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Wednesday, December 28,1994, Houston Times-Journal Page 6A Sports _______________ 7:00 Dec. 27 (Loser game 3) (Game 3) (Winner game Jj HOUSTON CO. _____________ L:00 Dec. 30 7:00 Dec. 30 Consolation (sth Place) CHAMPIONSHIP GAME CHAMPIONS Winner AMERICUS 1:00 Dec. 28 ___________ (Loser game 5) (Game 5) (Winner game 3) WARNER ROBINS (.Winner game U) 4:00 Dec. 29 7:00 Dec. 29 (winner game" 15) ( GaDe 13 > DUBLIN (Gaae 15) 4:GG Dec. 28 (Loser game 9) I (Loser came 7> (Game 7) J ' PERRY WL'H SOYS BRACKET (Loser gate T. *Leae 2) (.loner game . Dec. 29, 2:30 Dec*. 28, 8:30 h r— (Game 12) (Game 10) ” (U- 1 r.r.er Game 12) (Winner Game lOiVJJtII WILKINSON CO, Jgy® Dec. 27, 8:30 ~, (Loser game 4) (Game 4) (Winner game 4; HOUSTON CO. Dec. 30. 2:30 Dec. 30, 8:30 (sth Place) CHAMPIONS -onsoiation Championship Winners AMERICUS I Dec. 28. 2:30 ~ (Game 6) (Winner game o) WARNER ROBINS Dec. 29, 5:30 Dec. 29, 8:30 1 (Winner game 14) (Ga “ e l 4) (Game i 6) (Winner game 16) DUBLIN Dec. 28, 5:30 (Loser S ane 10) (Loser game 8) (Game 8) (Winner game 8) perry Dec ,: 30 :, 5:3 ? i - - ' (3rd Place) Bottom team in bracket is the home team (wear light jerseys). (Loser game 16) Perry teams take on Dublin in Brawl By: PHIL CLARK The Perry boys and girls teams meet teams from Dublin in opening round games of'the annual Bear Brawl at Houston County High School. Both defending champions, Several area players on AP team By: PHIL CLARK Several Middle Georgia football players have earned Associated Press All-State recognition, led by AAAA first team selection Greg Manson, a running back from Northside Warner Robins. Manson was the only area player on the AAAA first te;un, but Northside teammates Bwana Beinbry, a linebacker, tuid defensive back Cory Harris were honorable mention, along with offensive lineman Matt Fendley and defensive back Ilosea Laney of W;irncr Robins. Central Macon placed kicker John Jones on the honorable mention ;list. as well. the Warner Robins girls and Perry boys are back to defend, and will be joined by teams from Houston County, Wilkinson County, Washington County, Dublin and Macon Macon. Dublin did not play Class AAA representatives included first learners Ryan Taylor and Nathan Dardy of Dublin and Kinte Morgan of Crisp County. Honorable mention recognition went to Delvin Davis and Johnny Evans of Dublin, Terry Jolley, Millard Carter ;uid Miircus Early of Peach County. In AA, Washington County dominated the first team list with five players, including the Associated Press player of the year, linebacker Taken Spikes, whom coach Rick Tombcrlin calls 'the best player I ever coached.' Quarterback (ieorge Askew, defensive lineman Jeremy Brett, Houston Tlm-Jooml e a in the tourmunent last year. Perry teams open play today (Wednesday), with the girls game at 4:00 and the boys game immediately alter. Both Perry teams play Dublin. The tournament linebacker Mike Parker and running back Edward Swint also made the team. Defensive lineman Patrick Horne from West Laurens and defensive back Bennie Cunningham from Fitzgerald were also first learners. In single-A Macon County placed two players on the defensive first team, including 6-2, 225 junior linebacker Ted Green and safety Charlie Jackson. Running back Dwayne Mathis of Putnam County was first le;un, along with Turner County wide received Rico Lawson and Putnam County offensive lineman Lamar Maddox. Wednesday Dec. 28,1994 concludes on Friday, and there are six games each dav. And by the way, a $4.00 admission price allows a fan to watch all six g;unes e;ich day. For The Best Sports Coverage Read The Houston Times-Journal Writer predicts major leaguers won't be By: PHIL CLARK With 1994 virtually behind us, let's gaze ahead to 1995 and see what is in store for the sports world. For sure, there are some things that need mending. It's my prediction that the baseball strike will end before the start of spring training. There are too many members of the Major League Players Association who are ready to break ranks if the strike continues, as Donald Fehr has threatened it will. To be sure, there are nearly 250 players who earn, or get paid, over a million dollars a year. That means there are twice that many who don't. Those are the players who will be caught between the proverbial 'rock and a hard place'. There's a certain amount of allegiance to the union. But there is also a need to have an income close to the level they enjoy now, since it is based on that income that most of them have committed themselves financially. In other words, their lifestyle can't be supported by a strike. There will be baseball in the spring, played in major league parks and disguised as major league baseball, even if the strike continues. There won't be any of the m;irque players, the so called franchise players, though. They c;ui afford to sit out. A couple of things that are sure to improve are the football teams at Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia. Tech, with George O'Leary at the helm, can only go up. Their only win last was against 1-AA Western Carolina There was a quarterback controversy to compound an altogether dismal season at Tech, which resulted in the departure of Bill Lewis, whose only winning year as a head coach c;une at East Carolina. Georgia, meanwhile, will have a new defensive coordinator, and that has to be a plus Marion Campbell just didn't get the job done on the college level, and left idler one year. The Georgia defense will have to be better. The offense needs to be a little more diversified. Remember the Dooley days when folks fussed Peach Bowl could be one of best games By: PHIL CLARK Maybe (his bowl coalition thing works, but you'd have a hard time convincing most football lans who have become disenchanted with the bowl matchups Conference tie-ups with the coalition sends teams to various bowls based on their finish in the conference. Alahcuna is in the Citrus Bowl, while Notre Dame, which is an entity unto itself in the coalition, is going to the richer Fiesta Bowl with their 6-4-1 record. They will meet a 10-1 Colorado te;un that features Heisman winner Rashaan Salaam, a legitimate winner of the award, by the way. Colorado would have been a great one. How about the Sugar Bowl? a rematch ol the Florida-Florida State game, Even if this game had been played e;tr!y in the year, a rematch is not attractive to most television fans. But that's the way it is. Oklahoma qualified for a bowl g;une with six victories, so you know the Sooners got an invitation. They meet BYU Thursday in the Copper Bowl at Tuscon. The Sooners were 6-5, BYU 9-3. One of the best giunes of the bowl season could be right here in Georgia, a pair of 8-3 teams meet Good Luck to the Perry Panthers and Lady Panthers In The Houston County Brawl '94 From the Staff of the Houston Times-Journal Phil - lEUF Clark I uMLs. I because the Dogs didn't throw the ball. Well, they certainly threw it enough during the Eric Zeier years, didn't they? The Heisman hype certainly was detrimental to the overall program at Georgia. Everything was designed to keep Zeier in the spotlight, but it didn't work. He just couldn’t do the job in the big games, before the national audiences he needed to attract, in order to have a chance at the Heisman. With that out of the way, let’s hope Georgia goes back to what the Bulldogs did best, run the football. The Perry High School football program will be under new direction next year. John Stephens announced before Christmas that he will not •.return next year, and the search is on for a replacement. Stephens guided the Panthers to the region playoffs twice in his five years, but never advanced further, losing region playoff games to Appling County and Dodge County. Stephens' Perry teams were 25-25 in regular season play, 0-2 in playoffs. They did have a victory over Mary Persons, and never lost to cross-county rival Houston County. Ltxrking a head, 1 see Westfield returning with another solid team under Ronnie Jones. The Peach County program under Rodney Walker was down somewhat from the Neal Rumble years, but it was still a solid program. Macon County will continue to be strong, returning seven starters from the best defensive team in the state. C.B. Cornett needs to turn the offense over to someone else, though, if the Bulldogs are to win the big one. The offense is 100 predictable, and playoff teams have been able to stop the inside running game of the Bulldogs. Lt>ok for some changes in thiit philosophy. in the annual Peach Bowl, North Carolina State and Mississippi Slate. The Hall of Fame game is a dud. Duke is playing in a bow! for just the second time since 1961, while their opponents, Wisconsin, finished 6-4-1 after playing last ye:tr in the Rose Bowl The Rose Bowl this year matches Penn State and Oregon. A mismatch. The Ducks were in the right place at the right time. Penn Stale is probably the best te;un in the land this ye.tr, but they won't win the national title. Nebraska wins the Orange Bowl over Miami, the Cornhuskers remain number one. If Miami beats Nebraska, the fickle pollsters pick Miami number one over Penn State. Watch it. By the way, the Orange Bowl will be played New Years' night, Sunday night, while most of the other bowls will be Monday, January 2nd. The Peach Bowl is also Sunday. I guess before I bash the 6-4-1 bowl teams, I should consider that already one 6-4-1 team, Boston College, has beaten a 9-2 team, Kansas State. So 1 suppose schedule means more than record, but I still don't like a 6-win team in a bowl game. Period.