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Sports l | 'i 1 pSal ‘ -'V’-rV; I, lib'*, r£ ft *L»2t I SUPER SOPH lt's not a bird, it’s not a plane. It’s super soph Cole Carter [79) fly Tiftarea no match for Hornets By Phil Clark Home Journal Sports ['lie Westfield Hornets ran uu almost 400 yards in total ottense nere sept to in beating region lAAA Tiftarea in a Georgia Inde pendent School Association non region football matchup. The victory was costly. The Hornets lost all-pur pose backup player Justin Williamson for the season when he suffered a knee injury in the first half. \Ullll'imcnn nloirpH ftn r ~ both offense and defense and was a backup long snapper for kicks. "I hate it for Justin,” coach Ronnie Jones said after the game. “He has the best attitude I’ve ever seen, and I just hate to see him hurt like that.” Tiftarea, in just it’s sec ond year in GISA Class AAA competition, kept Westfield off the scoreboard until the Hornets third possession. Beginning then, Jacob Walker scored four times in five West field possessions to give the overflow crowd at the Hornet’s Nest some thing to cheer about, run ning up a 28-7 halftime lead. Walker’s first touchdown came on the final play of the first quarter. A Tiftarea punt gave the 1 lornets the ball at midfield. Chance Jones bolted for 25 yards on first down, and a Bo Hart-to- Daniel Weir pass completion good lor 21 more yards put the ball on the Tiftarea four yard line. Walker scored on the next play and Nathan Skinner kicked the extra point to make it 7-0 at the quarter. Folks in North Carolina still called him Jim Hunter Friends and family around Hert ford. N.C. didn't accept the nick name "Catfish.’.' a name given Jim Hunter by the legendary Charles "Charlie O.” Finley. To them, he was still Jim, or to some of his closest friends. Jimmy. To opposing hitters in the American League for 15 years, he was one tough customer. Finley discovered Hunter in Hert ford. liked what he saw and signed the youngster to a contract. The Athletics were still in Kansas City. Always the promoter, Finley thought Hunter needed a nickname that would quickly identify him. “Catfish" was the name Finley chose. And “Catfish” he became to millions of baseball fans for 15 sea sons. Hunter endeared himself to west coast fans after the A s moved to Oakland. He solidified himself as a fan favorite when he won 21 or more games for five straight seasons, leading the A s to the World Series championship with 21 wins in both 1972 and '73, and 25 in the A's third straight championship sea son. 1974. I lunter had to share the spotlight in all three of the A's Wond Series ing through the air to make a tackle on a Tiftarea ball carrier. The Westfield defense, led by a 6-yard Michael Giles sack of Tiftarea quarterback Scott Fulp. forced another punt anct the Hornets took over at their own 48-yard line. Hart kept for two yards before Walker broke into the secondary and scampered 50 yards for the second of his three first half scores. Skinner's point after kick made it 14-0. The Hornets’ defense did it again on Tiftarea when Knru Kitrhpnc rprnvererl a fumble at the end of a 13- yard run by Tiftarea's Allen Pate. It was Kitchens’ sec ond fumble recovery in the past two games. After forcing a Westfield punt, Tiftarea mounted their only scoring drive of the first half, a nine-play drive aided by a holding call "y'-- « :s . x ’4ft. -• • ' i-y-■ T, V> fl' 1 i MORE ROOM, PLEASE Hornet quarterback Bo Hart (11) follows blockers Matthew Hulbert (32) and Jacob Walker (18) against Tiftarea Sept. 10. Phil Clark Home Journal Sports championships. In 1972, backup catcher Gene Tenace hit home runs in his first two series at-bats, went on to hit two more and became the surprise star in Oakland's seven game series win over Cincinnati. Rollie Fingers relieved in six of the seven games for Oakland, winning one and saving two other victories. Hunter, with his 21-7 record and 2.04 ERA over the regular season, was just “one of the guys” in the Series. Fact is, he didn’t even win the Cy Young award for his league. Gaylord Perry, of Cleveland did. In 1973, Hunter again won 21 games, losing just five. There was another star in the World Series as the A's beat the Mets in seven games. Home Journal Photo by Rob Mead on Westfield and highlighted by a 20-yard seramble by Fulp. He was saeked by Cole Carter on the previous play. Fulp hit Jay Slocum for a 13- pickup during the scoring drive and Pate broke through for 25 to the Hor nets' six-yard line before Pate hit Slocum on a half back option pass for the touchdown. Slocum kicked the extra point to make it a 14- game. Matthew Hulbert returned the Tiftarea kickoff IP vards to the Westfield 37. Hart connected with Ernest Greene for a 63-yard score, Skinner’s kick making it 21 - 7. Hulbert then intercepted Fulp’s pass on the Panthers' first play following the touchdown, returning thfe See HORNETS, Page 8A Wed., Sept. 15, 1599 Page 6A Reggie Jackson won the series MVP award, while Fingers had given way to Darold Knowles as the A s closer. Knowles pitched in all seven games, saving two of the vic tories for Oakland. But it was, as in 1972, Jim “Catfish” Hunter who got the A’s to the dance. Oakland captured a third con secutive World Series title in 1974 with Hunter winning 25 games dur ing the regular season. Fingers was back in the World Series spotlight for Oakland. He had a hand in all four victories, winning one and sav ing the other three. It won him the series MVP award. Joe Rudi and Bert Campanaris were the hitting stars for Oakland. Hunter, who finally won the Cy Young award with his 25 wins, soon left the A’s. His departure set the stage for today’s humongous salaries. Finley failed to make pay ments on an annuity which was part of Hunter’s contract with Oak land. Arbitrator Peter Seitz declared Hunter a “free agent.” The reserve clause was still in place, but the error on Finley’s part won Hunter a right to negotiate with another team. Panthers work on mistakes in preparing for Dodge County Bt ALLINE KENT Hotn Jouax/u. Srorrs It is a position no football program wants to find itself in. The Perry Panthers enter the toughest part of their schedule with a 0-2 record and their next two oppo nents on the road. It is a situation which calls for calmness and even thinking. For Panther fans that equals head coach George Collins. Collins isn’t dwelling much on the mistakes made in the first two games. He’s dealing with those things at practice and is content to look toward the future. His Panther team got to work early Sept. 11, spend ing the weekend preparing for the next Georgia High School Association Region 4AA football game. “There were some mis takes in the opening game we improved on this week, and some new things we will straighten out this week during practice. The kids are making the effort.” Collins said. In their opening game, Perry fell 28-21 in overtime to non-region toe Vidalia. Sept. 10, Perry dropped a 13-0 loss to Lamar County. “Football is always a process of making correc tions; which is easier to do when you are winning. We had some bad luck but we made the decision we are going to get better,” Collins said. The near future for Perry involves traveling to East * r ii _ n—% * ~ n iiiclii LU laLL LAIV. uuugv LUCAIi ty Indians Sept. 17. The Indians enter the game 2-0, coming home from a 21-0 upset last week of Class AA 4th ranked Manchester. Dodge County, under Coach John Peacock, fin ished up with a 6-4 seasoh last year barely missing I 1 Jf R If j — m. i ■ ' GANG TACKLE LEFT Members of the Perry Panthers close in on the Lamar County quarterback. Jumping into the Houston Horn Journal y fsßf ..JSE* - Home Journal Photos by Jj Johnson WHERE NOW Panther running back Rashad Winn (7) looks for more room while turning the corner against Lamar County Sept. 10. making the playoffs for the third consecutive year. One of the teams they fell to in 1998 wa« Perrv. which beat Dodge 10-7. The Indians return their backfield including quarter back Rick Kirklev, fullback Brandon McClendon, and halfbacks Alfonso Washing ton and Jeffery Thomas. At 6-2 and 205 pounds, Thomas, a three-year starter, has close to 3,000 yards rushing in his years at Dodge. Collins refers to him as the “Uonl V*«-» »-»1r »»»r» sirlll fono fVllc uwui uucts ** v- ■» »«» *mww »-* •»*-• year.” Although the offensive line is a question mark for Pea cock, the defensive line returns strong. The front four average about 230 pounds each and bring plen -4y -®f experience to the field. However, those players are The New York Yankees won and Hunter signed what was then an astonishing contract! He was paid something like $3.75 million over five years to become to the Yankees what he had been with Oakland, a team leader who could show the young Yankees how to win again. Hunter was a great pitcher, win ning 224 games in just 15 major league seasons. He was crafty in the mold of a Whitey Ford or Eddie Lopat, former Yankee lefthanders. He had a good repertoire of pitches. His strong suit was his excellent control and his willingness to “go inside' on any hitter who happened to be in the batter's box. Today, that often brings a charge to the mound, but in Hunter's case, it seldom hap pened. Respect is what it was called. Ironically, the Yankees went to the World Series in three of Hunter's first four seasons with the team, but his statistics in New York never matched those he posted in Oakland, aside from his first year in pin stripes, 1975. That year, he won 23 games with a 2.58 ERA, but the Yankees didn’t make it to the World Series. As his individual stats began to four out of the six returning starters on defense, so some of his more experienced team members have to play both ways. On the line, Alan Gordon and Greg Archer play both sides of the ball. Washington and' Kirkley will both see time at linebacker with Thomas also on defense in the sec ondary. Perry will enter the game after losing their region open er to Lamar County. Perry played a tough defensive game Sept. 10, stopping T nmor inciHp thp 00-varH line three times in the first half. - “We did some real good things on defense against Lamar and that is exciting,” said Collins. “Our team just needs to regroup and cut out See PANTHERS, page 8A action are Jonothan Whitfield (70) and Philip Gentry (10). dwindle, though, the Yankees’ for tunes began to risen. They won the American League pennant in 1976 as Hunter won 17 games. They were swept by Cincinnati's “Big Red Machine” in the World Series, though. The next two seasons, Hunter saw his teammates win the “big one” in back-to-back seasons. Hunter was only 9-9 in 1977 and lost his only series start. In 1978, as he neared the end of a brilliant career. Hunter posted a 12-6 record, won one and lost one in the series as the Yankees beat the Dodgers 4 games to 2 for the sec ond straight year. By the end of 1979, the “C-atf Hunter story was over. He retired to his North Carolina farm. He became just plain Jim again. He had just been released from a hos pital after a four-week stay when he passed away at his home on Sept 9. He had lost his battle with amyotJhropic lateral sclerosis. It was more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Jim “Catfish” Hunter was just 53. He was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in 1987,