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Perry-based teams down Macon-based teams twice during weekend
Hornets stake out Region 1-AAA lead
Victory over Mount de Sales gives Westfield lead in region standings
By PHIL CLARK
TiMia-JotwNAi Swr
MACON Westfield senior Jared
Shell had the game of his career Oct 23
in leading the Westfield Hornets to a
17- region I-AAA win over Mount
de Sales in Georgia Independent
School Association football action.
Shell rushed 29 times for 191 yards,
scored two touchdowns and caught a
screen pass from Trevor Jones on a
third-and-15 and turned it into a 38-
yard gain. This catch set up Nathan
Skinner's 19-yard field goal just before
half-time in the matchup of once-hcat
en GISA powers.
Matthew Hulbert, subbing for ailing
Tate Parker at wingback, had a 46-yard
sweep around left end to set up Shell’s
first touchdown in the first quarter.
The Hornets completely dominated
the game defensively, shutting down
the Cavaliers except for two big plays,
a 70-yard pass from Nick Richardson
to Michael Walton for one of the Cavs’
touchdowns, and a 68-yard run by
Walton for the other.
Outside of these two big plays, the
Cavaliers had 160 yards in total offense
and six first downs against a deter
mined Westfield defense.
Defensive coach Rennie Atkinson
said to the team after the game, "you
did a heck of a job. I’m proud of you
You never let them drive on us all
night."
Coach Ronnie Jones told the team in
it's traditional midfield huddle after the
game, “that was a great job. Not only
those of you out on the field, but on the
sidelines, too. You guys stayed in the
game all night.”
Offensive coach Jamcy Watson said
“we got two great first downs when we
had to have them”
One came on the Shell screen pass,
leading to a field goal, the other was an
18- pass from Jones to Jacob
Walker in Westfield’s scoring drive late
in the game when they trailed 14-10.
Westfield set the tone of the game
early as they established defensive
dominance on Mount de Sales’ very
first possession. After picking up two
yards on a Jeff Crumbley carry,
Richardson threw incomplete to Andy
Knight before Shell threw Richardson
for a three-yard loss on third down.
This forced the first of six Cavalier
Panthers pound Southeast in 4-AA game
Win keeps Perry near top of region
By Jj JOHNSON
Timbs-Jownac Epitoh
MACON Most schools, in plan
ning their football schedules, select a
team they believe they can beat for
their homecoming opponent.
For the first quarter of the home
coming game at Henderson Stadium
Oct. 24, Southeast of Macon played as
if that were the case.
Suddenly the bubble broke, and the
Perry Panthers came to life. By half
time Perry led 27-6 and coasted to a 47-
6 Georgia High School Association
Region 4-AA win.
Southeast scored first, but that was
all for the Warriors as their record fell
to 0-7 overall, 0-6 in the region. Perry
climbed to 5-2 overall and 4-2 in the
region.
Taking possession at the Perry 40
following a short Phillip Gentry punt,
the Warriors used 10 plays to reach the
Panther 1-yard line.
Quarterback Tim Rivers, a fresh
man, took the ball over for the touch
down with 2:04 left in the first quarter.
The point after touchdown kick was
short, but Southeast took a 6-0 lead.
Southeast fumbled the ball on the
second play of the second quarter and
Eddie Gray picked up the ball for
F*erry. He galloped the 35 yards to a
touchdown with 11:46 left in the half.
The PAT effort was partially
blocked, and the score remained tied at
6.
Perry made up for that quickly.
Southeast was three plays and a punt,
which left Perry at the Warrior 47-yard
line.
Donovan Kendrick went right for
three yards before quarterback Dontrell
Green connected on a 16-yard pass to
Anthony Lane. The play ended with a
face mask penalty against Southeast.
Starting from the Warrior 13-yard
Mine, the Panthers used Donte Holmes
straight ahead for the touchdown with
8:43 left in the half. Gentry’s PAT
effort was true, and Perry took a 13-6
lead.
Again Southeast was three plays and
a punt, and again Perry took over at the
Warrior 47-yard line. Rashad Winn lost
three yards on the first play. Green then
found Lane racing toward the end zone
Page 10B
Wed., Oct. 28, 1998
punts.
After the Hornets got one first down
on a Shell 12-yarder. they also had to
punt, but again the defense was stifling
as Mount de Sales managed just five
yards on two carries before Richardson
threw incomplete on third down.
After Richardson's punt, the
Hornets took over at their own 37-yard
line and took just four plays to find pay
dirt, with Hulbcrt’s brilliant 46-yard
run the key play in the drive.
The run came after Shell had picked
up a first down at midfield with a 13-
yard run of his own. and Shell finished
off the drive with runs of three and one
yard, the last for the touchdown.
Skinner added the important point after
touchdown and Westfield had drawn
first blood in this grudge match, with
5:11 left in the first quarter.
Mount de Sales' only decent posses
sion of the first half came on their next
series, as the Cavs kept the ball for 10
plays, picking up 57 yards and three
first downs in getting to the Hornets’
12-yard line. But Shell tackled
Richardson for a 3-yard loss and after a
5-yard delay of game penalty on the
Cavaliers, Ron Marshall threw
Richardson for a yard loss on a quarter
back keeper.
Chad Ekey and Rpbby Heaton then
combined for a 5-yard sack as
Richardson was nailed back at the
Hornets’ 27-yard line on the fourth
down play.
Will Holt’s recovery of a
Richardson fumble near midfield with
a minute left in the first half set up the
Skinner field goal.
The Hornets, who had throttled the
Cavaliers’ big play offense in the first
half, limiting them to just 101 total
yards with their biggest plays a 10-yard
run by Crumbley and an 11 -yarder by
Walton. Two big plays in the third
quarter produced nearly half of the
Cavaliers’ total offense and all of their
scoring.
Linebacker James Prigalano sacked
Trevor Jones for a 5-yard loss on a
fourth down-and-three play at the
Cavaliers' 25. With the ball on the 30,
Richardgpn threw incomplete on first
down thtn hit Walton and the licet
senior outraced the Westfield defense
(See HORNETS, Page 12B)
at the Warrior 15-yard line with a long
pass. Lane caught the ball on the fly
and raced into the end zone to send
Perry ahead 19-6. The play covered 49
yards. Gentry added the PAT kick and
Perry went up 20-6 with 6:12 left in the
half.
Two possessions later, the Panthers
got another break when the Warriors
attempted a halfback pass. The ball
flew right into the waiting hands of
Holmes at the Perry 44-vard-line.
Kendrick broke to the left on the
first play and raced untouched 56 yards
for the fourth touchdown of the quarter
Gentry’s PAT kick was good, and the
first half scoring was done with Perry
up 27-6.
Fred Ridley did his teammates a ser
vice early in the second half when he
pounced on a loose football at the
Southeast 15-yard line.
Green ran a 13-yard keeper left
before Winn broke through the line for
a touchdown. The PAT kick was wide
to the left, but Perry had a 33-6 lead.
Southeast attempted to convert a
fourth down-and-three play near mid
field but failed and Perry got the ball
with eight minutes left in the quarter at
the Warrior 41-yard line.
Three plays later. Green found Lane
in the right flat again, this time good
for 20 yards and a first down at the
Southeast 13-yard line.
Winn picked up two yards before
Kendrick took a pitch to the left for five
yards. On the next play, Kendrick wove
through the Warrior defense for the six
yards and his second touchdown.
Gentry kicked the PAT, and with 3:51
left in the third quarter. Perry led 40-6.
Fresh Panther jerseys flooded the
field for the next offensive series,
which came immediately as the
Warriors fumbled the kickoff return.
When the Panthers failed to score in
three plays. Gentry tried a 33-yard field
goal but hooked the ball to the left.
Running against the Panther subs.
Southeast moved to the Perry 38 early
in the fourth quarter before losing pos
session on downs.
A 47-yard punt from Gentry bottled
the Warriors at their own 13, and after
three tries, Southeast punted.
Jonnie Watkins fielded the ball
Kx v ' r ‘JR
FOLLOW THE BLOCK Matthew Hulbert (32) follows his blocks downfield
against Mount de Sales Oct. 23. The Hornets won, 17-14.
at df
Bpr '
M S -‘ v
Times-Journal Photos by Eric Zeltors
HERE, YOU TAKE IT Westfield running back Jacob Walker (18), bands the
ball off to Matthew Hulbert (32) during action against Mount de Sales Oct. 23.
~ qppr v , i
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fpl |fi • J
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rimes-Joumal Photo by Jj Johnson
WHERE NEXT Panther running back Donovan Kendrick (35) looks for run
ning room while Rashad Winn (7) provides protection against Southeast Oct.
24. The Panthers won 47-6.
about the Panther 40-yard line and
returned it across the field for the final
score of the evening. Gentry added the
PAT kick and Perry took at 47-6 lead
with 6:20 left in the game.
The Warriors travel to Jackson Oct.
30 while the Panthers host Harris
County at the Panther Pit.
Perry will close the regular season
with games at Macon County Nov. 6
and then at home Nov. 13 against
Bleckley County.
Perry 0 27 13 7—47
Southeast 6 0 0 o—60 —6
S— Tim Rivers 1 run, kick failed,
2:04 first.
P Eddie Gray 35 fumble recovery
run, kick failed, 1 1 46 second
P Donte Holmes 13 run, Phillip
Gentry kick, 8:43 second.
P Anthony Lane 18 pass from
Dontrell Green, Gentry kick, 6:12 sec
ond
P Donovan Kendrick 56 run,
Gentry kick, 1:19 second
P Rashad Winn 1 run, kick failed,
9:45 third.
P Kendrick 6 run, Gentry kick,
3:51 third.
Houston Times-Joamm
P Jonnie Watkins 60 punt return,
Gentry kick, 6:20 fourth
Rushing Perry: Donovan Kendrick
16-98, Donte Holmes 1-13, Rashad
Winn 4-18, Quintin Johnson 2-J-4),
Dontrell Green 2-9, Kelvin Whitfield
3-13; Southeast: Carlisle Whitaker
24-60, Mario Douglas 3-7, Gary
Mitchell 1-3, Jarvis Wimbush 2-{-3),
Dewayne Rainey 2-1, Armartis Lucas
6-13, Tim Rivers 6-(-9), Gus Peacock
2-2.
Passing Perry: Green 5-7-0-96,
Gentry 0-1-0-0, Collins 1-1-0-10;
Southeast: Rivers 4-8-0-39, Wimbush
0-3-0-0, Rainey 0-1-0-0.
Receiving Perry: Michael Robinson
1- Anthony Lane 3-85, Michael
Fluellen 1-3, Randall Logains 1-10;
Southeast: Whitaker 1-6, Travis May
2- Lucas 1-4.
Perry Southeast
5 first downs 6
34-144 Rushes, Yards 46-74
106 Pass Yards 39
6-9-0 Comp., att., inter. 4-12-0
2-2 __ Fumbles, lost 6-4
8-52 Penalties, yards 7-51
4:29 Punts, average 7:31.7
Phil
Clark
TimesJoumal
Sports
Johnson
makes hit at
Westfield
Leigh Ann Johnson is in her
third year as a member of the
coaching staff at Westfield.
Still, there are those close to
the school who still don’t know
this charming young lady very
well. I’ve had the pleasure of
covering Westfield sports for
several years, and I’ve just got
ten to know Leigh Ann over the
past couple of months.
Oh, I’ve seen her, talked
with her and watched her work
as an assistant coach in softball
and basketball, and as the head
track coach. But until I covered
the softball season pretty thor
oughly this season, I confess I
didn’t know a great deal about
Johnson.
Since most of the softball
games start about 4:15 or so, it
was often game time before I
arrived at the softball field. It
wasn’t until late in the year,
when the Lady Hornets played
at Windsor, that I was able to
get to the game with plenty of
time to spare.
The games started at 6:30.
so I was there in plenty of time
to watch infield practice Oh.
you say! Watching infield prac
tice doesn’t exactly fit into
your highlight film.
It wasn’t the infield practice
that impressed me. It was the
way Leigh Ann Johnson con
ducted it.
Before, as I said, 1 had no
knowledge of Johnson’s past,
where she came from, where
she went to school, nothing.
But while watching Johnson
hit infield grounders, I knew
right away this lady had been,
probably still is, an excellent
softball player.
You know why I say that’’ I
watched the way she hit ground
ball after ground ball to infield
ers, and she always hit the ball
exactly where she wanted to,
always hit It crisply and "with
authority.
Same with the outfielders.
Always on the nose, always hit
with authority. Now, if you
think that’s easy to do, next
time you have a bat and ball in
hand, just try to hit four dozen
or so exactly where you want
it.
I decided to find out where
this lady played her softball. It
didn’t take long, either, since
Leigh Ann and I worked
together on the slide presenta
tion for the softball banquet.
She didn’t know why I was
asking the questions, but I
found out she played softball
and basketball at Brookwood
Academy in Thomasville,
where here father was head
master, and Ronnie Jones was
football coach and athletic
director.
“Coach Jones was my junior
varsity softball coach”,
Johnson told me. Leigh Ann
played softball and basketball
at Piedmont College in
Demorest, Ga. I can’t tell you
how a south Georgia girl ended
up in the north Georgia moun
tains, but that’s what happened.
Leigh Ann came to
Westfield three years ago, hired
by her onetime coach, Ronnie
Jones. Neither seems to regret
the decision. Leigh Ann
impresses me with her dedica
tion to her team, her obvious
concern for each member.
At the beginning of the sea
son she knew she would face a
difficult challenge, with just
three seniors on the team, two
returning starters. That’s a lot
of openings to fill.
For the first month of the
season, it was really an experi
ment under fire. Johnson con
tinued to experiment with dif
ferent combinations on the
field until she settled on a set
lineup late in the year.
Remember, there were just
three seniors, and only two
juniors, so most of the players
were inexperienced. That’s the
bad part. The good part is,
most of the team is back next
year, plus several strong
prospects off the junior varsity
team.
With eight starters back for
next year, things really look
good for Johnson and the Lady
Hornets. At one point during
the last season, I remember
Leigh Ann in a particularly
(See CLARK, Page 11B)