Newspaper Page Text
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August 17,2000
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Sports
Phil Clark
Sports Writer
Another high school sports sea
son is upon, and as always, the
start of a new season brings back
memories of seasons past. Over
the years, I’ve been fortunate
enough to broadcast literally
hundreds of sporting events, in
football, softball, basketball and
baseball, on the high school level.
Some very interesting events
have taken place over the years.
Let me share some of them with
you.
Duties have taken me to fa
mous Cleveland Field in
Valdosta, or Death Valley as it’s
called. In the early seventies, I
was doing play by play for a
Warner Robins radio station, do
ing both Warner Robins and
Northside games.
Warner Robins was playing at
Valdosta in a playoff game, and
our station was there to do the
broadcast. It was a cold, miser
able night in Valdosta, and Cleve
land Field was overflowing, as
you would expect. Out broadcast
team had to work outside the
pressbox, on a huge platform that
surrounded the pressbox. It was
all right, but there was nothing
to ward off the cold wind. But
we went about setting up our
equipment, and about the time
we’d finished, there was a huge
roar from the crowd as Valdosta’s
Wildcats made their way onto the
field.
I don’t know if you’ve been to
a game at Cleveland Field, but
the Valdosta crowd is always a big
part of the game. The legendary
Wright Bazemore was still coach
ing the Wildcats, and he had a
way of using the mystique of the
field and the crowd to his advan
tage. What he did on this night
was send his team onto the field
through a gate near the endzone
on the south sidelines. His team
came out, and began a jaunt
around the entire field, going
from left to right. Bazemore’s
varsity had a lot of players to be
gin with, but for this particular
game, he also had his B-team
dress out and make the trip
around the field. When the first
of the players circled the field and
came back to the starting point,
B-teamers were still coming out!
Valdosta players circled the en
tire football field! Of course, once
they made their way around the
field, the B-teamers went back to
the dressing room and got out of
their football uniforms.
I remember, too, seeing a
player on the Valdosta team that
caught my eye. His name was
Stan Rome, a wide receiver who
stood around 6-5, maybe better.
He caught everything thrown his
way that night and we thought
right then that we’d be hearing
a lot more from this young man.
We did. He later played at
Clemson, and then in the NFL
with Kansas City. Of course,
Warner Robins had a pretty good
prospect of their own. Perry
High School coach George Collins
was a lineman on the Warner
Robins team. His career accom
plishments on the next levels are
a matter of record. He was an
All-American at Georgia, and
later played in the NFL with the
St. Louis Cardinals before join
ing the coaching ranks, first on
the college level, then in high
school.
Remembering that cold, dreary
night in Valdosta brings to mind
another incident of having to
broadcast from a ledge. In 1989,
Ronnie Royston’s Perry Panthers
were playing in Forsyth against
Dan Pitts’ Mary Persons Bull
dogs. First of all, Pitts did not
allow live broadcasts of his
games, but he did give us permis
sion to tape record it and play it
back later. We agreed to do that.
Once we got to the stadium, we
were in for another surprise.
Pitts also did not allow anyone
in his pressbox except the usual
Continued on Page 2B
Perry High
School Head
Football Coach
George Collins
PHS * Collins says “We
must stay healthy”
By Joe Hendrix
Sports writer
For the past three weeks as
most people have been complet
ing last minute vacation travels
and family outings, the coaches
and players of the Perry High
School football team have been
hard at work for the upcoming
season. As we all know, the heat
and humidity have been treach
erous, but according to Athletic
Director and Head Coach, George
Collins, no one has been com
plaining.
“They just want to play foot
ball,” he says. “No one comes out
to the practice field thinking they
are irreplaceable. All of the kids
come out to work, to get better,
to get in shape, and to compete -
and that is what is impressive
about this team.”
Certainly the squad wants to
improve on last year’s 3-7 record.
The seniors on this team were
freshmen when the team was 7-
1, so they know what it takes to
be on a winning team.
Coach Collins feels that his
team has a lot of players who have
been “war tested” in the past, and
should play a crucial role in this
year’s success.
The offensive line should be
particularly strong with several
returning starters.
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Top rating - The Westfield Varsity Cheerleaders held camp this summer with private instruction provided by the National Cheerleaders
Association. The cheerleaders received the highest rating of “Superior” from their instructor. On the 2000-1001 squad are Abby
Gray, Captain; Brittanie Smith, Captain; Maggie Coody, Amy Kennedy, Linsey McCord, Christen Watson, Tammy Barfield, Candice
Blount, Emily Chapman, Sarah Lipari, Olivia Murph, Blair Sexton, Brooke Sheridan. They are coached by Angela Westmoreland.
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Sports
“We have moved some people
around to positions we feel will
help us. These kids have a lot of
athleticism and are versatile
football players,” the coach says.
This point was well proven
last week when the Panthers
had a full scrimmage, complete
with officials, and out of 48 plays
from scrimmage there were only
three penalties.
‘That shows the guys are pay
ing attention and executing
when they should, “ Collins said.
So far this summer, the “in
jury bug” has stayed away, with
the players only experiencing
bumps and bruises and some
sore muscles.
When asked what he felt
would be the single most impor
tant factor in this season’s suc
cess, Collins was quick to reply,
“We must stay healthy. We are
going to have some injuries, but
if we can stay away from any one
that would end a kid’s season,
we should be fine. Last year, we
were 3-7, and a very good foot
ball team. At one point we had
as may as eight different start
ers miss a complete game, and
that causes problems.”
These players have already
put in a lot of hard and hot hours
for the season. The team will
travel to Montezuma on August
25 to play long-time powerhouse
Macon County and Central Ma
con in a jamboree before return
ing home to open against long
time rival and recent State
qualifier Peach County.
See next week’s edition for a
season preview featuring com
ments from the coaching staff
and players.
Those who are interested in
becoming members of the Perry
High Touchdown Club, or want
to contribute to the team’s suc
cess, should contact Phil Gentry
at 987-2071.
Houston County's Legal Organ Since IS7O
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Ponytails - On the Perry Junior League Ponytails All-Star team are Leslee Hendrix, Mindy Lawhom,
Marla Patterson, Kaitlin Ellis, Amanda Tucker, Heather Tucker, Ashton Jones, Bianca King, Nikki
Hamby, Michelle Harris, Sami Maurer and Ann Buckholtz. Joe Hendrix is Head Coach. Other coaches
are Lome Tucker and Mike Horton, and the team mother is Pat Ellis. (Names are not in order show
in photo.)
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Good work! The Central Georgia Soccer Association U-14 Girls recently took seven players to Rome,
Ga., for a 5 v. 5 soccer tournament. They finished second in their division. Pictured, Coach Tom
Drazdowski, Irisa Kennedy, Suzanne Huff, Allision Bassler of Perry High School, Heather Drazdowski,
Goalie Cara Fiore, Jennifer Taylor and Amanda Smith.
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. 4 * '-MMI--' " 111
Section B. 8 Pages
Crossroads
Twirlers Baton
Classes
Sara Conner will be teach
ing the art of baton twirling
to interested individuals on
Monday evenings at the
Perry Recreation Depart
ment. Class for ages 4-6 will
be at 5:00 p.m. ages 7-9 at
5:30 p.m., ages 10-12 at 6:15
p.m. and ages 13 and up at
7:00 p.m. The fee is S2O for
ages 4-6 and $25 for ages 7
and older.
For further details please
contact the Perry Recre
ation Department at
(912)988-2860.
Get Ready
for next
weeks
Special
Football
Section
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