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Sports A tale of two football game losses Perry Panthers stumble, fall to Harris County 20-18 By ALLINE KENT en Perry fumbled on their first pos session of the football game, it seemed for a minute the mistakes which have haunt ed the Panthers all season had traveled here for the Harris County game. Perry turned their luck around less than 60 seconds later when Harris fumbled at the 49-yard line. The fumble was recovered by Panther Demetrius Williams. The ghosts returned for the Panthers on Halloween weekend as Perry could not overcome their mistakes to hold on for the win. Harris County evened its overall record at 4-4 and kept their relatively slim Region 4-AA playoff hopes alive with the 20-18 win over the Panthers Oct. 30. Perry fell to 1-7 As they have the last few weeks since a knee injury sidelined Phillip Gentry, the Panthers felt the loss of their kicker throughout the game. bobble#"a punt “in t!he first quarter which allowed the Tigers great field posi tion and helped to set up their first touchdown. Later the Panthers missed the tying point after their own touchdown. Another familiar sight to the Panther fans who trav eled to the game were the penalties which have hurt the Perry team all season. Two long, first quarter runs were called back due to mis takes on offense. Harris County scored twice in the first half but Jr i V li A R * fcr R'f fW J V/ Ar . IV V gHB - VBI BJk JjLJHMHL?9 P » w •■i SBuSHLSb Ofefl BF hRM BF Bl Bl ,4H R# J B\ *f| HARP* JHy IF w| T fc. Vjflß W -J rbr, -i BryP I TRAY GREEN (25) TACKLES THE HARRIS COUNTY BALL CARRIER The Tigers Held On To Beat Perry 20-18 In Region 4-AA Action. High school football action reaches peak weekends Here we are, down to the final two weekends of the high school football season, and across the state, really huge games are being played. These games will decide whether some teams will make the playoffs at all, and what the pecking order will be for others who are already assured a spot. Two important games are in Georgia Independent School Asso ciation region lAAA. After Strat ford’s 27-16 win over Westfield Oct 29, some fans Just naturally assume Stratford is number one. Westfield number two in the final standings. Not so, though. Mount de Sales and Windsor, two teams not having the best of seasons, will have an opportunity to throw a monkey wrench into the standings. If the Stratford- Mount de Sales game, and West field’s homecoming match with Windsor go as they should, those fans would be correct. A slip by either Stratford or Westfield could make It interesting. A Mount de Sales win over Stratford and a Westfield loss to Windsor would create havoc. But let’s not even think abut that. In the Georgia High School Perry retaliated both times. On the second instance. Dontrell Green ran the ball about 30 yards. Green's pass to Robinson was good to the 10-yard line. Green faked the hand-off and then went to the left, diving in for the touchdown. Perry tried a two-point conversion, but the pass was caught out of bounds and the score held at 14-12. Harris County. The late second quarter touchdown * gave Perry momentum coming out of halftime. The Panther defense held Harris through one strong drive into Pan ther territory. Harris drove again, from their 23-yard line and scored. The Tigers missed the extra point kick, leaving the score 20-12. Perry answered back, set up on their touchdown score by the short passes which have worked well for the Panthers this season. Green led the 59-yard drive down field. The effort was high lighted by a huge Michael Robinson run to the 30-yard line. Green finished the drive with a 1 -yard keeper. Down by two, 20-18, Perry chose to go for the two-point conversion. Green completed the pass to tie the game, however, the Panthers were called for having an illegal receiver downfield. On his second attempt. Green’s pass fell incomplete. The Panthers drove from their 47 to a first-and-goal just inside the 10, with only a minute left in the game. On their first attempt. Perry was pushed back five yards Phil Clark Home Journal Spurts Association, there's a very inter esting matchup in region lAAAA this weekend. It involves surpris ing Ware County, a team that’s not been involved in the playoffs since the merger of Ware and Waycross schools placed them in AAAA. New coach Dan Ragle, who came over after leading a very' successful Americus program, has the Gators in the thick of the playoff picture. They face Colquitt County tills week, with a chance to challenge for first place. The Gators lost by a point to Valdosta, but beat Lowndes County earlier. Even a loss to Colquitt will not drop them out of the playoff pic ture. but a win could help them to Jk d m',’ : Home Journal Photo by JJ Johnson HEADED UPFIELD Perry Panther quarterback Don trell Green (3) rounds the comer and heads upjield against the Harris Co. Tigers Oct. 30. and their next two passes were ruled incomplete. On fourth down. Harris County picked up a penalty for call ing a time out after already using up their three for the half. Page 6A Wed.. Nov. 3. 1999 the number one seed, especially if Lowndes County beats Valdosta on Nov 12. Robert Davis finds himself at the mercy of somebody else this week. His Seminoles reached the playoffs last year, their first in varsity competition. Now. the Seminoles need an upset by But ler over Lakeside-Evans in order to qualify again. Westside lost ear lier to Warner Robins, then were surprised by Lakeside on Oct 15. A Lakeside win over Butler will eliminate the Seminoles, though they will no doubt finish with a 7- 3 overall record. Warner Robins. Northside and Houston County have all qualified for the playoffs. In region lAAA. there should have been an important meeting between the last two class AAA state champions. Thomas County Central and Dougherty County. But that was before surprising Lee County took care of Dougher ty Oct 29. Now it appears Dougherty is out of the mix, but Thomas County still needs a win t 6 stay in the hunt for the top seed in the region. Talk about competitive. This rector Tips to ho the rnmnet Moved five yards closer, to the 11-yard-line. Perry sent in their replacement field goal kicker, Robert Warren, who missed the kick. Harris took a knee to end the game. -> 'pP _TyfJ[ Bar * *9 JACOB WALKER (180 FOLLOWS BLOCKS Opening Holes Is Matthew Eve (54) Houston Home Journal Stratford downs Westfield in GISA game of unbeatens , By Phil Clark Home Journal Spokts MACON The Stratford Eagles dodged an early sec ond half bullet and turned the opportunity into a go ahead touchdown, wiping out a 9-6 Westfield halftime lead, and taking over the lead in Georgia Independent Schools Association Class AAA with one football game left to play. Westfield needs a win over Windsor in the Nov. 5 final regular season game to hold on to second place. Strat ford must win, 100. to earn the outright Region lAAA championship. Mount de Sales, a winner over lasF week, can still tie the Eagles with a win in a game that will be played at Mount de Sales Nov. 5. Eagle Stephen Osbon fumbled the second half kickoff and Matthew Hul bert of Westfield recovered the ball at the Stratford 29- yard line. The Hornets weren’t able to take advantage oi the turnover, the only Stratford miscue of the game. After Chance Jones got nine yards on two carries to the Stratford 20 following the turnover, Jacob Walker gave the Hornets a first down with a 6-yard gain to the Stratford 14. Two runs for no gain then a five-yard loss put Westfield back to the Stratford 19. From there. Nate Skinner’s 36-yard field goal attempt was short. The Eagles then broke the backs of the gritty Hornets itive in the state. Example: Four teams have one region loss each after games of Oct 29. Thomas County has lost to Worth County. Worth has lost to Lee County, Lee has lost to Cairo, and Cairo has lost to Thomas County. Here’s something else. On the final week of regular season play, Nov 12, Cairo plays at Worth County and Thomas County plays at Lee. Head-to-head competition will decide the playoff pecking order, and the region won’t need to get to the complicated second and third tiebreakers. Peach County, the runner-up to Dougherty last year, must face Shaw then Troup County to finish their regular season under new coach Alan Rodemaker. All three teams will be in the playoffs, along with Hardaway. But like region lAAA, this region, 2AAA, will determine pecking order over the final two weeks of the regular season. As the scheduling would have it, all four of the contenders play all of the other three over the final three weeks of the season. In region lAA, Mitchell-Baker nailed down the top seed with a 74-13 win over Sumter County when Tyler Fleming scam pered 80 yards on a keeper on Stratford’s first play from scrimmage. Ty Watson's point after touchdown kick gave Stratford the lead back at 13-9. Westfield had to overcome mistakes early in the game to take the halftime lead. On their first possession, the Hornets picked up three first downs and were march ing toward the Stratford goal with first down at the Eagles' 12-yard line. But Bo Hart’s pass to Daniel Weir was picked off by Fleming to end the drive. After Cole Carter, Golden Goss and Kyle Harold led a Westfield defensive charge that held Stratford to seven yards on three rushes, the Hornets got the ball back at their 37 after a James Poe punt. Again, Westfield domi nated the line of scrimmage, moving steadily downfield behind Jacob Walker, Chance Jones and Will Holt. Walker’s longest run of the night, a 14-yarder, gave Westfield a first down at the Stratford 13- yard line. After Jones got six and Holt two. Walker apparently lunged over the goal line, but offi cials ruled he was down at the one-yard line. After the apparent touchdown was denied, Westfield was quick ly called for illegal procedure to put the ball on the six yard line, then they were called for a hold when Walk er skirted into the end zone on a sweep to the right. After the back-to-back penalties. See HORNETS. Page 7A rHe 'ldMi *% T '^H : ' s.[_ jg i : .■ ■ ®. S§§ Home Journal Photos by Rob Mead STRATFORD BALL CARRIER SURROUNDED Closing Are Kyle Harold (35), B en Brannen Oct 29. Four teams are in a dog fight for the three remaining play off idiots. Sumter County has one region loss. Americus, Thomas vilTe and Brooks County two each. Americus must still play Mitchell Baker and Brooks, while Brooks will also meet Thomasville. The Bulldogs must also face Sumter County. Sumter appears to be in good shape to take the runner-up spot. Their loss was to Mitchell-Baker, and they must play Thomasville then Early County, winners of Just two games this season after playing for the state championship a year ago. Games this weekend between Americus and Brooks and Sumter County and Thomasville will go a long way toward settling the cloudy playoff picture. One big game in region 4AA this week is Lamar County at Manchester. The Trojans are in a position to secure a playoff spot with a win. but that won’t be easy, although Lamar is a vastly improved team. Manchester has lost only to Dodge County and is See CLARK. Page 8A