Sports by Fletch

Valdosta to open up season at North Gwinnett

2012-01-31T09:00:00.000-05:00

Just weeks after suffering an injury to Diamond DeShields, Norcross saw another star fall victim to injury as Score 44 big man Jason Croom suffered a dislocated shoulder. The future Tennessee Volunteer wide receiver is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season and could possibly miss the Region 7-AAAAA tournament. Croom last week became the first person to ever be named to both the Score 44 football list as well as the Score 44 basketball list. He was averaging nearly a double-double for Norcross and was one of a few returning players from last year’s Class AAAAA championship team. ...

Buford’s Andraya Carter is working her way back into playing shape after suffering what many thought would be a prep career-ending knee injury. Carter is headed to Tennessee next season to play for Pat Summit but first the Wolves are trying to secure another Class AA title. Carter had 11 points over the weekend against Wesleyan. Her coach Gene Durden said of his Score 44 player, “she looks and plays just like she always has, with passion, hustle and energy, and it will give our team a boost going into the playoffs.” ...

The Valdosta Wildcats will open up the 2012 football season in Suwanee, Ga., against North Augusta (S.C.) in North Gwinnett High School’s annual Progressive National Football Challenge kickoff classic. Valdosta released its 2012 schedule which will also include home games against Brooks County, Crisp County, Newton and new region foe Camden County. The Winnersville Classic will come on Oct. 12 after a bye week for Valdosta. North Gwinnett has not announced its completed 2012 schedule yet, though the Bulldogs will participate in the Corky Kell Classic in the Georgia Dome to kick off the season.

Schuessler headed to SEC West

2012-01-31T08:59:00.000-05:00

Lassiter’s Charlie Hegedus revealed on his twitter account late Monday night that Oklahoma State has offered a scholarship less than 30 hours before National Signing Day. Hegedus has pledged to NC State, along with several other players from the state of Georgia including Lassiter teammate Niles Clark. Oklahoma State has gotten into the Georgia act recently with offers to Juwan Dickey of Lassiter and Parker McLeod of Walton, both Class of 2013 prospects. ...

The Vanderbilt Commodores lost a Georgia product over the weekend after a pledge switched his commitment to an SEC Rival. James Franklin lost Score Final 50 No. 50 Chris Moody, the athlete from Henry County, who visited Columbia over the weekend. Moody, who made the Score 44 this past season as a quarterback, will likely suit up in the defensive secondary at the next level. Franklin could be in danger of losing Score Final 50 No. 25 Josh Dawson, a defensive end from Tucker as the Georgia Bulldogs have been charging hard, even sending a pair of assistant coaches to visit with the prospect over the weekend. ...

No. 48 on the Score Final 50 has finally made a college decision. Allatoona’s Miles Jones pledged to Jacksonville State after receiving interest but no offers from Maryland or Georgia Tech over the last few months. Jones was listed near the top of Georgia Tech’s board but never received an offer. ...

It has been quite a seven week stretch for Grayson senior Nick Schuessler. First he caps off an undefeated senior season by throwing for a pair of scores in the Class AAAAA championship victory over Walton. Next he finally gets his first offer from any FBS school when Middle Tennessee State comes forward with a scholarship. He initially pledges to Colorado State with a high school teammate before finally deciding to commit to Mississippi State after Dan Mullen comes through with a late scholarship offer. Now the 6-foot-3 signal caller will head to the SEC West to compete for the same quarterback tutor that helped to put Tim Tebow into the NFL playoffs. ...

The North Gwinnett Bulldogs defensive line will send a host of prospects to the next level. One player however has switched his pledge as defensive end Justin Alabi de-committed from UTC and will instead head to the Air Force Academy. Alabi was joined on the defensive line by Jordan Washington, who is headed to Mississippi State. Carl Rider, a North Gwinnett linebacker is headed to Furman, where he will join teammate, wide receiver Chad Scott. Joe Jones (UMass) and Scotty Hosch (Harvard) have also committed to play at the next level from Bob Sphire’s program

Milton and Wesleyan do NOT disappoint

2012-01-30T15:23:00.000-05:00

Wheeler’s Charles Mitchell is an incredible specimen that is capable of putting the Wildcats on his back from time to time. He was a beast against Milton on Saturday, scoring 30 points while snagging 12 rebounds, but the Eagles used a 9-0 spurt while Mitchell was on the bench to turn a two-point lead into a commanding 11-point margin that it would not lose in a 65-60 victory. Tevin Glass scored 19 in the second half to finish with 23 for Milton and Jalyn Patterson scored 20 points, including four three-pointers in the victory. Charles Mann of Score 44 fame, dished out six assists for Milton to go with eight points. ...

Brandon Thompson scored 23 points for Berkmar Saturday, but it was the final three that gave the Patriots a 65-62 buzzer-beating victory over Alpharetta. A.D. Rogers contributed 18 in the win. ...

Isaiah Williams connected on a late three-pointer to help Buford past Wesleyan 43-40. T.J. Shipes, a member of the Score 44, posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Wesleyan’s Shane Smith led all scorers with 21 points. ... In girls action, Shayla Cooper was a perfect 13-13 from the free throw line in a 71-54 Norcross win over Southwest DeKalb. Cooper finished with 22 points while Tori Carter had 17 and Sierra Butler chipped in 11. ...

Defending champions squared off in Norcross when Wesleyan topped Buford 60-49. Score 44 standout Holli Wilkins scored 22 points for Wesleyan, winners of 25 straight at home. Wesleyan’s bench outscored Buford’s 18-0, and it was needed as several Wesleyan regulars were racked with injuries and foul trouble. Kaela Davis led Buford with 17 points while Andraya Carter had 11 and MacKenzie Darrah tallied 13.

What does committed mean?

2012-01-27T10:50:00.002-05:00

As much as we don’t like to admit it, stereotypes are based on a large sampling of repeated behavior by a certain group. One popular stereotype is that guys have a hard time committing, whether it is to plans on a Friday night with a lady friend, a marriage engagement or which sports bar they will watch the game at on Saturday.

Anyone upset with the generalization that some men just cannot commit need look no further than the recruiting drama playing out across the state of Georgia as we near National Signing Day this Wednesday. Desperate teams start flooding the cell phones of waffling recruits, courting them harder than ever before in the attempt to get a switched pledge and a letter of intent.

As much as we like to believe what the word “committed,” means sadly, when a high school junior or senior commits, it really doesn’t mean anything until that player puts pen to paper and paper to fax machine on National Signing Day. Up until that point, everything is just lip service and non-binding. There have been multiple cases over the years of players pledging to a coach only to pull a switcharoo on National Signing Day.

Two metro-area players, Tucker’s Josh Dawson and Sandy Creek’s JaQuay Williams, have been “committed” to Vanderbilt and Auburn, respectively for months, but Mark Richt and the Georgia Bulldogs managed to snare each last week for visits and both enjoyed their trips according to various recruiting services and tweets.

Williams, a wide receiver is the No. 11 player on the Score Final 50 while Dawson, a defensive end, checks in at No. 25. After Georgia lost Flowery Branch’s CJ Curry earlier this year, a spot at wide receiver opened up, and Richt charging after the Auburn pledge. Richt and company also waited on Dawson to see what No. 32 Kenderius Whitehead would do, and after the ML King DE/OLB pledged to NC State, the Dawgs started charging. It may seem shady, but these players are not truly “committed,” to Vanderbilt and Auburn until after the Letter of Intent gets sent in.

COACHING CHANGES

Committed is a funny word too when we expect these high schoolers to stick to their word when coaches do not always abide by that rule. Coaches jump ship to better jobs or sometimes get the ax, and in these cases, commitments can change.

Kyle Sloter of Mt. Pisgah recently switched his pledge from Tulane to Southern Miss after the coaching staff at Tulane was fired, and the man that recruited him made his way to Southern Miss. Now Sloter will sign with the Eagles to play for the coach with whom he fostered a recruiting relationship. Sloter’s father told Score Atlanta, “Kyle took a visit to Southern Miss and wants to go where he is wanted more.”

Other players such as Josh Harvey-Clemons of Lowndes (No. 3) and Dalvin Tomlinson (No. 18) of Henry County have yet to declare and likely will on National Signing Day. Sometimes players like to wait until National Signing Day so that they can take all of their official visits to make a well-informed decision. Other times players are merely seeking the limelight and want to have ESPN, Rivals, Scout and 247Sports drool all over them, anticipating their every move. Last year, Jadeveon Clowney waited nearly two weeks after National Signing Day so that he could declare on his birthday in front of a live television audience with no one else stealing his thunder. For two weeks the buildup of “where will he go,” prevented any rankings list from being able to run on various websites. Harvey-Clemons and Tomlinson were still making visits up through our press deadline and had not yet committed, though both are believed to be signing on National Signing Day.

BE TRUE TO YOUR SCHOOL

Then you have the players who commit early and stick with that pledge through National Signing Day, even acting as ambassadors for their future college. St. Pius X’s Geno Smith comes to mind as one of these players. Smith, who pledged to Nick Saban and Alabama last summer, has been pushing hard along with Hillgrove’s Kenyan Drake and Cedar Grove’s Brandon Greene, trying to get all the recruits they can to come to suit up for the Crimson Tide on February 1. Each participated in national all-star games and all were reportedly pushing undecided players towards Tuscaloosa. Chris Leak of Charlotte’s Independence High School was well known for being former Florida coach Ron Zook’s first big-time recruit, and he played the Pied Piper, leading plenty of fellow prep stars down to Gainesville. Last season, Damian Swann helped the Dream Team land Ray Drew, Isaiah Crowell, Malcolm Mitchell and Jay Rome after he pledged to be a Bulldog at the US Army All-American game. Swann’s first one in really got the ball going as Richt and Georgia finished strong in January and February. Recruits that take the drama out early and pick with their pledge are a breath of fresh air in these days of me-first, spotlight-seeking seventeen-year-olds.

So what will Wednesday mean in the grand scheme of things? Wednesday is a day to be celebrated not just because Georgia signed “The Dream Team II,” or because Georgia Tech landed its best defensive prospect yet under Paul Johnson. The day should be celebrated because young men across the state of Georgia have chosen to use football as a vehicle to matriculate to colleges and universities of higher learning across the country. These football players have weathered the drama of recruiting to declare they will seek out college degrees while bashing heads on the gridiron.

Will they all go on to NFL success? No. But all will be better for continuing their educations. We can perhaps give them a pass for switching a pledge or two along the way; hopefully it was for a better purpose than just attention-seeking.

The Fletch: 1/27/12: get your argument straight

2012-01-27T10:50:00.001-05:00

It is a debate that three years ago was laughable. Now it is a debate that we might need to start having, especially if the Giants are able to knock off the Patriots next Sunday: Is Eli Manning better than his older brother Peyton?

DEFENDING RYAN

Driving around Atlanta, listening to sports radio callers and show hosts spout on and on about how Matt Ryan is overrated because he has never won in the postseason is making me crazy. According to that logic the postseason is the only thing that matters, right Chuck Oliver and Mike Bell?

OK, if you want to use that argument and New York does beat New England, be prepared to bow down to Eli in the discussion of better Manning brother. Eli would be 2-0 in Super Bowls while Peyton sits at .500. Preposterous? Not according to your logic that says the regular season apparently means nothing and the postseason means everything.

I get tired of people on the web, in emails to the Score Atlanta staff and on the radio banging on Matt Ryan. Yes, he is 0-3 in the playoffs, but Ryan is also 43-19 in the regular season. You cannot discount this. That is an average of around 11-4 (he missed two games his second season). You are telling me that is awful? That is garbage?

Tim Tebow won a playoff game this year but ask any knowledgable Denver fan who he’d rather have. The answer would be simple: Matt Ryan. He will get his postseason wins in, don’t worry. And until then, feel free to indulge yourself in a Eli vs. Peyton debate.

On a side note, I brought this issue up on Facebook before the Giants beat the 49ers and the opinions were mixed.

PANTHERS COVERED

Great job by the local newspapers for giving Georgia State some props. Both Score Atlanta and the AJC have been all over the Panthers this year after new coach Ron Hunter kicked off the year with one of the best starts in program history. The AJC has done a nice job of letting Doug Roberson fully immerse himself in Georgia State basketball, and Mark Bradley even stopped by before one of the Panthers games.
Meanwhile, Score Atlanta covered the winning streak with previews and recaps of the games laters during the double-digit streak. We were even able to snag a few photos of the orange jerseys that were on display on the www.scoreatl.com front page. With Georgia and Georgia Tech struggling this season, expect the AJC to pay a little more attention to the Panthers. Score Atlanta will, of course, continue to be on the ball as we’ve had the Panther Prowl beat for years both online and in our paper. And if Georgia State makes the postseason, we might even throw one of our beat writers in a team gym bag to go cover the Big Dance.

GIVE THEM SOME LOVE

Finally, if you ask nationally people’s thoughts on the Atlanta Hawks, odds are you’d hear, “Charles Barkley hates them, so they can’t be good.” Don’t look now, though, but the Hawks are 13-6, good enough for the playoffs if the season ended today.

Among the teams ahead of Atlanta: Chicago, a team that the Hawks beat once and should have a second time. Atlanta has thumped plenty of teams early. The key will be to survive without Al Horford down low as he is likely out until playoff time. Hey ESPN, it might be time for a little Hawks love. Just a simple request.

Can Richt pull off Dream Team II?

2012-01-26T12:03:00.000-05:00

With word coming down that immigration issues will cost Mark Richt and the Georgia Bulldogs a potential offensive line recruit, the Dawgs, who already had extra spots to fill, have one more. Some recruiting services have Georgia projected as high as the top five, but the loss of Chester Brown certainly won’t help Richt down the stretch. Can Richt and Georgia finish as strongly as they did one year ago? What targets are out there that could put the Dawgs squarely in the top five?

Avery Young is a 6-foot-5 offensive tackle from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, that will decide between Auburn, Georgia and Florida on National Signing Day. Early on it seemed Will Muschamp had Young locked up, but now experts believe it will come down to Georgia and Auburn because of immediate playing time. If Richt can land the four-star prospect, it will more than make up for the loss of Brown. Odds: 60% chance of Georgia over Auburn

Josh Harvey-Clemons is a man with so many positions, you’d think he was his own Fortune 500 company. He has played linebacker, safety, defensive end, wide receiver, running back and quarterback at Lowndes (GA) High School, and Richt just spent time with Harvey-Clemons this week. Georgia was trying to bring him in on the defensive side of the ball while early on Alabama and Florida wanted him at wide receiver. Florida and Georgia made the final list but Florida State has emerged, not surprisingly. The Lowndes program routinely sends players to the Seminole program including Greg Reid and Telvin Smith over the last few seasons. Harvey-Clemons could be the next though the Bulldogs are still fighting hard. Odds: 25% for Georgia but likely Florida State

Cordarrelle Patterson could be the wide receiver that Georgia needs to officially claim the title of top receiving corps in the nation. Add 6-foot-4 Patterson out of Hutchinson Community College to Tavarres King, Malcolm Mitchell and Michael Bennett (plus everyone else), and Aaron Murray could win the Heisman Trophy. But will Patterson want to go and compete with all of those options for catches? Will he head to Tennessee where somehow Derek Dooley gets a top flight receiver each signing class? Will Auburn sneak away with Young? It comes down to Georgia and Tennessee. Odds: 45% chance for Georgia. I think Tennessee walks away with him.

If the Dawgs miss out on Patterson, perhaps JaQuay Williams could soften the blow. The Sandy Creek (GA) receiver is committed to Auburn but reportedly loved his visit to Athens recently. The Dawgs put a major push on Williams, and it could pay off on National Signing Day. Odds of a flip: 75%. Dawg fans will be happy on National Signing Day unless Trooper Taylor works some magic for Auburn.

Josh Dawson, a defensive end from Tucker (GA) has been a solid commitment to Vanderbilt for a while, but Georgia got him on campus recently. Now he is still “committed,” to Vanderbilt but will decide once and for all on National Signing Day. Sorry James Franklin but it looks like you lost this fight with Todd Grantham. Odds: 95% chance of a flip for Georgia.

If the Dawgs land two of these guys, expect a top ten class for Mark Richt. If either Young or Harvey-Clemons sign with Georgia, Richt could be looking at another top five class.

Hancock County grand jury returns zero indictments regarding Oct. 14 melee

2012-01-26T11:59:00.000-05:00

A messy Oct. 14 postgame fight between the Hancock Central and Warren County football teams sent Screaming Devils head coach David Daniel to the hospital and left one school superintendent seeking justice for her coach. However after a GBI investigation, a Hancock County grand jury decided that “no indictment be returned against anyone,” according to a story in the Augusta Chronicle. The grand jury convened Wednesday and determined that, after viewing the reports, no indictments would be handed out.

According to the reports, one player did admit to hitting Daniel, though only after he was first punched three times by the coach. Witnesses from both sides said the other team began the melee, and it was later confirmed that Daniel was not hit by a helmet but rather a fist, according to the story.

Warren County Superintendent of Schools Carole Jean Carey was on hand the night of the incident and remembers seeing Daniel take off with the offensive coordinator when, “we saw helmets go up.” She later saw Daniel get struck she told Score in an interview.

Carey had petitioned to get the GBI’s involvement after initially the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office denied a request for outside help. Carey declined to testify yesterday, and she told the Augusta Chronicle the result, “was expected.” She also revealed that a civil lawsuit is “in the works.”

Walton's Parker generating some recruiting buzz

2012-01-26T08:12:00.002-05:00

Walton advanced to the Class AAAAA state championship game in 2011 on the strength of an opportunistic defense, a powerful running game and a quarterback who quietly put together a strong junior year. Parker McLeod drew the eyes and ears of recruiting services after Louisville came through with an offer last June, but the 6-foot-3 signal-caller has been a hot commodity of late, racking up offers and accolades as he prepares for the spring practice before his senior year.

Boston College recently came forth with an offer and Oklahoma State has also offered the pro-style prospect. Alabama has also listed him as one of three quarterbacks head coach Nick Saban will target for National Signing Day 2013.

“It was really exciting,” said McLeod of getting the recent offer from Oklahoma State. “You are talking about a team that was just playing in the Fiesta Bowl and in the discussion of playing for a national championship.”

Oklahoma State is one of a few schools that will get a visit from McLeod this spring and summer. McLeod said he plans on visiting Boston College, Oklahoma State and Louisville, all who have offered, as well as Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Alabama and Virginia.
“I’d like to try and have a decision made before my senior year,” said McLeod. He also admitted that, once he commits, he will try and recruit current teammates Tyren Jones and Brandon Kublanow as well as other prospects to his choice.

He noted in an interview with Score that his decision will come down to a combination of elements that go into any college choice. McLeod said that academics will weigh in as will the campuses. “Style of offense will be pretty important too and the coaching staff.”

The Walton quarterback has strong footwork and impressive arm strength, which he believed helped him earn his first scholarship offer from Louisville. McLeod really started opening eyes with a strong performance at the recent AT&T Georgia Junior Bowl, a showcase that highlights the top rising seniors on the high school gridiron. McLeod went under center for the West squad, finishing 5-for-9 passing for 71 yards while also rushing for 16 yards on three carries. The all-star gathering can be difficult for some quarterbacks as they try and find a rhythm with strange receivers, but experts from 247Sports and Scout were impressed with McLeod.

McLeod quarterbacked his team to 14 straight wins to start the 2011 season. With a dominating blocker in front of him and an explosive running back flanking him, look for bigger numbers and even more offers in 2012.

Wrestling is in the Rivera Family blood

2012-01-26T08:10:00.001-05:00

Look for the Mt. Pisgah boys basketball team to turn its season around in the next few games. The program’s all-time leading rebounder and scorer Kyle Sloter has missed seven games due to an ankle injury and with official visits, and the Patriots have lost five of the games. Sloter has dropped down into the post for his senior season and was recently named the MVP of the Carolina Day School Basketball Holiday Tournament. ...

Wrestling success clearly runs in the Rivera family. Kennesaw Mountain’s Justan Rivera was named the most outstanding wrestler at the recent Cobb County Invitational after the freshman won the 170-pound weight class. Rivera defeated Pope sophomore Joey Tabachino for the win. Rivera’s brother Jonatan was a two-time county champion and was the Cobb County Invitational’s most outstanding wrestler the last two years. Kennesaw Mountain finished fifth. ...

Chris Gaines of Kell High School was a force on the football field but he is starting to take to his new sport of wrestling. This is just Gaines’ second season on the wrestling mat, but that didn’t stop Gaines from winning the 195-pound title with a win over Wheeler’s Darian Richardson. ...

When is losing good? According to Evans boys basketball coach Kevin Kenny when those teams are a combined 33-4. In a story by Wayne Staats of the Augusta Chronicle, Kenny saw some benefits to falling recently to Jonesboro and Effingham County, both ranked in the latest Score Hoops poll. “Those are the type of teams you’re seeing in the state tournament if you’re fortunate to get there,” said Kenny in the article. Evans is challenging for one of the top seeds in its subregion as the playoffs approach.

Sloter switches to Southern Miss

2012-01-25T08:11:00.000-05:00

Kyle Sloter has decided to back out of his previous pledge to Tulane to instead commit to Southern Miss and Ricky Bustle. The Southern Miss offensive coordinator had previously recruited the Mt. Pisgah signal caller while as Tulane’s quarterbacks coach before the Green Wave’s coaching staff was let go in the middle of the 2011 season. According to Sloter’s father, the 6-foot-5 quarterback “wants to go where he is wanted more and where, quite frankly, the football program is at another level.” Southern Miss appeared as high as No. 19 in the FBS rankings this year, and Sloter is intrigued by the passionate fan base. Sloter is planning to major in business-finance, and Sloter’s father believes he can still get a great education and have fun playing on some winning teams. ...

Harrison girls basketball standout Nikki Hegstetter has surpassed 1200 points for her career in addition to taking home various other individual honors such as team MVP and various tournament MVPs during her time as a Hoya. As her high school career winds down, Hegstetter is preparing to take her talents to Tuscaloosa. She recently accepted a scholarship to play basketball at Alabama and will do so as a member of the Georgia Coaches Association All-Senior team. Harrison’s boys coach Robert Churchwell, who recently coached Ryan Blumenthal to the 1000-point plateau as well, called the milestone, “an honor that is a rarity that is revered.” Said Churchwell, “it is a mark that only the very few gifted and hard-working athletes ever achieve.”

Gwinnett County loses one, gains one female star

2012-01-24T10:35:00.000-05:00

The Buford Lady Wolves, ranked No. 2 in the latest Class AA poll received a huge boost over the weekend when Andraya Carter returned after missing the first part of the season to injury. Carter, who is committed to play next season at Tennessee, tore ligaments in her knee last summer and had been out of action thus far this season. She returned with 8 points against Westminster over the weekend, and Buford coach Gene Durden is certainly glad she is back. “Draya has been working hard to make a comeback to our team during her senior year and has done an amazing job in taking all of the steps needed to make it happen.” Carter has returned to the lineup and has not skipped a beat according to Durden. “She looks and plays just like she always has.” Durden pointed out in an interview with Score that her hustle, passion and energy will help to give the team a boost going into the playoffs. ...

Meanwhile another Gwinnett County power has lost a standout as Norcross will be without Diamond DeShields for several weeks. Blue Devils head coach Angie Hembree confirmed the injury to the non-shooting hand to Score. “Diamond injured her left wrist in our game with North Gwinnett. We expect her to be back in time for the playoffs.” ...

Sophomore Isabella Skinner helped West Forsyth to a region title and a Class AAAAA runner-up finish last year. As a freshman Skinner finished as runner-up low medalist, but if possible, she accomplished something even more impressive. Over the weekend, Skinner sank two holes-in-one at the 2012 Carolinas-Georgia Junior Championship at Augusta, South Carolina’s Mount Vintage Golf Club. Alas the pair of par-three eagles was not enough to topple McKenzie Talbert, but Skinner did beat 67,000,000 to one odds (Boston University study for Golf Digest) of sinking two holes-in-one in a single round. ...

Harrison’s Ryan Blumenthal wasn’t the only Hoya to reach the 1000-point plateau this season. Blumenthal notched the mark against Dr. Phillips in the Hilton Invitational while girls standout Nikki Hegstetter tallied the mark earlier this season.

Ivy Leagues becoming a popular destination

2012-01-24T10:34:00.000-05:00

Flowery Branch’s last four quarterbacks have all received scholarships, but the recruiting process for the latest QB Kanler Coker took a bit of a turn last week. Coker switched his commitment from East Carolina to UNC after meeting with new Tar Heel head coach Larry Fedora. The 6-foot-4 QB passed for over 2800 yards last year with 31 touchdowns in his lone season at Flowery Branch. Lee Shaw’s previous three quarterbacks were Jaybo Shaw (Georgia Tech, transferred to Georgia Southern), Connor Shaw (South Carolina) and Austin Brown (UAB). ...

Several Georgia prospects realize that football won’t last forever and have committed to use football to earn an Ivy League degree that will help them in life. North Gwinnett quarterback Scotty Hosch and Collins Hill defensive lineman Sam Batiste will matriculate to Harvard while GAC teammates Jonathan Ford and Lavondre Nelson will head play in the Ivy League as well. Ford will suit up at linebacker for Cornell while Nelson will play running back at Princeton. Score Final 50 member Dalvin Tomlinson was considering Harvard for a while but now it appears as though the Henry County defensive will decide between Georgia Tech, Georgia and Alabama though he recently cancelled an official visit to UGA. ...

The Yellow Jackets raised a few eyebrows recently by revoking the scholarship offer of its first commitment for the current class, Lanier County defensive end Junior Gnonkonde, due to a question over test scores. Gnonkonde is reportedly interested in Central Florida, Louisiana Tech and possibly North Carolina. ...

Score Final 50 Chris Moody of Henry County finally decided upon his future, selecting Vanderbilt over South Carolina over the weekend. According to ESPN.com, Moody pledged after taking an official visit over the weekend.

Class 5A weekend recap 1/23/12

2012-01-23T11:39:00.000-05:00

Top teams from across the state and the country converged upon Norcross High School for the 2012 Hilton Invitational, and several memorable finishes highlighted the event. The host Blue Devils pulled out a 60-57 win after Charlotte (NC) Christian’s Ryan Potocnik scored a basket for Norcross late in the fourth. Junior Brandon Goodwin canned two free throws with 3.8 seconds to achieve the 60-57 final margin. Jason Croom, a member of the Score 44 gridiron edition and No. 26 on the Score Final 50, led Norcross with 15 points and nine rebounds. ...

Harrison tagged Dr. Phillips (Fla.) with an 81-76 loss at the event. Ryan Blumenthal scored 28 points, surpassing 1000 for his career in the process, and Score 44 big man Marshall Guilmette added 18 points in the victory. ...

Wheeler fell to Charlotte (NC) Olympic 69-52 as Kejuan Johnson’s 16 points weren’t enough to help the Wildcats keep up with the Trojans. Charles Mitchell scored 11 points. ...

Meanwhile the Parkview girls improved to 20-0 (11-0 in region play) with a commanding 57-43 win over Archer on Saturday. Score 44 standout Erika Joseph scored 16 points as did Marissa Madneldove and Vicky Harris. ...

Lexie Brown of North Gwinnett exploded for 25 points at the Kay Yow Girls Night Out Tournament at Starr’s Mill in a 41-37 win over Dutch Fork (S.C.). ...

Norcross was also victorious in the event, taking out Center Point (Ala.) 62-35 behind 20 points from Shayle Cooper and 16 and eight from Patrice Butler. Norcross was playing without Diamond DeShields, who will miss 2-3 weeks with a fractured wrist, according to WXIA’s Sam Crenshaw, who spoke with Norcross coach Angie Hembree.

How in the World will UGA move on?

2012-01-19T09:38:00.000-05:00

The deadline for underclassmen to have declared for the NFL draft has passed, and while those juniors and redshirt sophomores can still return to school, you have a general idea of who is leaving and who is staying. After last weekend’s playoffs you get the idea that athletic tight ends are quickly becoming the new rage in the League, and the University of Georgia’s Orson Charles has thrown his hat into the ring.

Charles came to the University with plenty of fanfare, waiting until after National Signing Day 2009 to official sign with the Dawgs along with teammate Aaron Murray. At 6-foot-3, 241-pounds with incredible hands, Georgia fans thought they were getting a matchup nightmare that would exploit defenses all the way to All-American status.

Well that never really happened, which is curious. Georgia has a decorated history of using tight ends with great success, but Charles never reached the blow-away level. His career high was six catches in a ball game, which he pulled off twice. He did have 109 receiving yards against Boise State earlier this year, but his last touchdown catch came against New Mexico State last year and he only caught 10 touchdown passes in his three-year career.

As a junior Charles led the team with 44 receptions, but really, just 44 catches? Wasn’t Charles going to step in and be The Guy now that AJ Green was in the NFL? He had just five scores this season, three coming against non-conference opponents in the regular season. Two touchdowns as a sophomore after three as a freshman? 1,368 career yards and 10 scores on 93 catches, that is what Georgia will have to replace. Honestly, I am not certain that Mark Richt is necessarily worried about that. Not with Jay Rome redshirting this past season (Rome had nearly the hype that Charles did coming out of high school), and not with the best returning group of wide receivers in the conference.

Would it have been nice to have Orson Charles stick around for his final year of eligibility? Sure. But let’s not start fretting over the loss of a tight end that only managed three touchdowns per season in an offense that thrives on play-action in the red zone. Georgia’s offense will be just fine.

Buford's AJ Davis "still getting back in the swing of things"

2012-01-18T11:35:00.000-05:00

Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, VA) has owned the state of Georgia this year as the boys team has dominated Peach State competition for a 3-0 record. Back in October, the Warriors beat Covenant Christian 91-54 before thumping Harrison 102-69 in November. Last month Oak Hill survived Miller Grove 82-78 in Atlanta. The Wesleyan girls however exacted a measure of revenge, taking out the Oak Hill girls squad 60-50 and handing the Warriors their second loss of the season. Score 44 standout Holli Wilkins had 14 points and six rebounds while Brittany Stevens tossed in 12 points and dished out six assists. Wesleyan is ranked No. 1 in Class A. ...

A.J. Davis won a state title last season with the Spartans of Greater Atlanta Christian. In the title game, Davis and company defeated Buford; however, Davis left GAC and now plays for the Buford Wolves though he was just recently declared eligible by the GHSA. In his first action, Davis scored just three points in a loss to his former team. He did snare seven rebounds, block two shots and pick off two steals. Shun Williams of On The Radar Hoops was at Buford’s game against Whitefield Academy (16 points for Davis) and told Score Atlanta that Davis, “played okay, still getting back in the swing of things.” Davis was a force as a second option last season with Malcolm Brogdon. He will be counted on to help T.J. Shipes out at Buford. ...

North Gwinnett traveled to the House of Blue last night for a doubleheader of games that had folks across Region 7-AAAAA no doubt intrigued. Chris Bolden played well against his former team, helping his new one prevail 67-54. Bolden was in foul trouble most of the night but still contributed nine points and seven rebounds. A.J. Clements and Kwesi Abakah combined for 36 points. In the girls game, Diamond DeShields battled through an injured hand to help Norcross snap North Gwinnett’s 12-game winning streak with a 48-37 victory.

Braves sign three players to avoid arbitration

2012-01-17T17:46:00.001-05:00

The Atlanta Braves avoided salary arbitration hearings with the team’s three remaining arbitration-eligible players Tuesday, agreeing to one-year contracts with starter Jair Jurrjens, reliever Eric O’Flaherty and outfielder Michael Bourn. The financial terms of the deals were not disclosed by the team, but Mark Bowman of MLB.com reported that Bourn will make $6.845M while Jurrjens will make $5.5M, with another $150,000 in incentives. Bowman also reported that O’Flaherty will make $2.49M this season.

One season ago, Jurrjens made the all-star team after posting a 12-3 record through July 6. Jurrjens would miss large chunks of August and all of September to finish with a 13-6 record and a 2.96 ERA after a 1.87 ERA at the break. Jurrjens has topped 200 innings just once in his four years with the Braves and has appeared in just 43 games the last two years. The team guaged interest in Jurrjens over the off-season but elected to bring back the 25-year-old who will be 26 when the season starts.

Bourn meanwhile was acquired by Atlanta at the trading deadline one year ago for Jordan Schafer and three minor league pitchers. Bourn won golden glove awards in 2009 and 2010 and was an all-star in 2010. His 61 steals led the National League one year ago, racking up 22 in 29 chances after being traded to Atlanta. He has a MLB-best 174 over the last three years. Last season’s .294 average was also a career-high, though his average dipped slightly after coming to the Braves. Bourn does give the Braves a legit leadoff man and table-setter that the team has not had since Rafael Furcal.

O’Flaherty meanwhile was a standout one year ago, appearing in 78 games and posting just a .98 ERA in 73.2 innings of work. O’Flaherty’s WHIP was a microscopic 1.086, and he allowed just 59 hits and eight earned runs while serving as primarily the seventh inning reliever, regardless of who was hitting. Unlike Bourn and Jurrjens, O’Flaherty has one more season of arbitration eligibility.

The three deals, combined with last week’s signings of Martin Prado and Jack Wilson mean that the Braves have now agreed to terms with all arbitration-eligible players on the team’s 40-man roster.

Recruiting Buzz: Sloter receives another offer

2012-01-17T08:38:00.001-05:00

Mount Pisgah’s Kyle Sloter has been tearing it up on the basketball court of late, but football is likely where the 6-foot-4 senior will make his impact at the next level. Sloter, who committed to Tulane last fall, returned from his official visit to the school Sunday night and found another offer waiting for him upon his return. According to Sloter’s father, Southern Miss offered the quarterback and several other schools have shown interest including Arkansas. The official visit was “a great time” for Sloter though and he is “still committed to them at this time.” ...

Jim Mora Jr., pulled in another Lassiter prospect to UCLA. Eddie Printz, who backed off of a commitment to SMU after June Jones began flirting with other jobs, pledged to play for the Bruins following his upcoming senior season. Lassiter teammate Kene Orjioke will sign with UCLA in February. ...

Statesboro offensive lineman Freddie Burden committed to Paul Johnson and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets over the weekend in what may have been the biggest recruiting weekend of the year for Georgia Tech. Burden is Tech’s 15th commitment and second from Statesboro. Wide receiver Micheal Summers pledged earlier this year. ...

Alabama is expected to only be able to sign 25 players this February, and following the recent Under Armour and US Army All-America all-star games, the first previous pledge to have his scholarship put on hold is North Atlanta’s Justin Taylor. The running back prospect committed to Alabama last February but was told by the Crimson Tide coaching staff that he will not be able to sign with Alabama this year. According to Michael Carvell, Taylor, who missed his senior season with a knee injury, was informed that he was the No. 26 player in a class of 25, despite pledging nearly one year ago. Taylor will stay in Georgia and rehab his injury and be ready to sign in 2013, according to the AJC.

Norcross girls see long streak end

2012-01-16T07:57:00.000-05:00

No. 2 Shiloh fell to No. 10 Berkmar 46-45 after Score 44 guard Yonel Brown connected with less than two seconds to play in the fourth. Brown finished with 13 points and Tim Rowe led the Patriots with 14 points. Shiloh’s Robert Carter led all scorers with 17 points. ...

The Norcross boys got a huge third-quarter effort to knock off the Hawks of Mill Creek 58-49 at the House of Blue. The Blue Devils outscored Mill Creek 21-6 in the third frame to turn a halftime deficit into an 11-point lead. Derrick Herbert had 23 point for Norcross. ...

Diamond DeShields scored 26 points to help the Norcross girls team defeat Mill Creek 62-48. Jasmine Carter had 10 points for the Hawks. Saturday though was a different story for Norcross as the girls squad fell to Riverdale (TN) 63-40. Jasmine Kemp had15 rebounds, but DeShields was in foul trouble all game long, fouling out in the fourth with just six points. ...

Chris Bolden had a huge weekend for North Gwinnett, scoring 16 points in a Bulldogs 58-41 win over Meadowcreek Friday and then had 28 points (22 in the first half) in a 72-50 win over McEachern. ...

The No. 1 girls team in Class AAAAA McEachern took down No. 5 Hillgrove 77-40 after forcing 25 Hawks turnovers. Score 44 standout Pachiayaanna Roberts had 26 points and eight steals for McEachern. The Indians pulled away with a 23-6 second quarter. ...

Marissa Mandeldove scored 24 points to help Parkview defeat Salem 63-43 Saturday. Score 44 member Erika Joseph scored 12 points in the win. ...

Alpharetta’s Kylee Smith had 25 points as No. 9 Alpharetta upset Buford 60-42 in the Peach State Hoops Battle of Southeast. ... Score 44 standout Marshall Guillmete contributed 11 points to Harrison’s 72-63 win over South Gwinnett. Logan Adams had 24 points and 19 rebounds for the Comets

A Tired Story

2012-01-13T12:14:00.001-05:00

This is from this week's The Fletch. Check out Score Atlanta for more!

Late last week ESPN New York writer and First Take hack Rob Parker, who is from Detroit for the record, decided to rip the city of Atlanta for being the “worst sports town in America.” He noted that the city didn’t deserve a Falcons win against the Giants in the NFL playoffs because the city is awful.

At one point he wrote “If the New York Yankees are the standard for excellence in baseball, Atlanta is the epitome of the bottom of the barrel when it comes to fan support.” Really, I’d think it would be Mets fans. How many sellouts have the Mets recorded in the history of Citi Field?

Parker notes that the Falcons fans are some of the worst fans in the country. “They just don’t get it. They are both missing in action and simply not passionate enough to appreciate their team winning in the NFL playoffs and moving on to the next round.” Hmm, that is weird. Ever since Arthur Blank bought the team, it seems as though the Georgia Dome is constantly packed with folks. And I listened to sports talk radio the day after the game. If he wants passion, tell him to turn the radio on.

After Parker mocks Atlanta fans saying, “at some point, they might ask a friend -- filled with sweet tea -- at a pork-saturated barbeque, ‘Are the Falcons playing today?’ Pathetic,” I’d ask him to please make sure no other NFL fanbases are tailgating Sundays before the games. Wait, they ARE? Would we consider them pathetic too?

He demanded that fans should have been calling for heads to roll after the Braves collapsed down the stretch but “most probably didn’t even notice,” the Braves missing the playoffs. Did he want Gonzalez fired after his FIRST YEAR with a club that featured several players suffering injuries and relying on rookies in several huge positions?

He ended his column by bashing Atlanta for losing two hockey teams, blaming to fans and not the Spirit Group who openly admitted that they didn’t know a whole heck of a lot when they originally were awarded the Thrashers. Apparently our “lame fans” didn’t deserve a hockey team nor did they deserve a win over the Giants in the playoffs. I forget Mr. Parker, how are the Islanders doing these days? Would anyone notice if they left. Step away from hockey for a minute. How many BASEBALL teams has New York City lost. You know, America’s National Pasttime? Two? WOW, has a city ever had that happen before? Oh, Washington DC has as well? Gosh, let’s just gloss over those two markets if we could.

College football loves Atlanta because of the fan support. The NCAA keeps putting Final Fours in Atlanta I guess because it is a terrible sports town. (How many Final Fours has New York hosted recently, I forget.) I guess the awful fans at the Highlight Factory didn’t help the Hawks make it to the second round of the playoffs last year, right? I guess the fans are to blame for the Georgia Dome nearly blowing its roof last year when the Falcons hosted the Packers.

I am tired of this column, which gets drudged up every so often when lazy sports writers cannot think of an original idea so they recycle a dead horse story to get people fired up. Oh just make fun of the south. They are ignorant down there and this will probably go over their heads. Actually Mr. Parker you sound ignorant when you say a team shouldn’t win a game because the fans are lame and don’t deserve it. You are simply an attention seeker and you accomplished your goal: I know your name now. But it is a name I will avoid because you come up with angles like this. Congrats you got my click on this article. You will get no more.

Centennial names Carlberg new FB coach

2012-01-12T08:43:00.001-05:00

Kendall Crute started out the 2011-12 school year as the Kell Longhorns quarterback in the Corky Kell Classic. He has since transitioned to the basketball court and is lighting it up. Crute scored 22 points for the Longhorns as Kell tried to rally from a 27-9 first quarter hole and a 48-24 halftime deficit. Alexander however received 30 points from Arien Parks in the 102-85 Cougar victory. Crute is just a sophomore but he also has several schools around the southeast interested in his basketball abilities. ...

The North Gwinnett girls basketball squad has now won 11 straight games, including five straight in Region 7-AAAAA play, thanks in large part to Lexie Brown. The junior and daughter of NBA great Dee Brown scored 22 points in the Bulldogs recent 55-41 victory. Peyton Whitted also chipped in with 16 points for coach Bryan Sellers. ...

From the “It’s about time” desk, Grayson quarterback Nick Schuessler, who just weeks ago led the Rams to the Class AAAAA state title, finally received a college scholarship offer. Middle Tennessee State came through with a big for the 6-foot-4 signal caller who was featured on the Score 44 this season. Schuessler was 25-3 in his career as the Grayson starting quarterback, and he tossed a pair of scores in the Rams 24-0 victory over Walton at the Georgia Dome. ...

Finally Centennial named Jeffrey Carlberg its new football coach. Carlberg spent the last two years as Alpharetta’s defensive coordinator after serving as Lassiter’s defensive coordinator for two years. He has previously served as a head coach in Kentucky and assisted Bob Sphire when the North Gwinnett coach was at Lexington (Ky.) Catholic. Said Carlberg of the opportunity with the Knights, “I can’t wait to wrap my arms around the program and get people excited about football at Centennial.”

GHSA agrees to split Class A playoffs

2012-01-11T16:46:00.002-05:00

The GHSA executive committee convened Tuesday to ratify the Reclassification Committee’s proposal for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school year. During the meeting, several representatives from the GPSA addressed the committee, and the committee ultimately decided to split Class A into private and public categories. According to Jonathan Heeter of Macon.com, the vote was 36-12-1in favor of a split. Regions were ratified but the playoffs in Class A will award a private and a public championship in every sport. The split goes into effect starting in 2012-13. The GHSA will now distribute seven championships overall. ...

Centennial’s 2012 MLK Holiday Basketball Tournament has featured one amendment to its blockbuster schedule of games. The Walton boys will now face Fayette County and not Chamblee. Monday’s schedule kicks off at 9:15 A.M. with the Chamblee girls facing Providence Christian, followed by the Centennial girls facing Sprayberry. The boys take the floor beginning at 12:45 with Alpharetta facing Lithonia. Dunwoody meets Wesleyan followed by Walton and Fayette County, ranked No. 2 in the latest Score Atlanta Class AAAA poll. Stockbridge and Centennial wrap up the day at 6:00 P.M. ...

The Peachtree Ridge girls team has been hot of late from downtown. Against Roswell, the team shot 50% fromthe outside with Melissa Turvy going 4-for-6 from the outside. ...

Thomson boys basketball coach Michael Thomas was seeking his 500th win last night as Thomson hosted Harlem. There was very little drama as John Atkins had 17 points for Thomson in a 101-36 victory. After the win it was announced that today would be Michael Thomas Day in Thomson. ...

Finally after several outstanding seasons with the East Paulding football program, John Reid has left the Raiders to become the head coach at Tift County.

Saturday, Saturday, SATURDAY!

2012-01-11T16:46:00.001-05:00

If 12-foot high, 10-thousand-pound, thundering Monster Trucks with 66-inch wheels don’t get your heart pumping and your adrenaline racing, you may not have a soul. The Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam is returning to the Georgia Dome this Saturday, and some of the rawest beasts of the Monster Truck circuit will make their way to a custom-designed track on the Georgia Dome floor. These damage-seeking supercharged machines will soar over some obstacles and smash through others while delighting fans of all ages in what is sure to be the biggest lineup of Monster Trucks ever at the Georgia Dome. It will take an eight-person crew three days to construct the course, with dump trucks taking 200 loads of dirt onto the Georgia Dome floor. Nearly 3,500 cubic yards of dirt will be used for the large fiberglass animals. Forty crush cars and four crush vans will also be wheeled out for certain destruction.

Fans will be treated to 16 different USHRA Monster Trucks including Grave Digger, Madusa, Maximum Destruction, Monster Mutt, El Toro Loco, Stone Crusher, Monster Magic, King Krunch, Grave Digger The Legend and Iron Warrior, among others. World class drivers Dennis Anderson, Lupe Soza, Adam Anderson, Neil Elliot, Chuck Werner, Joe Miller, Steve Sims, Madusa and Mike Vaters will be just some of the men behind the wheels of these incredible machines.

For new fans not quite familiar with what goes on at the Monster Jam events, the trucks will face off in two different forms of competition: stadium racing and freestyle. Stadium racing is just what it sounds like: two cars racing side-by-side up to 70 MPH with the first truck to cross the finish line with the least number of penalties being declared the winner. While the racing is incredibly exciting, the true fun is in the freestyle competition, which allows drivers a certain length of time to show off tricks on an open floor. Some tricks include stunts such as wheelies, while other tricks see the trucks soar over cars lined up in a row. Fans are the judges in the freestyle competition. Points in the freestyle competition are awarded by the number and variety of tricks, hitting the most obstacles on the track, the height of jumps, saves and Sky Wheelies, while points are deducted for rollovers, reverses and stops.

The Monster Jam event leads up to the World Finals in Las Vegas. The USHRA invites 24 of the top trucks to the event to compete in the World Freestyle and Racing Championships, much to the delight of Monster Jam’s four million fans across the country.

Unlike most other sports, the Monster Jam allows the fans to come right down and meet all of the drivers and see all of the trucks up close. Fans can participate in the Party in the Pits event, where they can take pictures and snag autographs for three solid hours leading up to the event with all of the drivers and the trucks. If you’ve never had the chance to catch a Monster Truck competition, check out Monster Jam at the Georgia Dome. Your pulse is guaranteed to race and your eyes will widen with each smash, crash and pop.

2011 Report Card Time for the Dawgs

2012-01-11T13:36:00.000-05:00

Word has come out that Georgia will be a top ten team in 2012 based on who is coming back and who isn’t, but let’s worry about 2012 after we know for certain which underclassmen will continue to tote around a backpack in Athens next semester. Instead let’s take a look back at the 2011 edition of the Georgia Bulldogs that saw the team experience a ten-game winning streak bookended by a pair of two-game skids. The Georgia Bulldogs won the SEC East after dropping just one conference game but many will point out that the highest profile win for the Dawgs this year was over in-state rival Georgia Tech, which plays in the lowly ACC. How do these Dawgs grade out?

Quarterbacks: Aaron Murray set all sorts of records in his redshirt sophomore season, but sadly he also gave Bulldog Nation some awful Joe Cox flashbacks at times. When on, Murray was All-SEC, but when off he led many to call for Hutson Mason. Mark Richt will ride with Murray for two more years and Mason may end up transferring. Grade: B

Running backs: Isaiah Crowell was supposed to be the recruit that saved Richt’s job. Crowell signed on the dotted line last February, but he may not even make it to a sophomore season if his actions and injuries continue the way they are currently trending. Crowell was talented enough to earn SEC Freshman of the Year honors, but that fact simply makes the performances (or lack thereof) in the SEC championship game and bowl game even more frustrating. Crowell missed large chunks of games with injuries and “injuries,” and he could not be counted upon after the Auburn game. And no one else could seize gig from him. Not good. Grade: C-

Wide receivers: Outside of Arkansas, this was the best collection of receivers in the conference. Michael Bennett, Malcolm Mitchell and Chris Conley all stood out in their first year in between the hedges. Tavarres King set a school record for yards in the bowl game, and Marlon Brown made a few nice plays for the Dawgs this year. The best part: all of these guys are returning next year along with a few players redshirted this year and Blake Tibbs from the high school ranks. Grade: A

Tight ends: Based on the talent, this position should receive an A++, but the tight ends were a bit disappointing this year as Orson Charles just never exploded as we thought he would. That probably has something to do with the receivers showing as they did, but alas more was expected. Aron White was a really nice piece, but you just wanted more. Grade: B-

Offensive line: This unit was a big question mark coming into the season, and Cordy Glenn and Ben Jones made this line into a fine front. The collection of beef was bigger than even most NFL lines, but it never could effectively open holes for anyone not named Crowell. And LSU manhandled the line as did South Carolina. Solid, not great, like the tight ends. Grade: B-

Defensive line: John Jenkins and Kwame Geathers formed one of the strongest centers to a 3-4 line that has been seen in the SEC in years. Abry Jones, Garrison Smith and DeAngelo Tyson really made plays from the end positions, with Smith looking like a superstar set to explode in 2012. The line came to play in 2011. Grade: A-

Linebackers: You have to start any discussion of the linebackers with Jarvis Jones, boy howdy. The USC transfer was simply awesome from the moment he strapped on the silver britches, and he alone would have gotten this unit an A. Factor in Alec Ogletree’s transition to the ILB spot and Michael Gilliard, Christian Robinson, Ramik Wilson and Amarlo Herrera and you have some impressive specimen on the Athens campus. This group was so good that Ray Drew, one of the feathers in Mark Richt’s recruiting cap from 2011, didn’t have much of an impact at all. Grade: A+

Secondary: Brandon Boykin was a stud on special teams and even made some plays on offense. Defensively, he was as strong as ever, and Sanders Commings and Branden Smith also played well on the opposite side of the field. Damian Swann looks like a playmaker in the upcoming years. At safety, Bacarri Rambo was a ballhawk, leading the team in interceptions, while Shawn Williams was sticking his nose in seemingly every tackle on the field. The secondary was rarely beaten and made more plays than it missed. Grade: B+

Kicking game: let’s move on. I don’t want to be mean.

Coaching: Richt kept his team believing after an 0-2 start while Todd Grantham had the defense flying all over the field after the first two games. Mike Bobo really seemed to help in Murray’s maturation process though his inability to figure out the rushing attack bothered many in the bowl game. Both coordinators have warts but both also had great moments in 2011. Grade: B-.

Assuming the early entry defections aren’t over-the-top, the Dawgs rightfully should be a top 12 team, maybe even a No. 8 or No. 9. Will 2012 be the year Richt brings the Crystal Football to Athens? The schedule looks favorable. Things may be falling into place for the Georgia program.

Score Final 50 No. 1 Jenkins headed to Georgia

2012-01-10T08:55:00.001-05:00

Jordan Jenkins, the No. 1 player on the Score Final 50 list, announced his college decision last night, selecting to matriculate to the University of Georgia. Alabama, Florida and Auburn were the three other finalists for the Harris County defensive end’s services. Jenkins recently tied a Under Armour All-America game record with two sacks. He announced his decision on television last night, noting that the Georgia Bulldogs made up ground over his projected leader Alabama. ...

South Carolina snagged yet another McEachern product when Nicholas St. Germain decided to go and kick for Steve Spurrier and the South Carolina Gamecocks. St. Germain will join his current teammate Darius English, a defensive end standout, in Columbia while Rory Anderson and Marcquis Roberts both committed to the Gamecocks one year ago. The McEachern program will send a handful of players on to the next level including QB Trent Thompson (Georgia State), WR Amba Etta-Tawo (Maryland) and OG Kofi Amichia (South Florida). ...

The Georgia Bulldogs didn’t want to miss out on one of the top players for the Class of 2013, so the Dawgs offered Dooly County defensive tackle Montravius Adams. The 6-foot-4 280-pound monster dominated at the recent AT&T Georgia Junior Bowl practices and has gobbled up offers from team across the Southeast. Alabama, Auburn and Kentucky have reportedly also offered. ...

In one of the worst-kept secrets of the 2012 recruiting cycle, Benneker’s Chaz Elder pledged to South Carolina during last week’s Under Armour All-America game. Elder had a final three of the Gamecocks, the Georgia Bulldogs and Vanderbilt.

GHSA meets today to finalize reclassification

2012-01-10T08:54:00.000-05:00

The GHSA will meet today to finalize the reclassification and realignment of member schools for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years. Several schools submitted appeals for lateral moves, and the board will review those cases before ratifying the classes. ...

According to Macon.com, the proposed GPSA met yesterday in Macon but the media was asked to leave before the meeting could begin. More than 44 schools were said to be on hand at the event. ...

Thomson boys basketball coach Michael Thomas will attempt to win career victory No. 500 tonight when Thomson hosts Harlem. This is 30th season with Thomson High School, and he has racked up eight region titles and two semifinal appearances. Thomson is 12-1 this season and ranked No. 2 in the latest Score Atlanta Class AAA rankings. ...

Lakeview Academy Seth Vining notched win No. 714 Friday night with a huge 75-12 win over Tallulah Falls in his 1000th game as a varsity head coach. Vining has won four state champions though Zac Taylor of the Gainesville Times believes that this may be his best team at Lakeview. ...

The Osborne Cardinals boys basketball team has not made the state playoffs since 2002, but with a 13-1 start, eight seniors are trying to snap that dubious streak. Devontae Thornton leads the team with 18 points per game, and at 6-foot-8, he forms quite the tall frontcourt along with 6-foot-6 forward Jacari Edmonds. Osborne won just nine games one year ago. ...

Brandon Goodwin is helping Norcross forget an 0-4 start as the Blue Devils have started Region Play 5-0. Goodwin scored 31 points in a recent game against Collins Hill. Goodwin is one of four juniors on the Blue Devils roster.

Putting a bow on the 2011 HS Football season

2012-01-09T13:42:00.000-05:00

The West squad won the US Army All-American Bowl over the weekend, but several Georgians made some nice contributions for the East Team. Lowndes Josh Clemons finished with three tackles and one TFL but Barton Simmons of 247Sports said that “he seemed like he was everywhere.” Simmons also praised Clemons long arms and said he showed great range. Mike Davis ran for just 13 yards on six carries but he did chip in with 31 receiving yards on two carches. Of Davis, Simmons said, “The manner in which Davis goes about his business is hard not to like. He is a north-south back that has a running style made for the NFL.”

Georgia had six players in the US Army All-American Bowl, including Dillon Lee, Geno Smith, Raphael Kirby and Ukeme Eligwe in addition to Davis and Clemons. Two coaches also served as East assistants as Duluth’s Corey Jarvis and Lowndes’ Randy McPherson roamed the San Antonio sidelines.

In the Under Armour All-America game last Thursday, Jordan Jenkins tied former Buford standout Omar Hunter’s sack record as the Harris County defensive end recorded a pair of quarterback takedowns. He did not declare his college intentions, and instead he is scheduled to announce today.

Meanwhile Chaz Elder of Banneker revealed during the game that he is headed to play for Steve Spurrier and the South Carolina Gamecocks. Joshua Holsey, John Atkins, Brandon Greene and Austin Hardin also appeared in the game along with several other Peach State natives. Georgia had 10 players represented at the Under Armour All-America game.

In local all-star games, the North beat the South in the GACA all-star game and the West held off the East in the AT&T Georgia Junior Bowl. Joshua Dobbs, Carlos Burse and Tray Matthews were outstanding in the Junior Bowl, presented by Rising Seniors. Meanwhile Carver-Columbus’ Deion Bonner snagged two interceptions in the GACA North-South All-Star Football Classic.

Georgia High School Basketball Class AAAAA...so far

2012-01-09T13:41:00.000-05:00

The Norcross Blue Devils captured both the boys and girls titles in 2011 but so far this season, each is flying a bit under the radar. The boys team struggled out of the gate and is not currently ranked as coach Jesse McMillan is breaking in nearly an entirely new team due to transfers and graduation. The Blue Devils started out slowly out of the gates one year ago however and it seems as though the Norcross boys have found their footing in region play (7-6, 5-0). The girls meanwhile dropped an early season game to McEachern and fell to No. 2 behind the Indians in the Score Atlanta rankings. ... McEachern meanwhile is ranked No. 4 in the latest ESPN Rise Fab 50 national poll and is led by a trio of Score 44 members. ... Robert Carter of Shiloh has been dubbed one of the Big Three in Georgia’s Class of 2012, but Carter may not even be the best player on his own team. Sophomore Trayvon Reed measures out at 7-feet and he was dominating recently against South Gwinnett. Reed scored 14 points, pulled in six rebounds and swatted away five shots in a victory over the weekend. Shiloh was recently No. 1 in the Score Atlanta poll but is now behind Milton. The Eagles are rolling now that Charless Mann is eligible to play and suiting up for coach David Boyd. Milton was forced to forfeit several victories from early on in the season, but with Mann teamming up with Evan Nolte, Tevin Glass and Shaq Johnson, this Milton squad will be tough to defeat. ... The Wheeler boys have been impressive this season and it starts down low with Charles Mitchell. The post player has been dominating this year and the offers have started pouring in for the 6-foot-9 big man. ... Finally what is in the water at North Cobb and Mill Creek? Both programs have both their boys and girls teams ranked in the top ten. The Mill Creek girls have won nine straight while the North Cobb boys have clamped down on defense, allowing a region-low 52 points per game.

Weekend ponderations on the GaHSBBall landscape

2012-01-09T13:40:00.000-05:00

The Miller Grove Wolverines were on ESPN2 Saturday night, facing the No. 1 team in the entire nation Simeon. The Score Atlanta Class AAAA No. 1 team fought hard but ultimately fell 59-56 after not getting a good look at the end of the game. The loss was the fifth straight for Miller Grove, a stretch that began with a loss on ESPN to Powerade Fab 50 No. 3 Oak Hill. Tony Parker notched 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help Miller Grove rally from down 35-20 at halftime to take a 44-43 lead in the fourth quarter. The Wolverines eleiminated many of the turnover that forced the early deficit to spark a 24-8 run to start the second half. ... Robert Carter of Shiloh has been dubbed one of the Big Three in Georgia’s Class of 2012, but Carter may not even be the best player on his own team. Sophomore Trayvon Reed measures out at 7-feet and he was dominating recently against South Gwinnett. Reed scored 14 points, pulled in six rebounds and swatted away five shots. ... The Brookwood/Parkview rivalry and the battle of Five Forks-Trickum moved to the hardwood over the weekend and the two schools split Saturday night. The Parkview girls tallied 12 steals and forced 27 turnovers in a 52-25 victory over the Lady Broncos. Marrisa Madneldove had 16 points in the win. Meanwhile the Broncos boys redeemed the girls squad with a 55-43 victory. Kendall Joseph sparked Brookwood with 14 points while Parkview was paced by Andre Chatfield’s 13 points. ... Lakeview Academy Seth Vining notched win No. 714 Friday night with a huge win over Tallulah Falls in his 1000th game as a varsity head coach. Vining has won four state champions though Zac Taylor of the Gainesville Times believes that this may be his best team at Lakeview.

Playing Psychologist Doesn't Win Games

2012-01-06T08:37:00.002-05:00

Thanks to JCole for the inspiration for this entry

Blair Walsh had put together a stellar career entering his senior season at the University of Georgia. The kicker was on pace to set the school and SEC scoring records and become a high (for a kicker) draft pick in the upcoming NFL draft.

Then his senior season started and he was not very good. Walsh missed kick after kick this year, to the point that head coach Mark Richt actually let Brandon Bogotay kick a few field goals and extra points late in the season. Against Florida, Richt twice went for 4th-and-long situations because of Walsh’s struggles, err I mean because the team needed seven, not three.

Walsh ended up breaking former Georgia kicker Billy Bennett’s career SEC scoring record with 412 points, but his struggles on the year (21-of-35 on field goals) left many Georgia fans cringing and clinching whenever he trotted onto the field on fourth down.

Richt tried to play psychologist all season when he continued to send Walsh out there, trying to get his senior kicker through the rough patch by having him simply kick through it. That didn’t seem to work. After the Georgia defense came up with a big stop in the first overtime session, Richt was playing psychologist again, running for a minimal no-risk gain on first down and squaring the ball up for a 42-yard attempt on second down. He wanted to send Walsh out a “hero,” as though none of the Bulldog Nation would remember his year-long struggles if he made that kick.

Of course it missed, and after squeaking the second attempt in in overtime No. 2, he was called on to extend the game in overtime session No. 3 from 47 yards out. I know the popular sentiment is that kickers have just one job: kick it through the uprights, but I don’t really blame Walsh for missing in overtime No. 1 or having his last attempt blocked. Nope. I blame Richt.

Quit playing psychologist and go win the game. Don’t try and redeem your kicker. Ram it down the Spartans’ throats and build up your momentum for 2012. Go to the air to Malcolm Mitchell or Tavarres King for a game-winning touchdown. Win by six.

I am not sure why Richt chose overtime with so much on the line to give Walsh a shot at redemption, but with a stacked team in 2012, let’s hope the psychologist stays at home and the coach with the killer instinct comes to the sidelines.

Georgia State basketball is on Fi-yah!

2012-01-05T11:51:00.001-05:00

With all of the struggles for the nomadic Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the rebuilding Georgia Bulldogs, the Georgia State Panthers are quickly becoming the state’s best college basketball product. Last night the Panthers traveled to Richmond and took down 2011 Final Four participant VCU 55-53 in a key early CAA conference game. The Panthers used a matchup zone to limit the Rams to just 27 percent shooting, switching between a 3-2 and a 1-3-1 to force 10 turnovers by the Rams.

Jihad Ali led Georgia State with 17 points while grabbing 11 rebounds as the Panthers posted a school-record 11th straight win. The Panthers improved to 3-0 in conference play (11-3 overall) in coach Ron Hunter’s first season on the bench. VCU fell to 11-4, 2-1.

Leading scorer Devonta White was held scoreless in the first half, but the Panthers still led at intermission. White would score 14 points in the second half, including a pair of three-point bombs to help Georgia State jump out to a nine-point lead. Josh Micheaux chipped in eight points, six rebounds, three blocks, four assists and a pair of steals. James Fields was clutch at the line, going 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. VCU tried to mount a late comeback but was turned away. It was the second victory in the Panthers last three games against the Rams.

“Our team played hard and left it all on the court,” said Hunter to Georgia State’s website. “I am just happy for my players. They have worked hard and they deserve this win.”

Georgia State’s 11-3 start is the best start since an 11-1 beginning to the 2000-01 season. After beginning the year 0-3, the Panthers have caught fire. The streak started Nov. 18 at home against McNeese State. The Panthers gave Hunter his first official win with a 69-50 decision thanks in large part to White’s career-high 23 points. The Panthers dominated the second half, a trend that has continued throughout the amazing run. Over the last 11 games, the Panthers have outscored opponents by 106 points in the second half, 403-297. Before last night, the Panthers had not been outscored in the second half until VCU edged them 28-27.

After a 55-47 win at Samford for win No. 2, the Panthers whipped Liberty 72-50 at the GSU Sports Arena. Ali was on fire in the second half as once again the Panthers dominated the second frame. Georgia State scored 35 in the second half to pull away with the win. Neither South Carolina State nor FIU offered much competition for Georgia State before the Panthers entered league play against William & Mary. Hunter’s zone defense set a conference record by giving up just 34 to the Tribe in a 66-34 win. Georgia State thrashed Rhode Island before heading out to Utah for a game against the Wolverines of Utah Valley. The Panthers needed every point they could find in the 71-68 squeaker. Micheaux contributed 12 points and eight rebounds while White and Ali added 17 and 16, respectively. Georgia State clobbered Georgia Southern by 20 before coming up with a huge 58-44 conference win over Drexel, one of the preseason CAA favorites. The Panthers snapped the Dragons six-game winning streak before ending VCU’s eight-game streak last night.
“We respect everyone in our league, but at the end of the day, we feel like we are a good basketball team too,” said Hunter.

Over the course of the streak, the Panthers defense has shut down the opposition to just over 51 points per game. Through three Colonial Athletic Association games, Georgia State has surrendered a hair over 43 points per game.

The Panthers are also getting it done on the road this year, winning all four of the team’s true road games. The only losses this year came on a neutral court in Seattle at the World Vision Classic.

Now Georgia State will visit former Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt and his George Mason Patriots this Saturday in Fairfax, Va. Georgia State will need to limit GMU’s offensive rebounding as the Panthers gave up 16 to VCU and 13 to Drexel in its previous two games. Should the winning streak continue, perhaps Hunter and his squad will see a few more votes come its way after the Panthers showed up recently in the “others receiving votes” for the College Insider Mid-Major Poll.

Put up or Shut up in 2012 for the Dawgs

2011-12-29T08:56:00.002-05:00

Georgia head coach Mark Richt is about to get a contract extension based on a ten game winning streak as well as an SEC East championship in 2011. While a majority of the fan base is perfectly happy with this, there is a small portion of the Bulldog Nation that wanted to blow Richt out and start over in 2012. That camp may just get its wish next year after Georgia’s 2012 schedule was finalized Wednesday.

The SEC is of course expanding, and with a new SEC East member, Georgia was forced to drop one member of the SEC West off the schedule to make room. That schedule deletion ended up being a road trip to Alabama to face Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide. Great news, right? Sure. The schedule suddenly got a heck of a lot easier with a trip to Missouri in week two and the trip to South Carolina pushed back to October 6, instead of the Gamecocks in week two and the Tide the first Saturday of October.

The schedule looks tailor-made for a trip back to the Georgia Dome for the SEC championship game. The four non-conference games include Buffalo, Florida Atlantic, Georgia Southern and in-state rival Georgia Tech, all at home. The Dawgs will get Tennessee at home and hit the road to visit Kentucky after an off-week. This schedule looks easily like a 11-1 or even a 12-0 possibility, but don’t worry anti-Richt fans as that is good news.

If you like Georgia, you’ll love a 11-1 or 12-0 season. If you hate Richt and he loses two games in the regular season, you’d have to think he’s gone. This schedule was the best thing to happen to all of the anti-Richt people out there. The pressure will be turned up to high to win with one of the easiest schedules in the SEC. If not, bye-bye. And if he DOES win and makes it back to the SEC title game, perhaps those fools can be quiet. Please?

Mark Richt's 2011 Christmas list

2011-12-20T10:08:00.001-05:00

Last year I was lucky enough to overhear UGA head coach Mark Richt asking Santa for a space eater for the middle of the the 3-4, a game-changing running back, a standout linebacker to take over for Justin Houston and a deep threat to replace AJ Green. Richt must have been a REALLY good boy last year as Santa brought him all four.

What did Richt ask for this year and will Santa be as kind to the Head Dawg? Word is Richt’s Christmas list isn’t as long but does have a few important items.

A screwdriver. Apparently Richt wants to tighten Isaiah Crowell’s head on straight so the SEC freshman of the year can follow up on his fast start and not so much on his eye brow-raising finish to the 2011 season. The Dawgs appear to have mega-recruit Keith Marshall coming to Athens for spring practice, but I am sure Richt and company would like to have a Crowell-Marshall (Maybe Mike Davis too?) attack instead of relying once again on a freshman to lead the ground game.

A broken fax machine. Several important underclassmen have requested NFL evaluations on where they may be drafted, and should Georgia lose just half, a potential SEC East championship could slip away. Cornelius Washington, Orson Charles, Bacarri Rambo, Sanders Commings and Aaron Murray all submitted paperwork to the NFL’s college advisory committee, asking for feedback on draft status. Murray and Commings both have hinted that they are just curious, but Charles, Rambo and Washington could/would likely jump if they hear second round or higher. If Georgia’s fax machine breaks and those guys cannot see a second round projection by the deadline, the Dawgs will look strong in 2012. (Though he should probably get it fixed by early February.)

An anti-scooter law passed in Athens. Countless Georgia players have gotten in trouble for issues involving scooters over the last few summers. If suddenly it is illegal to drive scooters, hopefully those arrests go away. Plus, it just looks silly to see a 340-pound lineman on a Vespa. Just saying.

Non-slip floors. The Dawgs cannot afford any torn ACLs by the offensive line this offseason. You cannot help it if an ACL tears on the practice field, but it would be awful for an off-the-field accident to take out a player that could contribute to what appears to be a young line returning in 2012.

Miller Grove falls to Oak Hill

2011-12-16T08:24:00.001-05:00

Miller Grove, the No. 1 team in the Score Atlanta Class AAAA poll and No. 2 in the national ESPN poll, faced No. 3 Oak Hill at Morehouse last night, and Tony Parker was a beast for the Wolverines. Miller Grove trailed entering the fourth quarter with missed free throws hurting the Wolverines cause. UGA-pledge Brandon Morris was dumping the ball low to Parker throughout the fourth as Oak Hill didn’t have an answer. Meanwhile Jordan Adams, a Georgia native and former Central Gwinnett star, had 13 points including one of two late from the free throw line as Oak Hill knocked off Miller Grove 82-78. Miller Grove had closed the gap to 77-75, but the Wolverines could get no closer as Oak Hill closed out the game from the free throw line. Tony Parker had 29 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. ...

West Hall High School has announced that Tony Lotti has been tapped as the new football coach. Lotti was an assistant at Woodland High School the last three years. Former coach Mike Newton was 12-38 in five years at West Hall. ...

The career of Travis Wildgoose is over at Athens Christian though Wildgoose does hope to continue his high school playing career at Rockdale County High School. Wildgoose, who transferred to Athens Christian over the summer from the Bahamas, rushed for more than 600 yards and four scores in three victories for the Athens Christian football team this season. The GHSA later ruled that he was ineligible after a paperwork error was made by International Experience, a foreign-exchange program that placed him at the Athens school. According to the Athens Banner-Herald he withdrew from Athens Christian earlier this week and is expected to enroll at Rockdale County and live with his uncle. He will also apply for a hardship exemption so that he could play immediately for Rockdale County’s basketball team and track team.

33 Class A schools considering defecting from GHSA

2011-12-16T08:23:00.000-05:00

GHSA reclassification has long been a controversial issue, and the new six-class format that has been agreed upon for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years have driven some schools to the brink. Earlier this week more than 80 representatives gathered in Rochelle, Ga., to discuss options for some of the smaller Class A public schools from south Georgia who feel they are being ignored by the GHSA and its reclassification committee. A total of 33 schools were represented and many of those plus others that were not present have let it be known that they are considering pulling out of the GHSA to perhaps join the Georgia Independent School Association (GISA) or create a Georgia’s third athletics association. As many as 45 schools could defect from the GHSA to form this new association.

GISA representatives were on hand at Tuesday’s impromptu meeting including executive director Jeff Jackson and assistant director Tommy Whittle. Should the public schools join the 134-member GISA, they would be placed in a “public school” division and separated into a different playoff bracket for the postseason. If the collection of public schools does not want to join GISA, some talk has been floated that the new association would use GISA in an advisory role or perhaps even as a managing role.

Wilcox County head football coach Mark Ledford, who’s team won a recent state title but lost to metro-Atlanta private school Wesleyan in another, led the discussion according to the Macon Telegraph. In a story on the paper’s website, Ledford said, “I think the turnout showed that it was more than just a few south Georgia schools upset about the classification issues.” Several Lincoln County representatives noted that most of the 33 schools were south Georgia Class A schools, but a few surprises were also at the meeting. Representatives from Tift County were also present and appeared ready to join the defections. Other schools according to various media outlets included Atkinson County, Baconton Charter, Calhoun County, Central-Talbotton, Charlton County, Chattahoochee County, Claxton, 2010 Class A football champion Clinch County, Dooly County, Echols, Glascock County, Gordon Lee, Hancock Central, Irwin County, Jenkins County, Johnson County, Lanier County, Miller County, Montgomery County, Randolph-Clay, Schley County, Seminole County, Social Circle, Stewart County, Taylor County, Terrell County, Twiggs County, Warren County, Washington-Wilkes, Wheeler County, Wilcox County and Wilkinson County.

The GHSA’s reclassified Class A still has 35 private schools competing with public schools, and the issue came to a head just a few weeks ago when four private schools reached the Class A semifinals in football. Many of the Class A public schools had been petitioning the GHSA to allow a split in postseason play, but the GHSA chose not to adopt such a scenario during its reclassification sessions.

Wilcox County Director of Athletics Donnie Clack told the Valdosta Daily Times that “We have been in eight to 10 meetings and (the GHSA) still hasn’t done anything about (a postseason split). The only option is to pull out of the GHSA.”

The next steps to the potential defection plan will be hatched over the next few weeks. An eight-member advisory committee was formed at last Tuesday’s meeting, and it is this group that will lead the effort. The committee plans to meet in Macon on Wednesday, according to S. Thomas Coleman of the AJC. At this meeting the committee members will draft bylaws and develop processes and procedures for a new association. All interested parties will be invited to meet January 4, 2012 to review the plans.

The GHSA will ratify the new classifications and regions on January 10, 2012 after schools are permitted a chance to petition for a lateral region change.

Milton forfeits three games

2011-12-14T12:55:00.001-05:00

The Milton Eagles had to give three victories back after it was ruled that guard Charles Mann was not 100% eligible for competition. Milton’s record falls to 4-4 from 7-1, though the team is 3-0 in region play and Mann is now eligible to play for the Eagles moving forward. Milton is ranked the No. 1 team in boys Class AAAAA in the Score Atlanta poll. Buford meanwhile picked up a forfeited win from when Milton, with Mann, defeated the Wolves 71-55 at Buford back in November. ...

According to various media outlets nearly 100 people representing 33 schools met in Rochelle, GA, yesterday to discuss whether or not some of the public schools in the new Class A classification would withdraw from the GHSA and form a new independent organization. The collection of schools, which could climb as high as 45 schools according to one source, would join the Georgia Independent School Association and compete in public schools playoff system. Another option would be to form a third athletics association with the GISA serving in an advisory or managing role. GISA representatives were on hand at the meeting including executive director Jeff Jackson and assistant director Tommy Whittle. Wilcox County head coach Mark Ledford told Macon.com, “I think the turnout showed that it was more than just a few south Georgia schools upset about the classification issues.” The group is planning more meetings over the next few weeks. ...

Etowah is searching for a new head coach after Bill Stewart left the Cherokee County school for a head coaching position in Alabama. Stewart was 47-20 at Etowah over six seasons. Stewart will begin teaching at the new James Clemens High School in Madison, Alabama, on January 2.

We Should be happy, right?

2011-12-13T21:25:00.000-05:00

Before the season I asked if anything short of the Outback Bowl was acceptable, and now that 2011 has played out, the Dawgs are Outback Bowl bound. We should be happy, right?

Aaron Murray and Orson Charles get a homecoming of sorts, and Georgia is back in a January Bowl after two straight late December snore-fest bowls. I guess folks in the Bulldog Nation should be pleased considering the bleakness that was the 0-2 start.

Still though, something feels off. The Outback Bowl is kind of a been-there-done-that situation isn’t it? I was holding out hope that the CapitalOne Bowl would take Arkansas, and the Dawgs would head west to the Cotton Bowl. That would have been fun and a new adventure. The CapitalOne Bowl would have been fun too against Nebraska. The Outback Bowl is against Michigan State. Didn’t Georgia JUST play Sparty in a bowl? Seems like it.

Don’t get me wrong, Georgia got to a fine bowl game but maybe if Tavarres King keeps his feet and doesn’t slip... If he snags the pass that hit him in the hands on the first drive... If Malcolm Mitchell doesn’t turn before he catches the pass... A better showing in the SEC Championship game may have gotten Georgia a better bowl game, but it is too late now. Georgia needs to use the practice to tune up for Michigan State. If Georgia smokes the Spartans, perhaps this is a top ten team entering 2012. If Georgia acts enh like some its fans are acting about this game, the momentum of a 10-game winning streak will be wasted. Hopefully Georgia is more excited about this game than I am.

Lassiter is loaded in 2012

2011-12-13T08:35:00.000-05:00

The Lassiter Trojans made a run to the Class AAAAA semifinals on the strength of a tough defensive secondary and some talented playmakers on offense. One of those offensive playmakers Juwan Dickey recently picked up a big offer as Oklahoma State offered the 24 2Look4 wide receiver. Dickey will take part in the upcoming Rising Seniors game, as will his teammate Eddie Printz. The latter will play quarterback for the East squad and is still committed to SMU according to his coach Jep Irwin. The head coach of SMU June Jones flirted with the Arizona State job before returning to the Mustangs. ...

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets picked up a pair of commitments over the weekend after Union Grove’s DJ White and Norcross’ Anthony Autry both declared their intentions to take their talents to the Flats. White is one of the top defensive back prospects in the state and decided upon Tech after decommitting from South Florida several weeks ago. Autry meanwhile will head to Tech as an athlete though he played WR and DB for the Blue Devils. ...

Deangelo Brown had a nice two-day stretch last weekend. First Brown helped Savannah Christian to the Class A title by holding Landmark Christian to just one field goal. Then Brown committed to Charlie Strong and the Louisville Cardinals. Brown had also considered South Florida and Georgia Tech. ...

Kirby Smart had to be smiling last Friday night in the Georgia Dome. The Alabama defensive coordinator was standing on the sidelines when linebacker Dillon Lee returned a fumbled punt 40 yards for a score with less than one minute to play and then another Crimson Tide pledge Adam Griffith nailed a 32-yard field goal to win the game in overtime. Mike Bobo, the UGA offensive coordinator, was also seen on the sidelines, speaking with Smart, a college teammate.

An early look to 2012

2011-12-13T08:34:00.000-05:00

It is never too early to begin looking ahead to the 2012 football season when six championship trophies will be handed out at the Georgia Dome in early December. Camden County will open its season up in the Georgia Dome next year and while the Wildcats new region figures to offer some stiffer competition, expect Camden County with JJ Green and Brice Ramsey to be a major player in the title chase. Fellow Region 1-AAAAAA power Colquitt County also returns several important pieces including quarterback Cole Seagraves, which could be enough to put the Packers back in the title picture. Expect Lassiter and Walton to also factor in as both return large chunks of their offensive attacks. ...

In AAAAA, Region 6 with Tucker, Stephenson, Southwest DeKalb and ML King figures to be a tough road to the playoffs but the champion will certainly be battle tested. Tucker will return Yusuf Minor and Juwaan Williams as the Tigers attempt to go back-to-back. Class AAAA could be wide open with reclassification and various graduations, but Grady could be a team to watch. The Grey Knights were young this year, though quite successful. ...

Buford moves up to AAA where the Wolves will find new region foes. Calhoun remains in AA and could possibly defend its newly-captured crown with only a handful of serious challengers. Class A looks incredibly stacked and could be the most competitive class in 2012. ...

For the third straight offseason, Twiggs County is searching for a new head coach. Josh Lowe stepped down after the season and the Cobras are once again in the market for a new coach. Dexter Copeland left before the 2010 season and Dexter Dawson coached the team to a 2-8 finish in 2010. Lowe was 0-10 this season.

A Metro look back at the GHSA championships...

2011-12-12T14:00:00.000-05:00

Nick Schuessler of Grayson threw just three passes but two went for scores, and the Rams won the first AAAAA title in the program’s history 24-0 over Walton. Schuessler was 3-3 for 108 yards but he connected with Callen Hightower for a pair of scores, and Robert Nkemdiche tallied 84 yards and one score on 17 carries. Callen Rhodes also hit a 35-yard field goal. ...

Walton may have finished second in Class AAAAA, but the Raiders have to feel good about their chances in 2012 with quarterback Parker McLeod and running back Tyren Jones returning. Both are just juniors, and both are featured on the 24 2Look4 for 2012. ... Cobb County is still without a champion since Marietta in 1967. Gwinnett meanwhile has won six state crowns since 2000 according to the Gwinnett Daily Post. ...

The Buford Wolves fell short of history after a tremendous rally with under three minutes to play in the Class AA title game against Calhoun. Sam Clay hit Paris Head on a 24-yard pass and Dillon Lee returned a fumble 40 yards for a score to force overtime but Score 44 kicker Adam Griffith connected on a 32-yard field goal to lead the Yellow Jackets to a 27-24 victory. ... Buford’s loss snapped the longest streak in the state. Now Savannah Christian, Calhoun and Grayson share the state’s longest streak at 15 games. ...

The 2012 Corky Kell Classic field was announced during halftime of the AAAAA game and while two South Georgia powers will be included, several major metro teams will begin the year in the Georgia Dome. Kell will face Chattahoochee; Grayson meets McEachern; North Gwinnett will meet Colquitt County; Peachtree Ridge faces Camden County; finally Brookwood will meet Walton.

Grayson produces another video

2011-12-08T13:59:00.000-05:00

The Grayson Rams are at it again. Just days before the undefeated Rams face the 14-0 Walton Raiders in the Georgia Dome for the Class AAAAA title, the same creative crew that produced, “Brookwood, Where You At?” has dropped “This Is Our Year,” predicting a 2011 championship. Give it a look. ...

Tucker won a state title back in 2008, but coach Franklin Stephens said yesterday that if the current collection of Tigers wins Friday, the 2011 squad will go down as the best Tucker team ever. No Tucker team has ever gone undefeated en route to a state title, something this team could pull off with a victory over Lovejoy. ...

The Walton Lady Raiders tennis team has won 147 straight matches and eight straight GHSA titles, but a new coach will be on the sidelines this season as JV coach Christy Page takes over for Roberta Manheim, who stepped down earlier this week. Manheim never lost a match while serving as head coach and she said in an email to Score that her decision was the right one. “I know that stepping down was in the best interest of the girls, and they’ve always been the most important part of it for me.” Page will take over with a roster that returns just three players from one year ago. Manheim did say that it will be hard not being there for the girls. “The season hasn’t started and I miss it already.” ...

Finally, in a case of putting team before self, Mt Pisgah’s Kyle Sloter has moved down low into the post to try and help his team win. Sloter is 6-foot-5 and is the school’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder. After averaging roughly 15 shots per game one year ago as a guard, he is attempting just four shots per game this year. The Patriots are 3-1 on the season.

Region shakeup has state powers on the move

2011-12-07T11:18:00.001-05:00

The Georgia High School Association’s Reclassification committee proposed the new region alignment yesterday for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years now that the GHSA has moved to six classifications. Schools will have several weeks in which to petition to move regions before the realignment is ratified on January 10, 2012 by the GHSA. One note is that nearly all of the regions are split into sub-regions. Some interesting new regions include Region 7-AAAAAA as Habersham Central moves in with the rest of the old Region 7-AAAAA. Chattahoochee also moves up into the Alpharetta/Centennial Subregion of 6-AAAAAA. Perhaps the most noteworthy though is Region 1-AAAAAA as Camden County now resides in the same region as Colquitt County, Lowndes and Valdosta. ...

Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy battled Landmark Christian last week in the Class A semifinals, and while ELCA likes to run the football, it had no choice against the stout War Eagles defense. ELCA was 0-12 with two interceptions passing the ball as Landmark Christian did not allow the Chargers anything through the air. ELCA was held to under 100 yards of total offense in the 14-7 defeat. Landmark Christian will attempt to become just the second No. 4 seed to ever win a state title and the first to win it outright when the War Eagles face Savannah Christian this Saturday. ...

The Muscogee County School District has decided not to ask some of its eight high schools to play in a higher classification. Gary Gibson, the MCSD athletic director told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer that he and several other school officials had discussed asking all eight to play in the same region but now only five will play in a new class and Kendrick, Jordan and Spencer will remain in Class AA. ...

Finally after 147 straight victories and eight titles, Walton girls tennis coach Robert Manheim has announced she is retiring and Christian Page will take over the program. Manheim never lost as head coach of the program.

New Regions to be revealed today

2011-12-06T14:43:00.000-05:00

The Georgia High School Association will announce today the regions for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years. Several weeks ago the GHSA reclassification committee released the new six class system based on enrollment numbers, and schools had until yesterday to appeal to move up in classification. After the regions are unveiled, schools will have two weeks to petition the committee for a region change. The new alignment is scheduled to be ratified on January 10. ...

Zack Blaylock was forced to leave Walton’s 30-24 victory over Lassiter last Friday night with a dislocated elbow. The Raiders face Grayson this Saturday, and Blaylock could against the Rams after being fit for a brace. Blaylock has 11 interceptions on the year with five pick-sixes. ...

The Savannah Christian Raiders celebrated a semifinal win with a fun tradition that has seemed to take off the last few seasons. According to the Savannah Morning News, defensive line coach Kevin Jackson handed out sunglasses to the seniors following the 27-0 win over Prince Avenue Christian. “The kids need the shades to see under the bright lights of the Georgia Dome,” said Jackson to the Savannah Morning News. Jackson has done this the last three years as the Raiders will make a third straight trip to the Class A finals. ...

Flowery Branch has named Chris Griffin as its new head coach, following the departure of Lee Shaw to Rabun County. Griffin has been with Flowery branch since 2002 and has served as defensive coordinator the last nine years. The Falcons were 11-2 this season. ...

Queen Alford of Decatur was named all-state one year ago, and she may be even better this season. The future Jacksonville Dolphin has led Decatur to a 5-0 start by averaging 24 points, five steals and 11 rebounds per game.

And in some recruiting news....

Long-time Florida Gator pledge Mike Davis decommitted from the Gators over the weekend, raising plenty of eyebrows. The Stephenson running back had seemingly been locked into heading down to Gainesville, even doing the Gator Chomp after scoring touchdowns this season, but Davis decided to reopen his recruiting process. Davis is trying to set up visits to several schools across the southeast, including Florida State, South Carolina, Alabama and Miami according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Davis’s older brother James played running back for the Clemson Tigers, who did not make the list, nor did the Georgia Bulldogs. ...

The Buford Wolves will play for a fifth straight Class AA title Friday and will do so with yet another SEC-committed player on its roster. Yesterday two-way star Kurt Freitag ended his recruiting process by pledging to the Alabama Crimson Tide over the Florida Gators. He is projected to play tight end for Nick Saban. The Score 44 member will join teammate Dillon Lee in Tuscaloosa. ...

Tulane introduced New Orleans Saints receivers coach Curtis Johnson as its new head coach Monday, and one local prospect likes the hire. According to his father, Mt. Pisgah quarterback Kyle Sloter, who committed to Tulane several months ago, “is thrilled with (the prospect of the Saints offense).” Despite the excitement over the new coach though, Sloter has started hearing again from Arkansas and Iowa, who have both recently asked for more film. Apparently the two schools have spoke with Sloter’s tutor DJ Shockley, and they would like another look.

A taste of the official visit 12/05/11

2011-12-05T20:31:00.001-05:00

Be sure and tune in tonight to 790 The Zone.

Here is a taste of what you'll get...

The Florida Gators lost a long-time commit when Stephenson (GA) running back Mike Davis backed off of his pledge to Will Muschamp and reopened his recruiting process. Davis is trying to set up visits to several schools across the southeast, including Florida State, South Carolina, Alabama and Miami according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Davis’s older brother James played running back for the Clemson Tigers, who did not make the list. ... The Georgia Bulldogs interestingly enough have not made the list, though the Bulldogs may receive some news Tuesday when Scout.com’s No. 1 tailback Keith Marshall announces where he will matriculate next season. Marshall and another UGA target Todd Gurley both play high school football in North Carolina. Reportedly Georgia head coach Mark Richt and assistant coach Bryan McClendon were in Raleigh, NC, Sunday for an in-home visit with Marshall.

Faton Bauta is a 6-foot-3, 225-pound quarterback prospect from Dwyer, FL, headed to the University of Georgia. Such a big quarterback is sure to get Tebow comparisons, and that is exactly what his coach Jack Daniels did in the Palm Beach Post recently. “He’s kind of like, I was thinking it today, he’s been kind of become a version of (Tim) Tebow, as far as running the ball.”

Finally D’Vario Montgomery, a 6-foot-3, four-star wide receiver prospect pulled the trigger on his commitment, declaring he would head to South Florida to be a Bull for Skip Holtz. Montgomery, from Winter Park, FL, had offers from several SEC and ACC schools but decided to head to Tampa.

Lessons learned from the weekend, metro-edition

2011-12-05T19:53:00.000-05:00

The Walton Raiders have a chance to make history as the first team from Cobb County to win a GHSA Class AAAAA title. No Cobb County school has won a crown since Marietta accomplished the feat in 1967 in AAA. Parker McLeod may have been in the shadow of Eddie Printz in terms of hype entering last Friday’s matchup, but the junior quarterback threw for a score and ran one in to help Walton win 30-24. He may be asked to do more as Grayson’s run defense is intense. ...

Robert Nkemdiche may only be a junior but this could be his best shot at a state title. Why? Nick Schuessler. The senior quarterback is often overlooked, but he is accurate and quite capable. He threw for a pair of scores against Colquitt County, including the game-winner with under one minute to play. Mickey Conn should feel confident with Schuessler pulling the trigger on the offense. ...

Tucker needed some magic to reach the finals, but expect the Tigers to offer Lovejoy its toughest challenge yet on offense. The Tigers can throw four backs out there, and Yusuf Minor is a star in the making. ...

I doubt Buford was looking ahead to the title game in its slow start on Friday night in Columbus. It was more likely a case of LSU/UGA: a team was highly motivated and threw a big first punch to stagger the better team. Just like the SEC champ, Buford gathered itself and seized control in the second half. Sam Clay is going to be a star for Georgia Tech on the baseball field, but he has turned into one heck of a high school quarterback. The shame of it is, we will never really know how good Clay was because Buford was rarely challenged.

Class A semifinal look

2011-12-02T12:31:00.000-05:00

It has been announced that I will be calling the Class A championship game on Saturday December 10 LIVE from the Georgia Dome on GPB TV. Therefore I thought I'd throw some info on this Friday's semifinal games at you, just so you can get ready.

Prince Avenue Christian (13-0) at Savannah Christian (13-0)

Savannah Christian won a coin toss, meaning Prince Avenue Christian will need to make the near-nine hour drive for this game. When they do arrive, this battle of two undefeated region champions should be an incredible matchup. Savannah Christian has made the last two Class A championships games and is eyeing a third straight. Will Austin and Nardo Garvin lead the SCPS rushing attack while defensive standout DeAngelo Brown heads up the stout defense held mighty Lincoln County to just 14 points. Josh Gay and Michael Burke join Brown to form the heavy defensive front in a 3-4 look. The defense has given up just seven points per game in the playoffs, up slightly from the 5.6 per game during the year. The offense averages around 40 points per contest, with last week’s 22 points being the lowest total of the year. The Raiders have beaten Dooly County (37-0), Bowdon (38-7) and Lincoln County (22-14) to reach the semifinals. The last two years, SCPS has beaten Wesleyan and Darlington before falling in the title game. The Raiders won Region 3-A. Prince Avenue forced four turnovers in the 20-15 victory over Bremen. The reason for the Wolverines run though has been its explosive offense. The offensive line has been mashing opposing defenses while allowing the running game to churn up yardage to the tune of 328 yards and 31.7 points per game. Prince Avenue has rushed for nearly 4000 yards this season. Wingback Rob Farriba and quarterback Carl Mattox have a firm grasp on the offense for coach Mark Farriba. Both players also excel for a defense that gives up just seven points per game. On special teams, Prince Avenue Christian has to like the cold-blooded leg of Adam Hayden, who nailed two second-half field goals to knock off Bremen. The Wolverines have previously taken down Charlton County 21-3 and Washington Wilkes 21-8 after winning Region 8-A.

Landmark Christian (11-2) at ELCA (12-1)

Many people looked at the brackets and thought ELCA could make a final four run, but it is likely few thought Landmark Christian would be one of the four teams remaining. The War Eagles have gone on the road to knock off a 1-seed, a 2-seed and a 3-seed, and are just one of two No. 4 seeds remaining in the state title hunt. In the 28-21 quarterfinal fin over Aquinas, Cantrell Frazier rushed for 71 yards and threw the game-winning screen pass to Jeremiah Kirkland. Kirkland also rushed for 118 yards in the victory. Frazier is a converted receiver playing quarterback. Sam Dobbs does a little bit of everything for Landmark Christian, lining up at quarterback, safety, kick returner and wide receiver. It is at the wide receiver spot where the 6-foot-4 freshman will likely make his mark at the next level. Dobbs will head to San Antonio in January to play in the Eastbay Youth All-American Bowl. Josh Nobles is also a threat on the outside. Eagles Landing Christian Academy can boast one of the nation’s top juniors in running back Keyante Green, though he has been slowed recently with a groin injury. The Chargers have turned to a stable of other backs to help get them to the semifinals and that stable has stepped up. John Tatum, Dalton Etheridge and Joe Walker have each toted the rock when head coach Jonathan Gess has called their number. Walker rushed for 100 yards and three touchdowns in the Chargers 51-7 thumping of Seminole County in the quarterfinals. Green is now healthy and could be a force in the semifinal game. Tatum has eclipsed 1500 yards rushing this season and has 31 touchdowns. ELCA has defeated Mt. Paran, Greenville and Seminole to reach the final four. The Chargers finished the regular season with a 6-0 region record, including a 35-14 win over Landmark Christian on October 14.

Football stars move over to the hardwood

2011-12-01T15:46:00.001-05:00

Now that the football season is cover, many players will trade the pads of the gridiron in for the sneakers for the hardwood. Several players in particular could be the key element to put his team over the top. Myles Everett was impressive at wide receiver for the Pope Greyhounds but now that combination of speed and size will translate into plenty of fastbreaks on the basketball court. Chris Bolden of North Gwinnett gave wide receiver a whirl his senior season, but now the future Georgia Tech guard will suit up for the Bulldogs on the hardwood. He helped Norcross win a ring one year ago. One of his old teammates Jason Croom is headed to Tennessee to play wide receiver but one year ago the 6-foot-5 Croom banged low for the Blue Devils off of the bench. Kyle Sloter of Mt. Pisgah has committed to play quarterback at Tulane but enters his senior basketball season as the program’s all-time scorer and rebounder. Shaq Goodwin of Southwest DeKalb was likely just moonlighting on the football field, but the future Memphis Tiger played well enough at the tight end spot to garner some attention from football programs. Finally, Caleb Hayman and Deshaun Watson will join the Gainesville Red Elephants basketball team once the football season ends. Gainesville hosts Burke County on gpb.org/sports Friday. ...

Even though the football season is still a little over a week away from its conclusion, some programs have already turned the page, and in some cases that means finding new coaches. Harrison High School will be in the market for a new coach after former coach David Hines parted ways with the school after four seasons. Hines finished 22-21 during his tenure as Hoyas head coach but was just 3-7 in 2011.

Richt is an evil genius ... hopefully

2011-11-30T13:23:00.001-05:00

You will hear from commentators every so often during a game that a team was setting up a particular play for a certain moment in the game. Usually it is a wheel route or a deep pass with a wide receiver after the offense has lulled the cornerback into playing the run.
Is it possible that the University of Georgia has been holding out on offense all season long in the hopes that the Aaron Murray and company can switch from its vanilla-look to a double chocolate ship swirl with nuts and sprinkles-look for the SEC Championship game? Is it possible that, because the defense was so good, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo went to strictly a run-based offense in most second halves this year because the game was in hand? Aaron Murray has looked hot the last few first halves of play, only to mainly hand the ball off and grind the clock in the third and fourth quarters to seal a win.

Georgia has done just enough in many of its victories this season, seemingly taking its foot off of the gas pedal in victories over Tennessee, Mississippi, Mississippi State and Georgia Tech. The only game this year that saw the Dawgs really put the hammer down was the Auburn game, in front of countless recruits, and Georgia was truly impressive with Murray and the ground attack against the Tigers. You wonder if maybe this was all a strategy. If maybe Richt has been pulling a rope-a-dope, waiting for the LSU Tigers to let their guard down when all of a sudden he will tell Bobo to unleash the dogs, or dawgs if you will.

Maybe Georgia goes and gets blown out by 24 against the best team in the nation. But with LSU all but guaranteed a spot in the BCS championship game, Georgia should treat this as its BCS championship game and pull out all of the stops. Maybe Les Miles doesn’t want to show his hand to Alabama or Oklahoma State. Or maybe Mark Richt has been planning for this game all season long by not revealing just what this unit can do. If the offense matches the defense’s performance, the Dawgs might just escape Saturday with a victory.

Warner Robins battle-tested and ready for Lovejoy

2011-11-30T12:35:00.001-05:00

Mike Hilton cannot be blamed for the Sandy Creek loss to Gainesville despite a fumble during a crucial spot in the second half. Hilton had a pair of scores and 260 yards on 32 carries for the Patriots. ...

Another back whose season came to an end Friday night was Allatoona’s Miles Jones. He carried 18 times for 114 yards and two scores before leaving with a concussion in a 32-28 loss to Burke county. Jones finished with 2,142 yards according to the AJC. ...

The ferocious Lovejoy defense has shut out eight opponents this season, but Warner Robins has faced some tough opponents already this season to prepare for this semifinal tilt. The Demons lost a 7-6 controversial decision to Class AAA semifinalist Peach County and lost 32-24 to fellow AAAA semifinalist Northside. The team rallied back to beat Class AAAAA semifinalist Colquitt County 16-8 in September. Warner Robins has also thumped Thomas County Central and Bainbridge before dispatching defending AAAA champ Chattahoochee in the second round of the playoffs and hanging 20 on a tough East Paulding defense last week. The Demons and the Wildcats have never faced each other. ...

The Buford Wolves girls basketball team lost a huge piece of their squad when Tennessee-bound Andraya Carter suffered a torn ACL during the off-season, but the program picked up a huge player that will help take her spot. Kristina Nelson transferred in from GAC before the start of the season and last night put up 16 points from her spot in the post in the Lady Wolves season-opening victory over Milton. Kaela Davis scored 27 points to lead Buford to the 64-30 victory. ...

Davis’ brother A.J. who also transferred to Buford from GAC missed last night’s 71-55 loss to No. 1 Milton as the GHSA considers him a “migrant student” and is thus ineligible for varsity competition, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

Jenkins headed to the Gators?

2011-11-29T13:50:00.001-05:00

The North Carolina State Wolfpack is starting to discover the cornucopia of football prospects that is the state of Georgia after snagging their fourth Peach State pledge of the 2012 class. Jarnor Jones of ML King High School announced that he would play defensive back for the Wolfpack next season. He had previously committed to Middle Tennessee State. NC State has also commitments from running back Shad Thornton (Liberty County), defensive back Niles Clark (Lassiter) and wide receiver Charlie Hegedus (Lassiter). ...

Score 44 member Jordan Jenkins, a defensive end from Harris County believed to be the top prospect in the state, returned from his third visit to Gainesville to check out the Gators. Jenkins was on hand in Athens for the Auburn game and reportedly moved the Dawgs up his list, but a third trip to Florida could mean the Gators will land the stud defensive end. ...

In this week’s GPB TV game of the week, more than just Robert Knemdiche will be on display. Grayson has several linemen that have drawn interest including OG Fred Zerblis (Arkansas State) and OT Garrett Gorringe and DE Sebastian Rice (Georgia State). Colquitt County’s center Bryce Giddens has committed to Southern Miss. ...

It is never too early to think about recruiting and Landmark Christian’s Sam Dobbs, though just a freshman, can already start thinking about recruiting. At 6-foot-4, 188-pounds, Dobbs plays all over the field but will likely line up at wide receiver at the next level. Dobbs will play in the 2012 Eastbay Youth All-American Bowl this January in an event that could jumpstart the recruiting process. It is not outrageous for teams to look this early at a prospect as the Georgia Bulldogs have already received a commitment from Apalachee running back Stanley Williams before the 2014 began his sophomore season.

Watson outstanding for Gainesville

2011-11-29T13:48:00.000-05:00

Deshaun Watson’s coach may have won a coin toss, but Watson won the game against Sandy Creek, accounting for all five of Gainesville’s touchdowns in a 35-21 win. Watson passed for 220 yards and a pair of scores while running for 100 yards on 25 carries and a host of rushing scores. ...

One name that gets perhaps overlooked in AAAA is Miguel Williams of Northside. He racked up 179 yards of total offense to go with three scores in a 36-8 win over Tri-Cities. ...

Much has been made over the Tyren Jones transfer from Lassiter to Walton. Jones rushed for 140 yards and totaled two scores in a win over Dacula on GPB TV. However the back that took his spot in the Trojans offense Isiah Willis had nearly as big of a night, rushing for 138 yards on 23 carries. Willis has been a force all season, running when coach Jep Irwin calls his name and catching plenty of passes out of the backfield. Each back looks perfect for the system he currently plays in. ...

A matchup to keep your eye on this week is Niles Clark against Zack Blaylock. Clark recorded a pick-six against ML King one week after recording an interception against McEachern. Blaylock took a pass down the sidelines 95 yards for a score against Dacula, but earlier this year he was held to just 51 yards on three catches as Walton chewed up the clock and real estate on the ground with Jones. Blaylock’s score came on a pick-six. ...

Duluth’s Corey Jarvis was selected to be one of seven assistant coaches in the upcoming US Army All-American Bowl. Jarvis and Lowndes’ Randy McPherson will assist east head coach Robert Weiner (Plant High School, Tampa) in the high school all-star game.

Let's not crown them yet...

2011-11-28T11:50:00.001-05:00

Everyone is ready to crown Buford as the state champions in Class AA, but if last weekend taught us anything it is that even a 26 or 41-game winning streak can be snapped at any time. Gainesville hosted Sandy Creek and took down the Patriots, the defending Class AAA champions and the 2009 Class AAAA champs. Buford has won 26 straight games and four straight state titles, but this Friday the Wolves return to the scene of their last defeat, a 14-0 win by Carver-Columbus. Buford has beaten the Tigers once this season, but that was at Buford. ...

Before the season started the debate over the state’s top cornerback was a two-man discussion between St. Pius X’s Geno Smith and Josh Holsey of Creekside. Niles Clark has played his way into the discussion if not taken it over with his play the last few weeks. The Lassiter defensive back has gone up against Alpharetta’s Carlos Burse, blanketed McEachern’s Amba Etta-Tawo and gotten the better of ML King’s Blake Tibbs. He recorded a pick-six against the Lions to change the complexion of the game, helping the Trojans reach the semifinals. If Clark picks off another pass and helps Lassiter advance to the finals, the debate is over. ...

Robert Nkemdiche cannot be stopped. The Grayson Rams star junior defensive lineman and short-yardage specialist will likely never gallop 85 yards on a draw, but you cannot stop him from one or two yards out. Don’t even try. And if he put his mind to it, he probably could take it from 85 yards out. ...

Walton’s Tyren Jones gets all of the pub, but Zack Blaylock may be the Raiders MVP. He came away with two fourth quarter interceptions and a 95-yard touchdown reception to ice a win over Dacula.

A taste of The Official Visit, 11/28/11

2011-11-28T11:49:00.000-05:00

University of Georgia head coach Mark Richt put out a “Help Wanted” sign last week when he told reporters at his news conference “There’s a tremendous opportunity at the University of Georgia for running backs in this class to come to Georgia and make a big impact.” Under NCAA rules, Richt isn’t allowed to address recruits by name but many feel he was directly speaking to Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall, both of North Carolina. Marshall announced last week via Twitter that he would reveal his choice in early December and Gurley recently took in a game Between the Hedges in Athens.

The North Carolina State Wolfpack is starting to discover the cornucopia of football prospects that is the state of Georgia after snagging their fourth Peach State pledge of the 2012 class. Jarnor Jones of ML King High School in Lithonia, announced that he would play defensive back for the Wolfpack next season. He had previously committed to Middle Tennessee State. NC State has also commitments from running back Shad Thornton (Hinesville), defensive back Niles Clark (Marietta) and wide receiver Charlie Hegedus (Marietta).

Tajarvis Fuller the LB/DB from Fort Myers, Florida, may be back in the Miami camp after Ron Zook’s dismissal from Illinois. Fuller was extremely excited to receive an offer earlier this year from the Hurricanes but surprised many when he committed to Zook. Iowa State and Maryland remain interested, and Fuller holds 16 offers.

Falcons Equipment crew one of the NFL's best

2011-11-27T12:47:00.000-05:00

Everyone at some point in his/her life has had the nightmare where you show up to work without any clothes on. The Atlanta Falcons will never have that problem though as the Falcons Equipment department is one of the best in the league, with Brian Boigner serving as the Equipment Manager. This is the 15th season for Boigner as the Falcons Equipment Manger and his crew is top notch. The department is responsible for properly outfitting the players with not just the jerseys but also the pads and shoes. Boigner makes certain that the players are suiting up with the safest and most advanced protective equipment available.

When the Falcons hit the road, Boigner and his staff kick it up a notch. Plenty goes into a typical road trip though as the Falcons travel away from team headquarters at Flowery Branch. We sit down as a staff and go over every different scenario,” said Boigner. “It’s not that much different than the coaching staff.”

Footwear is a big starting point as the team has different shoes/cleats for every surface imaginable from grass to astroturf, inside or outside, wet or dry conditions. “We have Houston coming up which has a retractable roof, so we plan for both.” Boigner noted that he and his staff will bring different shoes for if the roof is open and if the roof is closed. He travels with a team of eight people and he will include jackets for the coaches in case the roof is open and extra cleat options for the players.

“I will call the equipment manager for the other team and check weather.com or the local affiliates for updates,” said Boigner. He will also occasionally check with recent opponents of the upcoming opponents to gauge how to dress the team.

Tuesdays are a big travel day according to Boigner. “Once everything is ready, an advance truck is sent out.” Boigner surmised that if the game is played east of the Mississippi River, three-quarters of the equipment is sent on a truck ahead of time, with only the coaches’ gear, the players’ travel bags, the uniforms and the game balls flying with the team. If it is a west coast game, the equipment flies with the team.

The matter of which jersey is never really an issue because Boigner said the NFL lets you know in plenty of time what color and a great deal of the responsibility falls on the manufacturer to get the right one to the team. Typically when the Falcons hit road, the team will be wearing its white uniforms, but sometimes the League has special occasions such as a “throwback” weekend. The Falcons equipment staff is outfitted with those special jerseys ahead of time.

Boigner also orders and organizes the team’s inventory of apparel and equipment, ordering more whenever jerseys or helmets are damaged or when a better piece of guards becomes available. Boigner is on top of the issue of safety as he has sat on the NFL’s helmet group as well as the foot and ankle committee during the offseason. He knows how to properly keep his charges in proper pads.

The helmets are used throughout the year and are constantly repainted and repaired for safety purposes. The face masks are always being switched out every week or every other week, depending on the player and position.

Sometimes players come to Boigner with special requests for uniforms during travel, and Boigner said that he and his staff are more than accommodating with the modifications.

The last thing that Boigner will do on road trips is speak with fellow equipment managers and other clubhouse staff. “We are a tight knit group,” said Boigner. He said he picks their brains for ideas to try to improve not only the Falcons home office but also how they do things on the road. With Boigner’s 20 years of NFL experience, the team is in good hands and will look good on the road.

A look at Friday's metro action

2011-11-25T12:45:00.000-05:00

As the playoffs continue and the number of teams dwindle down, several metro teams have positioned themselves for a run to the Georgia Dome. Grayson, behind Robert Knemdiche, is in a prime spot as West Forsyth pays a visit. Mickey Conn will no doubt rely once again on his defense and power running game, but if the Rams do need to go to the air, Nick Schuessler can air it out as well as any Gwinnett County quarterback. The Wolverines have things clicking though in their running game and could pose a threat if they can contain Nkemdiche. ... Lassiter has pulled off a pair of upsets thus far in the playoffs, and Jep Irwin’s Trojans hit the road once again to square off with the Lions of ML King. The secondary of Lassiter is sure to be tested by Jonquel Dawson and the talented trio of Lions receivers. Keep an eye on the Niles Clark/Blake Tibbs match-up. Last week Clark blanketed McEachern’s Amba Etta-Tawo and picked off a late pass intended for the Maryland-committed receiver. Meanwhile Kenderius Whitehead will be a handful for a Lassiter offensive line that struggled to keep McEachern defenders away from Eddie Printz last Friday. ... Folks may look at Dacula and wonder how the Falcons advanced to the third round, but Jared Zito’s bunch has earned its way through tough work and the selflessness of Rocky Capobianco. The senior has played both running back and quarterback this season. ... Flowery Branch faces Tucker in a game that features a power Tiger defense against a strong Falcons offense. Flowery Branch was ranked No. 2 heading into the final game of the regular season before falling to Clarke Central. Following a tiebreaker, Flowery Branch fell to a No. 3 seed and now meets Tucker in the third round.

GPB Game of the Week Preview
Walton’s playoff run continues this week as the 12-0 Raiders welcome in Dacula (9-3) to Raider Valley. The Falcons have battled back from an 0-2 start to the third round of the playoffs. Senior Rocky Capobianco is a big reason why. When new coach Jared Zito arrived he asked Capobianco to do a little bit of everything on the offense, including stepping aside to let Brandon Goodson play quarterback on certain occasions. Capobianco still will line up at quarterback in the Wildcat formation, where he is quite effective. Last week Capobianco carried the ball 35 times for 162 yards in Dacula’s 32-21 victory. Marcus Cox is also a weapon out of the backfield, both running and catching the ball. Defensively the Loyd brothers star at linebacker along with Alex Armah. Dacula is 3-2 on the road this season with its last road loss coming to Grayson back on October 7.

The Walton attack starts with junior tailback Tyren Jones, a member of the 24 2Look4 for 2012. Last week against South Cobb, Jones totaled 314 yards, 217 rushing and 97 receiving along with five touchdowns. Jones has 10 thus far through two playoff games and 34 on the season. Junior quarterback Parker McLeod can find the open man and has a strong enough arm to be a difference-maker at the next level. The Walton offensive line, led by Harrison Davis and Brandon Kublanow, have kept opposing defenses at bay for most of the season while opening up holes for Jones. Defensively Zack Blaylock is a threat to intercept any pass thrown and he has taken four interceptions back for scores this season. Koty Allen can also apply pressure to opposing quarterbacks. Walton has won all six of its home games so far this season, averaging 42.6 points per game. No team has scored more than Marietta’s 14 points against Walton at Raider Valley.

Big Peach/Big Apple Battle 2011

2011-11-24T12:43:00.000-05:00

The state of Georgia will put some of its best on display against some of New York’s finest hoops players this Friday and Saturday in the Big Apple Vs. Big Peach Battle 2011 at Shiloh High School. The event will feature 25 players listed among the nation’s best basketball recruits and Class AAAAA boys defending champion Norcross.

Jesse McMillan, boys basketball coach at Norcross is looking forward to the showcase. “We are excited to see where we are against some great teams and players from New York.”

Norcross will be joined by Stephenson, Class AAAA No. 3 Lovejoy, Class AAAAA No. 4 Shiloh and Class AAAA No. 7 Fayette County as the boys representatives from Georgia. The Georgia girls teams will include Columbia, Westlake and Stephenson. The New York teams traveling down include Bishop Loughlin, Long Island Lutheran and South Shore, as well as girls powers Mary Louis Academy, Holy Trinity and Long Island Lutheran.

Robert Carter and Trayvon Reed will be on display from host Shiloh, and Tony Bagtas (Westlake) and Justin Tuoyo (Lovejoy) also can be seen suiting up in the event. Carter and Tuoyo are in the first edition of the Score 44. The firepower on the girls side is just as hot as Stephenson’s Kaliyah Mitchell is listed in ESPN’s Top 100 for 2013 and Mei-Lyn Bautista of Mary Louis Academy (NY) is the No. 1 point guard in the 2015 class.

Norcross, which will hold a shootaround at the Blue Devils’ House of Blue before heading over to Shiloh Friday, recently defeated Berkmar in a scrimmage as the team begins it quest for a second straight title. “I thought we played well vs Berkmar,” said McMillan. “Typical early mistakes and nervousness but the guys seem to understand the target on their backs and are responding well.”

The Blue Devils face South Shore on Friday and Long Island Lutheran on Saturday. Shiloh faces Bishop Loughlin on Friday. Lovejoy wraps up the event Saturday night against Bishop Loughlin.

Time for Georgia Tailbacks to grow up

2011-11-23T23:57:00.000-05:00

Isaiah Crowell was viewed by many to be the missing piece for Georgia, the back that Mark Richt has lacked since Knowshon Moreno, and just the person to run Georgia to the SEC Championship. Crowell has certainly been a star when on the field, but several times this season the Bulldog Nation has had to watch Crowell on the sidelines while less-talented backs toted the rock.

Carlton Thomas was never viewed as the next Garrison Hearst, but after Caleb King and Washaun Ealey left the team following the 2010 season, Thomas was by default the best returning rusher from one year ago. Thomas though has missed several golden opportunities to shine based on poor decisions.

Those two Georgia running backs really need to grow up and in a hurry. Crowell and Thomas hold Georgia’s rushing fate in their hands and it is time for them to act the part. Richard Samuel is injured and likely won’t play against Georgia Tech and Ken Malcome laid it on the ground last week against Kentucky after failing to really set the world on fire this season in limited opportunities. With all due respect to Brandon Harton and Branden Smith, the running game against Tech starts and stops with Crowell and Thomas. Both Mark Richt and Mike Bobo believe the two should be able to play, but the two first need a reality check.

Thomas, enough with the suspensions already. Get your head on straight. You know the rules; live by them. Crowell, the same goes for you. And also remember that this is the SEC. You will feel pain before, during and after games. Play through pain, stop when you are hurt. Trust your trainers, coaches and teammates. They are looking out for your well-being.

Time may just be running out for these running backs. The nation’s top running back recruit Keith Marshall announced yesterday that he will announce his college decision in early December. Word is Georgia leads Clemson in the race for the Raleigh, North Carolina back. Todd Gurley, another North Carolina athlete that is projected to play running back was also in Athens last week and could have Georgia on his mind come National Signing Day. Last season we were saying the same thing about Ealey and King. Sadly we are now saying the same thing about Thomas and Crowell. Hopefully Bulldog Nation won’t be saying the same thing next year about Marshall and Gurley.

Kyle Sloter, Mt. Pisgah's do-it-all star

2011-11-23T12:45:00.000-05:00

Now that the football season has come to a close, Mount Pisgah senior Kyle Sloter is now focused on basketball. The Class A standout is the all-time leading scorer and rebounder at Mount Pisgah and plays all five positions. He has scored 1180 points over his three-year career and has made first-team all-region the last two season. Sloter even has a spot in the GHSA record book, having made nine three-pointers in a game last year. He would be one heck of a basketball prospect if he wasn’t a standout quarterback with a scholarship offer to Tulane in his back pocket.

Sloter recently participated in an interview with Score about his football future with the Green Wave and the recruiting process. Sloter was a four-year starter at Mount Pisgah, racking up over 2,200 yards all-purpose yards his senior year. Playing at Class A Mount Pisgah was both a blessing and a curse though when it came to the recruiting process. “I was able to start earlier and play four years to gain a lot of experience, but it also hurt because we don’t get exposed as much as larger schools.”

Sloter stood out despite the team’s running back going down with an injury and youth at the wide receiver position. Those elements though were out of his control, so he just concentrated on helping his team win. “I was able to keep focus my senior year because I knew that was all I could control.”

Sloter noted that getting the first offer from Tulane was his favorite part of the recruiting process. “It meant my dream of playing at the next level was realized.” He did point out that sometimes coaches would not call back. “You don’t know exactly what coaches are really thinking and if you are really a part of their plan.”

Sloter received an offer from Tulane’s quarterbacks coach earlier this season after the school found him on a recruiting site. The 6-foot-5 prospect visited the campus and committed before returning to Atlanta. Sloter noted that he will likely redshirt next season since Tulane’s starting quarterback is just a junior this year. “I’m happy where I’m at now,” said Sloter though he did say he would look at other offers should they come in, including basketball. No player has ever made both the Score 44 in football and basketball the same year. Sloter could well become the first if he dominates on the hardwood just as he did on the gridiron.

Score 44 playoffs week 3

2011-11-22T12:43:00.001-05:00

The Score 44 is a fluid list that aims to honor the best forty-four seniors in Georgia high school football on a week-to-week basis. These players are some of the most highly-recruited players in the state as well as some of the best players that may not get to play at the next level. The list changes gears though as from now on it will only honor players whose teams qualified for the playoffs. Players can still play their way onto the list and can fall out with a bad performance in the playoffs. Also a player can still make the list if his team has been eliminated, just as long as they made the playoffs.

In (from week 2): Brian Sutton, Warner Robins (Warner Robins) RB; Nathan Staub, Buford (Buford) FB/LB; Rashad Grant, Clinch County (Homerville) WR

Out (from week 2): Kenno Loyal, Columbia (Decatur), RB; Zack Jackson, Brookwood (Snellville), CB; Brandon Greene, Cedar Grove (Ellenwood) OT

Chris Moody, Henry County (McDonough) ATH;
Jacob Sealand, Tucker (Tucker), LB
Geno Smith, St. Pius X (Atlanta), DB
Kenyan Drake, Hillgrove (Powder Springs), RB/ATH
Raphael Kirby, Stephenson (Stone Mountain), LB
Brian Sutton, Warner Robins (Warner Robins) RB
Vadal Alexander, Buford (Buford), OT
Josh Harvey-Clemons, Lowndes (Valdosta), OLB/WR
JaQuay Williams, Sandy Creek (Tyrone), WR
Amba Etta-Tawo, McEachern (Powder Springs), WR
Zack Blaylock, Walton (Marietta), DB
Dillon Lee, Buford (Buford), LB
DeMarcus Sweat, Stephenson (Stone Mountain) WR
Jarontay Jones, Stephenson (Stone Mountain), DE
Quinteze Williams, Sandy Creek (Tyrone) DT
Fred Tiller, Clinch County (Homerville), CB
Jordan Watkins, Woodward Academy (College Park), DT
Dalvin Tomlinson, Henry County (McDonough), DL
Jason Croom, Norcross (Norcross) WR
Diandre Atwater, Peachtree Ridge (Suwanee), RB
Dakota Ball, Pepperell (Lindale), DT
Miles Jones, Allatoona (Acworth) RB
Josh Dawson, Tucker (Tucker) LB
Mike Hilton, Sandy Creek (Tyrone), RB
CJ Moore, Buford (Buford) CB
CJ Curry, Flowery Branch (Gainesville), WR
DeAngelo Brown, Savannah Christian (Savannah) DT
Ty Smith, Colquitt County (Moultrie), TE
Jordan Washington, North Gwinnett (Suwanee) DL
Kurt Freitag, Buford (Buford), TE/DE
Jonquel Dawson, ML King (Lithonia), QB
Kenderius Whitehead, ML King (Monroe) DE/OLB
Blake Tibbs, ML King (Lithonia), WR
Daron Blaylock, Walton (Marietta), DB
Darius English, McEachern (Powder Springs ), DE
Jonathan Jones, Carrollton (Carrollton) CB
Nathan Staub, Buford (Buford) FB/LB
Rashad Grant, Clinch County (Homerville) WR
Rocky Capobianco, Dacula (Dacula) ATH
Adam Griffith, Calhoun (Calhoun) K
Mike Davis, Stephenson (Stone Mountain) RB
Scott Hosch, North Gwinnett (Suwanee) QB
Nick Tompkins, Brookwood (Snellville), RB
Niles Clark, Lassiter (Marietta), CB

Score Atlanta recruiting updates

2011-11-22T10:15:00.001-05:00

In a surprise move, Southwest DeKalb basketball standout Shaq Goodwin did send in his letter of intent to Memphis just hours before the deadline. Goodwin, a member of the Georgia “Big Three” will leave the state and could play two sports for the Tigers. Many believed he would wait and sign in the late signing period, but he ended his recruitment early. ...

Robert Nkemdiche may get all of the headlines as the top 2013 recruit in the country, but the Grayson Rams have another junior already drawing attention. Running back Wayne Gallman has told the AJC that he has already received offers from Clemson, Auburn, Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt. ...

ML King is burning through teams in the playoffs and several defenders are reaping the benefits. Jordan Moore intercepted pass and sprinted back 68-yards for a score (though it was called off on a penalty) against Coffee on GPB.org’s web game of the week. Moore had planned to run track at LSU but his play has attracted some bigger programs. The AJC is also reporting that Josh Sanford and Toronto Thomas have received offers from Louisiana-Monroe. ...

This Friday night’s GPB TV game between Walton and Dacula will feature a host of prospects with interest from the next level In addition to the Blaylock twins who have committed to Kentucky, Walton has three juniors, all on the 24 2Look4 list including Parker McLeod who has received an offer from Louisville. Meanwhile Dacula linebacker Alex Armah has received some interest from the Air Force Academy, Mississippi, Princeton and UAB.

Reclassification impact felt

2011-11-22T10:14:00.001-05:00

The GHSA executive committee met Monday to hear a request from the Reclassification committee before the committee finalized the new classifications from around the state. Before the reclassification was done, the executive committee first had to vote on whether to rescind a controversial rule which allowed schools to lower its full-time equivalency (FTE) counts based on the number of special-needs students in the school. The Executive Committee unanimously voted to rescind the policy which would have allowed schools to make an appeal to play in a lower classification based on that count. Following the vote, the GHSA finalized the classifications for all state schools. A sixth classification AAAAAA will go into effect for the 2012 season. ... On the basketball court, Wesleyan’s girls program has started the season ranked No. 16 in the country by ESPNU and Holli Wilkins made some history in a victory over Spain Park (AL). Wilkins scored 15 points in the victory to reach the 1000 point plateau for her career. Wesleyan has won four straight Class A titles. ...

Walton’s Tyren Jones has scored 34 touchdowns this season but he is chasing another Jones from Cobb County for the county’s rushing title. Allatoona’s Miles Jones has 2028 yards this season and 28 touchdowns, according to the Marietta Daily Journal. Tyren Jones has 1959 yards entering Friday’s game on GPB TV against Dacula. ...

Byron Buxton helped Appling County finish off the North Oconee Titans with a 19-yard touchdown run with a little over one minute to play last Friday night. Buxton also had a touchdown reception of 91 yards on Appling County’s first play from scrimmage. The standout’s future though is on the baseball diamond. Buxton is an outfielder that has committed to Georgia, but the 6-foot-1 prospect could be taken in the first round of the MLB Draft this June.

A taste of The Official Visit 11/21/11

2011-11-21T09:00:00.001-05:00

The University of Georgia seemed like it had the running back position locked up for a few seasons when Isaiah Crowell pulled out a white bulldog last February to declare he was headed to Athens. Injuries and suspensions have marred his freshman season, and Georgia got a visit from a second running back from North Carolina on Saturday. Todd Gurley, the incredible athlete from Tarboro, NC, visited Athens for the Kentucky game and is good friends with Keith Marshall, considered to be the nation’s top running back who calls Georgia one of his leaders. After striking out with all of the in-state backs, Georgia is looking to North Carolina for perhaps two backs now.

Just because this weekend is Thanksgiving, the recruiting process doesn’t slow down. If anything the weekend is one of this highest profile weekends of the year because of rivalry games. Daytona Beach’s Mainland High School defensive end Leonard Williams is planning to be in Gainesville this weekend for a visit. The Rivals four-star defensive end is the No. 73 prospect overall and No. 5 at his position and has already visited Auburn. His top five consists of the Tigers, USC, Alabama, FSU and Tennessee.

Finally the Ron Zook job situation hasn’t slowed Illinois’ recruiting, and last week Zook picked up a huge flip from Norland (FL) linebacker Keith Brown, who pledged to the Illini after originally committing to the local Hurricanes. Brown is the No. 4 inside linebacker prospect in the nation, Rivals No. 101 overall. The four-star prospect stands 6-foot-2 and runs a 4.5 40.

What we learned from the 2nd Round-Metro!

2011-11-21T08:59:00.000-05:00

Cobb’s title chances may have taken a huge hit with McEachern, Marietta, South Cobb and Hillgrove all being shown the door, but Lassiter and Walton are two big bullets left in the gun. The Trojans pulled off their second straight upset on the road to earn the right to face ML King in the next round. Lassiter actually has the secondary to contain the ML King receivers so this should be an intense match-up. ...

Meanwhile Walton just keeps rounding the rock with Tyren Jones, who had give more scores in a blowout win over South Cobb. The Raiders defense can also boast the Blaylock twins to shut down future opponents. ...

And don’t forget Allatoona in AAA. The Bucs defense gave up just one score, and the offense, led by Miles Jones’ two scores, found just enough points to win. Ohio State did the same thing back in 2002-03. ...

It was not a good weekend in AAAAA for Gwinnett County. Brookwood lost in overtime and North Gwinnett fell at home to Colquitt County on GPB TV. Grayson did thump Lowndes thanks in large part to Robert Nkemdiche to give the county its last, best shot at a title in AAAAA, though Dacula could continue its special run. ...

What more can you say about West Forsyth? The defense held all-state back Kenyan Drake to under 40 yards rushing. The running game offered a pair of 100-yard rushers. The quarterback picked his spots for success. ...

Lovejoy is making its case for best defense in AAAA. After posting seven shutouts through its first 11 games, Lovejoy’s defense rescued it against Kell by returning a turnover for a score and forcing another fumble late in the game to seal a victory. East Paulding and Tucker may feel they have superior defenses but Lovejoy’s is driving deeper into the playoffs.

Fantasy Football weekly recap

2011-11-21T08:58:00.000-05:00

Hot
Matthew Stafford
The Lions quarterback had been left for dead in many fantasy leagues, but he passed for 335 yards and five score in a big victory over the Carolina Panthers, finding different receivers for scores.

Ray Rice
The Baltimore Ravens running back rushed for 104 yards and a pair of scores while also hauling in five receptions for 43 yards to pace the Ravens in a 31-24 victory. Rice averaged 5.2 yards per carry.

Josh Freeman
Freeman outgained Aaron Rodgers with 342 yards and a pair of scores in a loss. The Tampa Bay quarterback’s numbers could have been even better had Kellen Winslow not dropped a 2-pt conversion towards the end of the game.

Not
Chris Johnson
Has anyone seen Chris Johnson all season? The Tennessee Titans back carried 12 times against Atlanta and gained 13 yards. He did put up 15 receiving yards, but you’d expect a bit more from your first round pick.

Steven Jackson
The Seattle defense isn’t exactly a lockdown unit, so it is a bit surprising that the Rams stud running back only gained 42 yards on 15 carries. He wasn’t much of a factor in the passing game either, contributing just 19 yards.

Ryan Fitzpatrick
The Buffalo Bills rewarded Fitzpatrick recently with a huge contract. Oops. The quarterback failed to get the Bills into the end zone and was pulled after tossing two interceptions.

You often hear the term “handcuffs” in fantasy football but typically it involves running backs. Ideally you always want to draft or acquire the backup to your top running back, as the running back position is generally the top point-achiever in various leagues. On run-first teams you would want to have the guy behind the guy if the guy goes down. This year you may want to have handcuffed Julio Jones with Harry Douglas. Jones has missed time with hamstring injuries, but the Falcons have barely missed a beat with the emergence of Douglas. He tore up the Saints secondary for eight receptions and 133 yards and followed that up with another 51 yards receiving against the Titans. Matt Ryan has started targeting the receiver and he is actually helping to open up targets for Roddy White, which surely pleases those fantasy owners.

Meanwhile Jake Locker got an extended run thanks to a Matt Hasselbeck injury, and Locker looks like he could get more snaps throughout the rest of the season. Locker was 9/19 for 140 yards and two scores in just a little over one quarter of action. Locker will also provide you will some points with his legs, but unlike Tim Tebow and Michael Vick, Locker is a genuine threat to pass it, making those rushing yards more valuable.

Michael Turner continued his strong season with another 100-yard rushing game with another score. Turner rushed for 96 yards against the Saints and is well on pace to surpass 1300 yards for the year.

Patient Carson Palmer owners are still in flux after Palmer passed for a score, ran for another and achieved a high NFL rating. Palmer only passed for 164 yards though so owners will again have to flip a coin to decide whether or not to start him. With Chicago and then two straight road trips, I would say bench him until late December.

Moving forward I will not be drafting anymore Cleveland Browns running backs. Much like Denver a few years back, the franchise just plugs unknowns in and churns out 100-yard rushers. Problem is it is never who you think it will be. Peyton Hillis was the expected back to carry the load this year but for the last two week Chris Ogbonnaya racking up yards. After toasting the St. Louis Rams for 90 yards on 19 carries, he smoked the Jacksonville Jaguars for 115 yards and a score on 21 carries. He has the Bengals this week, ride him if you can but bench him for the Ravens and Steelers the next two weeks.

Not sure what is happening out in San Diego but the usual fantasy point factory has been shut down this season. Philip Rivers has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns this season and while he has still thrown for around 3000 yards, he just isn’t putting together the season you thought you’d get when you likely took him as one of the first quarterbacks off the board. Ryan Matthews and Mike Tolbert have also been highly disappointing over the last few weeks. You won’t be able to count on either as you gear up for your playoff run. Only play these two in a flex position and go with other backs in your true RB positions.

He threw two more interceptions last week but Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is trying to hold his team’s season together as best he can. The Georgia product passed for 335 yards and five scores in his team’s win over Carolina. Stafford’s favorite targets continue to be Calvin Johnson and Nate Burleson. He is also finding Brandon Pettigrew at a high rate. Remember the Lions play in a dome so the passing game won’t suffer down the stretch as three games remain indoors with two games in California. The team wraps up outside in Green Bay but the Packers may have home field clinched and could be resting starters. Lions receivers are a go.

Falcons Videoboard

2011-11-20T08:49:00.000-05:00

Today when you are sitting in your seat and the offense churns out another first down on a big play, the first thing you will likely do is immediately look to the Georgia Dome video board for a key to finishing off the drive. When a time out is called on the field, odds are you will also look up at the video board to see which section is about to win a pizza or a t-shirt. Right before the second half kicks off you are certainly likely to stare at the video board to see highlights from the first half. The video board in the Georgia Dome is sometimes taken for granted by the casual fan but way more planning than one would think goes into each and every shot, graphic, replay, highlight, and promotion that airs during a Falcons game.

Roddy White, the Falcons Director of Event Marketing, said that the packages that run during each break in the action are planned out well in advance and constantly refreshed with new graphics and clips all in an effort to keep the Falcons fans engaged in the action. “In April and May we will start to inventory all of the elements needed for the year.” White and his staff will work with the sales staff, the video production people and other key members of the organization to create the overall video board package for the season. Some of the elements or packages will be driven by conversations with the Falcons’ partners and sponsors, and by June all of the video features will be released for production in an animation house. Entertainment elements are also created in this time period. White said that the elements such as the player introductions have been refreshed, changed and polished since May.

The sponsor elements that are driven by a partner mush promote fan engagement, tie in to football or the Falcons and perhaps even have a giveaway that would benefit a large number of fans.

White said he starts out with a blank bulletin board and then slowly fills it up with different index cards representing packages and elements all with the plan to keep the Falcons in the Georgia Dome interested in the game and not checking their phone or zoning out during breaks in the game. “We want to keep people engaged so when we come back to live action they have been interested throughout the break.”

Starting 10 days before a game White and his staff will create a 44-page script that will break down the game day schedule to the minute leading up to kickoff. Once the kickoff takes place, White’s script will then switch to a “break” format. Each Falcons game will have 22-NFL mandated network breaks and well as other breaks such as injury time outs that will require video board elements that White cannot plan for in his script. “The script is simply a starting point,” said White. “We may have to make a decision on spot to change the script around due to the flow of the game.”

In his 16 years of doing this job, White said he has never had a game go 100% according to the script because it is so hard to know how a game will play out. Several features have rigid spots on the video board but if the Falcons run a interception back, White said he isn’t afraid to run a different feature and “pay back” the initial spot down the road. “You are reacting to live elements on the field.” White has 65 people that are affected when part of the script is switched and those folks need to be on their toes at all times, ready to refresh features on the spot with in-game elements like highlights or fan response.

The bottom line is the video board and its staff’s main purpose is to keep fans engaged before, during and after the action. Enjoy the video board because it is there for you the fan.

Cobb County's chances take a hit

2011-11-19T10:58:00.000-05:00

The Hillgrove Hawks looked like they had weathered the storm from West Forsyth when Kenyan Drake returned a kick for a score late in the second quarter for a tie-breaking touchdown. West Forsyth would regroup at halftime and hold Drake to under 40 yards for the game in a 40-28 victory to end Hillgrove’s season. Drake did total three scores for the game. Blake Roberts led the Wolverines with 111 yards rushing. Kell managed to dent the scoreboard against Lovejoy, but it was the Wildcats that ruled the day 15-10. Kell fumbled away a screen pass which led to a Lovejoy score. The defense would force another fumble late in the game. ... Pope was thumped 35-0 by Tri-Cities when Oscar Ross passed for a score and ran for another. The Bulldogs scored early on a Xavier Robinson 80-yard score. The defense also forced four turnovers. ... ML King was down a touchdown and running out of time when Jonquel Dawson hit Cornell Boyd for a 31-yard score to force overtime. In the extra frame, Dawson found Blake Tibbs for the 27-21 game-winning score. Dawson had three scores and 352 yards in the win. ... Dacula dumped Newnan 32-21 thanks to a pair of Marcus Cox scores as well as one from Rocky Capobianco. ... Walton advanced to the next round with a 42-7 win over South Cobb. Tyren Jones scored four times in the first half and recorded five total touchdowns for the Raiders. ... St. Pius jumped out to a 24-0 halftime lead before rolling on to a 31-6 victory over Henry County. Ryan Braswell contributed 153 yards and three scores on 23 carries. Aaron Avant picked off two Henry County passes. ... Miles Jones scored two touchdowns which would be enough for Allatoona to advance past Mary Persons 14-7.

GPB Game of the week recap..... Lassiter defense holds McEachern down in victory.

With Eddie Printz, Juwan Dickey, Charlie Hegedus and Isiah Willis all on offense, Lassiter has the ability to put points on the scoreboard in a hurry. It was the defense however that moved the Trojans past McEacher 20-17 and into the second round. The Lassiter secondary intercepted McEachern quarterback Trent Thompson three times to spur the Trojans on to a victory. Garrett Shank returned an interception to the Indians one-yard line early in the first quarter to help the Trojans out to an 8-0 lead. Willis finished off the drive with a one-yard plunge for the score. Lassiter would allow the Thompson to find Malik Williams for a 20-yard score and Nicholas St. Germain would connect on a 29-yard field goal to give the Indians a 10-8 halftime lead. Lassiter had a chance towards the start of the second quarter to put some points on the board but missed on fourth-and-goal from inside the two-yard line when Printz’s pass was too high for Willie Police.

The Trojan defense would not surrender much over the next 22 minutes though, picking off Thompson in the third quarter just seconds after Printz found Hegedus for a 12-yard score to give Lassiter the lead back 14-10. Lassiter wouldn’t move the ball after the interception, but the punt was muffed by the upback and recovered by a Trojans special teams player.

The Trojans would start the fourth quarter with a 30-yard completion on fourth-and-two, leading to a Josh Danforth one-yard touchdown run. The Lassiter defense would stop McEachern on the next drive on a fourth-and-one, then Lassiter would intercept Thompson to snuff out the Indians next drive, allowing the Trojans to nearly kill the clock. McEachern scored on a 55-yard touchdown screen pass to Jaloni Wells, but the Trojans recovered the onside kick to ice the game.

McFarlin has it cooking at Blessed Trinity

2011-11-17T12:32:00.000-05:00

While Eddie Printz of Lassiter may be the higher profile quarterback in this week’s GPB.org webcast of the week, don’t overlook Trent Thompson of McEachern. The left-hander has pledged to Georgia State and thrived since getting the Indians full-time gig his senior season. Thompson can hit his weapons on the outside, but his senior leadership stands out more than anything else he brings to the table. Thompson reminds me of a David Greene-type: not skills that knock you out of the stadium, but enough of the X-factor to lead a team to a victory. ...

Tyren Jones has racked up nearly 1800 yards this year for Walton along with 27 rushing scores. The Raiders running back gives Walton the ability to pop the ball over the top with quarterback Parker McLeod. The Raiders are a threat this year and could pull off a repeat next year as both are juniors. ...

Despite a tremendous effort from Kevin Ellison, Habersham Central’s season came to an end against the Chattahoochee Cougars. Ellison rushed for four scores but the Raiders fell 65-48. Ellison willed his team to six wins this season and deserves some player of the year attention. ...

Frank Hepler’s West Forsyth team may be the quietest 10-1 team in all of Georgia high school football, and the Wolverines have a tough match-up with Hillgrove this Friday. Hepler’s lone loss this season came to Alpharetta. ...

Tim McFarlin didn’t waste much time once he arrived at Blessed Trinity. The Titans have already made some playoff-noise and have a chance to send some serious shockwaves through Class AA when they travel to Barnesville to face 11-0 Lamar County. Blessed Trinity dropped three of its first four games but rebounded to go 5-0 in its subregion. A second loss to Buford interrupted a five-game winning streak.

Familiar Faces at the Top of the Regions Directors Cup Standings

2011-11-16T18:00:00.001-05:00

Several state titles have already been decided and six programs took home cheerleading crowns over the weekend. With only football remaining before the end of the fall sports season, the Regions Directors Cup standings have been updated and some familiar names sit at the top.
In Class AAAAA, Brookwood, last year’s overall winner, is currently the leader while Harrison is atop the girls standings in AAAAA after winning that category one year ago. Mill Creek is in second place overall but could jump the Broncos thanks to its victory in the cheerleading championships. The Norcross boys figure to get a boost come winter, but the Blue Devils may already be looking up with Brookwood just 10 points back entering the football playoffs. The Broncos could make a serious run, and the Walton boys are also lurking. Walton, after winning the girls volleyball title, appears ready to battle Lassiter, Brookwood and Harrison all year long. Peachtree Ridge fell short of winning the co-ed cheerleading championship, finishing in third place.

HAUGHTY HOUNDS …
In AAAA, Pope is on top of the overall standings with Marist leading the boys category and Whitewater on top in the girls category. Whitewater was runner-up in both softball and volleyball. Meanwhile, Northgate sits in 16th place overall with its softball title, and the Lady Vikings will receive a boost after winning their fifth straight cheerleading championship. Marist has won the AAAA overall title the last 11 seasons while winning the AAA crown in 1999-2000 school year. Marist’s surprising loss in the first round of the football playoffs could allow the Greyhounds to stretch its lead out a bit for the overall lead after Pope finished runner-up to the War Eagles one year ago. The two schools tied for the boys championship. Flowery Branch also has a shot at leading the boys race with a state title run after finishing in 17th place last year.

LOFTY LIONS …
Seeing St. Pius X atop the AAA overall standings isn’t much of a surprise, but Allatoona leads the girls category in AAA. The Golden Lions are on top in the boys standings and sits second in the girls. The race in AAA is the closest overall race with St. Pius X leading by just five points. With both football teams competing for a state title thanks to region championships, the race will heat up as the temperature drops.

TITANS TOPS …
Blessed Trinity leads the overall and the girls categories in Class AA with Lovett claiming the other spot. The Buford Wolves should be an interesting school to watch. The softball team has already won a state title and the football team doesn’t appear to be losing anytime soon in the playoffs. Right now Buford sits in 11th place overall, but a state crown in football could move the Wolves closer to Blessed Trinity. Lovett currently leads the boys race, but Blessed Trinity’s victory in the first round could help the Titans catch up and pass the Lions.

WOLVES WINNING …
Just because Wesleyan competes in the state’s smallest classification doesn’t mean the Wolves’ achievements are small. In fact, Wesleyan has claimed the last three Class A overall Directors Cups, and this year has a healthy lead over Athens Academy for the overall title. Wesleyan and First Presbyterian are splitting the girls and boys categories, respectively. Athens Academy will pick up some points for making the football playoffs but the real mover may turn out to be Savannah Christian. SCPS has made the finals the last two years and appears primed for another extended football run which could lead to a jump from its current spot at No. 20 overall.

Murray moving up the list

2011-11-15T14:44:00.001-05:00

I realize that he still has two years left and he JUST finally beat a ranked opponent, but it is safe to say that Aaron Murray has already become the third most successful Georgia quarterback during Mark Richt’s tenure. Yes indeed. I have elevated him past No. 1 overall pick Matthew Stafford and slotted the redshirt sophomore right behind DJ Shockley on the Best-Of list.

Granted Mark Richt has only had a handful of quarterbacks during his decade-long run in Athens, but Aaron Murray is a solid No. 3 with a chance to surpass Shockley and perhaps even No. 1 David Greene before he leaves town.

Consider for just a second that Aaron Murray, assuming Georgia wins Saturday, will have taken his team to an SEC East championship, something that Stafford never did. The only time Matthew Stafford ever played in the Georgia Dome, Georgia was rallying to beat Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl following the 2006 season. Murray also broke Stafford’s single-season touchdown record with four games left to play (again, assuming Georgia wins this Saturday). Plus you always got the feeling that the offense was Stafford AND Knowshon Moreno with the running back getting more hype. Murray has Isaiah Crowell...who has missed time this year.

Aaron Murray has won more games than Joe Cox and Joe Tereshinski III ever did combined. We won’t count Blake Barnes or Logan Gray since they never started, and Cory Phillips never started while Richt was in Athens.

Greene is a solid No. 1 after winning an SEC championship and appearing in another title game. He also broke the record for all-time victories by a starter. Shockley led his one team to the Dome and an SEC title, the last title Georgia has won. Now Murray will lead his team to face an SEC West foe on the first December Saturday.

Can Murray move up the list? He has Crowell to give him some help in the backfield and those receivers look like they will be incredible next year. If Murray wins an SEC title and challenges for a BCS title, you would have to think that the current quarterback could be moving up the list in a hurry. I’m just hoping he continues to play well in games without yakking during key moments in big games.

Two of Georgia's Big Three make pledges

2011-11-15T08:46:00.000-05:00

Georgia basketball players began sending in letters of intent last week and two of the big three announced where they would be attending. Shaq Goodwin surprised everyone by tweeting that he was headed to Memphis, where he claims he will play both basketball and football. The 6’8 power forward has been playing some tight end this season for Southwest DeKalb. Goodwin did not sign with the Tigers however as he will wait until the late period in April. ...

Robert Carter, the power forward who recently transferred to Shiloh, has decided to suit up next year for Georgia Tech. It was a huge coup for Brian Gregory, who also snagged guard Chris Bolden of North Gwinnett and wing Marcus Hunt of North Clayton. ... Tony Parker of Miller Grove is the final member of The Big Three but he has said he will wait until the late period to pick between Duke and Ohio State, and to see if any other contenders emerge. ...

Meanwhile Georgia, who was a finalist for Carter, received three signatures including Brandon Morris of Miller Grove, Kenny Gaines of Whitefield Academy and Charles Mann, a point guard from Milton. Morris could play as a shutout wing option while Gaines and Mann have to like that Georgia’s current backcourt of Dustin Ware and Gerald Robinson Jr both run out of eligibility after this season. ...

Back to the gridiron, Shadrach Thornton’s recruiting story has turned into an epic saga. After initially declaring that he would be suiting up for Kentucky next year, Thornton continued to visit other schools and many thought that he would end up with Georgia Tech after he came away impressed on his latest visit, though Vanderbilt was also called a “leader.” Thornton instead raised eyebrows after declaring he was headed to NC State over the weekend. Now it appears as though Tech will move on to Allatoona’s Miles Jones to be the second back in Tech’s class.

Sutton makes the long road back

2011-11-15T08:44:00.000-05:00

The Flowery Branch Falcons figured they would have to hit the road for four straight away games if they wanted to make it back to the Georgia Dome for the state championship. Thomas County Central came through with an upset of Region 2-AAAA champion and No. 2 overall Statesboro, meaning the Yellow Jackets/Falcons game will take place in Flowery Branch this Friday. The Falcons needed a last second Hail Mary to advance, but now the Falcons figure to be favored against the No. 4 seed out of Region 1-AAAA. ...

Several years ago Ean Pemberton carried the load for Grayson as the Rams made a deep run in the AAAAA playoffs. In last week’s game coach Mickey Conn spread the love around, using eight different ball-carriers to rack up 271 yards. Wayne Gallman carried it 10 times for 58 yards to lead the team. ...

The Pope Greyhounds broke an 11-year playoff victory drought with a 52-38 win over Mays. Holland Frost had five total scores and 233 yards in the victory. The quarterback passed for 119 yards and a score and ran for another 114 yards and four touchdowns. ...

Carver-Columbus junior running back Marquez Holloway led the Tigers with 145 rushing yards and two scores as Carver thumped Lovett 38-7. The Tigers have reinstated Deion Bonner following the defensive back’s arrest from an incident that occurred on the UGA campus back in April. Bonner and Marquise Hawkins were initially kicked off of the team but later reinstated and Bonner played last week in the Tigers’ playoff win. ...

What a road back it has been for Warner Robins Brian Sutton. After starring as a sophomore, the back missed his junior year after breaking his neck. He returned earlier this season and scored his first touchdown in his team’s win over Colquitt County on the GPB.org webcast. Last Saturday night Sutton scored four rushing scores as the Demons advanced past Lakeside-Evans 42-31. He finished with 188 yards on 20 carries.

Braves closer wins Rookie of the Year

2011-11-14T16:58:00.001-05:00

The Atlanta Braves picked up yet another award this offseason as closer Craig Kimbrel was unanimously named the National League Rookie of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America, securing all 32 first-place votes. Kimbrel recently won the NL Rookie of the Year award from The Sporting News as well as the Players Choice Award for NL’s Most Outstanding Rookie. During his first full season with the team, Kimbrel set a new rookie save record with 46 while closing out a league-high 64 games. The all-star posted a 2.10 ERA and struck out 127 batters in 77 innings of work.

“I was definitely surprised by the unanimous decision,” said Kimbrel hours after winning the award. “It makes it that much more special. I never expected anything like that to happen.”

Kimbrel is in Hawaii for teammate Peter Moylan’s wedding and said that all of his teammates texted him congratulations. Kris Medlen even gave the closer a hug. “It is an honor. It’s an award you only get one chance to win.”

First baseman Freddie Freeman finished second after slugging 21 home runs while batting .282 with a .795 OPS. He also played well enough for Gold Glove consideration, committing just six error in 1456 chances over 156 games. His .996 fielding percentage was better than the league average and equal to that of Joey Votto, the Gold Glove winner in the National League at first base. Kimbrel said that Freeman was a good teammate and a good friend.

Last season outfielder Jason Heyward finished runner-up to San Francisco catcher Buster Posey. The last Atlanta Brave to win the award was Rafael Furcal in 2000. The franchise has had seven in its history, five while based in Atlanta.

While Kimbrel felt the award was “really cool,” it wasn’t one of his goals at the start of the year. “I didn’t go into the season saying I wanted to win rookie of the year. I just wanted to help the team win and go to the postseason.”

What does the Rookie of the Year plan for an encore? Hopefully a trip to the playoffs in 2012. “The end of the year is going to help me strive to be a better pitcher.”

Just a taste of the Official Visit, tonight at9pm

2011-11-14T13:58:00.002-05:00

Be sure to tune in to 790 The Zone tonight at 9PM for The Official Visit.

The ongoing saga of Liberty County (GA) running back Shadrach Thornton has taken another crazy turn. After initially declaring that he would be suiting up for Joke Phillips and Kentucky next year, Thornton continued to visit other schools and many thought that he would end up with Georgia Tech after he came away impressed on his official visit. He also called Vanderbilt a “leader” after taking a visit to Nashville with some fellow prospects. Thornton instead raised eyebrows after declaring he was headed to NC State over the weekend. Now it appears as though Tech will move on to Miles Jones of Allatoona (GA) to be the second back in its class.

With Joe Paterno out at Penn State, people will begin to speculate on possible replacements and two names have immediately popped out: Urban Meyer and Al Golden. Meyer has roots to the that area though most believe he’d rather take the Ohio State position. Meanwhile Miami’s Golden played at Penn State and has previously coached at Temple. Should Golden go to his alma mater, it would be interesting to see how many of Miami’s 26 prospects follow him or decide to look elsewhere. Raphael Kirby of Stone Mountain, Georgia, may defect as UGA is coming hard after him. One member of the Miami class to watch is Jake O’Donnell from Doylestown, PA. Should Golden go to Penn State, O’Donnell, a defensive end may want to stay close to home.

Jordan Batiste, a cornerback from Luther (LA) , has decided that he will stick with Ole Miss despite Houston Nutt announcing that he will resign at the end of the year. Batiste told Scout.com that he saw the move coming. The 5-9, 170-pound corner is the No. 80 cornerback in the country according to Scout.com and he has been listed as a three-star prospect. He has offers from Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Southern Miss and Pittsburgh.

Things we learned from Round One-metro style

2011-11-14T13:57:00.001-05:00

The Lassiter Trojans may have stubbed their toes as the regular season wore on, but as long as Eddie Printz is upright back there, the Trojans have a shot. The quarterback has several nice receiving options and Niles Clark is not only a defensive back stud, he is a special teams beast. ...

Alpharetta is loaded with juniors, so despite the season ending with an overtime loss to Lassiter, expect coach Jason Dukes to have Alpharetta ready to build off of two straight trips to the postseason and this year’s region title. Joshua Dobbs, Carlos Burse, DeAndrew Wise and Khari Waithe-Alexander will have the Raiders once again in the postseason next year. ...

I need to apologize to Diandre Atwater for never really giving him his due. In the Corky Kell Classic he strapped Peachtree Ridge to his back and went score for score with Tyren Jones in a loss. Then he helped carry the Lions to the regular-season finale against North Gwinnett for a shot at the region title. Finally he scored three times and racked up 301 yards rushing in an overtime loss to Brookwood in the first round. The first and last games were the most impressive; too bad they came in losses. ...

Yusuf Minor has to be looked at by opposing coaches with wary eyes after scoring from 80 and 79 yards against Sprayberry. Tucker’s big-play offense was taken to a new level by Minor’s long runs. Juwaan Williams and Dallas Rivers also contributed long scoring runs in the 40-point victory. ...

ML King has Blake Tibbs and in the GPB.org game of the week, you saw Tibbs explode for a 96-yard kick return. Watch out for Josh Stanford though. Stanford has nice size and incredible hand, which he used both of to corral three touchdown receptions in the Lions 30-22 win over Coffee.

Metro recap: Lassiter, Brookwood need OT PLUS ML Wins

2011-11-13T09:00:00.000-05:00

The Brookwood Broncos lost a 10-point lead but managed to pick up a road victory over Peachtree Ridge 30-27. Diandre Atwater ran for 301 yards and three scores for the Lions, but it was not enough as BJ Sammon scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime. Sammon had two earlier scores for the Broncos. ... Lassiter needed overtime but managed to end Alpharetta’s dream season, defeating the Raiders 17-16 in overtime. Eddie Printz rallied his Trojans back from a 10-0 hole, finding Willie Police from five yards out in the second quarter and then hooking up with Jawan Dickey in overtime. Jalen Simmons had two touchdowns in the game but Niles Clark of Lassiter blocked Lehman Howlington’s extra point attempt, giving Lassiter the victory. ... Dacula managed to avenge its season-opening loss to Norcross with a 17-10 victory over the Blue Devils. ... Marietta is now over .500 after beating Centennial 48-27. The Blue Devils received a huge effort from quarterback Anthony Jennings, who passed for four scores and ran for two more while tallying 361 yards of total offense. ... Yusuf Minor racked up 192 rushing yards and had scoring runs for 80 yards and 79 yards in Tucker’s 44-14 win over Sprayberry. The Tigers also received two touchdowns apiece from Dallas Rivers and Juwaan Williams. ... Peyton Usher scored three times as Northgate crushed North Clayton 42-7. ... North Gwinnett bounced Archer in the Tigers first-ever playoff appearance 49-3. ... Grayson took care of Collins Hill 32-7. ... The Walton Raiders thrashed Milton 48-14 to advance to the second round where they will host South Cobb, 32-28 winners over Windsor Forest. ... Chattahoochee defeated Habersham Central 65-48 as the Cougars attempt to defend their 2010 AAAA title.

ML King loses Dawson, wins game

The Lions of ML King averaged 34 points this season with Jonquel Dawson, Blake Tibbs and Joshua Stanford moving up and down the field in Michael Carson’s offense. Friday night the Lions forced six turnovers plus another on downs to knock the Coffee Trojans out of the playoffs, but it may have come at a high price. ML King turned the ball over in the third quarter with a 30-7 lead, and the quarterback Dawson would leave the game with a right leg injury. Coffee would find the end zone a few plays later to cut the lead to 30-14 and a Jeremy Tyler interception would give the Trojans another eventual score to trim the lead to 30-22.

Early on in the contest Coffee took a 7-0 lead on a Tyreek Hill 55-yard pass to Kenyadrick Black on a trick play. The ensuing kickoff though saw ML King standout Blake Tibbs weaving through Coffee Trojans for a 96-yard touchdown return. Stanford would haul in a 45-yard scoring pass later in the quarter.

Three Coffee turnovers inside ML King territory led to nine second quarter points, and Coffee wouldn’t be finished turning it over inside Lions territory for the evening. In the third quarter Coffee turned it over on downs inside the ML King 40 then fumbled another away.

Dawson would leave the game in the third, leaving the ball in Jeremy Tyler’s hands. Tyler would throw an interception to Hill to keep Coffee in the game. Hill would haul in a reception to put the Trojans inside the five yard line where Brandon Roe would bring Coffee to within 10. Hill’s two-point conversion gave Coffee a shot with 3:05 left. Coffee recovered the onside kick, but the officials ruled the kicker was off-sides and ML King would run the clock out to advance 30-22.

In all, Coffee turned it over six times plus the turnover on downs, five turnovers occurring in Lions territory. Stanford finish with three touchdown receptions.

Trouble in Lithia Springs, Brookwood eyes repeat

2011-11-10T15:30:00.000-05:00

A Lithia Springs coach has been arrested and charged with sexual assault stemming from an incident involving a 17-year-old student. Dennis Keith Brown, 52 was arrested Wednesday by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. A Douglas County Sheriff Office spokesman told the Douglas County Sentinel that an investigation found that the teacher and coach had a sexual encounter with a female student in September during school hours. ...

The Brookwood Broncos have a chance to pull off a repeat this year and that wouldn’t be all that uncommon in GHSA AAAAA football. Since expanding to a fifth classification, Parkview won three straight from 2000-02, Lowndes won back-to-back in 2004-05 and Camden County won in 2008-09. Lowndes and Camden County each won an additional title during the stretch as well with Peachtree Ridge and Roswell splitting the 2006 title. Brookwood’s draw is favorable and gives Mark Crews’ squad a chance to make it back to the Georgia Dome. ...

Several weeks back we called Habersham Central’s Kevin Ellison perhaps the 2011 version of Timmy Byerly, Chattahoochee’s dual-threat quarterback that led the Cougars to the title one year ago. Interestingly enough Ellison faces Chattahoochee in the first round of the AAAA playoffs. ...

After a 20-21 overall record in four seasons at Westlake, head coach Greg Minnis has stepped down following the conclusion of his team’s 4-6 year. Westlake lost to Colquitt County, Stephenson and ML King this year. ...

Northside head coach Kevin Kinsler seems to have the regular season down, going 20-0 through his first two regular season slates with the Eagles. Last year in the playoffs however Kinsler and the Eagles fell to Whitewater in the first round. This year the No. 3 Eagles host Glynn Academy, a team that has won four straight. According to Macon.com, the Eagles have scored 30+ in nine of 10 games this season.

Cobb County & Class A stacked entering playoffs

2011-11-09T16:16:00.000-05:00

Cobb County will send 12 teams to the playoffs with six serving as the home team in the first round of the playoffs. Hillgrove, McEachern, Marietta, Walton, Pope and Allatoona will all host a game this weekend. ...

Adairsville punched its playoff ticket for the first time since 2003 and did so on the back and legs of senior Mike Upshaw. The running back carried 17 times for 119 yards and two scores and a two-point conversion in the Tigers recent 24-14 win. Upshaw now has over 1500 yards on the season. ...

While plenty of love is heaped upon the higher classifications, it may be time to give some love to Class A as this bracket is setting up to be one of the best years ever in the state’s smallest class. Savannah Christian will face Dooly County in the first round with a potential date with Holy Innocents’ looming in the second round. Lincoln County is undefeated this year and may just face the defending champs in the second round, if Clinch County can get by Mitchell County. A huge showdown between Charlton County and Marion County could eventually come to fruition in the Southwest region while Wilcox County will face a gauntlet that could include 24 2Look4 quarterback Brad Butler of Darlington. And the Southeast bracket could provide fireworks with Seminole County, Wilkinson County, ELCA, ECI and Greenville all coming out of that side. ...

Colquitt County’s Rush Propst is 2-0 as head coach in the first round of the GHSA playoffs and now he faces East Coweta, a team that won its first six games of the regular season. The only other time the Indians and the Packers have played was in the 1994 quarterfinals, a game won 25-19 by Colquitt County. The Packers would go on to win the state title that season.

Another fracas pops up on the GaHS gridiron

2011-11-08T11:01:00.000-05:00

The Warren County football program is back in the spotlight once again. Aquinas head coach Matt LeZotte told the Augusta Chronicle that he plans to submit film to the GHSA from this past Friday’s game where two of his players were lost for the remainder of the season. LeZotte called several of Warren County’s hits questionable and “blatant.” Seniors Dane Anderson and Collin Oliver were lost with knee and ankle injuries, respectively. Aquinas has qualified for the Class A playoffs. ...

Unfortunately another Georgia high school football game was marred by an off-the-field issue in a season full of such incidents. A fracas ended the Mary Persons/West Laurens game early last Friday as benches cleared with two minutes left and the Bulldogs leading 29-7. In a story from macon.com, West Laurens coach Stacy Nobles blamed the officials for losing control and letting the game get completely out of hand. The win iced a playoff berth for Mary Persons and ended West Laurens season at 5-5. ...

The Eagles of Northside-Warner Robins broke the state-record for consecutive 10-win seasons, registering the program’s 14th straight season with double-digit victories. The Eagles will enter the playoffs as Region 1-AAAA No. 1 seed. ...

If Flowery Branch is to make the Georgia Dome and play for a state title, the Falcons may want to draw on the 2007 team’s experience after Lee Shaw’s squad won four straight road playoff games to reach the title game. Flowery Branch was 9-0 entering the regular-season finale at Clarke Central before losing to the Gladiators. A three-way tie, including Heritage-Conyers, among the Region 8-AAAA tri-champions forced a draw, sending Flowery Branch to the No. 3 seed.

Do you HATE the BCS? Root for Georgia

2011-11-08T11:00:00.000-05:00

Do you absolutely hate the BCS? Do you wish with all of your being that college football (well, the FBS-subdivision of Division I) had a playoff system? Can you not stand that computers decide the champion instead of the teams playing it out on the field? If so, you should be rooting for the Georgia Bulldogs.

Just days, heck just minutes, after Alabama lost to LSU, people were already wondering if Alabama could meet back up with the Tigers in the BCS national championship game. Well if Stanford loses to Oregon this week and if Oklahoma State loses in December to Oklahoma then the field would be opened right up for Alabama to play LSU again, certainly over Boise State! Alabama didn’t win its own conference and didn’t play for a conference title? So what?! They are the second-best team in the country! LET THEM PLAY!

But if you HATE the BCS and fell asleep during the 9-6 defensive “slugfest,” and the chance that the computers could put an Alabama/LSU rematch on the table makes you want to slit your wrists, the answer is simple: root for Georgia.
Think about it: the BCS will already catch so much grief for putting Alabama in the game over an unbeaten Boise State despite the Tide not winning its own division, much less conference. What if LSU failed to win its conference game? Alabama wouldn’t be able to play for the title, nor would LSU likely if undefeated Boise State is right there and an undefeated Stanford is there too. First off, Bama wouldn’t be BCS-eligible if Georgia snags one of the spots, and it is doubtful that LSU gets into the title game if it has just lost and Stanford has just won a Pac-12 championship game or Oklahoma has just beaten Okie State in a de facto title game.

With no SEC team in the championship game, the SEC gets angry at the BCS and decides to pull out because the two best teams in the country aren’t playing for it all. And whichever the SEC, the nation’s best football conference, goes, so goes the rest of the college football world. You want a playoff? You’d get the SEC pushing for one as its string of BCS titles comes to an end. If you hate the BCS and you want a playoff, root hard for Georgia. The Dawgs could just be the team that finally kills the BCS.

A taste of The Official Visit 11/7/11

2011-11-07T14:21:00.003-05:00

Tune in TONIGHT at 9pm on 790TheZone for the official visit!

The Stephenson/ML King game featured several Georgia natives that have pledged to certain schools but who are openly discussing visiting other campuses. Linebacker Raphael Kirby, a long-time Miami pledge, has said that he will take a visit to Georgia and perhaps Vanderbilt. He recently cancelled trips to Florida and South Carolina. Kyle Fleetwood has pledged to South Carolina but he will visit Vanderbilt as well.

If you were a recruit lucky enough to be on the sidelines for the Alabama/LSU game over the weekend, it would probably be pretty hard not to be impressed with the gameday atmosphere in Tuscaloosa last Saturday night. One recruit on hand was Palm Beach Gardens (FL) offensive tackle Avery Young. The No. 10-ranked tackle in the country according to Rivals.com visited and has the Tide in his final five, along with Auburn, where he has already visited, Virginia Tech, Florida and Georgia.

Channing Ward of Aberdeen (MS) has both of the in-state schools in his top five but the strongside defensive end is the No. 6-ranked player at the position and has already visited LSU and Auburn. With the uncertainty of Houston Nutt in Ole Miss and the chance that Dan Mullen may be on the move to another job, Ward could be headed out of state in a hurry.

Dawgs luck out with Tibbs, Dacula back giving it up for the team

2011-11-07T14:21:00.001-05:00

Maybe CJ Curry dropping the Dawgs for the Pokes of Oklahoma State was a blessing in disguise for Mark Richt and Georgia. With the open spot, Georgia went after ML King’s Blake Tibbs who hauled in five touchdowns and returned a kick 82 yards for the game-winning score in the Lions win over Stephenson. The Dawgs missed out on Demarco Robinson one year ago; Tibbs has shown that he could be even better. ...

Lost in the Tibbs hoopla and the Jags/Lions back-and-forth was Demarcus Sweat continuing to stake his claim as the best offensive prospect on the Stephenson team. Sweat plays special teams and wide receiver better than just about every outside of Tibbs in Region 2-AAAAA and one of his returns could very well be the difference in a playoff game this year. ...

As I drove down to call the Valdosta/Colquitt County game, I tuned in to some Valdosta sports talk and heard one co-host say that this Collins Hill team isn’t the threat that last year’s squad was with Taylor Heinicke. The Eagles lost their record-setting QB to Old Dominion but this team has taken the identity of running back Jordan Parker, who topped the 1000-yard mark last Friday. The Eagles face a tall task in Grayson, but a strong running game is certainly something to build on for coach Kevin Reach. ...

Give a lot of credit to Rocky Capobianco of Dacula for agreeing to carry the ball and be more of a single-wing back for the new Falcons coaching staff. He easily could have dug in his heels and demanded to stay at quarterback but Capobianco gave it up for the team and his 16 carries for 122 yards helped Dacula win its final tune-up for the playoffs.

Karempelis steps up in big spots

2011-11-05T11:26:00.000-04:00

With Isaiah Crowell and three other running backs out for Saturday’s game with New Mexico State Brandon Harton is likely to get the start at tailback for Mark Richt and the Georgia Bulldogs. Folks shouldn’t be too surprised though if true freshman Kyle Karempelis gets plenty of snaps Saturday. The Wesleyan School (GA) product had offers to go to smaller programs but decided instead to attend Georgia as a preferred walk-on. While he hasn’t gotten any game action just yet, when he does this Saturday his track record shows he can tote the rock.

Karempelis played in Georgia’s smallest classification but was still a four-year letterman, tallying 5756 yards and 93 touchdowns over his career. He was an All-State selection three times in high school and he out-played Washaun Ealey in the 2008 state championship game as a sophomore. Karempelis rushed for three socres and 135 yards while hauling in 46 receiving yards. Last year in the playoffs Karempelis faced Nick Marshall and Wilcox County, the defending Class A champions and the back carried 42 times for nearly 300 yards and three touchdowns.

Karempelis seems to shine the brightest when the game ratchets up and you cannot ratchet it up much more than SEC football.

Valdosta trips Colquitt County in OT, ML King stuns Jags

2011-11-05T10:33:00.001-04:00

Valdosta had not won a region title in nearly a decade, but that fact did not stop the Wildcat faithful from turning out in droves to Bazemore-Hyder Stadium Friday night, ready for a celebration. The one problem was Colquitt County was ready to ruin the party and claim its first region title of the century. The two heavyweights felt each other out through a scoreless first quarter, but Valdosta struck first when opportunity knocked with 2:11 left in the first half.

The Wildcats recovered a muffed Packer punt, and one play later senior Shelby Wilkes hit Jerald Davis for a 28-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. Valdosta would intercept Cole Seagraves’ first pass on the ensuing drive, setting up another score seconds later. Wilkes, a former Packer that transferred to Valdosta, hit Demetrius Melvin for a 14-yard score with just seconds left in the half.

In the third quarter, turnovers helped Colquitt County get back in the game. Stacey Blackwell intercepted Wilkes and returned it to the 30-yard line, setting up Willie Woodyard’s 14-yard score just minutes later. Then Dondray Copeland would strip a Wildcat runner, grab the loose ball and return it 38 yards for a score. Oscar Luna’s extra point gave Colquitt County a 14-13 lead.

Valdosta was able to strike back with just under eight to play in the fourth as Wilkes hooked up with Melvin again from 15 yards out. It looked as though the 21-14 lead would stand until Anthony Brumbley intercepted Wilkes with 3:35 to go in the game, setting up Colquitt County for one last drive. The Packers forced overtime with only 28.2 seconds remaining when Seagraves hit Ty Smith for the senior’s first and only catch of the night, a seven-yard score.

In overtime after Luna gave Colquitt a 3-0 lead, Valdosta quickly found the end zone with Terrance Foster plunging in from two yards out for a 27-24 victory. Both teams will host a playoff game next week.

Around the metro...

For the second time this season, a late kick return helped a team knock off its rival. Blake Tibbs hauled in five touchdown catches, but it was his 82-yard return for a score that gave ML King its region title-winning 50-49 victory. The return occurred with 16 seconds remaining after Jaguars running back Mike Davis scored his second touchdown of the game. TJ Moon also scored for Stephenson as did Demarcus Sweat (twice) and Josh Parris. ... Dacula solidified a spot in the playoffs with a 31-21 victory over Parkview. Rocky Capobianco tallied 122 yards on 16 carries for the Falcons. ... Centennial needed a six-yard run from Cyril Teal in the fourth to edge Northview 36-35 to secure a playoff berth. Jimmy Meyer totaled four scores for the Knights. ... Joshua Dobbs passed for 334 yards and six scores as Alpharetta smoked North Forsyth 42-7. ... Jonesboro bested Banneker 40-19 as quarterback Cedric Nettles led the charge for the Cardinals. ... Jordan Parker of Collins Hill eclipsed the 1000-yard rushing mark on the season with a strong effort against Meadowcreek in the Eagles’ 51-0 victory. Parker also scored three times for Collins Hill. ... Milton secured a playoff spot with a 14-13 win over Roswell. Quarterback Colin McElroy ran for a score then found Ryan Jenkins for a eight-yard pass with just seconds remaining in the victory. ... Westminster earned a spot in the playoffs with a 35-7 win over Decatur. Danny Catan threw for a score and ran for another in the victory. ... Lovett ended GAC’s season with a 35-28 victory in a region play-in game. Lovett scored three times in the fourth to complete the comeback victory. Grant Haley tallied three touchdowns for the Lions. ... Finally Buford smoked Blessed Trinity for the second time this year as CJ Moore returned a kick 95 yards for a score for Buford.

Region Titles on the line across the state, metro

2011-11-04T09:27:00.001-04:00

The YouTube war apparently didn’t end with Grayson/Brookwood last week as Stephenson got into the game earlier this week with its own call-out of ML King. Videos aside the Jaguars are looking to avenge a loss last season to the Lions. The passing attack of ML King will face a stout Jags defense and it will be interesting to see if Jonquel Dawson and Blake Tibbs can hook up or if Stephenson’s Kyle Fleetwood can shut down that side of the field. This game features 12 players that have appeared at one point on the Score 44. ... Peachtree Ridge will head to North Gwinnett to play for the Region 7-AAAAA title on GPB TV. The two teams have combined to win the last four region titles. ... Columbia will take on Grady in a Region 5-AAA play-in game that will leave one deserving team out of the playoffs. ... McEachern will celebrate senior night when Kennesaw Mountain pays a visit. The Indians senior class has helped push McEachern into the discussion of whether this will be the year the Cobb County title drought ends. ... Buford rolled Blessed Trinity earlier this season but the Wolves will have to win again in order to clinch the Region 6-AA title and earn home field advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs. ... Archer is just one win away from the first playoff berth in program history and hosts South Gwinnett. Parkview, which needs to win against Dacula and have Archer lose will no doubt be paying attention to this game. ... Grayson locked up the Region 8-AAAAA title one week ago but it will be interesting to see what Central Gwinnett does against the Rams. The Black Knights started the year on fire before falling to 4-5. Central Gwinnett’s offense against Grayson’s defense will be a chess game to watch.

GPB GAME OF THE WEEK PREVIEWS! NoGwinn v PTR; ColquittCo v Valdosta

Rush Propst took his Colquitt County Packers all the way to the state finals one year ago but has a chance Friday to do something he hasn’t done during his tenure in Moultrie: win a Region 1-AAAAA title. Propst’s explosive offense will travel to Valdosta to face the Wildcats with a shot at completing a perfect region slate. While Cole Seagraves, Ty Smith and the rest of the offense can dent a scoreboard like few others, the Packers have also scored six non-offensive touchdowns this season. If that trend continues, Propst could be hoisting a GHSA state title in December.

On man that has hoisted GHSA state titles before is Valdosta coach Rance Gillespie. The Wildcats coach has his team in a position to win the region with a victory at home in Bazemore-Hyder Stadium. Despite losing Jay Rome and Malcolm Mitchell to the University of Georgia, Valdosta can still make some noise this postseason thanks in large part to former Packer quarterback Shelby Wilkes, now under center for Valdosta.

Region 7-AAAAA will also be on the line tonight on GPB TV when Peachtree Ridge travels to North Gwinnett to face the Bulldogs. Bob Sphire’s team is looking for its third region title in a row and his third straight win over the Lions of Peachtree Ridge. Scotty Hosch leads an offense that recently rallied from down 22 points at Norcross to keep its region hopes alive. Joe Jones and Donnie Miles each scored two touchdowns apiece last Friday in a victory over Duluth.

Peachtree Ridge is looking to give new coach Mark Fleetwood a region crown in his first season as head coach in Suwanee. The Lions attack can run with Diandre Atwater and Raham Dixon as well as pass with Billy Best and Joe Horn. The defense isn’t shabby either, allowing just 15 points per game.

Another Thornton takes center stage

2011-11-03T10:01:00.001-04:00

St. Pius X has an explosive offense and the triggerman to this unit now has announced where he is headed next year. Trey White has verbally committed to The Citadel, a member of the Southern Conference. The three-year starter owns several St. Pius records including passing touchdowns in a game and in a season. Geno Smith, a member of the Score 44, has pledged to Alabama while TJ Holloman is headed to South Carolina. Holloman actually filled in at quarterback earlier this year when White missed time due to injury. St. Pius faces Woodward Academy for the Region 5-AAA title this Friday. ...

Lowndes has finished its regular season and could have to hit the road for the first round of the playoffs, though the Vikings will check out the GPB.org webcast between Colquitt County and Valdosta this Friday before making travel plans. According to the Valdosta Daily Times’ Ed Hooper, if Colquitt County scores 33 points in a victory over Valdosta, Lowndes could earn the No. 2 seed out of Region 1-AAAAA. ...

The surname Thornton attached to a running back in the state of Georgia this year has usually been in association with Score 44 member Shadrach Thornton out of Liberty County. Another Thornton is making his presence known, Stephens County junior Chaz Thornton. The Indians have jumped on the back of Thornton and will face Gainesville for the Region 8-AAA title. Thornton has rushed for 1785 yards this year and 25 touchdowns. ...

Finally Ridgeland likely never thought it would be playing for a fourth straight region crown after a 1-4 start. However thanks to four straight wins and another via a Dalton forfeit and Ridgeland is set to face Allatoona for the title. The two played once this season with Allatoona prevailing 28-7.

Two major players to miss playoffs

2011-11-02T14:05:00.001-04:00

While plenty of attention will no doubt be focused on region championship games and de facto championship games this weekend, there are several games that are just as interesting with plenty of playoff implications. Peeblebrook faces South Cobb in a game North Cobb will certainly be watching. A Falcons victory would clear things up but if South Cobb springs the upset, watch out. ...

Lassiter hosts Etowah for the right to travel to West Forsyth. The loser heads to Raider Stadium to face the explosive Alpharetta offense, sparked by Joshua Dobbs. ...

North Clayton can sew up the fourth playoff seed in Region 4-AAAA but a loss opens the door for either Banneker or Creekside to slip into the postseason. ...

Dalton still has an outside chance of keeping its winning season streak alive. It begins with a trip to Cartersville. The Catamounts would need to make it to the quarterfinals to get to 6-6 and to the semifinals to ensure a non-losing record. Should Dalton simply make the AAA title game, the winning season streak would continue. ...

In Region 6-AA, Greater Atlanta Christian, ranked No. 3 just two weeks ago heads to Lovett needing a win just to qualify for the playoffs. Lovett was ranked No. 5 when it lost to Buford September 23. Lovett has dropped two of its last three games. ...

One of the top senior quarterbacks in the state will play his final game of the year this Friday as Greyson Lambert and Wayne County wrap up the season at Greenbrier. Lambert is headed to Virginia but Wayne County is 4-4-1 heading into the last game.

... Central Gwinnett’s season will come to a disappointing end this Friday at home against Grayson but receiver Malachi Jones certainly did his part this season, hauling in 73 catches, a Gwinnett County record, according to Todd Holcomb. The Black Knights snapped a five-game losing streak with the 33-26 win over Shiloh Friday.

Georgia Tech bringing in the prospects

2011-11-01T15:35:00.000-04:00

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets have several spots left in its 2012 recruiting class but one race to keep an eye on is Tech’s last spot for running back. Several recruitniks believe that Miles Jones of Allatoona is a big-time target for Paul Johnson to slid in at A-Back but recently Liberty County’s Shadrach Thornton was on hand Saturday to watch the Jackets beat Clemson. Thornton committed to Kentucky last month but has since made trips to NC State and now Georgia Tech, leading some to believe that Thornton is the new No. 1 candidate with Jones serving as a fall-back. ...

Archer is closing in on its first-ever playoff berth and two-way standout Jermaine Morris is a big reason why. The running back/defensive end has pledged to the Georgia Southern program to play at the next level, likely as an end. According to the Gwinnett Daily Post, Morris has five sacks on the season. ...

Miller Grove basketball star Tony Parker made an official visit to Duke over the weekend. Coach K has seemingly locked in on Parker, who would likely fit in as a 4 or even down in the post for Duke. It was reported that Coach K visited Parker upon Parker’s return from a recent trip to UCLA. ...

Georgia Tech’s new basketball coach Brian Gregory had his biggest recruiting weekend yet last weekend when prospects for the 2012 and 2013 classes were on campus. Shun Williams of On The Radar Hoops reported several top prospects made it to the Flats including Shiloh’s Robert Carter and Tift County’s Austin Pickett.

Coffee makes playoffs despite loss of QB

2011-11-01T15:34:00.000-04:00

Not many programs can afford to lose the state’s top quarterback prospect and still make the playoffs but Coffee has done just that this year. Will Gardner was lost for the season in the Trojans first game this season with a ruptured ACL, forcing Coffee to turn to Santory Long under center. Long helped Coffee make the playoffs and even pull off an upset of Valdosta. Gardner has committed to Louisville and the AJC reports that the Cardinals will still honor the scholarship offer. ...

When you look at all of Lovejoy’s boxscores, you will see that the defense is plenty stout with four straight shutouts and seven for the year, but Travis Custis deserves your attention as well. The junior running back toted the rock 31 times last week, churning up 269 yards and three scores in the 24-0 win over Creekside. Custis ran for four scores a few weeks back in the Georgia Dome. ...

East Paulding couldn’t stay down long as the Raiders bounced back from its first loss of the year at home to Pope with a 35-7 victory over Osborne. Kamani Thomas ran for 234 yards and four scores while Andrej Suttles recorded two touchdowns in the win. ...

Donnie Miles has been slowed by a balky ankle all season but you never would have known it Friday when the junior back helped North Gwinnett trounce Duluth 44-14. Miles ran for two scores and 96 yards on just eight carries. Joe Jones also had two touchdowns for the Bulldogs, who face Peachtree Ridge this Friday on GPB TV. ...

ELCA junior star Keyante Green was held out of Friday’s tilt with Southwest Atlanta Christian due to a muscle strain, but ELCA’s offense hardly skipped a beat. John Tatum rushed for over 200 yards with three scores on just 13 carries.

What we learned from the weekend-Metro!

2011-10-31T12:09:00.001-04:00

GPB was on hand to witness two regions decided last Friday and two more regions will be decided this Friday on the GPB networks. Alpharetta clinched its first region title and second-ever playoff berth with a huge comeback victory over Centennial, rallying from 26-3 to win 32-26. Joshua Dobbs threw for two scores in the second half and ran for another to complete the comeback. ...

GPB was also there to see Grayson return a late interception for a region-clinching score against Brookwood. Grayson’s defense is strong but it will be interesting to see which offense shows up each week in the playoffs. ...

Hillgrove won its first region title with a convincing 35-0 win over Kennesaw Mountain. Kenyan Drake finished with 178 yards and has over 1300 on the season. ...

Walton won its first region title since 2008 on the legs of Tyren Jones, who had 157 yards in the 42-14 win over Marietta. Jones also notched four total touchdowns. ...

North Gwinnett will face Peachtree Ridge this week (GPB TV Game of the Week) to decide Region 7-AAAAA, and both offenses are clicking. Donnie Miles and Joe Jones each scored two touchdowns in a 44-14 win over Duluth. Scotty Hosch and Chad Scott are lethal through the air. Meanwhile Peachtree Ridge has its own aerial attack in Billy Best to Joe Horn. The two hooked up twice in the Lions win over Mill Creek. ...

Finally it looks like Archer may just be making its first postseason appearance this year after stomping Parkview 40-16. Ernest Alexander rushed for 227 yards and four touchdowns to move Archer to just one win from a postseason berth. Parkview meanwhile has now lost three straight to drop into a tie with Archer for the fourth spot in Region 8-AAAAA. ...

On the volleyball court, Pope’s win now gives the program three straight, two in a row at the AAAA level. The Greyhounds were led by three players who plan on excelling at the next level in Mary Hannah Arrington (Auburn), Wimberly Wilson (Georgia Tech) and Katie Bange (Middle Tennessee State). ...

Walton’s volleyball title marks the Raiders second straight. The Walton program has won two straight since Pope dropped to AAAA. ...

On the softball diamond, Buford’s fifth straight crown earned the Wolves a big section in the history books as no program had ever done that before. The Wolves were the only team to win coming out of the loser’s bracket and forcing an extra Saturday game. ...

Senior Kayla Floor made it interesting for Collins Hill but the pitcher battled out of trouble in the seventh to help the Eagles win its third straight title.

A taste of Southern Recruiting for 10/31

2011-10-31T12:07:00.000-04:00

With all of the talent that plays high school football in the state of Georgia, it is a bit surprising to hear that Georgia Tech is trying to go national with its recruiting reach. Against Clemson, the Yellow Jackets welcomed a host of out-of-state players in for visits including quarterback Dennis Andrews of Tallahassee, FL, Tyler Stargel of Gulf Shores, AL, and Oxford, AL teammates Mike Flint and Trae Elston. Tech pledge Marcus Allen of Hilliard, FL was at the game as well.

One other interesting note from Georgia Tech’s recruiting big board is the race for the final running back spot. Allen has already jumped on board and many recruitniks believed that Allatoona’s Miles Jones would take the other spot and play in an A-Back role. However Kentucky pledge Shadrach Thornton of Liberty County (GA) has been on multiple visits to other locations including NC State and now Tech since “committing.” Word is that Thornton and not Jones is the Jackets top choice for the final tailback spot.

2013 super-prospect Uriah LeMay, a wide receiver from Butler High School in Matthews, North Carolina was offered by LSU over the weekend. That is significant considering LeMay’s older brother Christian is currently redshirting at the University of Georgia and many believed the Dawgs would have the inside track at the younger LeMay.

For more, tune in to 790 The Zone tonight at 9pm for The Official Visit

App State pulls the shocker!

2011-10-30T14:39:00.000-04:00

Appalachian State has won seven straight Southern Conference titles, but Georgia Southern entered the Rock ranked as the No. 1 FCS team in the country, ready for a battle against the No. 5 Mountaineers. Appalachian State’s 16-game home conference winning streak was on the line at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, North Carolina, but the Eagles brought their own streak into the game, an eight-game conference winning stretch. Hours before the game, snow was falling in Boone, but the weather was sunny and bright for the coin toss.

Demetrius McCray would come up with the first big play of the afternoon, intercepting Eagles QB Jaybo Shaw on the game’s opening drive to set up Appalachian State with good field position. It was Shaw’s first pick of the year. Jamal Jackson would start his third straight game at quarterback for App State while former quarterback DeAndre Presley was back at cornerback for the second straight week. Jackson quickly moved the Mountaineers down the field before finding Andrew Peacock for a 25-yard touchdown reception and an early 7-0 lead.

The first quarter would end with some fireworks as Georgia Southern was sacked on fourth down, giving Appalachian State the ball in Eagles territory with a lead. A 24-yard field goal would give App State a 10-0 lead. One year ago Appalachian State jumped out to a 14-0 lead before Georgia Southern rallied back to win 21-14 in overtime. A huge return by Laron Scott would give the Eagles the ball inside the ten, but Georgia Southern could manage just an Adrian Mora field goal. Appalachian State would cash in before the end of the half as Jackson found his favorite receiver Brian Quick on a 56-yard scoring connection for a 17-3 lead at intermission. Jackson would rack up over 200 yards of offense in the first half.

Georgia Southern would answer in the third quarter with a 12-play, 60-yard scoring drive, capped off by JJ Wilcox powering the ball in from three yards out. Georgia Southern would quickly get the ball back and jet down the field, but Shaw was stopped cold on fourth-and-goal, giving App State the ball back. The Eagles wouldn’t be held off the scoreboard for long, however, as the defense forced a punt which Darrieon Robinson returned 46 yards for a touchdown to tie the game 17-17.

Jackson and Quick would respond though, hooking up for a 15-yard touchdown on a crucial third down. The reception capped off a nine-play, 67-yard drive. Then it was the Mountaineer defense’s turn to step up, which it did thanks to its former quarterback. Presley knocked away a fourth down pass into the end zone to stall another Eagles’ drive near the goal line. The defense would come up with a Georgia Southern fumble with under two minutes left to ice the Appalachian State 24-17 victory.

With the victory, Mountaineers coach Jerry Moore evened his all-time record against Georgia Southern at 10-10. The Eagles had been the only Southern Conference program that held a winning record against Moore. Jackson finished with 276 total yards and three passing touchdowns for Appalachian State. Shaw threw two interceptions, both finding the hands of McCray. Quick had four catches for 119 yards and two scores in the victorious effort. Defensively Brandon Grier had eight tackles for App State while Brent Russell had three tackles for a loss for the Eagles.

The Mountaineers travel to Furman next week while Georgia Southern returns to Paulson Stadium for Homecoming against The Citadel.

Metro Recap and Alpharetta rallies to edge Centennial

2011-10-29T08:54:00.001-04:00

The Grayson Rams and Brookwood Broncos engaged in a war of YouTube videos before taking the field to battle for region supremacy. The Rams and Broncos were tied 7-7 late in the game before Kasey Gaines returned an interception 15 yards for the winning score. ... Centennial jumped out to a 20-0 lead at Alpharetta before the Raiders rallied back to dump the Knights 32-26, shutting out Centennial in the second half. Carlos Burse snagged his 12th touchdown of the year and Jalen Simmons scored twice including the game-winner on a 29-yard screen. ... Marist shut down the Mays attack in a 24-0 victory to secure homefield advantage through at least the first round of the playoffs. Myles Willis rushed for 155 yards. ... Roswell dropped to 0-9 on the season, falling to West Forsyth 35-14. West Forsyth clinched the No. 2 seed in the region with the victory. ... Walton claimed the Region 5-AAAAA title after ending Marietta’s four-game winning streak. Tyren Jones ran for 172 yard and scored four touchdowns in the victory. ... Stephenson and ML King made certain that next week’s showdown would be a top-10 matchup for the region title as both cruised to victories. The Jags defeated Newnan 35-13 while the Lions spanked East Coweta 20-7. ... Hillgrove whitewashed Kennesaw Mountain 35-0 to improve to 9-0 on the year. ... Lovejoy posted its seventh shutout of the season and fourth straight with a 24-0 victory over Creekside. ... It was a squeaker but St. Pius put one touchdown on the board and it was enough to defeat Washington 7-0. ... Parkview’s skid continued as the Panthers fell to Archer 40-16. Parkview lost its third straight and now is behind Archer in the race for the last playoff berth out of Region 8-AAAAA.

GOTW Recap

The Centennial Knights had everything working for them early at Raider Stadium. Rain was preventing Alpharetta from going to the skies with its incredible passing attack, and Centennial picked up a crucial fourth down on a touchdown drive to open the game. Just minutes later, Matt Deshong picked off a Joshua Dobbs pass and returned it 33 yards for a score and a12-0 Centennial lead. Alpharetta’s three first quarter drives ended in an interception, a punt and a turnover on downs.

Centennial upped its lead to 20-0 when Zietrick Smith broke the plane from two yards out. Alpharetta finally recorded a first down and would later dent the scoreboard with a 24-yard Lehman Howington field goal. The Knights would answer.

Senior quarterback Jimmy Meyer hit Smith from two yards out to extend the Centennial lead to 26-3. That however would be the last time Centennial scored, with five minutes left in the second quarter. Alpharetta scored a touchdown with less than one minute to go before intermission on Jalen Simmons first touchdown of the night.

Joshua Dobbs would finish off Alpharetta’s first drive of the second half with a one-yard plunge and the Centennial punting game gave the Raiders a safety. Minutes later Dobbs found Carlos Burse for his 12th touchdown of the season.

The two teams would exchange field position back and forth until Alpharetta would take over near midfield with less than five minutes to go in the game. With 46.2 seconds to play Jalen Simmons took a 29-yard screen pass and reached paydirt for the game-winning score. Dobbs would add a two-point conversion for the final 32-26 score. With the win Alpharetta punched its second-ever trip to the postseason as well as a region title.

Metro Preview and AHS/CHS preview 10/28

2011-10-28T13:56:00.000-04:00

The video war finally comes to a head when Brookwood travels to Grayson. The Rams would win the Region 8-AAAAA title with a victory while a Broncos win would force a three-way tie at the top with Dacula (5-3, 5-1). The Falcons hit the road to face Berkmar. ... Mays faces Marist at Hughes Spalding Stadium as both teams enter 7-1. The winner likely gets the No. 2 seed from the region and a home playoff game. ... The Lassiter Trojans travel to the Woodshed to face the Woodstock Wolverines in a game that could determine the final playoff spot out of Region 5-AAAAA. Woodstock sits at 1-3 in region play while Lassiter is 2-2. ... Walton faces a red-hot Marietta Blue Devils team that has won four straight. Marietta QB Anthony Jennings has nearly 2,000 total yards this season. This will be the final home game of the regular season for Walton. ... Lovett and Westminster will play knowing that the loser will have to face GAC next week in the region play-in game for a spot in the playoffs. Lovett was ranked No. 5 in Class AA before losing to Buford in late September. An upset loss to Blessed Trinity has Lovett at 6-2, 3-1 on the year. ... ML King cannot afford to look ahead to its showdown with Stephenson as the Lions travel to East Coweta. The Indians were recently ranked before a two-game losing streak dropped them to fourth in the region standings. ... Kyle Sloter of Mount Pisgah Christian will lead the Patriots against the Wesleyan Wolves, coached by this week’s Atlanta Falcons NFL High School coach of the week Franklin Pridgen. The Wolves are 6-2 and are gearing up for next week’s region play-in game.

GAME OF THE WEEK PREVIEW:

The Centennial Knights will make a visit to Alpharetta to face a Raiders attack that thrives on the pass. Junior quarterback Joshua Dobbs and junior wide receiver Carlos Burse have hooked up enough to help Alpharetta off to a 7-1 start. Dobbs passed for three scores against Roswell in the Raiders last game. The quarterback regularly exceeds 300 yards in coach Jason Dukes’ offense. Burse meanwhile is a member of the Score Atlanta 24 2Look4 in 2012. He caught four scores in the team’s first five games then snagged two against West Forsyth and one against Roswell. Jalen Simmons is also a threat on the ground to shred the opponent that drops back into a nickel to defend the pass.

Centennial will look to keep the Raiders offense off of the field with the Knights’ option attack. Quarterback Jimmy Meyer and tailback Zietrick Smith pack a strong one-two punch out of the backfield. Smith has carried the ball 128 times for over 600 yards and four scores while Meyer has kept it for 88 carries and close to 300 yards. Meyer has rushed for nine scores and has passed for seven touchdowns. Meyer is completing around 48 percent of his passes for 1,131 yards and five interceptions. Cyril Teal also gets carries in the Centennial offense, rushing for 149 yards on 32 carries. When Centennial does go to the air, usually the target is either Wade Francis or Christian Robinson. Francis has tallied 36 receptions for 660 yards and three scores, and Robinson has 29 catches for 438 yards and three scores.

An Alpharetta victory would sew up the Region 6-AAAAA title for Jason Dukes’ Raiders. Centennial still has an outside chance at the region title, needing to win against Alpharetta and then again next week against Northview and needing West Forsyth to lose at Roswell in the Wolverines’ regular season finale.

Dalton forfeits 4 wins...Sorry Josh

2011-10-27T08:52:00.001-04:00

There may be no two more important running backs to their AAAAA teams than Brookwood’s Nick Tompkins and Hillgrove’s Kenyan Drake. The two seniors have provided leadership to their teams throughout the year and have strapped the team on their backs throughout the course of the year. Drake has gone for nearly 1200 yards this season on 122 carries while also pulling in another 200 yards on receptions. On the year, Drake has found the end zone 19 times. Meanwhile Tompkins won the Broncos most recent game with a 75-yard kick return for a score with under :20 to play. ...

Just one month ago people probably looked at the schedule and penciled in a win for Walton this week against Marietta. The Blue Devils have won four straight after starting the year 0-4 and sit tied with the Raiders atop Region 5-AAAAA. Marietta edged Lassiter at home last Friday but now must travel to Raider Valley to face No. 4 Walton. ...

It was ruled Tuesday that Dalton must forfeit four victories after the GHSA ruled that the Catamounts used an ineligible player. The forfeited victories were over Murray County, Gilmer, Ridgeland and Heritage-Catoosa. Dalton has posted a 51-year streak of winning seasons but now holds a 2-6 record following the forfeits. ...

GPB TV will be live from Grayson this Friday night for the Rams contest against Brookwood. In the latest USA Today high school poll, Grayson crawled up a spot to No. 5 from No. 6 one week ago. The Rams are ranked No. 36 according to Scout.com, No. 16 in RivalsHigh 100, No. 11 in the ESPN Rise 50 and No. 14 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25. ...

Speaking of Brookwood/Grayson, Brookwood officially responded via YouTube to Grayson’s video.

Three softball champs looking for more hardware

2011-10-27T08:50:00.001-04:00

The GHSA softball semifinals begin Thursday in Columbus, Georgia, with several programs looking to extend championship streaks. In Class AAAAA, Collins Hill is back in Columbus after winning the last two GHSA softball crowns. The Lady Eagles are coached by Paul Piece, in his first year, and feature pitcher Kayla Floor who is 12-4. The Eagles face East Coweta, making its seventh straight trip to Columbus. Hayley Parkerson and Brandi McGregor lead the Lady Indians. Brookwood will face Kennesaw Mountain while Hillgrove squares off against Mill Creek and North Cobb faces Milton. Mill Creek last won the GHSA softball crown in 2008.

In AA, Buford continues its drive for five with Southeast Bulloch. The winner of that game would go on to face either Brantley County or Blessed Trinity. On the other side of the bracket, Bleckley County and Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe meet as do Pike County and Fannin County.

In A, Gordon Lee will look to defend its crown by facing Bryan County. The Mount Pisgah/Brookstone winner would be next. On the bottom half of the bracket, Bacon County meets Wesleyan and Calvary Day has a noon date with George Walton Academy.

In AAAA, Union Grove faces Madison County with the winner facing the Northgate/Paulding County winner. Ola squares off against Northwest Whitfield and Whitewater faces Loganville on the other side of the bracket.

In AAA, Cross Creek and Ringgold will meet Thursday with the winner facing the Allatoona/Locust Grove winner later that day. On the bottom part of the bracket, Veterans meets Oconee County and West Laurens and Heritage-Catoosa will go at it.

Note: you can find more coverage in the AJC

Kimbrel wins TSN NL Rookie o' the Year

2011-10-26T15:36:00.001-04:00

The Atlanta Braves season may have ended on a bit of a sour note but the off-season has had several bright moments over the last week. First the team announced the hiring of new hitting coach Greg Walker and assistant Scott Fletcher on Friday, and now the team can tout Craig Kimbrel after the closer was named the Sporting News’ 2011 NL rookie of the year. The NL All-Star broke the rookie save record with 46 on the season while posting a 2.10 ERA. The 23-year-old finished a league-leading 64 games, pitching 97.2 innings and striking out 127 batters. During one stretch, Kimbrel did not allow an earned run in 38 straight appearances from June 11 until finally surrendering a run September 9. Kimbrel kept the trophy in Atlanta as right fielder Jason Heyward won the award one year ago. Teammate Freddie Freeman likely received votes after hitting 21 home runs and driving in 76 runs while posting a .996 field percentage at first base in 156 games. Freeman collected 161 hits and hit .282 in his first full season in Atlanta. 112 National League players participated in the voting process.

Murray once again the key to beating Florida

2011-10-26T15:07:00.000-04:00

I remember one year ago I gave eleven reasons why Georgia was going to beat Florida in Jacksonville with the eleventh reason being Aaron Murray. Murray, with his legs, his arm and his cool, will take the Dawgs to a place that the squad hasn’t been to in quite some time: the victors’ locker room after the game on Saturday. I wrote that just days before I watched Murray throw three interceptions and yak in a very big yet very winnable game. Unfortunately yakking in the big games has seemed to become Murray’s calling card early in his young career. Murray couldn’t avoid a sack against Arkansas in 2010. He couldn’t help his team rally back against Colorado (Caleb King’s fault, really) and he was battered against Auburn. He failed to lead a touchdown drive in the bowl game and then he yakked back-to-back weeks to start the 2011 season.

That can all be forgiven though and a new legacy can be forged if Murray can beat the Florida Gators this Saturday. Was he too geeked up one year ago? It certainly looked it as he was picked off in his first attempt. He was throwing over receivers’ heads throughout the first half, but he settled in and found a rhythm after halftime. If Murray plays like he did in the third and fourth quarters, Georgia will likely escape Jacksonville with a victory. Play like he did in OT or in the first quarter and Georgia fans will once again be crying all the way home like the littlest piggy.

Aaron Murray isn’t going to lose his job this year or next or even the one after that. But if he keeps yakking it in the “big games,” he may start receiving the treatment that Florida fans had for Chris Leak late in the former Gator’s career, ie, is he still here? Is there anyone else that can split time with him? Murray has too much talent to let that happen but, much like Richt, a win against Florida would quiet some of the folks that may be on the verge of turning on the quarterback.

Flowery Branch, living and dying by the transfer

2011-10-26T14:43:00.000-04:00

Flowery Branch has certainly thrived with key transfers over the past few seasons. Last year the team welcomed in Austin Brown from Habersham Central to run coach Lee Shaw’s offense and this year Kanler Coker and CJ Curry both transferred in to play quarterback and receiver, respectively for the Falcons. The team was on the wrong end of a transfer a few seasons back however. You wonder if Imani Cross had not left to go to North Hall just how good this Flowery Branch squad would be. Cross had 230 yards and four touchdowns last week in a loss and is headed to Tennessee. He rushed for 1407 yards and 17 touchdowns as a sophomore for Flowery Branch. ...

Not all of the talent sits in the state’s highest classification. In addition to Jenkins County’s defensive duo that has appeared on the Score 44 this year, Savannah Christian’s Will Austin and Wilkinson County’s David Whipple continue to put up large numbers in Class A. Whipple passed for 321 yards and four scores in his team’s victory over Hancock Central. Austin meanwhile ran for four touchdowns and 184 yards in a win over Calvary Day. ...

The Georgia/Florida game is this weekend and several in-state prospects certainly will have their eyes on the game. Stephenson’s Mike Davis and Jafar Mann have both committed to the Florida program as has Sandy Creek defensive lineman Quinteze Williams. Georgia has not given up on the Peach State talent and a victory may be the entry-point that the coaches need. ...

Finally Decatur’s most recent football game was called early after a player’s parent rushed the field to defend his son and was subsequently arrested. Decatur was beating Twiggs County 48-0 with 8:52 left to play when a parent ran onto the field after he thought an opponent shoved his son, according to the AJC.

GHSA Volleyball Semifinal look

2011-10-26T09:31:00.000-04:00

Bump. Set. Spike. Three simple plays that countless young women across Georgia excel at executing, and the best of those young women, including several of the nation’s best, have put their teams in a position to claim a GHSA state volleyball title. All four champions from one year ago are still alive in these playoffs with a chance to pull off a repeat or three-peat in the case of Pope in Class AAAA. Walton and Blessed Trinity are striving to achieve “dynasty,” status while Whitewater and McIntosh are trying to reclaim their titles. Woodward Academy has come to own the AAA crown of late, having won the last three titles. From 2001-2005, Woodward Academy dominated Class AAAA before dropping down to AAA.

The 16 teams remaining have combined for 616 victories this season. Tonight’s winners will travel to Marietta High School this Saturday to play for the championship.

AAAAA
In the state’s highest classification Walton will face Roswell while Harrison faces North Cobb in the semifinals held at Parkview High School. The Lady Raiders of Walton head into the semifinals as the No. 1 seed in AAAAA and led by the 2010 Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year and future Michigan Wolverine Kelly Murphy. The defending champions have yet to drop a set during the playoffs while Roswell needed a fifth set to defeat Lassiter. Walton and Roswell hooked up in August as the Lady Raiders swept the Hornets 25-23, 25-12, 25-15. Roswell coach Casey Carr is just two wins from the title in her first year at the helm. Meanwhile the Lady Hoyas hold the No. 2 seed but are considered the favorites as they hold the No. 1 ranking in the GACA Coaches poll. Harrison and North Cobb, No. 2 in the Coaches poll, split their two regular season meetings before Harrison took out North Cobb in straight sets to win the Area 5-AAAAA title. The familiarity of these two programs should render the seedings meaningless. The Lady Hoyas have cruised through the early rounds of the playoffs while North Cobb needed five sets to dispose of North Gwinnett. The Lady Warriors did sweep West Forsyth in the third round. Players to watch from the AAAAA action will be Carolina Ostman (Harrison), Katie O’Rourke (North Cobb), Kelly Murphy (Walton) and Jennifer Shults (Roswell).

AAAA
Any discussion of GHSA AAAA volleyball must begin with the Pope Greyhounds as Pope has been nearly unbeatable this year. Bryan Jones’ Greyhounds won 38 matches entering the playoffs and have dominated the postseason thanks to seniors Mary Hannah Arrington and Katie Bange. The Greyhounds easily dispatched Lambert and North Paulding before breezing by Rockdale. In fact the last set that Pope dropped this year came back in September against GAC in a 2-1 victory. Looking to spring the upset is No. 5 seed McIntosh, who pulled off the 3-0 sweep of No. 4 seed Johns Creek. The Chiefs have bounced back since losing the Area 3-AAAA title to Whitewater to make the semifinals of the state playoffs at Mt. Zion in Jonesboro. On the other side of the bracket, Whitewater faces Chattahoochee for the fourth time this year. The two played three times in a span of four days. Whitewater and Chattahoochee split a pair at the Sequoyah Classic before Chattahoochee won the rubber match several days later. Whitewater has been hot though ever since dropping four straight at the Border War Challenge. Whitewater was on fire during its Area tournament and has since cruised in the playoffs. Players to watch include Katie Bange (Pope), Saharra Griffin (McIntosh), Madison Akins (Whitewater) and Emily Corrigan (Chattahoochee).

AAA
The top three teams from the most recent GACA coaches poll remain alive in the Class AAA final four but all four teams hail from just two two areas, 1-AAA and 5-AAA. Riverwood and St. Pius X from 5-AAA will face Sandy Creek and Woodward Academy from 1-AAA, respectively. Sandy Creek enters the semifinals having won 20-straight matches and holding the No. 1 seed and No. 1 ranking in the GACA Coaches poll. The Fighting Patriots have not faced Riverwood this year but do hold multiple victories over Woodward Academy as well as one over St. Pius. In fact the only matches Sandy Creek has lost this season have all come to teams still alive in higher classifications. Meanwhile St. Pius X has dropped just two sets since falling to Sandy Creek earlier this month. The Golden Lions have dominated throughout the state playoffs, rarely letting an opponent even score more than 15 points in a set. Woodward Academy will look to spring the upset of St. Pius X, a team it lost to back in August. The War Eagles are battle-tested however, having played a demanding schedule all season long in preparation for the playoffs. Players to watch include Allie Davenport (Sandy Creek), Sydney Cooper (Woodward Academy), Tyler Ockleberry (Riverwood), and Alex Bidgood (St. Pius X).

AA/A
The Greater Atlanta Christian School has dominated these playoffs like few teams we have seen thus far and the Lady Spartans enter the semifinals at Athens Academy with an eye on the title. Standing in GAC’s way though is Holy Innocents’, which is not a team to look past. Holy Innocents’ has needed five sets in its last two victories but give the Golden Bears credit for taking out first Walker and then Athens Academy, two top-six teams. GAC holds the bracket’s top seed and has not dropped a set since losing 2-1 to Pope on September 17. In the other semifinal match, Blessed Trinity and ELCA both dropped a set in the quarterfinals but managed to advance to set up the meeting. Eagles Landing Christian Academy is led by Mara Green, considered by prepvolleyball.com to be the best senior in the state and the No. 23 prospect in the country. Green helped ELCA get the better of Blessed Trinity back in August, winning 2-0, but Blessed Trinity has rebounded nicely to put itself in a position to repeat as AA/A champions. If the Titans can claim the title, the program would have three titles in the last six years. Some players to watch include Dede Bohannon (GAC), Molly McAlvany (Blessed Trinity), Anne Yanda (Holy Innocents’), and Mara Green (ELCA).

Score 44 Week TEN!

2011-10-25T12:28:00.002-04:00

The Score 44 is a fluid list that aims to honor the best forty-four seniors in Georgia high school football on a week-to-week basis. These players are some of the most highly-recruited players in the state as well as some of the best players that may not get to play at the next level.Two players reappear on the list as this week’s additions. Chaz Elder of Banneker has incredible size for a defensive back that you would think he would naturally be a safety. He has the speed though to play cornerback and several SEC and ACC teams are targeting him to play either. His 6-foot-2 size would allow him to play physical with any wide receiver in the country. Meanwhile Alabama pledge Dakota Ball accepted his 2012 Under Armour All-American jersey and game invitation as Ball has shown he could be Nick Saban’s next big stud defensive lineman. This is Ball’s second appearance on the 2011 Score 44. And thanks to Walter Pinion for the photo

In (from week 9) Chaz Elder, Banneker (College Park), DB; Dakota Ball, Pepperell (Lindale), DT
Out (from week 9) Paris Head, Buford (Buford), CB/WR; Jhaustin Thomas, Columbia (Decatur) DE

Jordan Jenkins, Harris County (Hamilton), DE
Jonathan Taylor, Jenkins County (Millen), DT
Geno Smith, St. Pius X (Atlanta), DB
Kenyan Drake, Hillgrove (Powder Springs), RB/ATH
Raphael Kirby, Stephenson (Stone Mountain), LB
Joe Harris, Lithonia (Lithonia), OG
Vadal Alexander, Buford (Buford), OT
Josh Harvey-Clemons, Lowndes (Valdosta), OLB/WR
JaQuay Williams, Sandy Creek (Tyrone), WR
Imani Cross, North Hall (Gainesville) RB
Zack Blaylock, Walton (Marietta), DB
Dillon Lee, Buford (Buford), LB
DeMarcus Sweat, Stephenson (Stone Mountain) WR
Chaz Elder, Banneker (College Park), DB
Jarontay Jones, Stephenson (Stone Mountain), DE
Quinteze Williams, Sandy Creek (Tyrone) DT
Markuss Eligwe, Stone Mountain (Stone Mountain), LB
Jordan Watkins, Woodward Academy (College Park), DT
Dalvin Tomlinson, Henry County (McDonough), DL
Jason Croom, Norcross (Norcross) WR
Jacob Sealand, Tucker (Tucker), LB
Dakota Ball, Pepperell (Lindale), DT
Miles Jones, Allatoona (Acworth) RB
Josh Dawson, Tucker (Tucker) LB
Mike Hilton, Sandy Creek (Tyrone), RB
Malachi Jones, Central Gwinnett (Lawrenceville) WR
CJ Curry, Flowery Branch (Gainesville), WR
Josh Holsey, Creekside (Fairburn) DB
Ty Smith, Colquitt County (Moultrie), TE
Jordan Washington, North Gwinnett (Suwanee) DL
Kurt Freitag, Buford (Buford), TE/DE
Jonquel Dawson, ML King (Lithonia), QB
Kenderius Whitehead, ML King (Monroe) DE/OLB
Blake Tibbs, ML King (Lithonia), WR
Daron Blaylock, Walton (Marietta), DB
Darius English, McEachern (Powder Springs ), DE
Jonathan Jones, Carrollton (Carrollton) CB
Shadrach Thornton, Liberty County (Hinesville) RB
Brandon Greene, Cedar Grove (Ellenwood) OT
Chase Roberts, GAC (Norcross) OG
Greyson Lambert, Wayne County (Jesup) QB
Mike Davis, Stephenson (Stone Mountain) RB
Scott Hosch, North Gwinnett (Suwanee) QB
Nick Tompkins, Brookwood (Snellville), RB

AJ Davis heading to Buford, Walton OL to The Citadel

2011-10-25T12:27:00.000-04:00

Ohio State may have thought better late than never, but North Gwinnett’s Jordan Washington didn’t share that outlook as the defensive lineman pledged to the Bulldogs of Mississippi State late last week. Washington pulled the trigger after returning from a visit to Starkville and before he was scheduled to visit the Ohio State campus. ...

Camden County 2013 quarterback Brice Ramsey has been receiving plenty of attention from recruiters from all across the country but two SEC East offensive coordinators visited the Georgia pledge recently. According to Michael Carvell, Ramsey was visited by Charlie Weis of Florida and Georgia’s Mike Bobo last week. Ramsey committed to Georgia back in July. ...

Banneker DB Chaz Elder put off declaring his college decision in August as he wanted to make the right choice for him. At the time he was deciding between Georgia and South Carolina. A third team may have entered the field as well as rumors have started to circulate that Elder has put one team back as a finalist. Elder had LSU and Clemson on his list back in June. He has unofficially visited several schools but will likely make “official visits,” before he commits. .

.. On the basketball court, recruiters looking for former Greater Atlanta Christian standout AJ Davis should just head to his sister’s school as Davis has joined Kaela at Buford. The 6-foot-7 junior recently withdrew from GAC and is now at Buford. Davis helped GAC win the last two GHSA Class AA titles, beating Buford in the finals one year ago. Davis is one of the nation’s top prospects for 2013 and joins PF T.J. Shipes, who pledged to Georgia State last week. Kaela Davis has given Tennessee her verbal commitment. Both are the children of former NBA player Antonio Davis. ...

Walton offensive lineman Harrison Davis decided to pledge to The Citadel.