Newspaper Page Text
Sports
W mi- ,4 | -;&s* \ \ M
L* t > •> A Jr *s;? '■’; 1
*■!
It it U- r: ■: -' />.&. j-. ■
;:;-:L;ilA: ..*««j|, :
Hp-Ty ?;| sMHWj| fPI
Home Journal Photo by Alline Kent
ON THE DOTTED LINE Dante Holmes
(seated, center) signs on the dotted line
while family and friends watch. With
Holmes are his parents, Malissa and
Holmes signs football scholarship
with Middle Georgia College
By ALLINE KENT
Home Jouwuu. Sro«Tg
Dante Holmes Joined an
elite group last week as he
signed a letter of intent to
play football at Middle
Georgia College in Cochran.
Holmes is the third foot
ball player to go on to the
college level during Head
Coach George Collins four
years at Perry High.
Collins said Holmes'
transition from a high
school player to a college
player began almost a year
ago.
“During the fall," Collins
said, “we sent some film
over to Middle Georgia
' 0 ~~
"W® aur© tie .duauMpnemsf
Jfitmmg£\' jEMfBtBBS&mk * <* -I
■ K K|' ™ i
-*
Home Hournal Photo by Alline Kent
EIGHTH GRADE COUNTY CHAMPIONS Members of
the 1999 Perry Middle School Eighth Grade champion
baseball team include [front, from left) Courtney Cook,
Brad Woodard, Batt Denton, Chad Van Horn, Matt Hurt,
Ricky Grisenthwaite, Donte Williams, Kaliah McCoy,
Reviewing the Collins years at the
During May, I had the oppor
tunity to talk a little about
University of Georgia football
with Doug Barnett, the local
operator of Chic-fil-A. area
stores.
Bell South Mobility and
WPGA-TV, 58 ABC had "teamed
up for a promotion to give away a
Chevrolet Tracker. Radio station
WPGA-FM, G 100.9, provided
radio support for the promotion,
and aired daily remote broad
casts from the various Chic-fil-A
and Bell South locations.
It was during these remotes at
Doug’s store in Perry that we had
the opportunity to talk a little
football, one of Doug's favorite
topics, whether itis University of
Georgia or Perry High School.
We focused on the teams of the
mid 70s, on which Perry coach
George Collins played. We taxed
our memories and came up with
some of the outstanding players
on those teams with Collins, the
1975, 76 and 77 teams.
George made the team and let
tered as a sophomore in 1975 on
a team that went 9-3 for the year
including wins over Georgia’s
three arch rivals. Florida,
Auburn and Georgia Tech.
Elijah Davis. Standing (from left) are
Coach Mack Ivory, Phil Smith, and coach
es George Collins, Carl Dixon and Max
Vickers.
College. Dante is an
extremely talented football
player, actually the best
player we had on our 98
team."
Holmes also had to par
ticipate in a tryout and per
formed very well, according
to Collins.
Holmes will be playing
for Head Coach Randy
Pippin, at Middle Georgia
College, who just finished
his first season at Middle
Georgia with a 11-1 record.
Pippin previously
coached at junior colleges
in Tennessee and Texas. In
1994 he took Trinity Valley
Community College to the
Phil
□ark
Home
Journal
Sports
The Bulldogs’ regular season
losses in 1975 came to
Pittsburgh in the season opener
and Ole Miss in the fifth game of
the season, a 28-13 loss that
cost the Bulldogs the
Southeastern Conference cham
pionship. Arkansas beat Georgia
31-10 in the Cotton Bowl on New
Year’s day 1976 to end the ’Dogs
season at 9-3.
There were some great players
on that 1975 team, as Doug and
I recalled as we chatted. Tight
end Richard Appleby was one of
them. Appleby was the leading
receiver on a team that didn't
throw the ball much, catching 13
tosses for 221 yards. But
Appleby is in the Georgia record
books in another capacity. His
80-yard touchdown pass to Gene
Washington that year is still one
NJCAA National
Championship.
“Our staff saw Dante
play in Perry and that’s
when we first got interested
in him, “ said Pippin.
“He did very well at try
outs and we knew that we
wanted to bring him to
training camp," Pippin
added.
“I am very proud for him.
This is a good opportunity
for Dante and also for us,
since we will be close
enough to see him play,”
said Coach Collins. “This is
a stepping stone for Dante.”
(back) TJ Hutchens, Joel Weekley, Rus Crum, Blake
Bohannon, Kyle McCarty, Mewis Johnson, Kirk Piaster,
Chris Frye and Coach John Warlick. Missing is Lucas
Flournoy.
Page 6A
Wed.. June 9, 1999
of the longest in Bulldogs’ histo
ry!
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Don't Jorget
Appleby’s fabulous end-around
run against Florida at the Gator
Bowl to win that game. The run
was one of the most spectacular
this editor has ever witnessed in
person. -JJ)
Dicky Clark was another out
standing player on that ’75 team.
Clark was an academic All-SEC
performer at defensive end, and
had a 71-yard touchdown return
of an intercepted pass against
Mississippi State. A junior, Clark
helped Georgia to the SEC cham
pionship the following year.
A pair of quarterbacks split the
playing time, Ray Goff and Matt
Robinson. Goff was the running
quarterback, Robinson the pass
er. They were backed up in the
backfield by some outstanding
running backs. Glynn Harrison
was a senior who led the team in
rushing with 894 yards.
Harrison was not the only star
behind the two quarterbacks.
Kevin McLee was a sophomore
who went on to an outstanding
career. The fullback was
Maconite A 1 Pollard, a rugged
runner who was better known for
Panther basketball team
celebrates successes of 1998-99
By ALLINE KENT
successful basketball team
met one final time last
week for their annual ban
quet before the graduating
seniors head off on their
separate ways.
The team had four senior
starters, all of whom will be
attending college on an
athletic scholarship. Two
will be playing football,
Dontarrious Thomas at
Auburn University and
Dante Holmes at Middle
Georgia College while the
other two Dannorris
Harvey and Johnny
Watkins will be continuing
their basketball careers.
Harvey has signed with
Middle Georgia and
Watkins with Snead State.
Harvey was selected as
Best offensive player for
the season based on his
points and his rebounds.
“His value to our team
spoke for itself," said head
coach Carl Thomas who
hosted the banquet at his
home.
Thomas and his staff
selected Holmes for the
Coaches Award. Thomas
said that this was based on
Holmes’ leadership on the
team and also the sacri
fices he made to help run
the team.
Perry’s Hustler Award
went to Watkins for his
ability to “fire up both the
crowd and the team."
"Johnny can initiate
things,” said Thomas.
Houston Home Journal
“When Johnny played well,
the team played well."
The Panther award was
given to Dontarrious
'"homas. Thomas was the
second leading scorer and
rebounder on the team.
1
M Uttm I .'
j ' i - hM MM,
— Urn * * *
1
Home Journal Photo by Alline Kent
LEADERS Perry High basketball coach Carl
Thomas (seated) visits with 1998-99 team leaders
Dannorris Harvey and Donte Holmes, captains of the
1998-99 team.
Middle School Panthers get
county baseball title trophy
By ALLINE KENT
Home Journal Sports
Perry r Middle School
received their Eighth grade
County Championship
Baseball Trophy last week
just a few days before
school let out for the sum
mer.
The Panthers finished
the season with a 10-2
record.
During the season, the
Panthers as a team, typical
ly hit in the high 300 s and
mid 400 s.
Panthers who batted
above .300 for the season
include Mark Johnson
(.333); Kyle McCarty (.372);
Matt Hunt (405); TJ
Hutchens (.333); Brad
Woodard (.333); Matt
Durden (.300) and Blake
Bohanan (.333).
Power hitter Chad Van
Horn led the Panthers with
an incredible batting aver
age of .485.
University of Georgia
his pulverizing blocks.
Washington was a junior wide
receiver in 1975 who played four
years of varsity football at Georgia.
Washington, famous for catching
that touchdown pass from the
tight end Appleby, was more
important as the Bulldogs’ kickoff
return specialist. He led the team
in average yards per return for all
four of his varsity years.
The offensive line was out
standing. Senior Steve Wilson,
another Maconite, played with a
group of juniors including center
Ken Helms, guard Joel Parrish
and tackle Mike Wilson. Collins,
a sophomore, was learning from
some veiy outstanding players, a
unit that also included senior
Randy Johnson, an All-SEC and
All American guard..
The defense had some stars,
too. Beside Clark at defensive
end, there was Ben Zambiasi, a
ferocious linebacker who led the
Bulldogs with 148 total tackles.
Another linebacker, Jim Griffith
had 84 primary tackles (first hits)
to lead the team in that category.
And there was Ronnie
Swoopes, a sophomore defensive
end who went on to become one
of Georgia's outstanding pass
Perry's Boy’s Basketball
team won the 4AA region in
1999 and 1998. It was the
first time in 25 years that a
Perry basketball team had
won back-to-back region
championships.
Pitching was a major
strength for the. team this
season and* gave the
Panthers the edge they
needed in many situations.
During the year, Russ
Crum went 4-1 and had 2
one hitters and 1 no-hitter.
Chris Frye went undefeated
in the season while Matt
Hunt helped to lock up the
championship with his two
pitching wins over Rumble.
The only other Panther to
pitch this season was
Dante Williams, who won
the first game he ever
pitched in his life.
The county champi
onship, although well
deserved by the players,
was not a surprise to those
who followed the team.
Coach John Warlick said
all season he thought the
group of young men had
the drive and talent to take
Perry Middle all the way
this year.
rushers. Bobby Thompson was a
sophomore cornerback who led
the team with four interceptions.
When it came to the next fall.
Georgia was well again beating
Florida, Auburn and Georgia
Tech, going 10-2 overall, winning
the SEC championship before
losing 27-3 to Pittsburgh in the
Sugar Bowl.
Many of the 1975 players were
back, and newcomers like Matt
Braswell of Americus, Steve
Dennis, Mack Guest and Johnny
Henderson of Macon joined the
team, along with future stars like
Willie McClendon, Ulysses Norris.
Gordon Terry and Jeff Pyburn.
Johnson was Georgia’s only
All-American in 1975, but the
1976 team, the conference
champions. produced four,
including tackle Mike “Moonpie"
Wilson, guard Joel “Cowboy"
Parrish, linebacker Ben Zambiasi
and kicker Allan Leavitt. Collins
jdined the list in 1977, his senior
season, before he was drafted by
the St. Louis Cardinals.
I appreciate Doug Barnett tak
ing the time to mention a few of
those great players on the
Georgia teams of the mid 70s. It
brought back a lot of memories.