did not play with intensity, said Stephens. "We had people on defense that were a little tentative," said Stephens. "We did not play with the intensity that we did against Jordan. "It was almost like we were playing to keep from losing instead of playing to win. We didn't have the abandon, the intensity, it takes to win." Other than the opening drive, the Panther offense was kept in check all night long by the Trojans. The Panthers were also hurt by poor tackling, although Stephens said that was caused in part by good strokes faster than any other player to take the women's championship over Terri Dicks by 16 holes. Stevens completed the sweep of the championship trophies, taking home the President's Cup by finish ing with a net score of 134, two strokes better than Bridges and 12 strokes better than Franklin. "It was fun," said Stevens of her win. She said that she took each round of the tournament one hole at a time. Stevens won the junior champi onship at the club in 1982, holding championship status for five years. She later went to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she played for the Blazers. y, qp rente nm H % jfl , &K - ■ -nOiLm Stephanie Barr (shortstop) watches as Laura Posey attempts to turn the double play at Southland. at the plate to gain some revenge. In the bottom of the first, the Raiders struck Westfield hard. After Kristy Ward slapped a double down the first base line, Southland was up on the Hornets 3-0. Southland would ad two in the third and three in the fifth. The fifth run rally was highlighted by Susan Newberry's double and Kerri South's triple. a « h|H|b - -Xblife,. 'Wm ■ 11 m ■ <- Emily Mathis prepares to pull a fly ball in at the Lee County Tournament Saturday as Kristen Shipes backs the play up. Trojan runningbacks. "The main thing was that the of fense couldn't get anything going to keep the defense off the field," said Stephens. "I don’t know why we didn't lock up (on tackling)," said Stephens, who said the Panthers had worked on tackling throughout the week leading to the Peach County game. The Panthers started the game on fire, with Dexter Kendrick bringing the opening kick back to the Panther 39. Five plays later Kendrick broke through from 10 yards out for the only Perry score of the night. Jarvis Stripling (20 yards) and Kiwaukee Thomas (12 yards) would also rip through the Peach County defense. Kendrick would add a run of 14 yards in the drive. Jason Brett nailed the PAT to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead. Brett would almost get the ensu ing kickoff into the endzone. However, Capus Bryant faded back to his one yard line and caught the ball and headed up field. Before he was caught, the Trojan back made inside the Perry 20. Five plays later, Melvin Oates powered in from inches away, and the rout was on. Stephens said afterwards dial the Wednesday Sept 14,1994 ■ « the first day of the tournament, ana a 72 (65 net on the second day of the tournament). In the championship flight, Jackie Beeland was the net winner, shooting a two day total of 143 (169 gross), three shots better than Dicks (146 net, 164 gross). Alice Ray (180 gross, 150 net) was third in net scoring. In the first flight Sarah Hawkins was die leading finisher, coming into the clubhouse with a gross score of 182 (148 net) after 36 holes. Betty Lewis (193), Myrt Donaldson (195) and Franklin (196) fought for third place in the first flight. Please see Golf, page 9A After scoring once in the top of the fifth, the Hornets would make a run in the sixth and seventh in nings. With one out, Fryer would reach on an infield error. A single by Smith and a double to left bv Barr would put one run across, leaving two runners in scoring position. One out later, Stewart would Please see Hornets, page 9A return by Bryant stunned the Panthers, calling it the key play of the game. "We never did regroup after that.” The Trojans scored their second ''' ’ tr ' ' >•'. • Quincy Kendrick brings down Peach County quarterback Jacques Rumph du .g Friday night's loss to the Trojans. Wednesday, September 14,1994, Houston Times -Journal HLCC named a top course—9A jgi|. . Kelly Stevens easily won both the President's Cup and Ladies' Championship at Perry Country Club. Panthers play nine By VETO F. ROLEY Sports Editor The Panthers played for many teams what would be a season last week, playing four regular season games and five games in the Lee County Invitational. The Panthers started their week winning a slugfest with Peach County 17-13, and ended the week with a come from behind region win over Bleckly County 8-7 in ex tra innings. In between the two games, the Panthers stopped West Laurens in region play and lost to Jordan in Columbus. In the Lee County tournament in Tifton, the Panthers won three of five games, coming up from the "losers" bracket after being beaten by Albany in their first game. Cook County would short circuit the Panthers champi onship hopes with an 11-1 win. The Panthers would go home from Tifton holding the fourth place trophy. The week leaves the Panthers with all-6. Against Peach County, the Panthers exchanged big innings early with the Trojans. The Panthers scored six runs in the bot tom of the first only to see the Trojans storm back with 10 runs in the third to take a 12-10 lead. The Panther defense would setde down and give up only one more touchdown just before the first quar ter expired, with Jacques Rumph hitting Edward Mathis on a 16 yard pass play for six. Houston Times-Journal run in the game, that in the seventh inning. Perry would score four in the fifth to take the game offensively, highlighted by Shanetia Gilbert's two run single with two out. In the sixth inning, Perry would cement their win with three runs on only one hit, taking advantage of three Trojan errors. On Thursday, the Panthers would even their region record with a squeaker over West Laurens. After falling behind 4-2 late in the game, the Panthers would stage a sixth inning rally to beat West Laurens. Once again, the Panthers would take advantage of opponent's mistakes. Katie McClintic drove a sacrifice fly to right to score April Fendley, and Kristen Shipes singled to drive in Katherine Blount who reached on a single. Gilbert got the third run across, singling in Smith. However, West Laurens mounted a seventh inning comeback high lighted by Lashonna Wright's triple to lead the inning off. Although Wright would come around to store, the Panthers were able to get out with the win. Although the Panthers were able to come home with the fourth place finish in Tifton, they were almost two games and out Please see Panthers, page 9A Rumph would also run for a 15 yard score late in the first half, and a two yard score late in the third pe riod. Page 7A