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V
CHASING THE END ZONE Panther quarterback
Dontrell Green (3) rolls around the Panther backfield,
waiting for a receiver to be ready. Meanwhile, on anoth
Mary Persons rallies past Perry, 33-21
By ALLINB KENT
"Taamr? There are two ways
you can look at the Panther football
game against Mary Persons here Oct.
15. One is that the number six team
in the state barely held off the Pan
thers. The other is that Perry tied the
Sulidogs in three of the four quarters
before they lost, 33-21.
Either way, it wasn't that bad.
For the Bulldogs, it was a careless
ly played game. Despite that, Mary
Persons moved to fifth in Class AA in
Georgia High School Association
rankings this week.
Statistically, the Panthers dominated
the game everywhere but the end zone.
Perry had 349 total yards compared to
only 136 yards for Mary Persons. The
Panthers rushed for 324 yards and
picked up 25 on the pass. Mary Persons
also had the only interception of the
evening, had three fumbles and picked
up 70 yards worth of penalties.
While neither team scored during
the first quarter, during the second
quarter they both scored going into
JPH Mm/t* ~tb M
—-— __ ~— l — ~ — l *
FUMBLE Panthers and Bulldogs battle for posses
sion of the football after it popped loose late in the fourth
quarter in Monroe Oct 15. The Panthers rallied late in
Chamberlains NBA legacy will never be equaled
He was big the biggest thing
I’d ever seen. But Wilt Chamber
lain could play basketball, espe
cially in the 60s, when he was so
dominant in the National Basket
ball Association that rules
changes had to be made because
of him.
He was a star at the University
of Kansas, although he didn’t
pick up a basketball until he was
in the seventh grade. Too big, too
gawky, too uncoordinated. But
boy, did he overcome all of that!
I can remember thinking how
everybody in Kansas must be
extremely big. Beside Chamber
lain, there was Clyde Lovcllette,
who was called “the leaning
tower of Kansas" because of his
enormous size.
Although he enjoyed a tremen
dous professional career, he was
always kind of a second thought to
his fellow Kansan. Chamberlain.
Many basketball fans don't
remember that the foul lanes
were at one time very narrow.
Because of Chamberlain, they
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■ • - ■ - - - •- ■—
the halftime with a 7-7 ballgame.
Mary Persons scored first, halfway
through the second period.
Perry answered back with a 60-yard
drive. Dontrell Green capped it off
with a 24-yard pass to Michael Robin
son on a 4th-and-9 that put the Pan
thers first-and-goal from the Bulldog
1-yard line. A 3-yard pass complete
from Dontrell Green to Rashad Winn
was good for the touchdown.
Monterrious Engram s point after
touchdown kick was good to tie the
ball game on the final play of the half.
In his first game as starting place
kicker, Engram converted all of his
point-after kicking attempts on the
evening. Engram replaces the injured
Phillip Gentry who is out with a knee
injury and is expected to miss the rest
of the season. Gentry attended the
game on crutches.
Mary Persons dominated the third
quarter, scoring three times. The Bull
dogs failed to pick up the extra points
after two of the scores, one on a kick
attempt and the other on a failed run.
Perry came back at the Bulldogs,
Phil
Clark
Home
Journal
Sports
had to be widened in an effort to
keep him away from the basket
on free throws. Still, he was able
to set rebounding records that
ever the Dennis Rodmans of the
present NBA can't touch, even
with their tremendous leaping
ability which Chamberlain did
not possess.
He didn’t need it, with his over
seven-foot frame and tremen
dous bulk. He once pulled down
55 rebounds in a single NBA
game. That will never be
touched. He scored 100 points in
an NBA game, too. That will
probably never be broken, even
er play, Tray Green (25) sweeps left out of the Panther
backfield with Laron Davis (74) and Rashad Winn (7)
providing protection.
Home Journal Photos by Jj Johnson
the fourth quarter but fell 33-21. Identifiable Panthers
are [from left) Kelvin Whitfield, 30; Mamez Taylor, 6;
Jerry Dranzy, 13; and Mario Hart, 66.
Page 6A
Wed., Oct. 20, 1999
once again with only seconds left in
the quarter, and once again Green
had a 4th-down conversion. This time.
4th-and-6 from the Mary Persons 18-
yard-line, Green threw to Engram who
scored easily.
The Panthers worked their way
down the field once more time, late in
the fourth quarter. Green kept the ball
and ran it in two yards for the score.
Although the Bulldogs didn’t play
the neatest game of high school foot
ball ever played, they were able to
overcome their mistakes and accord
ing to Panther Coach George Collins,
“made big plays when they had to."
The loss drops the Panthers to 1-5
on the season. After the game, Collins
acknowledged that his team is strug
gling right now but also said that the
Panthers will be ready for Southeast
Oct. 22 at the Panther Pit.
“Our fans expect us to play hard
and we will," Collins said. “Right now,
Southeast (3-3) might have a little
more confidence than we do. We are
banged up a little bit. But I guarantee
we will be playing tough on Friday."
with the three-point rule.
Defenses are just a lot better and
quicker today that in Chamber
lain’s days. The teams have more
balanced scoring, so one player
won’t get the ball enough to score
100 points.
Because he did most of the
scoring for the Philadelphia War
riors in his stint there, he aver
aged a lot of points. His 50.4-
per-game average during the
1961-62 season is an NBA record
that, too, should stand the tests
of time. So will his 2,149
rebounds in a single season. You
have to play a lot of minutes to
achieve something like that, and
with the paoe of today’s NBA
game, players don’t log as many
minutes as they once did.
His 100 points came against
the New York Knicks in March
1962.
One Chamberlain record that
did fall was his career total in
points scored. In 14 seasons with
the Warriors, 76ers and Lakers,
he scored 31,419 points, a
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Home Journal Photo by Phil Clark
READY TO SERVE Ready to help members of the
Westfield football team are (from left) Jill Hulbert, Lina
Arnold and Mike Edgar.
Female manager-trainers
bring new look to
Westfield sidelines
By Phil Clark
At one tim*' it was looked
upon as a chore handled
only by boys, but not any
more! These days, man
agers of football teams
come in all sizes, shapes
and descriptions.
Because of that, Lina
Arnold and Jill Hulbert
have brought a new look to
the Westfield football team
sidelines during the past
three years.
Arnold, a senior basket
ball standout, was on the
Westfield softball team
through her freshman year,
but a conflict during pre
season tryouts before her
sophomore season prevent
ed her from attending prac
tice. Consequently she was
forced to miss the season.
“The opportunity to help
with the managers’ chores
on the football team came
up, and I jumped at the
chance to do it, more to
stay busy than anything
else," Arnold said in a
recent interview.
“Once I started, it just
sort of grew on me.l really
like it," Arnold continued.
Arnold and the freshman
Hulbert have become an
integral part of the West
field football program. They
handle many of the pre
game chores, and are also
present during practice
sessions all week.
Once the game starts,
they have their individual
sideline duties.
“Our day begins before
the team meal on game
day," Arnold said. “We go
ahead and make the
Gatorade before the team
eats, then we join them for
the meal."
With making the
Gatorade out of the way,
Arnold and Hulbert then
mingle with the team dur
ing the meal and chat with
record broken by Kareem Abdul-
Jabbar when he surpassed
Chamberlain’s mark during the
1984 season.
Abdul-Jabbar said, when
informed of Chamberlain’s death
on Tuesday of last week, “Wilt
was one of the greatest ever, and
we'll never see another one like
him."
Chamberlain’s classic battles
with the Celtic’s Bill Russell are
indelibly inscribed into the minds
of true basketball fans. Red Auer
bach, the legendary Celtics
coach, summed it up when he
said “Wilt Chamberlain had a
great deal to do with the success
of the NBA. His dominance,
power, demeanor and the rivalry
with Bill Russell says it all."
Chamberlain was a dominant
force, but he played the game
with dignity. He played with class
and character. He was bigger
than everybody else in the game,
but he never used his size in any
way other than to dominate play.
He was what could be. and
each other and the other
managers.
Once the game starts,
they are under the dnc«-
tion of trainer Mike Edgar.
Arnold said "in the
beginning. Mike helped us
a lot. But now. he trusts us
to do a lot more things."
Both Arnold and Hulbert
are certified in CPR and
First Aid. and are more
than managers. They are
actually student-trainers,
with greater responsibili
ties, and a lot more capabil
ities than managers had in
previous years.
Jill Hulbert, the younger
and sometimes quieter of
the two, said she likes the
job because “it keeps me
close to my brothers, for
one thing."
As anyone who follows
the Westfield program
knows, tfte hulbert
lings, all seven of them, ai*e
very close. Being around
the football team keeps Jill
Hulbert close to the two
youngest Hulbert brothers,
Matthew and Mark, as well
as Ben, who is now an
assistant coach. Older sib
lings are Jodi, the eldest
and brothers Paul and
John.
When asked if she would
continue with her student
trainer job next season,
Hulbert said she would,
even though Arnold, a
senior, will be gone.
“It will be sad for her to
go, but I’ll do it next year.
We have really become best
friends because of working
together with the football
team," Hulbert said.
What made them good
managers, and now stu
dent trainers? “We owe
everything to Meyur," Hul
bert was quick to point out.
Meyur, of course, is long
time manager Meyur Vashi,
See TRAINERS, Page 8A
should be, called a clean’ player.
In 1.205 NBA games. Wilt Cham
berlain never fouled out once
not the first time!
The Lakers’ great shooting
guard Jerry West credits Cham
berlain with “making me a better
player. We Just seemed to have a
natural feel for each other, and it
translated in a confidence fac
tor." It was West, too, who tried
to explain to Chamberlain why
many opposing fans didn’t
appreciate him, or at least didn’t
show it. West told Chamberlain
“No one roots for Goliath!"
For 14 years in the NBA, Wilt
Chamberlain was Goliath. The
Davids tried hard to slay him. A
David of a different sort, NBA
commissioner David Stern reiter
ated the obvious when he said
“We lost a giant of a man in every
sense of the word."
Wilt Chamberlain's body was
found in his apartment in Bel
Aire in midafternoon Oct 12.
He had a history of heart prob
lems, and was on medication.