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Home Journal Photo by Jj Johnson
INSTRUCTION TIME Perry High Head Football Coach
George Collins and Assistant Coach Andy Gentry shout
instructions to their team during the 21-8 victory over Macon
County Nov. 5. The Panthers close their Region 4-AA schedule
with Bleckley County in Cochran Nov. 12.
Panthers down
Macon County
for second win
By ALLINE KENT
Hour Journal Sports
It was a win that meant
nothing. It was a win that
meant everything.
Perry downed Macon County
21-8 in a Nov. 5 Region 4-AA
win that meant nothing to the
region standings and every
thing for team morale.
“We needed this win." said
Head Coach and Athletic Direc
tor George Collins.
“Been a long time in coming.
For the most part our effort
was there, there were some
areas in which we could have
\!sestfield opens playoff season
with John Milledge Nov. 12
By Phil Clark
Home Joubmal Sports
Coach konnie Jones will lead
his Westfield Hornets into the
1999 Georgia Independent
School Association football
playoffs with one goal in mind:
Bring home the school's first
ever football state champi
onship.
The Hornets, who finished
the regular season with a
record of 8-1-1, will face the
John Milledge Trojans Nov. 12
at the Hornets’ Nest after fin
ishing the regular season sec
Perry cross country completes fourth
consecutive GHSA state meet
By ALLINE KENT
HOMEjOURPIALBPO«TB_____ ii ___ t __
Coach darl Thomas took his
boys cross country team to the
Class AA state meet in Carroll
ton Nov. 6, after finishing sec
ond in Region 4AA for the
fourth year in a row.
Perry runner Randy Whid
don finished 108 out of the 165
runners there.
Whiddon crossed the line on
his first lap in 12th position
‘Sweetness’ is gone; ‘Sweetness’ will never leave us
Twice within a span of eight days,
the world was shocked at the passing
of a sports hero. First, golfer Payne
Stewart was killed in the crash of his
private Lear jet near Aberdeen, S.D.
as he was en route to join fellow
golfers in Texas for the Tour Champi
onship.
A week later, football legend Walter
Payton lost his battle with cancer and
a rare liver disease. Stewart was 42,
Payton 45. That's way too young for
our sports heroes to be leaving us.
We don’t have too many waiting in
the wings to take their places. Cer
tainly there’s a shortage of the super
nice guys who give of themselves and
their resources without hesitancy
and role models for our young folks
to look up to and follow.
Stewart was perhaps better known
for the attire he wore during golf
tournaments than by a golf game
which had earned him membership
on five Ryder Cup teams, including
the victorious 1997 team that
brought the Cup back to the United
States.
He won the 1989 PGA Champi-
OPsMp t)'V U.S Oflpn <ri f It
- Wed., Nov. 10, 1999, Houston Home Journal
Page 6A
executed better," he added.
Macon County will not be
part of the Panther region next
year due to the realignment but
Collins plans to keep the Bull
dogs on his schedule.
“It is something that will
develop into a good rivalry.
They are not going to be in the
new region, but we plan on
playing them for the next two
years. Beating a neighboring
county gives you something to
brag about," Collins said.
Perry dominated the game
See PANTHERS, Page 7A
ond in region 1 AAA to the
Stratford Eagles.
John Milledge beat winless
Brentwood 36-6 in their final
regular season game to secure
a spot in the playoffs.
The two teams have met 15
times previously, with Westfield
winning 10 of the 15 games.
A win for the Hornets would
be the 70th for Jones in his
seven seasons at the helm.
The winner of the Westfield-
John Milledge game advances
to play at Tattnall Square Nov.
19.
and his second lap in 36th
place.
Westminster, a favorite going
into the meet, took first place
honors. North Georgia schools
have consistently fielded top
cross country teams.
“The course was very hilly."
said Thomas. “We knew what
we were up against and had
realistic goals. I am satisfied
with our year. Region was our
focus."
Phil
Clark
Home
Journal
Sports
1991 and 1999. The 1999 victory was
especially rewarding for the Southern
Methodist University graduate. Avid
golfers who follow the game and it's
participants closely will remember
that in 1987, Stewart donated his
entire winner's check from the Bay
Hill Invitational to the Florida Hospi
tal Circle of Friends in memory of his
father. Stewart left a beautiful, coura
geous wife Tracey and two children,
all of whom shared Payne’s love of
life, fellowman and Christ.
Unlike Stewart, Payton's death
was not a complete surprise and
shock. ' Sweetness" had been battling
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1999 Houston County 7th Grade Champions
MEET THE CHAMPS Members of the Perry Middle School
Seventh Grade Jootball team include [front, from left) Kanorris
Hudgens, Thomas Lawson, Jamario Green, Brandon Davis,
Markese Howard, Sidney Swan, Damien Singletary, manager
Shane Ashley, (second row) Joseph Steele, Kyle Darsey. Travis
Moss, Jeremiah Jones, Michael Collier, Stephen James, Mitchell
Patterson, (third row) manager Michael Roberts, Josh Davidson,
Josh Browne, James McAllister, manager Heath Whiddon,
Seventh grade Panthers claim county crown
By ALLINE KENT
Home Journal Spouts
When you are 12 years oJd,
while you still dream of a Super
Bowl ring or playing in the
Sugar Bowl for the National
Championship, there is a goal
just as important and just as
hard to attain the Houston
County middle school football
championship.
This year, the 7th grade
team at Perry Middle School
have earned the right to call
themselves champions.
County Champions!
The young Panthers claimed
the title Nov. 3 with a 9-8 sud
den death overtime victory over
Tabor.
Perry beat the Tabor Tigers
after dominating the majority
of the game and then holding
on for the win in an overtime
period.
The Panther defense held
the Tigers scoreless during the
first quarter despite a fumble
that gave Tabor the ball in
excellent scoring position.
Perry, forced to punt from
their 32-yard line in the open
ing minutes of the second
quarter, delivered a long, low
punt down field. Brandon
Davis, who had been injured
earlier in the season, kicked
the ball 54 yards. Brandon
Alford, and Markese Howard
nailed the Tabor receiver.
"We weren't getting down to
cover quick enough, so we had
to make some changes on our
kicking coverage," said Panther
Coach Leslie Belcher. “Brandon
was one of them. Adding
Stephen James to the punt
team was another."
Stunned by the Panther
defense, Tabor turned the ball
over on dowms near the 48-
yard line. Brandon Davis took
the ball down to the 16-yard
line where he was knocked out
of bounds. Ray Page, on the
end of the Davis pass, took the
ball the rest of the way for the
score with only 9 seconds left
in the half.
Ricky Harris took the ball in
for the two-point conversion
/ •^
duct cancer which actually took his
life. The cancer was discovered dur
ing treatment for the liver disease,
primary sclerosing cholangitis. Pay
ton had been on a waiting list for a
possible liver transplant.
By the time the bile duct cancer
was detected, according to Payton's
physician Dr. Greg Gores, the malig
nancy was very advanced, and
spreading so rapidly outside his liver,
that a transplant was no longer an
option.
With all of his problems in the past
year, Payton never wanted to talk
about them. Mike Singletary, his long
time friend and former Chicago Bears
teammate said "Walter just refused to
ask Why me’. Instead, he just con
tinued to look forward."
“Forward" would not be far away,
though. It was Monday November
first. “Sweetness" couldn't elude the
tackle. He couldn't run over it. But as
on all of his 3,838 carries, he didn’t
go down easy. , v .'
Payton broke Jim Brown's Nation
al Football League career rushing
yards record, finishing a brilliant
career with 16,726 yards, some
which gave the Panthers the 8-
0 lead at the halftime buzzer.
Tabor mounted a serious
drive in the third, but Panther
Jamario Green recovered a
fumble near the 20-yard line.
In the fourth, the Tigers
turned up the heat and with
less than four minutes in the
game, tied the game up 8-8.
Perry came right back at
them, and brought the ball
down to the Tiger side of the
field but time ran out.
Middle school overtime is
different than high school and
is more comparable to a sud
den death type play. Each team
received the ball on the 50-
yard line and has four downs to
score. At the end of four downs,
regardless of the yardage
picked up, the ball is turned
over fo the other team. If nei
ther team scores a touchdown
during their four downs, the
game is determined on pene
tration.
Tabor won the toss and
chose to let the Panthers go
first on offense. Perry, picked
up 10 yards, moving the ball to
the 40-yard line.
The Tigers, who had to move
the ball past the 40-yard line to
win, gained four yards on their
first try and then picked up a
five-yard delay of game penalty
on their second try.
The Tigers had three downs
to pick up the 11 yards.
Tabor ran the ball on second
and got six, needing only a
short five-yard gain for the win.
On the next try, Green and
Harris splattered the Tabor
quarterback four yards behind
the line of scrimmage.
On the last Tabor attempt,
Harris and Green, this time
aided by Brandon Davis, made
the tackle again behind the line
to end the game.
One point was added to the
Perry score for the greatest
penetration, making it a 9-8
victory.
"All season long what Coach
(James) Latimore and I try to
do is instill pride in our play
ers, “ said Belcher. He and Lati
Home Journal Photo by AlUne Kent
Michael McKinney, Tynan Mickens, Daryl Tucker, (fourth row)
Hunter Loggins, Ricky Harris, Bernard Askew, Lanarl Lawson,
Christopher El-Amin, Brandon Alford, Grant Brantley, Brent
Belcher, (fifth row) Scott Stimus, Damien Whitfield, Bryan
Williams. Travanti Harrell, manager Ben Holmes, T.J. OcUces,
Ray Page, Eli Turner, (back row) Leslie Belcher, Tom Gupton,
Russ Gibson, James Latimore and Jessie Davis.
more led the 7th graders to the
championship.
“We don't want them to
accept less than their best
effort,” Belcher said
The Perry season opened
with four wins, before the Pan
thers lost games to Feagin Mill
and Warner Robins. The sev
enth graders closed out the
regular season with a win over
Tabor, whom the Panthers beat
8-0. Latimore said then that
there was a difference in his
team.
"We hadn't played good
those last two weeks before the
Tabor game," said Latimore.
“But the week before we played
Tabor in regular season, 1 saw
something different in them at
practice. I knew that they
wanted this."
After defeating Tabor, Perry
was involved in a five-way tie,
and had to play in a sudden
death playoff series that same
week. Perry earned their way to
the playoffs by defeating North
side 6 0.
Sk& r -
Home Journal Photo by AlUne Kent
HOLD IT HIGH Coaches James Latimore (left) and Leslie
Belcher hold high the county championship trophy the Perry
Middle School Seventh Grade won Nov. 3.
4,400 more than the record he broke!
It's hard to believe Payton retired a
dozen years ago. It's almost as if we
can still see that number 34 high
stepping, twisting, darting and yes,
running over tacklers, at Soldier
Field and around the NFL.
Was he the best back to ever play
the game? Combine everything that
goes into making up a back, and the
answer is probably yes. Running with
the ball, catching the ball and block
ing. Yes, blocking. “Sweetness" was
excellent in this phase of the game,
something running backs, particular
ly halfbacks, don’t do nearly as well.
Some of his more notable records
are his rushing attempts, 3,838.
What durability! He rushed for 275
yards in a single game, with 110
rushing touchdowns. He rushed for
more than 1,000 yards in 10 of his 13
professional seasons, coming up
short of that mark only during his
rookie season, 1975, his final season,
1987, and the 1982 season. By the
way, those were the only three sea
sons during his career in \yhich he
carried the ball less than 300 times!
Payton was appreciated by those
Then came the semi-final
game, where Perry defeated the
Feagin Mill Wolves 16-8.
"With those two losses in a
row, “ said Belcher, “we had
been playing me-me football.
We knew to go all the way we
were going to have to change
that me to a we."
“I was very nervous about
the overtime," said Latimore.
“In the kind of overtime that we
have, one play can change the
whole game."
Perry’s defense received
much credit for the win, hold
ing Tabor several times when
the Tigers were within scoring
position. Ricky Harris led the
way with nine individual tack
les, followed by Green who had
three, two of which were during
the overtime period.
Brandon Davis had three
tackles. Damien Singletary.
Markese Howard, Brandon
Alford, and Christopher El-
Amin each had two.
See MIDDLE, Page 7A
who do the Hall of Fame voting. He
was elected in January, 1993, his
first year of eligibility. Although he
was the star of the Bears' 1985 Super
Bowl team, he was denied the chance
to score a Super Bowl touchdown
when Bears' coach Mike Ditka gave
the ball to William Perry in a goal-to
go situation. I don't think I will ever
forgive Ditka for that move.
Walter Payton shared my birthday
of July 25, although he was born
during the year that 1 was graduating
from high school! A southern boy
from Columbia, Miss., who earned a
bachelor’s degree is special education
at Jackson State, Payton was com
pletely loyal to his adopted home of
Chicago.
It was Michael Jordan who perhaps
said it best. “Walter was a Chicago
icon long before I arrived there. He
was a great man off the field and his
on-the-ficld accomplishments speak
for themselves, I spent a lot of time
with Walter, and I truly feel that we
have lost a great man." Jordan said
when told of Payton's passing.
"Sweetness" is gone. But "Sweet
ness” will never leave.