MainStreetNewsSports

Panther volleyball coach talks about reaching 500 wins

nospam@example.com (Ben Munro) — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 13:16:18 -0500

Jeff White knew he was nearing 400 high-school coaching wins. But another milestone snuck up on him somewhat.
When his Jackson County volleyball team beat East Jackson last Tuesday (Sept. 10), it gave him 391 high-school coaching victories. Combined with 109 college-coaching wins, he had secured his 500th career coaching victory.
The thought of adding the two totals hadn’t come up until his athletic director asked about his college victories.
“So, it’s like ‘I got to 500. That’s weird,’” White said. “That’s the only reason why that came up.”
When asked about reaching the 500-win mark, White said he’s “not really a big self-proclaimer kind of guy.”
“I know I’ve had really good teams in the past and every team is different, so it’s kind of weird to add them all up because every team is different,” he said. “But it just shows that I’m either old or my teams were good, one or the other — maybe both.”
White is in his 17th season as a head coach — 12 in high school and five in college. White said he got into coaching volleyball because he grew up with the sport.
Raised in California, he described volleyball “as sort of a lifestyle.” White played beach volleyball regularly during his youth and went on to attend UC-Santa Barbara, where he played the sport intramurally and extramurally.
“I went to schools where volleyball was a big deal,” White explained. “So, I’ve always really enjoyed playing it, and watching it.”
After a stint as an assistant high school basketball coach in California, White got his start in volleyball as an assistant varsity and junior varsity head coach at West Lake High School in Thousand Oaks, California, for a boys’ team.
His head-coaching career began in 1998 at Chattahoochee High School in Georgia — initially as a fill-in. The Atlanta-area school needed someone for that fall season while the program’s coach was on maternity leave.
“The athletic director at Chattahoochee was like, ‘Um, you’re the only guy around here that knows anything about volleyball, so are you willing to be the varsity coach?’ And I said, ‘Sure,’ and it went really well," White said.
After four successful years at Chattahoochee, White moved on to Northview in 2002 where he remained for six seasons and built a powerhouse, winning three state titles.
He moved up the ranks as a collegiate head coach at Brenau and Birmingham Southern, and jumped to the Division-I level at Alabama-Birmingham in 2017 where he served as an assistant coach for one season. He returned to the high school game in 2018 at Jackson County, guiding the Panthers to the Elite Eight.
White said the sport appeals to him because — other than the serve — there’s no controlling the ball and no slowing the action. Everything within the game is reactionary and strategy is made on-the-fly.
“I really love that you don’t get to slow the game down, ever … in basketball someone can dribble out and set up a play and all that stuff,” White said. “We just can’t do that. I just like the pace of it, the speed of the actual plays.”
Having coached nearly 20 years and even at the highest division of the college game, the purity of the high school game still appeals to White.
“They just want to play for their school,” he said of high school players. “So, that’s why I really enjoyed coming back to high school. There’s nothing like playing for your school and winning a championship, and I hope to bring that to this school.”
In several ways, White prefers the high school game to college. The rallies are longer, he noted. In the college game, players who receive the ball in-system, “they’re going to put it away — there’s nothing you can do.”
“At this level, it takes a lot more to put a ball away,” he said. “It’s pretty fun to watch … It’s kind of like who can last the longest.”
And he reiterates the wholesomeness of the high school game.
“They still enjoy playing with their friends,” he said.
During his time as a head coach, White has seen the sport grow and gain popularity in the state. When he started at Chattahoochee, only 30 or so schools fielded volleyball teams. And, until 1997, the sport had just one classification.
Now it has seven.
Former players are now staying home and coaching within the state, upping the caliber of instruction. The sport has also spread to schools far beyond the metro Atlanta area and into the rural areas.
“It’s nice to see those schools trying it,” he said. “I think the numbers are great.”
White added that club volleyball — where school players devote much of their time when away from school teams — is also thriving in Georgia.
Reflecting on the 500-win mark, White said it shows he’s “hung around,” pointing out that it’s difficult to coach for a long time.
“There’s a lot of reasons to stop coaching,” he said. “Every coach knows what I’m talking about.”
But love of the game and the players he coaches is what’s kept him going and allowed him to pile up wins.
“I just honestly can’t imagine not coaching,” he said.
He said his win total is a reflection of the players he’s coached.
“I’ve been blessed with some really great teams and really great kids who have bought in to what I’ve been asking them to do,” White said. “It’s all about the kids. I know that’s so cliché, but it has to be the reason or otherwise it really wouldn’t be worth it if it wasn’t about helping kids.”
White added that coaching high school players, “keeps me young.”
“If I was just around a bunch of old, angry adults all day, I’d be really upset, and that would be a bad thing,” he said.

Football: Eagles soar past Leopards 38-0; first 3-0 start since 2009

nospam@example.com (MainStreetNewsSports) — Sat, 14 Sep 2019 23:36:33 -0500

The weather may have had its fun Friday night, but it didn’t compare to the high fives, helmet hits and celebrations the East Jackson Eagles put on display Saturday night.
The Eagles celebrated like it was 2009, and with good reason as the team moved to 3-0 in 2019 after throttling Banks County 38-0 in a rare Saturday night game. The Eagles are 3-0 for the first time since 2009.
The Eagles found the end zone twice on defense thanks to two fumble returns , two touchdown runs by Nino Brown and a touchdown run by Greg Huggs. Brice Vandiver connected with a 31-yard field goal as well.
“We’re playing with a lot of confidence, a lot of energy, a lot of passion,” head coach Cameron Pettus said after the win. “They’re playing very physical right now. I’m so dadgum proud of them for being so physical. They’re playing fast. They’re having a lot of fun right now.”
The weather wasn’t all roses during Saturday night’s game. With 4:44 left to play in the first half, a thunderstorm moved over the stadium, causing a delay which lasted nearly an hour.
“Whenever you’ve got to sit on ice for 24 hours that’s tough,” Pettus said. “I thought our guys handled adversity well. We talk about it all the time that you’ve got to handle adverse situations, ups and downs … we had to come out and we had to handle them again tonight. I was just so proud of them, because both times we started very fast. That shows me a lot of great things.”
The Eagles’ defense was the story of the game. Not only did it have two touchdowns but the unit had its first shutout since 2017. The Eagles held the Leopards to 112 total yards and recovered five fumbles.
“They’re playing outstanding,” Pettus said of the defense. “They’re scoring. They’re playing physical, getting hats on the ball, they’re scooping … that’s a credit to our coaching staff, they’re doing a fantastic job over there. So proud of them.”
After a punt to open the game, the Eagles got on the board with 3:38 left in the first quarter off the foot of Vandiver. The 31-yard field goal capped off a five-play drive. The Eagles led 3-0.
The offense didn’t have to wait long to return the field as the defense recovered the first Leopards’ fumble. Three plays later, Huggs outran the defense to the left side of the end zone on a 7-yard quarterback keeper, and the Eagles led 10-0.
Two plays into the Leopards’ ensuing possession, the Eagles’ defense recovered its second fumble. But this time the fumble went to the house thanks to cornerback Bryce Reeves’ 30-yard scoop-and-score. The lead was 17-0 and remained the same after the first quarter ended.
RJ White got in on the fumble action, recovering the Leopards’ third fumble of the game. But the offense couldn’t convert the extra possession into points.
On the first play after the weather delay (4:44 second quarter), Brown galloped 68 yards to the end zone to increase the Eagles’ lead to 24-0. Brown finished the game with 126 rushing yards.
Ten seconds later, the Eagles were in the end zone again thanks to another scoop-and-score. This time, it was Jarrett Pursley. The Eagles led 31-0. The score remained the same at a shortened halftime.
The Eagles’ final score came on a Brown 13-yard run with 6:27 left in the third quarter. The defense recovered one more fumble (Kemanni Horne), which came in the fourth quarter.

FOOTBALL: Apalachee regroups, downs Jackson Co. in game resumed from Friday

nospam@example.com (Ben Munro) — Sat, 14 Sep 2019 22:20:44 -0500

Apalachee got a do-over of sorts and took advantage of it.
Trailing 7-0 Friday night to Jackson County before a weather suspension, the Wildcats outscored the visiting Panthers 21-7 when the game was resumed Saturday to rally for a 21-14 homecoming win.
The final three quarters were played Saturday in hot, muggy conditions in front of a sparse crowd.
Shaan Cook scored two touchdowns in the victory, including a 66-yard score on the first play from scrimmage when the game resumed.
“We came out so flat last night that, I ain’t gonna lie, I was somewhat glad of the delay because of the fact of how flat we were, not lining up properly and things like that,” Apalachee coach Tony Lotti said. “I had challenged the kids that everything we did was like the next play — not that we had basically so many hours in between the last snap. So, him (Cook) coming out and him hitting it, kind of gave me the idea that we were ready to go.”
Cook finished with 111 yards on 14 carries.
A.J. Forbing started at quarterback for the Wildcats Friday night, but shifted to slot back in Saturday’s re-start and scored on a 69-yard touchdown run. He finished with 74 yards on five carries. Todd Jones took over at quarterback for the Saturday portion of the game, throwing for 41 yards on 3-of-6 passing with one interception.
“We’ve got to try to put who we feel like are the best 11 on the field at a time that gives us a chance to win,” Lotti said. “A.J. has been great with being a total team player, and playing multiple positions, defense and what not. It’s like he said, ‘Coach, I want to win, so whatever I got to do that can help us do that.’ It gives us a little different dimension there to be able to do that.
“Todd, I’ve got all the confidence in him, and we made some big throws and big catches and converted some third downs that we had to have.”
Jackson County enjoyed all the momentum Friday, rolling up 115 yards in two possessions, the second of which ended with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Jake Stinchcomb to Jonathan Steeb with 42 seconds left in the first quarter. Stinchcomb finished with 123 yards on 10-of-17 passing with a touchdown and interception.
Lightning strikes halted play Friday soon after the first quarter ended. The teams went to the locker rooms for over an hour before it was decided the teams would reconvene on Saturday.
While Panther coach Rich McWhorter said he thought his team was “playing really well” last night and called the postponement “not ideal,” he didn’t blame what amounted to an 18-hour, 30-minute stoppage in play for the loss.
“We had a change in routine, but so did they, and so that’s not an excuse,” he said. “That’s not even a reason … There’s no excuses. I told the kids, you play 48 minutes for a reason. We’re trying to build a culture of ‘expect to win’ and in that culture of ‘expect to win’ is you’ve got to do things during the course of the week and the course of the day and during the course of the game that gives you the right to truly expect to win.”
Cook gave the Wildcats momentum immediately with his 66-yard run when the teams re-took the field, tying the game 7-7 with 11:48 left in the second quarter. Apalachee’s defense forced a turnover-on-downs later in the quarter, giving the Wildcats the ball on their own 31. Two plays later, Forbing broke multiple tackles en route to a 69-yard touchdown run to put Apalachee ahead 14-7 with 2:25 left before halftime.
Jackson County threatened to go into the locker room tied, however.
The first half ended with Panther quarterback Jesse Whiting being tackled at the Wildcat 1-yard line as time expired. Whiting finished with a team-high 54 yards on 11 carries and added 52 yards passing (6-of-10).
Cook struck again in the third quarter, going around right end for a 17-yard touchdown run to increase Apalachee’s lead to 21-7 with 8:31 left in the period.
But Jackson County cashed in on a Wildcat miscue in the fourth quarter to get back into the game. The Wildcats muffed a punt at their own 23, and the Panthers scored three plays later with Whiting finding the end zone on a two-yard keeper with 6:30 left in the game.
Jackson County’s defense then forced a turnover in the waning minutes when defensive back Bo Reeves intercepted a tipped pass with 1:18 remaining, giving the Panthers the ball on their own 38 and a chance to tie — or take a lead.
“We even had a two-point play ready,” McWhorter said. “We were going to go for the win … we were going to try to win this thing.”
Apalachee, however, sealed the game two plays later when Marcus Streeter hit Stinchcomb and forced a fumble that the Wildcats recovered.
“That was huge, because our defense has kind of been showing up every week,” Lotti said. “And so, we were able to keep them off the field a little bit more today than we have been, so it was fitting for them that it ended the way it did.”
The loss dropped Jackson County to 2-2 as the Panthers have next week off before starting region play.
“What’s really disappointing is we’re really trying to get the kids to believe that the hard work and all that will equal success on the game field, and for us to come up short, it’s disappointing,” McWhorter said. “And it’s not on the kids. It’s not on anybody. It’s just that we’ve got to take the next step and be able to come out and finish.”
Meanwhile, Apalachee’s victory came after three-straight losses to open the season. The Wildcats were coming off a 21-20 loss to Madison County Sept. 6.
“Like I told them, adversity, it doesn’t test talent, it tests toughness,” Lotti said, “and so, I want us to be tough — classy and tough, and play the game the way it’s meant to be played. So, I’m really proud of how my kids showed up today, and, hey, we made one more play basically than they did, and we were very fortunate that we were able to get the first win.”

Football: BCA falls to Frederica in lightning-shortened contest

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 21:39:59 -0500

Ongoing lightning and heavy rain brought an early end to Friday night's contest at Bethlehem Christian Academy and gave visiting Frederica Academy a 21-0 victory over the Knights after both teams' coaches agreed to let the score stand.
A 30-minute lightning delay was called with 5:13 remaining in the second quarter, and the weather conditions deteriorated further from there, preventing the teams from being able to resume. Because it had not reached halftime, the game was not considered official, but BCA opted to award Frederica the win. The teams are in different regions in GISA Class AAA but, under the 12-team postseason format that includes region crossover matchups, the game counted toward playoff standings.
The Frederica Knights (1-2) had taken full command of the game at the time the teams were sent to the locker rooms. They took the opening kickoff and needed just two plays to go 62 yards for a score. Avery Cobb took a swing pass from Tyler Devlin 47 yards down to the Knights’ 15, and Josh Meadows caught a 15-yarder over the middle from Devlin on the next play to make it 7-0.
BCA (0-4), which was looking for its first score of the season, got a golden opportunity later in the first quarter when senior Dylan Day recovered a fumble on a muffed punt return at the Frederica 40. But the Knights couldn’t advance the ball past the 39, and Frederica went back on the march, extending its lead to 14-0 on a 3-yard run by Deke Jernigan with 11:13 remaining in the second quarter. Meadows hauled in a pass from Devlin and took it down to the BCA 1-yard line before a pair of penalties pushed Frederica back to the 15. But Jernigan followed up with a pair of hard-nosed runs to get the ball in the end zone.
Frederica added one more score less than four minutes later on a 34-yard run by Denver Anthony, who was stacked at the line of scrimmage but emerged from a pile of defenders and raced in untouched from there.
Frederica finished with 274 yards of offense. Devlin was 4-of-6 passing for 101 yards and a touchdown. Along with Day's fumble recovery, BCA had a defensive bright spot on Frederica's second possession of the game when senior defensive end Laine Francois sacked Devlin on third down to force a punt.
Meanwhile, BCA's offensive struggles continued as the Knights managed just 13 yards in the abbreviated contest. The Knights' only first down came via an offsides penalty.
BCA has an open date next week before returning to action Sept. 27 at Pinewood Christian in Bellville. That kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

Football: Winder-Barrow, Flowery Branch weathered out

nospam@example.com (Chris Bridges) — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 21:16:35 -0500

Weather played the role of the villain Friday at W. Clair Harris Stadium.
Winder-Barrow and visiting Flowery Branch were able to play almost a quarter before the game was called due to ongoing lightning in the area. Flowery Branch led 7-0 with 53 seconds remaining in the opening quarter when the game was called for the night.
Winder-Barrow coach Ed Dudley said around 10 p.m. Friday the game was canceled for the time being. The two teams are not in the same region and, with less than a quarter played, the game was not an official contest.
Flowery Branch took the game’s opening possession and moved into WBHS territory, but four holding penalties thrown on the Falcons helped stall the drive at the Bulldogg 45-yard line. The possession consumed more than seven minutes of the first quarter.
WBHS began its initial offensive series of the contest at its own 24 but the Bulldoggs went three-and-out. Flowery Branch then broke through and blocked the punt to set up at the Winder-Barrow 29 with 3:28 remaining in the first quarter.
The Falcons then used five plays to put the first points of the game on the board at the 1:20 mark of the first quarter on a 2-yard run by Connor Larson.
The start of the game was delayed 20 minutes due to lightning which moved into the area at approximately 7 p.m.
WBHS is scheduled travel to Loganville High School on Friday, Sept. 20, for a 7:30 p.m. non-region contest.

Football: Weather wins out between Banks Co., East Jackson; game postponed until Saturday

nospam@example.com (MainStreetNewsSports) — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 21:11:42 -0500

Players, coaches and fans showed up Friday night at East Jackson expecting to see a football game between the 1-1 Banks County Leopards and the 2-0 Eagles.
But what everyone expected and what became reality were two separate things. Heavy rain and lightning won out over football Friday night and forced the postponement of the Eagles-Leopards matchup until Saturday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
With just under six minutes until kickoff, the first lightning strike appeared and forced the first delay. Minutes later, the lightning became more frequent, followed by a deluge of rain.
The weather also forced East Jackson’s Homecoming festivities indoors.

SOFTBALL: Red Raiders fall in close battle with Archer

nospam@example.com (MainStreetNewsSports) — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 15:19:12 -0500

Madison County had the the pieces in place for a late game rally Wednesday night at Archer, but were unable to bring home tying and winning runs.
Continue reading "SOFTBALL: Red Raiders fall in close battle with Archer"

Bridges: How 9/11 briefly altered the sports world

nospam@example.com (Chris Bridges) — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 10:29:00 -0500

With another anniversary of 9/11 this week (still seems hard to believe it has been almost two decades ago now since that event), I thought back to how that tragic event trickled down to all areas of our lives even the sports world.
The 9/11 attacks occurred on a Tuesday morning. I remember sitting in the newspaper office in Monroe where I worked at the time as the details emerged that morning. Like many, my first thoughts were that it was an accident. An airplane had somehow accidently flown in the Twin Towers.
By the time another plane had done so, you had to admit it was no accident. You would have a better chance of winning the lottery multiple times than for two planes to do that within a matter of hours.
I remember thinking about Pearl Harbor and how the event was similarly shocking to those alive in 1941. Back then many people probably got their upsets on the radio or even by word of mouth. The big newspapers the next several days would certainly be filled with details.
In 2001, we had 24-hour cable news stations as well as live radio for those who were at work or in their cars.
I was the sports editor of the paper in Monroe at the time, and it really never dawned on me that football games in three days might be thrown into chaos. I do remember talking with my editor and publisher about the possibility of games being postponed that Friday.
“We’ll probably know by Thursday at the latest,” I remember saying in our meeting. “There is too much involved for a decision not to be announced by then.”
Wednesday came and went that week with no announcement of games being postponed. Thursday came and went as well with no announcement about Friday night games.
On Friday mornings at the time, I would go into the office for a few hours before going home that afternoon since the second part of my work day would be at night covering a game and then putting the finishing touches on the sports section of our weekend edition.
Friday morning came and went with no news of postponement. About 2:30 that afternoon I got a call from a co-worker at the paper who said they had just announced the games had been called off for that night.
I am not sure why it took the Georgia High School Association so long to make that decision. By that time, it was certainly possible some teams were already on the road for their respective games.
My first thought was panic because now we had no games to fill up the sports section. As it turned out, George Walton Academy, a member of the Georgia Independent Schools Association at the time, played its game as scheduled.
School officials used that Friday night to also put on a patriotic display, including a large American flag. The game was played. There were no incidents. Despite what happened earlier in the week, no one thought there would be any.
The GHSA was heavily criticized for its actions. It wasn’t because its games were postponed but because it waited so long to make the announcement. No official reason for the long delay was given but I speculated the GHSA must have been receiving tremendous pressure from someone to postpone the events that night even doing so just hours before kickoff.
Some people felt games should have been played. Sports have always been a great distraction from the issues of life, and if there was ever a time for a brief distraction then this was it.
It was not a dishonor to the victims of 9/11 for high school football games in Georgia to be played. In fact it was a way of showing those who sought to hurt this country that we will continue to move forward no matter what you think your actions may have done.
The attacks on 9/11 did put a great deal of fear in many. That’s understandable to a degree but one incident the following Friday showed me just how much some were walking on egg shells.
I attended the home football game at Social Circle High School the week after the 9/11 attacks. I arrived early at the stadium, as is my custom, and was sitting on the sideline when an armed security person approached.
Since I had talked with this person before and figured he knew who I was, I was shocked when he started asking, in a rather loud voice, who I was and what was I doing there. I told him my name and who I worked for and asked if he thought I was a terrorist.
“You never know these days,” the security person said.
That overreaction would become common in the coming weeks, months and years. Fear always causes irrational thinking, I guess, even at high school football games.
—
Winder resident Chris Bridges is former sports editor of the Barrow News-Journal. He is a multi-time winner for column writing from the Georgia Press Association, National Newspaper Association and the Georgia Sports Writers Association. He welcomes feedback about this column at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.

Running the show: Jackson County’s Zimmer filling valued role for eighth-ranked Volley Panthers

nospam@example.com (Ben Munro) — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 16:53:00 -0500

As a setter, Kylee Zimmer has recorded nearly 300 assists for Jackson County this year — yet it’s not even her preferred position.
The Panther senior would probably rather play libero if she had her choice, but her skills as a setter required her to take on that role.
“She really wanted to be the libero this year,” Jackson County volleyball coach Jeff White said, “but we had a talk a few weeks before practice started and I was like, ‘You’re just going to have to play setter.’ So, she’s a really great team player. She’ll do whatever it takes.”
Zimmer gladly accepts her role on the team and enjoys setting, though the thought of playing libero — a defensive specialist position — does cross her mind. She has aspirations of playing libero in college.
“There are some games where I’m like ‘Oh, I wish I was passing,’ but overall I think I’m best suited to set on this team,’” Zimmer said, “and I know the hitters really enjoy hitting my sets and appreciate the role that I play.”
The role she’s playing has helped Jackson County get off to a 19-6 start, a No. 8 ranking in Class AAA, and a first-place standing in Region 8-AAA heading into Tuesday’s (Sept. 10) action. From stats posted through the first 20 matches, Zimmer has totaled 291 assists in setting up the Panther offense.
White said Zimmer’s best attribute as a setter is her decision making. She is a smart player who knows matchups and where to distribute the ball, according to the coach. If she sees a big blocker positioned on one side of the floor, she’ll make an adjustment to put her team into a more favorable situation.
“She makes really good decisions,” White said. “In my opinion, the most important characteristic of a setter, once you teach them how to set, is where you’re supposed to go with the ball and situationally where.”
Zimmer’s position as setter is akin to being a quarterback of a football team.
“She runs the show out there,” White said. “There’s no doubt about that.”
Not to be overshadowed with her setting ability is her serving skill. Zimmer is tied for the lead in aces with 37. White said Zimmer serves the ball “incredibly well.” Her serves tend to dip, duck and move around, often leading to frustration on the other side of the net.
She’s also highly accurate, serving at a 90 percent clip. Her aces-to-error ratio is also very high. She’s accumulated more aces than errors which is rare.
“That’s the combination you always want,” White said. “You want more aces than errors, and serving 90 percent, that’s a really great server.”
With Zimmer not being able to attack as a setter, serving and collecting aces somewhat fills that void.
“I do really enjoy going back and serving,” she said. “It’s my chance to ace the team. I don’t get to make kills on the team. I get to ace and make serves, so I’ve spent a lot of time over the years perfecting it and trying to get better.”
Zimmer is actually the second member of her family to play volleyball for the Panthers.
Her older sister, Kelcie, played for Jackson County from 2011-2014. Zimmer credits her sister for sparking her interest in the sport.
“I was like ‘Oh my gosh, this looks like fun,’” she said. “Initially I said I didn’t want to do it, but after watching her play for a while I was like, ‘That’s something I want to get into.’”
Kelcie was also a setter, so there’s a family tie to the position for Zimmer. The Zimmer family is an overall athletic one, in general. In addition to Kelcie, her older brother Kolin played baseball and basketball for the Panthers (graduating in 2012), and her younger brother, Kedric, is a member of both the Panther baseball and basketball teams.
She admits that sometimes “it’s a lot of pressure” being in a family of athletes.
“I’ve looked up to my older siblings and what they’ve done,” she said, “and especially my sister who set here before, she always tells me, ‘don’t’ mess it up,’ but I always believe in myself and I try to use her inspiration to motivate me and she gives me a lot of tips and will come to my games and tell me what I’m doing wrong and I’ll take her corrections. It’s a lot of fun having older siblings that have played sports.”
Asked who the most competitive Zimmer is, and she responded “probably me.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “My little brother would probably say him. My sister would probably say her. I don’t know about my older brother. He’s more laid back. Maybe me.”
She hopes to continue the line of Zimmers playing college athletics. Kolin played baseball at Oglethorpe University, and Kelcie played volleyball at West Georgia.
Zimmer has her sights set on playing collegiate volleyball, most likely at Oglethorpe, a Division III school.
She sees libero as her ticket to doing that.
“I want to play libero in college, and I’m looking at schools right now, maybe like Oglethorpe, so I think that might be where I’m going, but I want to play at the next level,” Zimmer said.
White, a former college coach, described Zimmer as “the perfect Division III player,” one that’s a good athlete, smart, studious, dedicated and likely to earn academic scholarship money for college.
“That’s a Division III player,” White said.
She’s also a team leader, another role in which Zimmer takes pride as she plays her final year at Jackson County.
“Being a captain, I’m taking on a leadership role and trying not only to correct but motivate my teammates,” she said, “and making sure we’re all playing our best and giving 100 percent all the time.”

Panthers gear up for Apalachee after 31-point showing last week

nospam@example.com (MainStreetNewsSports) — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 15:40:00 -0500

Jackson County’s defense continues to play well, but its offense got into the act last week, too, with a season-high 31-point performance.
Coach Rich McWhorter hopes putting some points on the board last Friday (Sept. 6) gives his team confidence heading into a non-region tilt this Friday (Sept. 13) at 7:30 p.m. at Class AAAAAA Apalachee.
“I hope so,” McWhorter said. “I hope they believe, when executed, we can do some things. Yeah, I hope it gives them confidence. I really do.”
The Panthers passed for 268 yards with four touchdown passes covering 32 yards or more in their 31-0 win over Lumpkin County.
But Jackson County will face an Apalachee team hungry for a win following an 0-3 start. Two of those losses were close — an 18-7 setback to Monroe Area (Aug. 23) and a 21-20 loss to Madison County (Sept. 6).
“I think it’s a tremendous challenge,” McWhorter said. “There’s no question. You look at Apalachee on film, if you watch them play without looking at the scoreboard, you feel like they could have won all these games. The other team was not necessarily better than them. It just happened. It was just one of those things.”
The first-year Panther coach said the Wildcats have “got to be extremely hungry.”
“You can kind of feel the mentality as a coach,” McWhorter said. “I’ve been there before with a team where you’re a good team and you face some really tough people and it hadn’t worked out … I know they’re going to be very, very hungry and excited to see us and try to rectify that situation.”
McWhorter said he wants his team to “play as fast as we can, as hard as we can, as long as we can.”
“And offensively, (we need to) build on some of the execution we were able to do last week,” he added.
Defensively, Jackson County will face a Wing-T team for the third time in four weeks. The Wildcats operate out of a modified Wing-T, lining up its quarterback in a pistol formation rather than under center.
McWhorter said Apalachee’s hybrid Wing-T “can give you all kinds of problems.”
“We’ve seen some Wing-T this year,” he said. “It’s a little bit different look that we’re going to see and maybe a little bit better people than we’ve seen running it.”
Though the Wing-T is a run-oriented scheme, the Wildcats present a passing threat.
“They do a good job with it, and they’re able to throw the ball out of it a little bit better than maybe most Wing-T teams do under center,” McWhorter said.
Jackson County’s defense enters the game having surrendered just 16 points all season — an average of 5.33 points a game. McWhorter expressed confidence in his players on that side of the ball.
“Defensively, I think our defense is ready for a challenge like this,” McWhorter said. “I think they’ve had a lot of success this year. This is going to be, quite possibly, our toughest challenge.”
Offensively, McWhorter said he’s seen improvement in his quarterbacks, quality play in his receivers and a group of capable running backs. He also noted the efforts of offensive linemen Cody Baugh and Tyler Vaughn. The hope is that the young linemen who make up the rest of the Panthers’ offensive front will grow into their roles.
“If we can do that, then offensively, I think we can have a solid offensive group,” McWhorter said.
The game against Apalachee is the Panthers’ final non-region contest as they gear up for their Sept. 27 region opener at Hart County.
“It’s just another big contest for us,” McWhorter said of this week’s game. “It seems like, up here, every week, it’s a very, very quality opponent.”

SOFTBALL: Panthers rout Monroe Area

nospam@example.com (MainStreetNewsSports) — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 15:33:00 -0500

The Jackson County softball team kept pace in the Region 8-AAA race with a lopsided road win.
Sara Beth Allen hit a two-run home run, Abigail Allen went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs and Whitney Hulsey went 2-for-4 with two RBIs in an 11-2 win over Monroe Area Tuesday (Sept. 10) in five innings. Jordan Price also enjoyed a big day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with an RBI.
Jackson County (9-5-1) is now 7-2 in region play and tied for first with Franklin County in the 8-AAA standings. Jefferson is a half a game behind at 6-2.
The Panthers broke the game open with seven runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 10-1 lead. Sara Beth Allen earned the win, throwing five innings, allowing four hits and two runs, none of which were earned. She struck out four batters.
Jackson County will host region foe Morgan County Thursday (Sept. 12, 5:30 p.m.) before a non-region game at home with Parkview on Sept. 17 (5:55 p.m.).

VOLLEYBALL: Panthers avenge loss to Eagles, move to 6-0 in 8-AAA

nospam@example.com (Ben Munro) — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 15:33:00 -0500

As much as Jeff White loathes losing, the Jackson County coach believes there’s something to be said for a well-timed loss.
That loss came Saturday (Sept. 7) when the Panthers fell to rival East Jackson in three sets in a non-area match. The Panthers turned around less than 72 hours later and beat East Jackson 25-17, 25-14 Tuesday (Sept. 10), avenging that loss and picking up an area win to move to 6-0 in Area 8-AAA play.
“Our girls learned on Saturday, you can’t just walk into a gym and beat people,” said White, who reached the 500-win mark for his high school and college coaching careers combined on Tuesday. “You’ve got to play. East Jackson played great on Saturday, and we just didn’t respond. So, tonight was really great for us to see our girls respond.”
Jackson County led wire-to-wire Tuesday against the Eagles, running out to a 6-1 first-set lead behind a pair of aces from Kylee Zimmer and a kill from Carys Thao. East Jackson tightened the deficit to 14–12 after an ace from Mya Howard, but Jackson County reeled off eight of the next 11 points to seize the momentum. Thao ended the set with a kill.
The Panthers (21-6) started the second set fast as well. Three kills from Cara Wells helped Jackson County take a 7-2 lead. An 8-3 East Jackson run, which included an ace from Allison Lounder, cut the lead to 10-8. Lounder is the Eagles’ all-time ace leader, having set the career mark over the weekend (the old record was 127).
The Eagles came no closer, however. With the Panthers ahead 15-11, a kill from Kait Harris sparked a 10-3 run to end the match.
While the Panthers missed too many serves for White’s liking, his team made up for it with aces in the win. And several other serves that didn’t end in aces got the Eagles out of their offensive system.
“It doesn’t count as an ace, but it’s just as good as an ace,” White said.
The night included a two-set win over Chestatee in a non-area pairing. Jackson County has won 14 of its last 15 matches and leads Area 8-AAA at the midway point. White pointed out that his team is in the middle of a 17-match grind over two weeks.
“I hate losing,” White said, referencing the loss to East Jackson over the weekend, “but if you learn from it, like we learned from Saturday, and got a chance to kind of balance that out — of course it’s a grind. I’m kind of tired, they have to be tired because they’re doing all the jumping and running around. So, yeah, I’m really proud of this group. They’re very resilient.”
Jackson County returns to action Thursday (Sept. 12) with home area matches with Monroe Area and Hart County, followed by a play date at Oconee County Saturday (Sept. 14). East Jackson moves on to a tournament Saturday (Sept. 14) in Oconee County. The Eagles travels to Johnson Tuesday (Sept. 17) for matches with Johnson and West Hall.

FOOTBALL: Dragons face daunting task with out-of-state opponent

nospam@example.com (Ben Munro) — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 15:32:00 -0500

When Jefferson coach Gene Cathcart arranged a two-game series with Southside (S.C.) High School two years ago, he knew he was scheduling a good out-of-state opponent — but maybe not this good.
“I’d be lying if I said that I realized that they would make it to the Final Four (last year) … and be the 13th-ranked team in the state (this year) he said.
Cathcart’s Dragons will again host the Tigers Friday (Sept. 13) at 7:30 p.m. after playing the Greenville, S.C. school last year. Southside (2-1) went 9-4 last year and reached the South Carolina Class AAA semifinals.
Jefferson (1-1), which is coming off a 62-7 win over West Hall last Friday (Sept. 6) beat Southside 31-7 last year.
The Tigers are spearheaded by running back Braydon Bennett, son of University of South Carolina legend Brandon Bennett. He led the state of South Carolina in rushing yardage last year, running for 2,041 yards, and is one of the top recruits in the Palmetto State this year.
Bennett, however, hasn’t played since suffering a lower body injury during the first week of the season. He had 137 yards on just three carries when he suffered the injury. Bennett is “week to week” from what Cathcart can determine.
Bennett or no Bennett, Cathcart expects a major test from the Dragons’ opponents this week.
“They’re by no means a one-track pony,” Cathcart said.
Southside features Jaime Gamble at quarterback, who Cathcart called “a really gifted athlete.” The Tigers are also armed with two college prospects on the line of scrimmage, Avion Mills (6-2, 240) and Jay Dirton (6-1, 233).
“Both of those guys were very tough to block last year and really did a good job as two-way players,” Cathcart said.
The Tigers are also a year further along in coach Jeremy West’s system.
Southside has always been a force in basketball and track and field, according to Cathcart — who is from South Carolina and coached there many years — but has grown into one of the best Class AAA football programs in South Carolina under West.
Aside from playing a highly-regarded opponent, Jefferson has a little added incentive this week.
“When someone crosses the border to come to you, there’s a little bit of state pride in the mix,” Cathcart said, “Certainly with so many of our coaches having spent time in South Carolina, it’s certainly something we take a lot of pride in and want to be successful … We certainly want to represent our state, not just our school, but our state and everything in a positive way.”

FOOTBALL: Eagles tasked with stopping Leopards’ running game

nospam@example.com (Ben Munro) — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 15:27:00 -0500

East Jackson coach Cameron Pettus didn’t face the Wing-T offense while coaching in Illinois and said he hasn’t seen the scheme much in general lately.
But in his third game as the Eagles’ new head coach, his team will be tasked with stopping the run-heavy offense when East Jackson hosts Banks County Friday (Sept. 13) at 7:30 p.m.
“It’s different,” he said. “It’s a throwback. It is. We’ve got to have great practices this week to prepare for it. Obviously, that’s something, too, that’s not easy to simulate. It’s like the triple (option). Those two offenses you really don’t see a whole lot now days.”
Pettus’ Eagles are aiming for the program’s 3-0 start since 2009 but face a Banks County team that is off to a 1-1 start. The Leopards lost to Jackson County 7-0 on Aug. 23 and pulled off a 15-7 win over Franklin County Aug. 30. Banks County was off last week.
“It will, by far, be our toughest game of the year,” Pettus said.
Pettus pointed to the Leopard’s physicality in running their scheme. In fact, the coach said Banks County’s physicality has been the main thing “that jumped off the film” during preparation for the Leopards.
“They obviously want to run the football in that Wing-T, and they want to be physical, so we’ve got to match that physicality on defense,” Pettus said.
Meanwhile, East Jackson carries momentum in to this game, having defeated Oglethorpe County last week to move to 2-0 for the first time since that 2009 season. Pettus said the program — which had won more than one game in a season just once since 2011 — has gained confidence with the two wins.
“It just reinforces everything that we’re doing, but more importantly, the kids are hungry,” he said.
Pettus pointed to a productive Sunday film session, in particular, in which he said players were eager to learn from the mistakes from last Friday’s (Sept. 6) 23-point win.
“That buy in from our kids is what is just so great for me as a coach to see,” Pettus said.
This will be East Jackson’s homecoming game. Pettus said he heard that last week’s home attendance was the biggest the school had seen in about six years. This crowd could be larger given the proximity of the two schools and the excitement around East Jackson’s 2-0 start.
“I think it’s going to be a packed house,” Pettus said. “It’s going to be a great atmosphere and a great environment for there to be a football game in.”

Local racers hit the track in recent action

nospam@example.com (Ben Munro) — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 13:30:59 -0500

Drag racers from around Georgia, and even South Carolina, convened in a showdown Sept. 7 at Atlanta Dragway for the Summit ET event.
Local racer Aaron Kennedy, 7, of Braselton, took first in the 5-9 junior dragster division. Kennedy defeated Kirsten Goddard, 8, of Loganville. Cooper Hancock, 9, of Homer, was defeated by Goddard in the semifinals.
Commerce's Mark Hancock finished second in the super pro division. Hancock defeated Dalton Rogers to reach the finals.
Malachi Edwards, 10, of Maysville, finished second in the 10-12 junior dragster division. Edwards fell to Alayna Carden, 11, of Monticello, in the finals. Jefferson's Shannon Blanton, 12, finished third in the event.
In the 13-17 junior dragster division, it was a pair of Tallapoosa teens who reigned supreme. Hayden Wilson, 13, won the race and Jacob Wilson, 16, finished second.
In the pro division, Canton's Chad Brewer took first over Cumming's Mel Abney. And in the sportsman division, Dickey Forrester, from Hickory Flat, took first place.

CROSS COUNTRY: Jefferson girls win North Hall meet

nospam@example.com (Ben Munro) — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 13:16:33 -0500

For the second time in three meets, the Jefferson girls’ cross country team found itself in the winners’ circle.
Caitlin Schroeder and Katherine Law finished third and fourth, respectively, at Thursday’s (Sept. 5) North Hall Invitational to lead the Dragons to a victory in the girls’ race.
Schroeder ran a time of 20:56, while Law followed closely behind with a time of 20:57.
Jefferson, with 68 points, defeated second-place White County by 26 points in the 20-team meet.
Rounding out the top five for Jefferson were Olivia Kulniszewski (12th, 22:01), Isabel Vanderpool (24th, 23:32) and Syndey Bowles (25th, 23:37).
The Jefferson boys didn’t fare as well, placing fourth behind North Hall, Chestatee and Hart County. Riley Thornton finished as the meet runner-up with a time of 16:34, and Matthew Schroeder added a 10th-place finish with a time of 17:35. Others scoring points for the Dragons were Levi Holiday (34th, 18:48), Cooper Gibson (35th, 18:49) and Brett Brush (77th, 19:55).
Jefferson will run Saturday (Sept. 14) at Franklin County, site of this year’s Region 8-AAA meet.

VOLLEYBALL: Eagles go 3-2 during playdate, down Jackson Co.

nospam@example.com (MainStreetNewsSports) — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 12:42:22 -0500

After going 1-3 in area play to open the week, the East Jackson Eagles closed the week on a high note.
During a playdate (Sept. 7), the Eagles put together three wins. The Eagles defeated Athens Christian, Clarke Central and county-rival Jackson County. The two losses on the day were to Lakeview Academy and Atlanta International.
"This (past) Saturday was an awesome day for EJ volleyball," head coach Kortney Kurtz said. "The girls really showed their passion and focus and work ethic against Jackson County and pulled out a great win."
Kurtz shifted some players' positions through the playdate and noted Maurissa Thomas' move to the outside as an example. Kurtz said by the end of the playdate, Thomas was playing all the way around the court.
"The girls loved the change and we saw some great athletic moves by her," Kurtz said. "She's learning and doing a great job."
Kurtz also switched up libero plays to the back left, middle back and back right on the court, when needed. She said it made a "huge difference" in the team's play, too.
"Moving forward, we will be focusing on where hitters need to adjust in order to block 'go-to' hitters along with where our hitters need to hit in order to score points," Kurtz said.
•East Jackson 2, Jackson Co. 1 (Sept. 7): After dropping the opening set, the Eagles won the last two sets to take the match. Allison Lounder recorded 12 assists and nine digs. Camille Duncan recorded 12 of the team's 41 digs. Abby Pennington recorded five kills.
•East Jackson 2, Athens Christian 0 (Sept. 7): The Eagles won in straight sets 25-10, 25-15. Mya Howard recorded nine of the team's 15 kills in the win. She also served two aces. Abby Pennington recorded five aces and Maurissa Thomas recorded four. Allison Lounder had 12 assists and eight digs.
•East Jackson 2, Clarke Central 0 (Sept. 7): The Eagles won in straight sets 25-23, 25-18. Mya Howard recorded 12 digs and had six kills. Camille Duncan had 13 digs. Allison Lounder recorded all 11 assists.
•Lakeview Academy 2, East Jackson 1 (Sept. 7): The Eagles won the first set 25-22 and Lakeview won the remaining sets 25-20, 15-13. Camille Duncan recorded 27 digs. The team had 54 for the match. Allison Lounder served four aces. Mya Howard and Zoe Daniels recorded 11 total kills.
Atlanta International 2, East Jackson 0 (Sept. 7): The Eagles lost in straight sets 25-15, 25-15. Camille Duncan recorded 13 digs. Mya Howard recorded eight digs. Allison Lounder recorded all 11 assists. Zoe Daniels had four kills.
•Jefferson 2, East Jackson 0 (Sept. 5): The Eagles lost in straight sets 25-17, 25-17. Zoe Daniels had four blocks. Camille Duncan had 12 digs.
Monroe Area 2, East Jackson 1 (Sept. 5): After splitting the opening two sets, the Eagles lost the third set 17-15. Mya Howard had 10 kills and Zoe Daniels had six. Daniels also recorded three blocks. Camille Duncan had 30 digs. Allison Lounder recorded all 23 assists.
•East Jackson 2, Franklin Co. 0 (Sept. 3): The Eagles won in straight sets 25-14, 25-5. Cloe Martin recorded nine aces. The team had 17 total. Three players recorded four digs apiece. Allison Lounder had 12 assists.
•Hart Co. 2, East Jackson 1 (Sept. 3): After splitting the opening two sets, the Eagles lost the third set 15-11. Mya Howard had 22 digs and Camille Duncan recorded 26 digs. Allison Lounder had all 14 assists.

Tigers roll Providence 18-1

nospam@example.com (MainStreetNewsSports) — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 12:40:38 -0500

In area play, the Commerce Tigers have been consistent when it comes to winning.
The winning continued Tuesday as the Tigers blasted Providence Christian Academy 18-1 in four innings.
The Tigers scored three runs in the first inning, three in the second, four in the third and eight in the fourth to end the game.
The Tigers amassed 14 hits in the 17-run win. Teresa Dixon led the way with three hits. Paige Vickery had two hits.
Kendall Peters had three RBIs. Carson Hobbs and Dixon had two RBIs.
On the mound, Dixon pitched all four innings. She recorded five strikeouts. Providence committed eight errors in the field.

SOFTBALL: Tigers gear up for stretch run of September

nospam@example.com (MainStreetNewsSports) — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 12:19:40 -0500

The stretch run of the softball season is nearly here, and that isn't going unnoticed for one local team.
After putting up 28 runs and winning two games at the Veterans Memorial Tournament in Oconee (Sept. 6-7), the Commerce Tigers have five of the last seven games in region play.
"The girls played fairly well this weekend, but as we begin the second round of region (play), we need to decrease errors in crucial moments if we want to reach our ultimate goal," head coach Melissa Mullis said.
The team's lone loss during the tournament came against Southeast Bulloch. The game ended after 5 1/2 innings because of a time-limit rule. The Tigers lost 4-2.
Maggie Blackmon and Landry Kate Martin connected for doubles in the top of the fifth and an Anna Taylor bunt (reached on error) gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the fifth.
Southeast Bulloch, though, was able to rally and score four runs to take the lead ahead of the time-limit call. Back-to-back errors by the Tigers allowed for runs to score followed by a sacrifice bunt and a triple.
"So, it was a frustrating inning and they are a very competitive team," Mullis said. "We can't afford to make mistakes against good teams."
•Commerce 11, Monroe Area 0 (Sept. 7): The Tigers run-ruled Monroe Area in five innings. Paige Vickery recorded five RBIs. Lauren Roach and Anna Taylor recorded two hits apiece. The team had 10 hits in the game. The second inning sparked the game for the Tigers when they scored eight runs. One run in the third made it 9-0 and the final two runs came in the fifth inning. Rachel Morgan dominated on the mound, recording seven strikeouts.
•Commerce 15, North Oconee 0 (Sept. 6): Everyone played in the game, Mullis said. The game ended after the top of the third. The Tigers recorded 12 hits with Rachel Morgan leading the way with two hits. She also had two RBIs. Lauren Roach and Hayley Horne recorded an RBI apiece. On the mound, Teresa Dixon recorded four strikeouts in three innings.
•Commerce 6, Hebron Christian 3 (Sept. 5): The Tigers led 6-1 after two innings and didn't look back. Carson Hobbs and Rachel Morgan recorded two hits apiece. Morgan totaled four RBIs in the win. Maggie Blackmon recorded the remaining two. Morgan pitched five innings and recorded seven strikeouts.
•Commerce 7, Hart Co. 2 (Sept. 3): Rachel Morgan's three hits and two RBIs led the way for the Tigers. Kylee Taylor and Maggie Mullis recorded two hits apiece. The team had 13 hits in the win. Hart County recorded seven errors in the field.

VOLLEYBALL: Dragons pick up pair of non-region wins

nospam@example.com (Ben Munro) — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 11:49:00 -0500

Jefferson moved to 19-4 Tuesday with wins over Tallulah Falls and Johnson at home.
The Dragons beat Tallulah Falls in a close match 25-23, 27-25 and dominated Johnson 25-9, 25-10.
Against Tallulah Falls, Maddie Grace Smith totaled 19 assists and eight digs. JoJo Smith picked up six kills, six digs and two blocks. Mac Fowler finished with five kills, and Olivia Burrage added three kills and five blocks. Sophia Stopher totaled 12 digs, while Mia Mingus added eight.
In the match with Johnson, Smith recorded 10 assists, two digs and two aces. Annabelle Cox finished with six kill. Megan Hanlin had eight assists and three digs.

SOFTBALL: Panthers topple ranked Class AAAAAAA team

nospam@example.com (Ben Munro) — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 11:22:40 -0500

Sixth-ranked Jackson County knocked off another big-name opponent this season, taking down Class AAAAAAA No. 6-ranked Mountain View in convincing fashion.
Whitney Hulsey (3-for-3), Sara Beth Allen (1-for-1) and Jordan Price (1-for-4) drove home two runs each as Jackson County (8-5-1, 6-2 Region 8-AAA) romped over the visiting Bears 9-1 in six innings Monday (Sept. 9) in non-region play.
Madison Miller contributed to the win with a 3-for-3 day at the plate, while Maliah Lee threw a complete-game gem, allowing three hits and an earned run with seven strikeouts.
Jackson County jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first inning with a two-run single from Allen and added a run in the bottom of the second inning with an RBI single from Hulsey. Hulsey singled home a run in the bottom of the fourth to highlight a three-run inning as Jackson County took a 6-1 lead.
The Panthers brought the game to an early end in the bottom of the sixth inning — via run rule — with three more runs. Jordan Price had the big hit in the inning with a two-run single.

Football: Doggs return to action against high-powered Flowery Branch

nospam@example.com (Chris Bridges) — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 10:54:01 -0500

With the first of two bye weeks now behind it, the Winder-Barrow High School football team is back to its normal routine.
The Bulldoggs (0-2) welcome a tough Flowery Branch High School team into W. Clair Harris Stadium on Friday, Sept. 13, for a contest against another quality non-region opponent. The Falcons are 2-0 and have outscored their opponents 88-0 in those games.
For WBHS head coach Ed Dudley, the bye week was productive in several ways.
“It was a good bye week,” the coach said. “We had some guys heal up and we continued to work hard on improving our defense and our passing game.”
Dudley said this Friday’s opponent is a “top-notch” team with two impressive wins already under its belt.
“They are extremely well-coached,” Dudley said of Ben Hall’s FBHS team. “I think one of the biggest things that are making them successful is they are controlling the football with a big physical offensive line. They are eating clock, finishing drives and scoring in the red zone. We will have to try to disrupt that.”
By blanking East Hall (50-0) and Clarke Central (38-0), the Falcons are also turning heads with their defense.
“They have a good mix of young players and veteran players,” Dudley said. “They are very strong defensively. We will have to find a way to attack that.”
Middle linebacker Connor Mayfield is a player for Flowery Branch that has drawn the praise of the WBHS coaching staff. Mayfield is 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds.
Getting off to a positive start will be vital for the Bulldoggs. WBHS does not want to be climbing out of an early hole.
“A two-score deficit is what you want to avoid,” Dudley said. “Of course coming off a bye you often look a little rusty. We need to come out and play well in the first quarter.”
Despite the 0-2 start, including a four-overtime heartbreaker to Cedar Shoals, the mental attitude seems to remain positive.
“In our coaches meeting Sunday we talked about how good our mental health has been,” Dudley said. “They are hanging in there. We had some injuries against Cedar Shoals that took us out of our game plan defensively. Our players deserve a win.”
While it is still early in the 2019 season, Dudley said there have been signs of improvement in various areas.
“Our entire team is improving,” the coach said. “Our young offensive line is getting there. This Friday will be a tough game and a tough matchup, though.”
As always, Dudley said he is glad that his team will be at home.
“There is nothing like being in front of our home crowd with our fans, students and band,” Dudley said.
Kickoff at W. Clair Harris Stadium is set for 7:30 p.m.

Football: After stunning loss, Wildcats set to move forward against Jackson Co.

nospam@example.com (Chris Bridges) — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 10:48:14 -0500

With the memory of a gut-wrenching loss to Madison County still fresh on their minds, the Apalachee High School Wildcats went back to work this week and will welcome Jackson County Comprehensive High School on Friday, Sept. 13.
AHS (0-3) saw its first victory of the season taken away in the final seconds on a Hail Mary touchdown pass by the Red Raiders. A missed extra point earlier in the game by AHS had left the door open for a Madison County rally and 21-20 win. And while the door was open only an inch, it turned out that was all that was needed.
“We were right there at it about to get the win,” Wildcats coach Tony Lotti said. “The kids played very hard. It was a good bounce back performance from the effort of the previous Friday. We knew the deck would be stacked against us but we stayed with the process. We were in position to win the game. Unfortunately, they made one more play than we did.”
Teams often learn from losses like the one from last week, and Lotti hopes that will be the case for his team as preparations are underway for Jackson County.
“It was heart-breaking but a game like that is also heart-defining,” the coach said. “That’s why adversity exists in the world. It’s to test your resolve. The bottom line is you have to go back and work a little harder.”
As tough as the loss was to Madison County, Lotti is stressing to his players not to let it define the season or the team.
“When it comes to the mental side of things you don’t want to be too high or too low,” the second-year AHS coach said. “Despite the circumstances and outcomes you have to move forward. It can be that way when you are dealing with an emotional win. That can also cause a lingering the next week. Both teams made some mistakes but the bottom line was they made the one play they needed. There were opportunities all over the place for the outcome to be different.”
The focus is now on Jackson County, which made perhaps the most-talked about coaching hire of the offseason by bringing in long-time Charlton County coach Rich McWhorter.
Under McWhorter’s early leadership the Panthers are 2-1 and have allowed just 16 points in three games. Jackson County is coming off a 31-0 win against Lumpkin County.
“They have a hall of fame coach who is also a hall of fame person,” Lotti said of his coaching counterpart. “Jackson County is playing hard. Their coaches are going to put their kids in the right situation to have a chance to be successful.”
The key for the Wildcats, Lotti said, will be similar to all weeks.
“For us we have to play well up front,” he said.
“We also have to manage the highs and lows of the game. Those will be two very important things for us. We have to try and keep the momentum to the end. Jackson County is a big play team so we can’t ever relax.”
In preparation for this week’s game, the AHS coaching staff is looking for more players to step up.
“Every day in practice there is an opportunity for someone to show us what they can,” Lotti said. “I think our players will stay with the process and continue to focus on the next task. That is one of the core values we stress. It will be a teaching moment. We feel good about the fact we will take it for what it’s worth.”
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

Football: Knights search for answers, host Frederica on Friday

nospam@example.com (Chris Bridges) — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 10:47:02 -0500

The 2019 season has gotten off to a rocky start for the Bethlehem Christian Academy football team and the Knights may be going from the proverbial frying pan into the fire on Friday, Sept. 13.
BCA (0-3) is continuing to find its footing during the first year of the Gus Felder era. The Knights were defeated 42-0 by visiting Community Christian during a Sept. 6 matchup. This Friday, BCA will try to get on track, but rolling into Knights Field will be Frederica Academy, the defending GISA Class AAA state champions. Frederica did not play last week as the school’s athletic events were cancelled due to Hurricane Dorian.
Most predicted a complete rebuilding season for BCA in 2019, but the start to the season has probably been rockier than most had envisioned. The Knights have been outscored 126-0 in their first three contests.
Felder said one key for his team is taking advantage of the opportunities it does have in a game.
“We just have to get better,” the coach said. “We have to block better. We have to tackle better. We have to execute better overall.”
Despite the outcome of the first three games, there is no throwing in the towel for BCA on the season.
“We are not done,” Felder said. “We have to believe in the process and keep growing as players, as a team and as a program.”
Ethan Guthas is a first-year starter at quarterback for the BCA Knights and appears to be getting more comfortable directing the offense. Brice Schwebel has been one of the key players carrying the football.
Defensively, there have been some bright spots, including the contributions of senior Laine Jean-Francois, who made several defensive plays for Felder’s team including a backfield tackle during CCS’ second offensive series of the contest.
Also contributing defensively for the Knights were Chandler Cavoretto, Logan Garmon, Eli Parker, Zach Patterson, Ty Whiting and Avery Stevens.
While the Frederica Academy Knights enter the game 0-2, those losses were against Charlton County, a Georgia High School Association team, 20-7, and to perennial GISA state power Valwood, 27-13.
Coach Brandon Derrick said this year’s team is replacing numerous key players from the 2018 state championship team. Overall the team does not have a deep roster for 2019 with numerous players competing on both sides of the line of scrimmage.
Denver Anthony has contributed all over the field for Frederica, including quarterback, running back and receiver. He is also one of the team’s top defensive players in the secondary.
Avery Cobb is one of the team’s top rushing threats in the offensive backfield.
Frederica Academy, located on the Georgia coast, has benefited from quality athletes in recent seasons with players receiving collegiate offers from programs such as Auburn, Georgia Southern and Kentucky State.
Kickoff at Knights Field is set for 7:30 p.m.