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Home Journal Photo by Rob Mead
SCORING Westfield running back Chance Jones (2) heads eliminated from the GISA state playoffs by Tattnall.
into the end zone against Tattnall Nov. 19. The Hornets were
Tattnall ends another Westfield dream , 35-6
By Phil Clark
Home Journal Sports
MACON The Tattnall Trojans took
advantage of some Westfield mistakes,
and overcame some of their own in
pounding out a 35-6 Georgia Independent
School Association quarterfinals victory
over the Hornets Nov. 19.
That sends the Trojans into the semifi
nals, while ending the season for West
field.
Tattnall, the region 2AAA top seed and
defending state champions, will now face
DeerfielcPWindsor at home Nov 26. Deer
field-Windsor beat Mount de Sales 25-22
to advance to the final four.
Westfield and Tattnall both had to punt
on their opening possession after each
could manage just one first down. Then
on the Hornets second possession, a bad
snap on a punt attempt forced punter
Daniel Weir to scramble with the ball, and
the piav ended up losing a yard, turning
the balrover to tne Trojans at the West
field 40-fyard line.
Tattnall seized the opportunity to put
the first points of the game on the board
despite two offensive holding penalties
that temporarily halted the drive. Quar
terback Josh Loosier took the ball over
Houstonian Brian Green drops big buck
During 1998. Hugh Green,
the former Houston County
Conservation Officer, bagged a
huge buck in nearby Peach
county where he now lives.
Hugh saw three large bucks
and managed to drop one, “but
it was not the biggest one” he
recalled.
Regardless, the buck he
bagged was good enough to
win a week ofthe Georgia Out
door News deer contest. Hugh
won several nice prizes and
finished third in the G.O.N.
Shootout held at the August
Buckarama.
Well it now seems that his
son Brian, has picked up
where his dad left off and har
vested another big buck from
the same property and off the
same stand! Here s his story.
“On Nov. 14, a chilly, 45-
degree morning, my wife and I
went hunting on a small track
of planted pines about five or
Chipper Jones is third Atlanta Brave to win MVP honors
Since they came to Atlanta in
1966, the Atlanta Braves have had
some truly great baseball players.
When Chipper Jones was tne run
away winner of the 1999 National
League most valuable player award,
he became the third Atlanta player
to capture the coveted award.
Terry Pendleton had been the last
to do it following the 1991 season,
and previously Dale Murphy turned
a trick accomplished by few. He won
the award back to back in 1982 and
1982. Only three other players in
Braves franchise history had won
the MVP award. Johnny Evers did it
for the World Series champions in
1914, Bob Elliot won it in 1947 and
Hank Aaron in 1957, another Braves
championship year
There wasn’t too much argument
over Jones' winning the award. He
almost single-handedly demolished
the New York Mets down (he stretch,
solidifying his position as the most
valuable player to his own team in
the National League. After all. that’s
what the MVP award is supposed to
be about. Chipper completed the
best season of nis career with the
winning of the coveted award He
Page 6A
from the 20 after a nolding call had offset
a 14 yard Boots Vinson" run. Loosier’s
point after kick gave Tattnall a 7-0 lead
with 3:23 left in the first period.
An illegal procedure penalty put the
ball on the Westfield 17-yard line following
Loosier’s kickoff and all the Hornets could
get out of the possession was a five-yard
gain by Chance Jones. This time from
punt formation, Weir couldn’t handle the
snap and the ball squirted out of his
hands toward the Westfield end zone. As
the ball approached the goal line, Weir
booted it through the end zone for a safe
ty-
Tattnall coach Barney Hester argued
that Weir had kicked tne ball before it
reached the end zone, which would have
given Tattnall the ball at the one-yard
line. However, the officials upheld their
original ruling that the play had resulted
in a safety, giving the Trojans a 9-0 lead
with the Hornets getting a free kick.
The troubles continued for the Hornets,
though, when Weir's punt went out of
bounds, giving Tattnall the ball at the
Westfield 45-yard line. After a three-yard
gain and a five-yard illegal procedure
penalty, Loosier broke open for a 47-yard
touchdown with 48 seconds left in the
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Home
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Outdoors
six feet tall in Peach County.
We were hunting in a 12-foot
tower stand overlooking a tood
plot in a low-lying area. The
plot was just over a hundred
yards away. A cotton field bor
dered the planted pines to our
left,” Green said.
“I looked up and coming
from a pecan field there were
three does coming across the
cotton field headed toward the
food plot. As I watched the
Phil
Clark
Home
Journal
Sports
was quick to say, though, that a
world s championship would have
been more satisfying.
Through the years, the Braves
have been one of the most success
ful of all sports franchises. They
have not posted the World Series
championships like the New York
Yankees, of course, but they did win
titles in 1914. 1948, 1957 and 1995.
That's two In Boston, one in Milwau
kee, one in Atlanta.
Some 41 players who toiled for
the Braves at least one year are in
baseball’s Hall of Fame. Others are
on the way. Five of those players
spent part of their careers in
Atlanln Hank Aaron and Phil Neikro
Wed., Nov. 24, 1999
deer through my scope. 1
noticed two of the deer were
looking back with their tails
up,” he continued.
"As they started moving
toward the" food plot, the fog
became thick. I lost the deer in
the fog for about 10 minutes.
As the sun rose at about 7:15,
the fog started to burn off. I
caughf a glimpse of the does in
the food plot and I was trying
to decide whether or not to
shoot,” Green related.
“As the deer made their way
about halfway between me and
the food plot. I had my
crosshairs looking for the shof.
My wife said. There is another
deer, I think it is a buck.'
When I looked up in the food
Blot, I saw the buck trailing
le does with its nose to the
ground," said Green.
There was only one gap left
to shoot through before the
buck made it into the pines. I
Houston Home Journal
first quarter to give Tattnall a 15-0 lead.
With Tattnall leading 22-0 with 9:48
left in the half, the Hornets finally got
something going offensively when Bo" Hart
connected with Weir for 15 vards then
Ernest Greene for 37 to the Tattnall 18-
yard line. Jones got nine yards on first
down, but two plays for no gain brought
up a fourth and one at the 9-yard line.
Jones got the first down, then went over
for the score four plays later, again on a
fourth down play. The point after try was
wide and the Trojans had a 22-6 lead with
5:20 left in the half.
The Trojans answered the touchdown
with a 12-play, 68-yard drive with Vinson
going the final vara with 1:12 left in the
nail, increasing" the Trojans' lead to 29-6
at the half.
Will Holt breathed a little hope into the
Hornets when he recovered a fumble after
a Westfield punt, but a 12-play drive
stalled when Loosier intercepted "a Hart
pass at the Trojans' three yard line, end
mg what became the Hornets' last scoring
threat. The Trojans scored a meaningless
touchdown with 4:48 left in the game for
a 35-6 victory.
The Hornets finish the season with a
record of 9-2-1.
come immediately to mind. Eddie
Mathews played 'just one year in
Atlanta. That was the 1966 season,
the year the team came south from
Milwaukee.
Gaylord Perry, who pitched just
about everywhere, was in Atlanta for
the 1981 season, while another jour
neyman pitcher, reliever Hoyt Wil
helm, was here from 1969-71.
Of course, in recent years, pitch
ing has been the area in which the
Braves have captured the most
awards. In the decade of the 90s.
Atlanta pitchers have won a total of
six Cy Young awards.
Tom Glavine won in 1991, the
same year Terry Pendleton was MVP,
while Greg Maddux won three years
in a row in Atlanta, 1993, '94 and
’95, after winning the award in 1992
while a member of the Chicago
Cubs. John Smolta won in 1996,
and Glavine again in 1998. Warren
Spahn won in 1957 in Milwaukee,
the year Aaron was MVP.
Since coming to Atlanta, the
Braves have haa some pretty out
standing rookies, too. Earl Williams
won rookie of the year honors in
1971 before being traded to Balti
put mv crosshairs in the gap,
and as he trotted across just
over a hundred yards, I shot,"
Green said with excitement in
his voice.
“As 1 shot, the buck crashed
through the pines about 30
yards and stopped. The three
"does ran off and my wife
asked, ‘Did you get him?’ I
said, 'Yes, I hit him, but I’m
not sure where,'" Green said.
"After 20 minutes of wait
ing, I looked up to my right
and saw the buck slipping out
of the pines. The first thing I
noticed was the buck's bowed
back and short steps. I put the
crosshairs behind the buck's
shoulder for a second shot: he
turned and ran 20 more yards
andpiled up!" he added.
“Tnis buck was possibly the
mate of my dad s GON’s "week
one winner of last year. The
second of the big three!" said
Green.
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Home Journal Photo by Jj Johnson
DRIVING THE LANE John Millender (24) drives the lane
against Echols County Nov. 20. The Panthers downed the
Wildcats 71-58 in the season-opening game for both teams.
The Panthers took an early 11-6 lead at the end of the first
quarter but Echols cut the gap to four points early in the sec
ond before falling behind 30-20 at halftime. The Wildcats
refused to quit, and maintained a 6-9 point gap throughout
the third quarter. Penalties and lack of substitutes (Echols
only dressed nine players) caught up with the Wildcats in the
final quarter. Perry was scheduled to host the Wildcats in a
second matchup Nov. 23 and will host Dooly County Nov. 27.
Lady Panthers set to open
against Dooly County
By ALLINE KENT
Home Journal Sports
Listening to Perry High
School head girls basketball
coach Max Vickers, one hears
the excitement in his voice
and sees it on his face as he
talks about the upcoming sea
son and his Lady Panthers.
“These girls are practicing
tough and are mentally tough.
They have an energy that
seems to feed off each other. It
is amazing," he said this week.
This will be Vickers' sixth
vear as head coach and by his
"own admission this is going to
be a different year for nim. of
the 12 players on varsity, six
are returning from last "year.
Onlv three ol those saw any
time starting for Perry, Kiki
Woodard, Marquita Ragin and
Jessica Green who alternated
as starters last season.
With no seniors on the
team, the four juniors, Green,
Ragin, Woodard and Akenia
Davis, will be expected to
move into leadership roles.
Four sophomores, Aleta Code,
Angela Davis, Amber Overton
and Nioakie Hill, and four
freshmen, Fatima Stripling,
Charity Adams, Lydia Diaz
and Natassjia Mitchell, round
out the team.
Regardless of their youth,
Vickers has been impressed
already by their dedication
and determination, calling
them the "hardest working
group I have had "
“1 am not sure how good we
will be, but we have been giv
ing it all we have during prac
tice," he said.
The team's diligence started
this summer when they
attended camp at Georgia Col
lege and State University in
Milledgeville. Although the
team won only a handful of
games on their summer sched
ule, Vickers said the opportu
more. Bob Horner won in 1978 and
David Justice in 1990. Earlier, Alvin
Dark won the award while playing
shortstop for the 1948 world’s
champions. Sam Jethroe won it two
years later, in 1950.
For all of their successes over the
years, though, the Braves have had
just one “manager of the year.". That
was Bobby Cox, who won the award
in 1991.
There was at a time a great deal
made of retiring a player's uniform
number. And it's still done to a
degree. Thing is, with free agency,
players don't stay with one team
long enough. There are some, of
course, but the number dwindles
year by year. Only five Braves have
receive'd' the honor. The first was
Spahn. His Boston and Milwaukee
number 21 was retired in 1965.
Spahn won 356 games for the
Braves.
Eddie Mathews, who had a life
time batting average of .271 with
512 home runs ana 1,453 runs bat
ted in, had his number 41 retired in
1969. Hank Aaron’s number 44 was
retired in 1975 after the Hall of
Fame slugger set the major league
nity gave the Panthers a
chance to figure out their style.
“With everyone basically
new. we needed a chance to
find out what we could do
well, “ he said.
Vickers is also excited
about the changes his staff
has gone through including
the addition of Rnsti Horsting.
who will be assisting Vickers
during the games. Horsting,
who also heads up the girts
softball program at Perry,
brings according to Vickers a
“fun attitude and good strong
work habits to our program."
' Marlon Robinson, will be
taking over the Junior Varsity
for the first time this year and
Vickers is excited about what
he will be bringing to the
younger players. “Coach
Robinson really knows the
game of basketball, especially
ball handling and fundamen
tals."
While the boys team will be
traveling to Albany during the
Christmas break for a tourna
ment, Vickers decided to
include the Bear Brawl tour
nament, held at Houston
County high school, on his
schedule again this season.
The Bear Brawl he said, gives
him a chance to scout and
enjoy local teams while allow
ing families and fans the
opportunity to come watch the
games. This year, all four
Houston County public high
schools will be amongthe par
ticipants in the Bear Brawl.
Vickers has been pulling
double duty for four weeks
while he conducted basketball
practices and worked with the
football team. With football
season over just about two
weeks when he faces his first
opponents, Vickers said that
ms team will be ready to play
Dooly in their opener this
weekend.
career home record with 755. Aaron
also had a lifetime batting average of
.305, something fans seem to over
look. He also batted in 2,297.
In 1984 Neikro’s number was
retired, although "fcnucksie" was
still playing in the major leagues. In
fact, he came back to Atlanta briefly
in 1987 to end his career. Neikro
won 316 major league games, 268 of
them while a member of the Braves.
The last to have his number
retired in Atlanta was fan favorite
and all around nice guy Dale Mur
phy. Dale retired just two home runs
shy of the coveted 400 mark and
ended his career with a .265 batting
average. His number was retired in
1994. Murphy led the league in runs
batted in each of his MVP seasons,
and hit 36 home runs to lead the
league in 1984.
How long will Chipper Jones
remain in Atlanta? The question is
hard to answer because of free
S. The Braves reluctance to
sr Ken Griffey Jr. could mean
Atlanta will opt to go after their own
soon to be free agents instead. Guys
like Chipper Jones. I like that atti
tude.