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Panther seventh graders to play for county football title
B> ALLINK KENT
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The Perry Middle School
Panthers advanced to the county
championship game Nov 4 w ith a
decisive 24-6 win over the
Northsidc jets in the semi-finals
Oct. 2X.
The 7th grade championship
game will be against the Tabor
Tigers at 4:30 p.m. at McConnell
Talbert stadium in Warner
Robins. Tabor enters the game
with a 7-0 record coming off a 32-
6 win against Warner Robins in
their semifinal game.
Perry's defense stuffed the Jet
offense most of the day.
Northside’s only touchdown
came with 51 seconds left in the
game against the Panther’s sec
ond string defense.
The Jets did threaten several
other times but the Panther
defense held fast. A recovered
fumble late in the first half put
Northside in scoring position but
the Panthers stopped their hopes
led by a key tackle by Jai
Bowens.
Quarterback Tyler Lawhorn
was seriously injured in the first
half and did not play the remain
der of the game. The Panthers
offense managed to score once
more without their starting quar
terback.
Perry’s first possession of the
second half started off badly with
no gain on the first two downs.
On third down, Jai Bowens
picked up eight yards. With
fourth-and-two. David Alford, in
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Times -Journal Photo! by Eric Zeftars
GETTING READY Members of the Perry the state meet Nov. 7at Carrollton. Team members
Panther boys cross country team are preparing for (right) practice at the Momingside course.
Panthers second in Region 4-AA cross country
Team qualifies for state AA meet at Carrollton Nov. 7
By ALLINE KENT
F() TMF.T|MiJ(VUNU
The Perry High School Cross Country team par
ticipated in region 4-AA competition Oct. 31. The
hoy s team finished second behind Bleckley County.
This qualified the team for the stale meet which
is Nov. 7 in Carrollton. For a team to qualify for the
state meet, they must place either first or second at
the region meet
The region team will also run at the state meet.
Members of ibis team arc David Talley. Randy
Whiddon. Bill Sandelur. Brandon I’lleegor. Cory
I mcison Kcnm Cm and lolm Millendcr
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K Football This Friday Night* Perry at Macon County/ 8 p.m./
Westfield at Windsor/ 8 p.m.
lor the injured l.awhorn. picked
up enough foi the first down on a
quarterback keeper.
Three play' later. Perry once
again laced a fourth down situa
tion. Dexter Ragin carried the ball
and it seemed like the entire
Northsidc defense tried to bring
him down. Rugm got 12 yards on
the play and the touchdown.
The Panthers really worked
their offense, using nine different
players during the game to run the
ball. First halt scores included a
20-yard run by Jai Bowens and a
20-yard pass from Tyler Lawhorn
to Rishawn Scott.
Linebacker Tion Kendrick had
an outstanding game at linebacker
with seven individual tackles.
Jarrell Gary, Jai Bowens and
Dexter Ragin each had three indi
vidual tackles.
Eighth grade
The Bth grade Panthers were
eliminated from a chance to
repeat as county champions as
they fell to the Tabor Tigers 16-0
Oct. 28 at the Panther Pit.
Captains for Perry for the
game were Chad Van Horn, Tay
Whitfield and Morris Johnson
The night felt like it was going
to be Perry s on the Panther s first
possession of the game. Trenton
Kendrick picked up the first down
but the ball was fumbled on the
next play. Tabor's George
Washington had a big 30-yard run
but was slopped short of the end
zone by Quintcll Cheatham.
Perry's defense tried but could
Alternates are Tony Whiddon, Markeith Whitehead
and Erik Bassler.
Bill Sandefur finished fifth overall in region
competition. Randy Whiddon finished seventh and
David Talley finished in eighth.
The girls team missed the mark by only two
points at the region meet. Bleckley County's girls
also finished in first place followed by Mary
Persons. Taryn Burch finished fifth in the region
meet and qualified lor the stale meet as an individ
ual. The girls team also included Heather Sokinas.
Kern Landry. I.ynnell Pfieegor. Jennifer Sweat.
Botham Cooper, and (iinnic Brow n
Page 6A
Wcd.-Wer-M, 1998
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OUCH Ambrody Peavy (22) brings down a
Northside runner while Cody Howard (35) rushes
to assist. The seventh grade Panthers will play for
not stop Washington twice as he
scored with a minute left in the
first quarter
Perry answered the touchdown
with one of their own. Quintet!
Cheatham received the punt and
ran the ball 90 yards to the end
/.one The score was called back
because of a clipping penalty.
Perry was first-and-10 from the
17-yard line but fumbled the ball
and Tabor recovered. Perry
slopped the Tigers lor a loss but a
penalty put the ball on the 11-yard
Houston rimes -Journal
Tinwi-Joumol Photo by Eric Zftttars
the County championship.
line Cameron Draughorne led the
defense to stop Tabor on the 8
yard line as the quarter ended.
Tabor found the end zone on the
next play with a short run by
George Washington. Tabor's PAT
was good.
The Panthers end their season
with a 5-2 record and 4th place in
the county. Tabor will go on to the
county championship game this
evening at McConnell Talbert sta
dium
The Panther's suffered the loss
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JUST OUT OF REACH Hie Panther girls squad finished third at
the Region 4-AA meet, and did not qualrfy as a team to attend the
state AA meet. One member of the team, Taryn Burch, qualified as an
individual.
because of failure to execute
according to Coach Danny
Shelton. “These last two weeks,
we didn’t perform,” he said.
“Overall, though, we have had a
tairly successful year, a 5-2 sea
son."
Tabor Defensive Coach Mike
Jackson said that his players were
very excited about the champi
onship game. “I hope momentum
can carry us through," he said.
The Tigers face a 6-1 Warner
Robins Middle.
Phil
Clark
Times-Joumal
Sports
Key games
remain
With just two weeks left in the
regular season, some playoff
berths are pretty much certain,
but there are a number still to be
determined.
In Georgia High School
Association region 4AA, for
example, Manchester is in and
will take the number one seed
with wins over Lamar County
and Southeast Macon. That's
almost a certainty. The rest of the
picture is somewhat cloudy, but it
will clear up tremendously with
one game this weekend. Perry at
Macon County.
The Bulldogs, making the
move up from single A where
they were playoff constants, have
begun to make a little noise in
recent weeks, after losing to
Manchester and Mary Persons,
the latter by just a single point.
Three straight wins, including
a 27-10 win at Dodge County
Oct 30, have pushed the Bulldogs
into the thick of things for the
three remaining playoff spots.
But Macon County must beat
Perry and Jackson to assure a
spot. They could get in with a
win over either, but a win over
both would certainly do it.
Right now, Perry is in the best
position to claim the number two
seed and a home field advantage
for the first round of the state
playoffs. The Panthers, Jackson,
Mary Persons and Macon County
are all at 5-2 in region play, but
as I said. Macon County still has
to play two of the teams, while
Perry and Jackson meet one and
Mary Persons has only to win
over Southeast and Harris
County to gain a share of second
place.
A few weeks ago, after Perry
beat Mary Persons, I observed
that a perfect scenario would be
for Mary Persons to beat
Jackson, then Manchester knock
off Mary Persons. That has hap
pened, and that is w-hy the
Panthers arc in the best position.
They would win a three-way tie
with Jackson and Mary Persons,
or a head to head with Persons.
Since Mary Persons doesn't
figure to lose again, though, it
behooves Perry to go down to
Montezuma and knock off the
Bulldogs. That way, it would not
matter the outcome of the
Jackson-Macon County game the
following week, assuming the
Panthers did not stumble in their
final game against Bleckley
County at home.
I don’t think that will happen,
but the game at Macon County
will be a tough one. The
Bulldogs are a big, physical foot
ball team, whose only drawback
is putting the ball on the ground
too much. If Perry’s defense,
which itself is pretty physical,
can force some fumbles, and be
in the right spot to get them, it
would certainly help things
along.
The Warner Robins Demons
have clinched another playoff
spot. So what else is new? The
Demons, after a season opening
loss to Lowndes County, have
reeled off eight straight wins,
including all five games in 1-
AAAA Division A. Westside
Macon, under former Demon
head man Robert Davis, will lake
the other playoff spot in the A
division of this region, while
Northsidc has clinched the top
spot in division B. The winner of
the Northside-Warncr Robins
game on Nov 13 will be the top
seed from the region for the play
offs And right now. Northside
looks awesome!
Back to the Perry situation for
a minute. Region 4AA will be
paired with region 2AA for the
opening round of the playoffs.
This is a sub-divided region, and
neither side has been settled yet.
In the north sub-region,
Toombs County is leading, but
they still must play the other two
contenders from this sub-region,
Tattnall County and Screven
County. Tattnall has already beat
en Screven, so Screven would
appear to need a win over
Toombs to stay alive.
Another team that’s struggling
to make the playoffs is Vidalia, a
20-19 victim of the Panthers in
the opening game of the year for
both teams. Vidalia has lost in
their sub-region to Jeff Davis,
and must beat Appling County
Nov 13. Jeff Davis has already
lost to Appling, but the Pirates
have lost to both Screven and
(See CLARK, Page 8A)