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Sports
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KICKING GAME Members of the Westfield Hornet
kicking team demonstrate their skills during the quar
terfinals of the Georgia Independent Schools
Hornets pound way into Tattnall rematch
Westfield downs John Milledge 42-28 to reach semifinal GISA game against Tattnall
Bv PHIL CLARK
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The Westfield Hornets' explo
sive running game racked up 389
yards, including 201 by Jacob
Walker, in a 42-28 quarterfinal
win over John Milledge here
Nov. 20 in the Georgia
Independent School Association
football playoffs.
The win, coupled with
Tattnall's 38-14 win over
Brentwood, sets up a semifinal
meeting between the two GISA
powers at the Hornets’ Nest Nov.
27. Kickoff is 8 p.m.
Westfield scored on their first
possession after John Milledge
look the opening kickoff and
moved the ball only to their own
38-yard line before they had to
punt it away.
Walker quickly gave the
Hornets good field position as he
'bolted for 34 yards on the very
first offensive play for Westfield.
With the ball at the Milledge 37,
Trevor Jones hit Daniel Weir for
21 and another first down at the
16.
Alter Jared Shell and Tate
Parker combined for 14 yards to
move the ball to the two, Jones
sprinted out to the right for the
score with 6:22 left in the first
quarter. The first of five straight
Nathan Skinner point after touch
down kicks made it 7-0.
The Trojans picked up 20
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Timos-Joumol Photos by Jj Johnson
MOVE PLEASE Sophomores Cole Dunaway (3) fights for yardage
during a carry late in me game against John Milledge.
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JUST DO IT Westfield Head Coach Ronnie Jones yells instruc
tions to his team during the 42-28 quarterfinal win against John
Milledge at the Hornet's Nest Nov. 20
yards, most of it on a 14-yard run
by quarterback Parker Stephens,
to move out to the 41 to open
their next possession. Matthew
Hulbert stopped Brad Hobbs for a
one-yard loss then Robby Heaton
sacked Stephens for a six-yard
loss to set up another punting sit
uation.
When Hobbs’ punt rolled dead
at the Westfield 38-yard line, the
Hornets took over with 2:53 left
in the quarter. Eleven seconds
later, the Hornets were on the
board again as Walker cruised
through a gaping hole on the right
side of the Westfield line. He
darted past the last two defenders
as he raced 62 yards for
Westfield’s second score of the
quarter. Skinner tacked on the
point after to give Westfield a 14-
0 lead.
The first of two Westfield
turnovers gave John Milledge the
ball at the Westfield 37 early in
the second quarter and Stephens
quickly went to the air to take
advantage of it.
After Stephens ran for 13
yards on first down, he hit Rusty
Elliot for 16. then went back to
the tall tight end for four yards
and a touchdown.
With Todd Culpepper's point
after touchdown kick, the score
was suddenly 14-7 and the
Trojans were right back in the
game.
Page 6A
- Wed., Nov. 25. 1998
Association quarterfinals Nov. 20. Place kicker
Sophomore Nathan Skinner (13, left photo) drives an
extra point home while Junior Jacob Walker (18) holds.
The Hornets were able to
answer the score with one of their
own to reclaim a two touchdown
lead Walker, who had 131 yards
in the first half, ran three times in
the touchdown drive for 37 yards
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JUST-A LOOKIN' FOR A HOLE - Hornet Senior
Jared Shell (24) leads Senior running back Tate
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ROCK THAT RIB Matthew Hulbert (32) leads a
host of Hornet defenders against John Milledge dur-
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LOOKING TO ESCAPE John Milledge
Quarterback Parker Stephens (8) tries to escape the
Houston Times -Journal
Cl % ft*Up
Tim«i-Journal Photos by Jj Johnson
Punter Sophomore Daniel Weir (84 in photo above))
puts his foot into a kick during the game against John
Milledge Academy.
and the score.
Shell added 14 and Parker 9 on
the drive. Skinner nailed the point
after for a 21-7 lead, which held
up till halftime.
With Stephens running the
Parker (20) through a hole in the John Milledge line
during the Westfield victory Nov. 20.
ing the quarterfinal game Nov. 20. Identifiable are
Bo Hart (11), Josh Giles (65) and Ron Marshall (10).
defensive pressure of Hornets Chance Jones (2) and
Ron Marshall (10) during the quarterfinals Nov. 20.
show, though, the Trojans weren’t
out ot it. Coach Ronnie Jones
called Stephens "the best quarter
back we've seen", aid Stephens
(See HORNETS, Page 8A)
Phi! K|
Clark LgJ
Times Journal |Qpr j
Sports I
Some regions
are just too
tough
Entering the semifinals in
the Georgia Independent
School Association football
playoffs, and the second round
of Georgia High School
Association action, it’s appar
ent some regions are just plain
superior to others in both asso
ciations.
In the GISA, two of the four
semi-finalists are from region
1-AAA, and a third team bare
ly missed it, Stratford losing in
overtime to region 4-AAA top
seed Augusta Christian.
Westfield, the top seed from
1- and runner-up Mount
de Sales are both still in the
hunt. Westfield hosts region 2-
AAA top seed Tattnall Square,
while Mount de Sales will trav
el to Augusta.
The Cavaliers were long
time members of region 2-
AAA, but have been reas
signed to region 1 -AAA.
In the Georgia High School
Association, right here in our
mid state area, it’s apparent the
football is a little tougher.
Region 2-AAAA, home of the
powerful Northside Eagles and
perennial playoff power
Warner Robins, has a couple of
new faces this year.
Westside, the two-year-old
school in Macon, is playing its
first varsity season, while
Houston County High has
moved up to AAAA for the
first time. Both pulled off mild
upsets in the opening round,
that is, if you believe in upsets.
Westside beat LaGrange, a
team ranked in the top 10 all
year, and was in the top five
until their regular season loss
to East Coweta.
Meanwhile, Doug Johnson’s
Bears pulled off the biggest
win of the opening round when
they knocked off Danny
Cronic’s East Coweta Indians,
which had big 67-41 win
over LaGrange, and also
knocked off defending state
champion Parkview in their
opening game.
Houston County had lost
regular season games to
Northside and Warner Robins,
and to class AAA Peach
County, but held the high scor
ing Indians to their fourth low
est point total of the year.
Northside had no trouble
with Lovejoy, as the Eagles
continued their march toward a
possible state championship.
The Eagles won 45-7, and will
host the always tough Lowndes
County Vikings, who barely
edged Camden County 15-14.
Warner Robins, the number
two seed from region 2-
AAAA, had a chance Saturday
night to make it a clean sweep
over 4-AAAA, but the Griffin
Bears used a punishing ground
attack to rack up 454 rushing
yards in a 52-42 win to elimi
nate the Demons, who gave up
96 points in their last two
games.
Another local region, 4-AA,
fared well in the opening
round, too. That's the region
Perry plays in, though the
Panthers didn’t qualify for the
playoffs despite a 7-3 record.
Manchester, Mary Persons
and Macon County all repre
sented the region with wins,
while Jackson was the lone
region representative to lose to
a region 2-AA opponent, a 28-
17 loss to Screven County.
Manchester handled Jeff
Davis with no trouble, Mary
Persons won pretty easily over
Toombs County, while the
Macon County Bulldogs, the
number three seed in 4-AA,
traveled to Baxley and derailed
2- number two seed
Appling County 37-9. ’
Americus plays in a pretty
tough region, too. The Panthers
barely made the playoffs,
squeaking in 'hen
Thomasville lost in the
Bulldogs' final game to Brooks
County.
How tough is 1-AA? All
four teams won their opening
round games! Americus, at
number four, knocked off once
beaten Jefferson County in a
39-35 shootout. Third seed
Mitchell-Baker had little trou
ble on the road at two time
defending slate champiop
Washington County, beating
(Sec CLARK, Page 8A)