Dave's Journalism Portfolio

VCU coach Shaka Smart

2012-01-31T11:31:00.003-05:00

I like this headline because it corresponds to both the article and the picture.

NFL playoffs: Falcons at Giants

2012-01-08T10:23:00.003-05:00

I wrote all of the headlines on this page published in the Jan. 8, 2012, sports section.

Saints hitting stride as playoffs loom

2011-12-29T08:31:00.002-05:00

Yellow Jackets end 35-year Athens drought

2011-12-14T11:33:00.002-05:00

I wrote the Tech-UGA headline and sub-headlines (not Schultz), the Braves headlines and the high school football headlines.

Mark Richt improves record to 10-1 vs. Yellow Jackets

2011-12-14T11:32:00.002-05:00

Brockers leads LSU's appetite for disruption

2011-11-24T10:27:00.002-05:00

Georgia Bulldogs win SEC East — Nov 2011

2011-11-20T18:47:00.001-05:00

Nov. 13 sports cover

2011-11-13T14:40:00.002-05:00

I wrote all the headlines and sub-headlines on the cover of this Sunday section.

Scandal engulfs Penn State

2011-11-08T11:25:00.003-05:00

Atlanta dining review: Delia's Chicken Sausage Stand

2011-11-06T09:20:00.002-05:00

Georgia-Tennessee; Maryland-Georgia Tech

2011-10-09T08:51:00.001-04:00

South Carolina-Georgia

2011-09-11T23:46:00.000-04:00

U.S. Open Tennis Round 4

2011-09-06T11:51:00.002-04:00

Lou Holtz, Vince Dooley, Bill Curry

2011-09-01T11:16:00.013-04:00

The AJC published this enterprise story Sept. 1 on the state of college football. Three coaching icons — Lou Holtz, Vince Dooley and Bill Curry — weighed in on recruiting; rules enactment and enforcement; and a bevy of recent punishments and investigations surrounding college programs. Protecting amateurism is seemingly taking a backseat while the NCAA is doling out sanctions.

Brandon Beachy: 'I burned down our house'

2011-08-03T11:13:00.013-04:00

This article was published during spring training.
Our Braves beat writer was pleasantly surprised
with the way it was presented in the print edition:

"I thought it was really cool that nobody 'spoiled the surprise'
in the Beachy story about the fire, not in the headline or cutline
or tease on the front page. I had been resigned to the fact that it
might be mentioned just to attract attention to the story, which
made sense too. But when I saw how you guys played it, I
was excited. ... Thanks! Much appreciated!" -Carroll

Cincinnati Reds 11, Atlanta Braves 2

2011-07-26T00:20:00.002-04:00

British Open Round 3

2011-07-17T13:20:00.000-04:00

British Open

2011-07-14T00:19:00.002-04:00

Bieber to buy Hawks?

2011-06-30T00:48:00.002-04:00

Thrashers' fallout

2011-06-26T00:54:00.002-04:00

Wimbledon Day 3

2011-06-26T00:51:00.002-04:00

Iman Shumpert

2011-06-26T00:39:00.005-04:00

Belmont Stakes

2011-06-09T12:12:00.005-04:00

Preakness

2011-05-26T10:21:00.007-04:00

Read the headline and sub-headlines for the Preakness article. Read the first few paragraphs and read the headlines again. Did I encapsulate the writer's gist? (Click image for larger view.)

Chargers make progress despite loss to Falcons

2009-08-30T13:56:00.006-04:00

By Dave Paul
North County (San Diego) Times

ATLANTA — Week 3 of the NFL exhibition schedule is generally regarded as a litmus test.

For the Chargers, the test results are promising despite a 27-24 last-second loss to Atlanta on Saturday night at the Georgia Dome.

The Falcons rallied with a game-winning 5-yard touchdown pass from Chris Redman to Eric Weems in the waning moments to steal a victory.

With roster cuts forthcoming, the third week of the preseason slate allows teams to vigorously test their starters, solidify two-deep lineups and implement specific game plans for an opponent.

It's as close as it gets to replicating a typical week in the NFL's regular season.

So, if the test holds up, the Chargers' prospects of repeating as AFC West champion are favorable based on what the starting units accomplished in Atlanta. And coach Norv Turner didn't use offensive weapons LaDainian Tomlinson (1,536 all-purpose yards last season) or Antonio Gates.

"Most important to me, certainly, was to come out and start fast, and I think we did that as a football team," said Turner, whose team jumped out to a 21-13 halftime lead. "I like the way that our guys are preparing to get ready for the season. I like they way that they prepared for this game and executed in the first half."

With the Falcons coming off a remarkable playoff appearance last season and playing in front of a boisterous home crowd for the first time since December, Atlanta proved to be a testy opponent.

Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, freshly signed to a new six-year contract, was up to the task by completing 10-of-15 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown.

He was sacked one time in three possessions, one week after being sacked four times in the first quarter at Arizona.

"This is a very good blitz team," Turner said of the Falcons. "They've given the first two teams they've played a lot of problems with their blitz package, and they do get close to you. But I thought Philip hung in there well and I thought our guys made some pretty good plays."

Rivers calmly converted four third-and-long situations on the Chargers' third drive of the game. And despite penalties on offensive linemen Jeromey Clary and Marcus McNeill and a sack by Atlanta's Brent Grimes, Rivers kept the chains moving. He hooked up with running back Michael Bennett for a 48-yard touchdown on a screen pass that gave the Chargers a 14-7 lead with 8:32 left in the second quarter. That play came on third-and-24, Rivers' last action in the game.

"We made an emphasis to get out to a fast start coming into this game," Rivers said. "We wanted to get a couple of drives together and get into the end zone, and we were able to do that."

The Chargers' defense stymied the Falcons on their first possession but allowed quarterback Matt Ryan to operate freely on Atlanta's second drive, culminating in a 12-yard touchdown pass to Brian Finneran. Three Chargers defenders attempted to arm-tackle Finneran on his was to the end zone, but he plowed through with greater effort.

It was the only time Atlanta crossed the goal line with Ryan at the helm. He was replaced midway through the third quarter after completing 14-of-20 passes for 140 yards and one touchdown.

Ryan's successor, Redman, scored on a 10-yard scramble to cap off a 15-play drive in the fourth quarter. By then, most of the Chargers' starters were on the bench, with the first-teamers getting pulled sooner than predicted.

"Our starters all got in the mid-30s in terms of number of plays," Turner said. "And you get caught in the middle there. We could have played them another 10 plays and it would have been another 10 plays that I didn't get to look at our other guys."

Rivers got ample time in the pocket on the Chargers' opening possession. He completed 3-of-5 passes for 44 yards and was not touched by an Atlanta defender.

And Darren Sproles, filling in for Tomlinson as the starting running back, provided a spark as a runner and a pass blocker. He scored on a 10-yard touchdown run on the Chargers' first drive, a play that was blocked beautifully up front and gave the Bolts a 7-0 lead.

Sproles finished the game with 77 all-purpose yards. Bennett had 22 yards rushing and 84 yards receiving.

Rivers exited the game in favor of Billy Volek, who guided the Chargers on a touchdown drive on his first series. He threaded the needle on a 10-yard slant pass to Malcom Floyd to give the Chargers a 21-10 lead late in the second quarter. Volek completed 7-of-9 passes for 102 yards and a touchdown.

"I thought the intensity was right there with a regular season game," Rivers said. "Obviously, it's been a tradition for a long time in this league that the third preseason game is a real important week, and we treated it as such. But really, they're all important."

This article was originally published in the North County Times. Click here to view the original.

Spread offense gains ground in Georgia

2009-08-22T12:01:00.005-04:00

By Dave Paul
Georgia Gridiron Guide

Gainesville High School football coach Bruce Miller had a good amount of success operating a run-oriented offense for nearly two decades. His teams at Cass, North Forsyth and Gainesville were competitive and his winning percentage steadily increased over time.

But opposing defenses were stacking the box with nine or 10 players to stop the run-first approach. So Miller, after 19 years as a head coach and a record of 81-19 in the previous eight years, abandoned his Wing-T philosophy in 2007 and implemented the spread offense.

Opponents now allocate no more than six defenders to the box, and, as its name indicates, offensive playmakers are spread from sideline to sideline across the line of scrimmage. It’s a no-huddle, up-tempo strategy that has been called “basketball on grass.”

“It’s one of the offenses of the future,” Miller said of the spread. “I think you’re going to see more and more high school teams going to it because it just gives you one-on-one situations everywhere on the field.”

The spread demands nimble offensive linemen that are quick on their feet. Receivers must be fast and get into space quickly to open up passing lanes. Running backs can take direct snaps, receive a handoff, go in motion to attract a roaming defender or catch a screen pass. Quarterbacks, who line up almost exclusively in shotgun formation, pose a dual threat, needing a good arm with a quick release and above-average running skills.

One of the first high school coaches to blend those dynamic elements together was current North Gwinnett coach Bob Sphire, who started coaching at Lexington (Ky.) Catholic in 1991. Building that football program from the ground up, Sphire was able to walk the school hallways and convince more athletic players to try out with each successive year. His Lexington Catholic team won the 2005 Kentucky Class AAA championship.

“My roots as a coach prior to 1996 were primarily as a triple-option coach and/or Wing-T,” Sphire said. “I made a dramatic shift in 1996 and went to the spread, primarily utilizing most of the concepts and approach that Florida State was taking at that time with Charlie Ward. That was kind of our first foray into the spread.”

As more athletes bought into Sphire’s program, he networked with other high school coaches in Kentucky. Among them was Mike Whitaker, who was coaching a pass-happy offense in the early 1990s.

“He was really the first guy that I spoke with about my thoughts and the transition I was wanting to make,” Sphire says of Whitaker. (Whitaker, by the way, owns four single-season passing records at Eastern Kentucky University.)

That transition is now becoming more and more commonplace among high school coaches in Georgia and around the country. The Gainesville project has become a case study of sorts since the Red Elephants made it to the state quarterfinals last year and are favorites to win the Class AAA title in 2009.

According to Miller, only two of the other 12 teams in Gainesville’s Region 7-AAA are running a full spread offense (White County and Flowery Branch). So there is room for the spread to spread and Miller is quick to offer advice to other coaches that are considering the change.

“Do it. Do it,” he says without hesitation.

Estimates differ about the percentage of Peach State programs that are running a full-fledged spread offense these days. There are plenty of teams that still rely on a run-first offense while some of those will sprinkle in some spread variations from time to time.

But one thing is certain: The spread is proliferating at an accelerated rate.

“From the time we got here three years ago to now, I think it’s increased exponentially,” said Sphire, whose Bulldogs are 34-7 in the last three seasons with an appearance in the 2007 Class AAAAA championship game. “I felt like when I first got here, you didn’t see it hardly at all. And now I think it’s a large percentage of what’s going on in this area. Most of them are making the transition to the full approach to it.”

Sphire and Miller agree that making the dedication to the spread offense is a year-round job. Players voluntarily commit to offseason workouts for strength, agility, endurance and speed. They are closely monitored in the weight room and on the track.

Sphire says that coaches can’t simply pull the spread “off the shelf” in the fall, as a staff might do with a triple option or Wing-T approach. As players matriculate through the program, the spread offense must be tailored to individual talents each season.

Miller calls the offensive plays for Gainesville along with assistants Todd Wofford and John Kemp. The Red Elephants pass about 60 percent of the time and senior quarterback Blake Sims has committed to the University of Alabama after leading Gainesville to a 12-1 record last season.

Sphire calls the offensive plays for North Gwinnett and he will tutor a new quarterback in 2009 now that three-year starter Mike Tamburo has graduated and accepted a football scholarship at Boise State.

For Sphire, the end of the week can’t arrive soon enough during football season.

“I have a blast,” Sphire says about calling plays. “There is nothing like going out under the lights on a Friday night and being one step away from being in the huddle. In that environment, you feel like you’re competing. That’s that thrill, that’s the rush, that’s why you do it.

“Running the spread is a chess-match opportunity so every play could be a checkmate scenario for you or against you. If you’re a true competitor, it’s a beautiful thing.”

Miller will take more risks with a spread offense and considers a screen pass to be the same thing as a running play. He says that sometimes a coach must be willing to lose by 60 in order to think aggressively. He will readily call a screen pass on 4th-and 1.

“It’s so far out of the box of what I’ve ever done,” Miller admits.

Miller and Sphire also agree that the spread offense is more gratifying for the players involved, as opposed to a traditional huddle-up offense. Miller says that it’s the first time in his career that he sees players excited about coming to practice—even the offensive linemen.

Now the big question on the mind of prep football followers in Georgia is, “When will a spread offense go the distance in the postseason?”

“Very shortly,” Miller said. “I’m being very serious. There are too many good teams across the state that are doing it and looking at it. I think it will be very shortly before you see a team in the spread win a state championship.”

Northgate wins Class AAAA baseball title

2009-06-02T09:18:00.004-04:00

By Dave Paul
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

NEWNAN — Water fell from the sky on a nearly cloudless afternoon at Northgate High School on Monday.

Sure, the glistening beads of precipitation were launched into the sunny sky and onto the outfield grass from a nearby fire truck. But it was fun just the same for any willing member of the Northgate baseball team to take an impromptu victory shower, for the Vikings had just won the Class AAAA title with a 12-8 win over cross-county rival Starr’s Mill.

“That’s what makes it worth it, right there,” said Northgate coach Greg Hamilton, who was all smiles as he watched his watered-down players scale the left-field wall and perch themselves atop the fence for a photo in front of the scoreboard.

It was the first state title for Northgate in baseball.

“We demand a lot from them,” said Hamilton, whose team finished with a school-record 32 wins against just five losses. “This was our year. Sometimes we work just as hard and don’t get to this spot.

“But it’s very satisfying, especially for the kids.”

Northgate scored eight runs in the first inning and chased Starr’s Mill pitcher Danny Beadling from the game after he threw 35 pitches and recorded two outs.

Starr’s Mill (26-9) never gave up, however. The Panthers scored eight runs in the final three innings.

Northgate pitcher Conner Kendrick was masterful through four innings, allowing just one base runner, and he took an 11-0 lead into the fifth inning. But he gave up a two-run home run to catcher David Norman and an RBI single to shortstop Myles Jaye before being pulled for Paul Rojas with two outs in the fifth.

“We got into a huge hole there in the first inning,” Starr’s Mill coach Brent Moseley said. “We finally got back on in the fifth. We gave ourselves a chance to win, but they came out a little more ready than we were. They hit the ball extremely well.”

Vikings senior second baseman Derek Hooper scored twice in the first inning as Northgate sent 12 batters to the plate. Hooper set the pace for the Vikings in the title game by going 3-for-3 with a home run, a walk and two RBIs.

Starr’s Mill added two runs in the sixth inning and three more in the top of the seventh, but the first-inning onslaught was too much to overcome in the final game of the best-of-three championship series. Northgate won four out of five meetings against Starr’s Mill this season.

“We got it to a different level [this year],” Moseley said. “We finally got over that hump and got to the state championship series. We’re proud of it.

“We’d liked to have played a little better early [Monday], but heck, tip your hat to Northgate.”

This article was originally published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Click here to view the original.

Starr's Mill, Northgate will play deciding Game 3

2009-05-31T11:54:00.001-04:00

By Dave Paul
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

NEWNAN — The graduating seniors from the Starr’s Mill and Northgate baseball teams have two more days to officially wear their school colors.

Northgate donned its visiting crimson jerseys at home in Game 2 and earned a doubleheader split by beating the Panthers 10-3 in the second game of a best-of-three Class AAAA championship series. The deciding game for the Region 5A rivals will be played at 1 p.m. at Northgate on Monday.

Northgate senior pitcher Paul Rojas upped his record to 9-0 on the year with a complete-game four-hit victory in Game 2, mitigating a 3-2 loss in the opener of Saturday’s twin bill.

“Paul threw one heck of a baseball game for us,” said Northgate coach Greg Hamilton, whose team tied a school record for wins and improved to 31-5. “Paul’s a senior and he’s been a big part of what’s happening at Northgate this year.”

Northgate senior second baseman Derek Hooper led off the nightcap by drilling the second pitch of the game over the left-field wall that left the Starr’s Mill left fielder motionless. The Vikings drew four walks off Panthers starting pitcher Ken Jackson in the first inning and plated two more runs from Chris Brewer and Drew Tolbert to take a 3-0 lead.

Rojas gave up walks to Starr’s Mill’s David Norman and Drew Johnson to start the second inning, with both base runners coming around to score (courtesy runner Nick Padlo for Norman) on hits by junior shortstop Myles Jaye and senior first baseman Michael Jeanes.

But Rojas, the Vikings left-hander, settled down after that and retired nine straight batters through the middle innings. He finished the game with seven strikeouts.

Northgate earned some breathing room in the third inning by scoring four runs on one hit off of Jeanes, who came on to pitch in the top of the second inning with no outs. Overall, Panthers pitchers gave up nine walks and Starr’s Mill (26-8) made three errors in the field to make things easier on the Vikings.

“We felt like we were playing a lot better [Saturday] than we were [earlier in the season],” said Starr’s Mill coach Brent Moseley, whose team lost to Northgate twice in the regular season. “Our pitching and our defense has been a lot better [lately], but that’s what killed us in Game 2 — we didn’t do the little things that we had been doing to win.”

In Game 1, Padlo scored the eventual game-winning run on a two-out RBI single by Jaye in the top of the seventh inning.

Jaye lined the second pitch he saw from Northgate reliever Daniel McIntyre through the pitcher’s legs and into center field to bring home Padlo, who substituted for Norman after he hit a two-out single to center field. Padlo advanced to second base after a walk to Johnson, who was the final batter that Northgate starting pitcher Catlan Kendrick faced.

Kendrick left the game after 6-2/3 innings and 117 pitches with Starr’s Mill runners on first and second. Kendrick, who entered the game with an 11-1 record and a 1.68 ERA, took the loss after giving up a single and a walk to open the seventh. He has committed to play at Kennesaw State next year.

Johnson started on the mound for the Panthers and threw a complete-game six-hitter. He retired Vikings batters in order in the final two innings.

Starr’s Mill senior third baseman Kevin Koziol ended the game by snagging an ankle-high line drive off the bat of Northgate senior third baseman Tyler Marvin, eliciting a short team celebration in front of the Starr’s Mill dugout.

Hamilton said that the crimson jerseys had nothing to do with Northgate’s win in Game 2. Yet, as host team of the championship game, he hesitated before admitting which jerseys the Vikings will wear on Monday.

“They won’t be white,” said Hamilton.

An edited version of this article was originally published on ajc.com.

Martin kickoff return saves Chattahoochee

2008-11-09T23:55:00.000-05:00

Published November 9, 2008

By Dave Paul
Roswell Beacon

Athletes and coaches pride themselves on having short memories when mistakes or mishaps occur.

Chattahoochee kick returner Kevin Martin made spectators forget about a nebulous team timeout and an earlier muffed punt. He returned a kickoff 94 yards for a third-quarter touchdown that proved to be the difference in a 21-14 season-ending triumph for the Cougars at Duluth High School on Friday night.

Martin's game-changing score came immediately after Duluth had tied the game on a 50-yard touchdown run by Quinton Cobb, a play that was changed by the Wildcats after a questionable Chattahoochee timeout prompted Duluth to eschew a punt on 4th-and-1 at midfield.

"Defensively we were just a little bit confused," Chattahoochee head coach Terry Crowder said of the timeout that allowed Duluth to change tactics. "We thought they might be running the fake (punt) and didn't feel good about the situation. In hindsight I wish I would have said nothing but that's just part of it."

Duluth took the field prior to the timeout in punt formation. After reconsidering their options, the Wildcats put the regular offense back on the field. Cobb, who was stuffed for no gain on the previous play, took a handoff around the left side of the formation and broke a tackle down the left hash marks for the game-tying score with 7:01 remaining in the third quarter.

Martin fielded the ensuing kickoff at his 6-yard line and burst up the middle of the field. He eluded Duluth kicker Justin Mack with a nifty move at midfield and raced down the right sideline with Duluth's Zane Cobb nipping at his heels. Martin stepped out of Cobb's ankle tackle at the 5-yard line and crossed the goal line to finish off the heart-stopping return.

"I just see that kickoff and I just bring it right up the middle," said Martin, re-living the return. "It splits wide open and I'm one-on-one with the kicker. I split the kicker to the side and took it right to the corner."

And the last-ditch effort by Zane Cobb to tackle him?

"I saw him coming," said Martin, who fumbled a punt inside his own 15-yard line on a fair catch during a heavy downpour in the second quarter. "I started to pick up my feet a little bit quicker to make sure I got there."

Chattahoochee (3-7 overall, 3-5 in Region 7-AAAAA) stopped Duluth's next possession with consecutive sacks of quarterback Alex Fragoso by Matthias Denu and Barron Dixon for a combined loss of 22 yards. Jon Bailey picked off Fragoso early in the fourth quarter to end the Wildcats' next set of downs and the Cougars made one more defensive stop and forced a punt with 3:35 to play and subsequently ran out the clock on Duluth's winless season.

Chattahoochee senior quarterback Brendan Cross ran for one touchdown and threw another to Matt Kirstein to propel the Cougars to a 14-7 lead at halftime. Cross finished the game with 152 passing yards while connecting on 11-of-16 throws with one score and one interception. His pickoff came after the ball went through a receiver's hands.

Cross gained 59 yards on the ground in 14 carries while backfield mate Anthony McCall accumulated 93 yards on 13 rushes. Martin finished the game with 153 all-purpose yards and the Cougars racked up 228 return yards on special teams.

"Our special teams have been really good all year," Crowder said. "[Martin's return] was a big play for us, it kind of turned the momentum back around."

For Cross, the victory was a bittersweet end to his high school career in a transitional year for the program. He will advance to the collegiate level next year and play on a scholarship at Wake Forest.

"The last two years before this were really memorable seasons," Cross said. "This one was great and I got to work on my skills as a leader with all these young kids. I think that will take me on to the next level, not only with the younger kids but with the older kids to set a good example among everyone I'm playing. I will take that with me on to the next level."

Quinton Cobb had 188 yards rushing for Duluth (0-10, 0-8) and also caught a 64-yard screen pass for a touchdown late in the first quarter to tie up the score at seven.

Blessed Trinity blasts Cross Keys

2008-10-19T22:36:00.000-04:00

Published October 19, 2008

By Dave Paul
Roswell Beacon

The biggest challenge that Blessed Trinity faced on Friday night was not the seemingly inferior opponent or the slick field conditions caused by the day's rain. It was the desire to stay focused and execute plays while knowing that a matchup with unbeaten and top-ranked Buford was coming up the following week.

Mission accomplished.

Senior running back Sam Burkhalter ran nine times for 267 yards and four touchdowns, all in the first half, as Blessed Trinity cruised to a 76-0 homecoming win against Cross Keys. The Titans scored 11 touchdowns before halftime and officials invoked the mercy rule midway through the second quarter by running the clock continuously.

"We were crisp," said Burkhalter, who surpassed 1,000 rushing yards this season, the second time he has achieved that milestone in as many years. "We treated them like any other team. We had to stick to our game plan, execute and do what we needed to do."

Cross Keys (0-7 overall, 0-4 in Region 6-AA) dressed only 27 players for the game and it was evident early on that it would be a long night for the Indians. Blessed Trinity (6-1, 3-1) scored at will via run, pass, punt return and interception.

The Titans likely would have emptied the bench before halftime, but most of the junior varsity players that entered in the second half were precluded from playing more because they had competed for four quarters in a JV game a night earlier. Rules stipulate that players cannot exceed six quarters of competition in one weekend.

"You've got to play teams like that but you hate playing against them; you feel for them," Burkhalter said. "It's another win but we've got to go against Buford next week."

Senior running back Bruce Johnson carried three times for 95 yards and two touchdowns, junior wideout Jake Skole caught a 40-yard touchdown and returned a punt 47 yards for a score and Nick Day and Brian McGann returned interceptions for touchdowns on consecutive plays to ruin the Indians' night.

Kyle Denis ran in a six-yard touchdown just before half and kicker Riley Lyons connected on 10-of-11 extra-point attempts to round out the scoring for the Titans.

"We came out in practice to make Blessed Trinity better (last) week," said Titans head coach Ricky Turner. "We tried to work on our stuff to be better down the road for the teams we're about to face the last three games, which are very crucial as far as us advancing the rest of the year."

This week the Titans will travel to Buford (7-0) to challenge one of the elite teams in the nation and the state's defending Class AA champion.

"It's going to have to be a perfect ballgame," Turner said of his team's chances against the Wolves. "We are going to play not only one of the best teams in the state but one of the best teams in the country. It's a team that's got a huge tradition behind them. It would have to be a perfect game on both sides of the ball.

"I've got a lot of respect for that program and what they've done but we're going there to play it and put our kids hopefully in a situation where we have a chance to win. It's going to take a huge effort on the kids' part and the coaches' part this week and the focus in practice."

Extra point: Burkhalter said that he is currently considering four schools for his collegiate endeavors but others may enter the mix later. They are: North Carolina, Miami-Ohio, Elon and Samford.

Norcross too much for Chattahoochee

2008-10-01T09:45:00.000-04:00

Published October 1, 2008

By Dave Paul
Roswell Beacon

The two high-profile Norcross football recruits on the field Friday night proved why big-time college programs desire their abilities. And the youthful inexperience of the Chattahoochee offensive line proved the definition of tough sledding in a Region 7-AAAAA matchup at Blue Devils Stadium.

Miami-bound wide receiver Prince Kent caught scoring passes of 76 and 56 yards while Maryland commitment D.J. Adams rushed for 165 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries to lead Norcross to a 38-7 win over the visiting Cougars, who gave up eight sacks, gained just 125 total yards and scored their only touchdown on defense.

Chattahoochee senior quarterback Brendan Cross was harassed all night but was able to guide the offense to eight first downs and two field-goal attempts in the first half. Both kicks by senior Connor Coons came up short from 53 and 42 yards, the second of which was partially blocked just before halftime.

"Brendan is a player and he's always going to be a player," said Chattahoochee head coach Terry Crowder. "He's got five sophomores there in front of him and a lot of times he's running for his life."

A couple of underclassmen on the Norcross defense contributed to the Cougars' misery. Sophomore linebacker Seth Hinsley had two sacks and sophomore defensive end Demetrius Alston returned a fumble seven yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

"We've got a young team but they get after it and they are doing well," Norcross head coach Keith Maloof said of his defensive squad, which features four sophomores that regularly get playing time. "We're proud of them."

Trailing 17-0 at intermission, Chattahoochee could not generate any momentum coming out of the locker room and failed to move the chains in the second half. The Cougars recovered a muffed punt early in the third quarter but turned the ball over two plays later on a botched handoff that was recovered by Alston, the first of his two fumble recoveries.

The Blue Devils (3-2 overall, 2-1 Region 7-AAAAA) scored two minutes later when senior quarterback Charles King hit Kent with a deep pass down the right sideline for a 56-yard touchdown, giving Norcross a 24-0 lead.

The lone highlight for the Cougars (1-4, 1-2) came midway through the third quarter when junior defensive back Jon Bailey picked off a King pass and returned it 70 yards for a touchdown. That cut the lead to 24-7 but Norcross responded with a 75-yard drive, all on the ground, culminating in Adams' two-yard scoring plunge behind the blocking of two fullbacks.

"I'm not worried about the offense," Crowder said about his team, which had averaged 31 points in four previous games this year. "We played a great defense tonight. They did a great job against us. Our offense will be OK, we'll put points up there."

The Cougars have a bye week to regroup and make plans for a strong finish.

"We're still in the playoff hunt," Crowder said. "We've only got two losses in the region. We've got North Gwinnett and Mill Creek coming up. We're just gonna go battle those guys as hard as we can and if we ever put it together we're gonna be OK."

The win gave Maloof a share of the all-time victories record at Norcross with 66 but he cared little about the milestone.

"I don't know what it is, I don't look at that stuff," said Maloof, in his 10th year as head coach with the Blue Devils. "I'm just proud of the kids."

Centennial still searching for answers

2008-09-25T13:13:00.000-04:00

Published September 25, 2008

By Dave Paul
Roswell Beacon

Somehow Pope High School defensive back Matt Agee knew what was coming. The savvy senior sniffed out a bubble screen at Centennial High School Friday night, stepping in front of a receiver and taking an interception 42 yards downfield for a touchdown that put an exclamation point on the Greyhounds' 28-7 victory, their first win in almost a year.

It was the second touchdown that Pope had scored within one minute early in the fourth quarter to put away the struggling Knights. Agee scanned the Centennial formation, which featured three wide receivers to the left side of the field. Then he read quarterback Scott Laffler's quick dropback and charged in front of the intended receiver, picking off the pass and racing untouched into the end zone to essentially cement the win for the Greyhounds.

"That was a game-changer," said Pope head coach Matt Kemper. "Had they walked down and scored, it could have been a nail-biter. That kind of broke it open. I'm happy for Matt and I'm happy for our whole team."

Pope had taken a 21-7 lead just two plays earlier when quarterback Parker Frost ran a keeper around the right side for a three-yard score. That capped off an 11-play, 72-yard drive that put the Greyhounds (1-3 overall, 1-2 Region 6-AAAAA) in control.

Centennial (1-3, 0-3) made things interesting early in the third quarter and trailing 14-7 when Tyler Forester returned a punt 58 yards to the Pope 22-yard line. After three plays generated nine yards, the Knights were faced with a fourth-and-one and were stopped short on a Marcus Nabors run up the middle. Head coach Jeff Measor was left scratching his head after the game.

"We mis-read the option twice on that series," Measor said. "I don't know. We're just not a very good football team right now. Last year we figured the kids out. We as a staff, myself, we can't figure out what makes them tick."

Laffler has been forced into action earlier than planned because James Floyd went down in the second game this year with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and will not compete again in his senior season. Laffler threw three interceptions against Pope and completed just three of 12 passes for 13 yards and ran 15 times for 42 yards.

The Knights' lone score of the game came on defense when Henry Pierre stripped the ball from Pope quarterback Steve Wilkerson and ran 88 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter to give Centennial a 7-0 lead.

Pope responded in the second quarter with touchdown runs of eight and five yards from running back Travis Meeks, who finished the game with 55 yards on 10 carries and two scores. Defensively, the Greyhounds allowed just 123 yards of total offense from Centennial and forced four turnovers.

"I'm just thrilled to death for our guys," Kemper said. "It's been a while since Pope's won a football game. We had some adversity early but our kids responded. They played their tails off and I couldn't be happier for them."

For the Knights, it's back to the drawing board. Centennial has been set back by injuries to six key players, three who are out for the year, but Measor found a way to rally his team to a 6-4 finish last season after starting similarly.

"We've got to strap up our boots and get ready to play Milton," Measor said. "I don't feel we've lost to a team that's better than us except for Roswell. We just have to stop making mistakes. We've got to get the kids to believe we can win again.

"We were down, we were 1-3 last year and came back and had a pretty good year. The only thing I know is just to keep fighting."

Titans topple Oconee County in season opener

2008-09-03T10:59:00.000-04:00

Published Sept. 3, 2008

By Dave Paul
Roswell Beacon

Look out, Region 6-AA. Blessed Trinity has diversified its offense and cultivated some new football playmakers to complement senior sensation Sam Burkhalter.

The Titans scored 30 unanswered points Friday night to run away with a season-opening 37-13 victory over Oconee County at Blessed Trinity High School. In the process, the Titans opened up the playbook and welcomed another standout player to the spotlight in the form of junior Jake Skole.

Sure, Burkhalter dominated early and often from his tailback position, gaining 170 yards and scoring two touchdowns on 19 carries. But Skole was all over the field, hauling in six catches for 70 yards, returning a punt 37 yards for a touchdown and registering a safety in the end zone. Skole would have added an interception to his tally, had it not been for a pass interference call on the first play of the fourth quarter.

“He’s my go-to target, he’s a really reliable source,” Blessed Trinity senior quarterback Kohl Hegetschweiler said of Skole. “When you get him out in the open he is dangerous, as you probably saw on the punt return. He’s the type of kid you want to give him the ball.”

Burkhalter gave the Titans a 14-13 lead midway through the second quarter on a 36-yard touchdown run, paving the way for a new-look offense. After forcing the Warriors to punt, Blessed Trinity took over on its own 14-yard line with 3:57 remaining in the half and Hegetschweiler fashioned a textbook offensive series under the guidance of new coordinator Bob Lord.

Mixing up short passes, power inside rushing and some misdirection, Blessed Trinity traveled 86 yards on 10 plays (five rushing, five passing) and Hegetschweiler improvised on a 15-yard touchdown pass to Michael Gray to give the Titans a 21-13 lead going into the locker room. Hegetschweiler completed all five of his passes on the drive and nearly escaped a sack while throwing on the run during his scoring strike.

“Our offense started clicking,” said Hegetschweiler, who completed 12 of 17 passes for 136 yards in the game. “We put in a new offense, everyone knew what to do. We hit our quick passes, we did everything we wanted to. Our game plan was planned perfectly.”

Skole padded the cushion four plays into the second half by snaring a line-drive punt from Oconee County punter Scotty Woodall and racing down the left sideline for a 37-yard touchdown. Four plays after that, Skole chased down Woodall for a safety in the end zone after a snap went over his head and the Titans were comfortably ahead, 30-13.

Meanwhile, the Blessed Trinity defense got better as the game wore on, limiting Oconee County senior quarterback Zach Mettenberger to 75 yards and a touchdown on 10-of-16 passing. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound University of Georgia commit also ran for a one-yard touchdown on a quarterback sneak to give the Warriors a 13-7 lead but they failed to enter the red zone the rest of the night.

“Our defense did a great job not giving up the big play,” said Blessed Trinity head coach Ricky Turner. “Defensively, to come out here and hold that quarterback to 13 points is big for us.”

Hegetschweiler capped off the night on a one-yard keeper for a touchdown with 4:56 left in the game. It was the culmination of an eight-play, 78-yard drive, most of which was consumed on the ground by Burkhalter.

“Kohl just did a great job of running the offense tonight,” Turner said. “He’s worked hard all summer, worked hard all week. This is his senior year and that’s what he’s gotten ready for.”

Atlanta FC takes flight with diverse team

2008-06-04T10:35:00.000-04:00

Published June 4, 2008

By Dave Paul
Score Atlanta

The melting pot of metropolitan Atlanta now has an amateur soccer team that reflects the diversity of its populace. Competing in its first season in the National Premier Soccer League, the Atlanta FC franchise has formulated a roster that includes a cosmopolitan mix of athletes from around the world who call Atlanta home.

Born from an Under-23 Lawrenceville FC club team that advanced to the National Cup finals last year and formed by members of the non-profit group Soccer in the Streets, Atlanta FC has shed the look of a typical club team whose members traditionally have roots from one nation or region. Quite the opposite. With a pool of 30 players, Atlanta FC athletes hail from 12 different countries.

“It’s just kind of a natural for us to have a team with a Frenchman in the back, a goalkeeper from Africa, a winger from England, a forward from Argentina and two American defenders,” said Jason Longshore, director of operations for Atlanta FC. “That’s soccer.”

Officials from the six-year-old NPSL approached Lawrenceville FC coach Ricardo Montoya after last season’s title run and informed him of the league’s expansion plans into the Southeast in 2008. Montoya and Longshore, along with other supporters of Soccer in the Streets and Liga Lawrenceville, agreed to form the Atlanta FC franchise and the results so far have been positive.

Playing home games at Riverwood High School and coached by Montoya, Atlanta FC has posted a 5-2 overall record and a 3-1 league record as of press time. Competing in the four-team NPSL Southeast Region, Atlanta FC takes the field with an aggressive philosophy.

“The main thing that we try to do to set ourselves apart is play exciting, attacking soccer,” Longshore said. “I’ve heard so many people who have nothing to do with our team come up and watch us and be like ‘Wow, I love the way you guys play.’ It’s always going to the goal, it’s always attacking. We never want to sit and play for a zero-zero tie.”

Because of the team’s amateur status, current college athletes are allowed to play without disrupting their collegiate eligibility. And a glimpse of the team’s roster reveals no age discrimination as players range from 17 to 35 years old.

Included in that group are three metro-Atlanta natives: defenseman Patrick Ahern and goalkeeper Mike Wentzler from Duluth High School and goalkeeper John Selkow from St. Francis High School. Ahern coaches the boys junior varsity soccer team and is an assistant for the varsity soccer team at Duluth. Selkow played at Georgia Perimeter College this past season, where the Jaguars were runners-up in the national junior college tournament. They add some local flavor to an otherwise international conglomeration that represents the face of the community.

“We want to be the people’s team,” Longshore said. “That’s what we call ourselves, 'El Equipo del Pueblo,' which translates to the 'Team of the People.' We want to represent Atlanta in the best way possible.”

Underclassmen serve notice for Mill Creek

2008-04-17T12:35:00.001-04:00

Published April 16, 2008

By Dave Paul
Score Gwinnett

A youth movement has infiltrated the ranks of the Mill Creek girls tennis team and the results belie the inexperience of the squad. With five freshmen and two sophomores among the starting lineup, the Hawks have posted a 17-1 record and they enter this week’s Region 7-AAAAA tournament as the No. 1 seed.

At the beginning of the season, head coach Tim Schroer thought his team had the ability to challenge for a top-three finish in the region. But the emergence of freshman Bailey Dodge at No. 1 singles has made Mill Creek the team to beat when the region tournament gets under way Wednesday at Hudlow Tennis Center in Norcross.

Dodge, whose family relocated to Gwinnett County from California in recent years, lost her first match of the season and has not lost since. She brings a 15-1 record into the postseason along with an assertive game.

“Every time she steps on the court, you feel like you’re going to get a win out of her,” Schroer said of Dodge, who is the No. 9 girls player in Georgia according to TennisRecruiting.net. “Bailey is aggressive. I think her serve is a weapon and I definitely think her forehand is a weapon.”

Dodge seized the No. 1 singles position from sophomore Stacy Mottesheard, who now splits time at No. 2 singles or pairs up with freshman Michelle Yau at No. 1 doubles, where the two have achieved an 8-1 record. When Yau is not partnering with Mottesheard, she is slotted at No. 3 singles, posting a 9-0 record while Mottesheard has gone 8-1 in singles action.

Yau’s twin sister, Kristy Yau, and freshman Nela Handac form the No. 1 doubles combination but will flip-flop into singles action when Mottesheard and Michelle Yau pair up at doubles. Sophomore Anna Clayton and freshman Jessica Gerster round out the starting lineup at No. 2 doubles.

According to Schroer, who learned the game as a youngster while his father, Dr. Don Schroer, coached tennis at Emory University, the youthfulness of the group creates a positive vibe.

“The great thing I feel about our team is we don’t have a bunch of individuals,” he said. “We’ve got a good little corps of a team for an individual sport. These kids are all pulling for each other, they’re all fighting for each other, they want each other to be successful. Everybody accepts the role that we’ve put them into.”

Those roles will be tested this week in what Schroer calls “uncharted territories” for the Mill Creek girls program, which finished fifth in the region last year and has never qualified for the Class AAAAA state tournament. The Hawks swept through Region 7 this season with an 8-0 record in Schroer’s second year as head coach of the girls team (and fourth year at the helm of the boys team).

Mill Creek will play Forsyth Central on Wednesday and will earn a trip to the state tournament with a win. The Hawks beat the Bulldogs three weeks ago, 5-0. If Mill Creek advances to the semifinals, it will face the winner of Peachtree Ridge and South Forsyth later that day.

“I feel like our region is a very, very tough region,” Schroer said. “Even though some of our scores have been 5-0 or 4-1, I feel like the matches were closer than the scores indicated. We’ve been fortunate enough to come out on the top end of some of those matches.”

Schroer remembers what it’s like to be an underclassman in high school and fondly remembers the competitive spirit that fueled his passion for tennis. His coaching path began as a 15-year-old when he helped his dad teach tennis camps at Emory, where the elder Schroer coached men’s tennis from 1967 to 1999.

These days, life as an educator can be hectic, but a poorly timed spring break has made his job as husband, father and coach even more frenzied as Schroer squeezed in a trip to the Smoky Mountains with his family last week. His return home was greeted with the challenge of getting his tennis teams back on the court, trying to peak for the region tournament this week.

For the girls team, the approach will be routine.

“We’ve been preaching that we’re just trying to take everything one day at a time,” Schroer said. “We’re not trying to overlook anybody and we’re not trying to overlook what’s ahead of us. We’ve kind of flown under the radar all season long and we’re just trying to take things one day at a time. As generic as that sounds, it’s held true for these kids all year long.”

Norcross wins third straight title

2008-03-17T15:47:00.000-04:00

Published March 12, 2008

By Dave Paul
Score Gwinnett

DULUTH – Defense wins championships.

The cliché is sometimes overused and often oversimplified. But coaches will attest to its veracity.

Head coach Eddie Martin and his Norcross program won their third straight Class 5A boys basketball state title Friday night by clamping down their opponent in a 57-54 tug-of-war rumble against Wheeler before an estimated crowd of 8,000 at the Arena at Gwinnett Center.

No. 2-ranked Wheeler entered the championship game with a scoring average of 77 points per game in the state tournament and Martin told his top-ranked Blue Devils that keeping a lid on the Wildcats would be critical.

“They lost two games all year long going into this game and both of those games were in the fifties,” said Martin, whose team held Wheeler to 34 percent (22 of 65) shooting. “Our goal was to try to keep them in the fifties. We felt like if we did that we had a very good chance.”

Norcross raced out to a 17-2 lead in the first four minutes and it looked like the Blue Devils would coast into the winner’s circle. But two Norcross scoring droughts of four-plus minutes in the first half allowed Wheeler to close the gap to 28-24 at halftime.

The second half was a grudge match that featured four ties and five lead changes and neither team led by more than four points. Each team’s signature senior – Dequan Jones of Wheeler and Al-Farouq Aminu of Norcross – picked up a fourth foul late in the fourth quarter but neither coach made a move to the bench.

“In the second half I think it was just a battle,” Martin said. “It was a battle of wills and maybe it turned out that whoever had the ball last was going to win the ballgame because that’s what it came down to.”

Wheeler had the ball last, but a 3-point attempt at the buzzer fell short and the Norcross bench erupted as the Blue Devils (29-2) won their third consecutive championship, an accomplishment not achieved in Georgia’s large-school classification since Lanier did it in 1940.

“It was an incredible win,” Aminu said, a championship cap adorning his head. “It was against a team that I wanted to end it off on because I’ve heard so much about them. They’re great players so I wanted to be able to have a chance to play against them and make it feel like I actually beat everybody who we’re supposed to beat and there’s no doubt that we’re the state champs.”

Aminu made two free throws with 25.4 seconds remaining to give Norcross a three-point lead. Wheeler (30-3) responded with a 17-foot jumper by Phil Taylor to make it 55-54 with 14.7 seconds left in the game. After a timeout, Norcross called a play to break Wheeler’s full-court pressure over the top. Junior guard Zach Lamb threw an inbound pass to a streaking Taariq Mohammad at midcourt, where he dribbled to the hoop and managed to stop, pivot and bank in the final basket among three defenders with five seconds to go.

“It was a set play on a run-out knowing that they had to get up and get the ball,” Martin said. “It’s a situation that you hope they bite on and they did. The shot wasn’t exactly the shot I was hoping to get but it went and that was all the difference in the world.”

Wheeler junior forward Ari Stewart led all scorers with 18 points, including 14 in the second half, while junior forward Richard Howell added 12 points for the Wildcats. Jones scored all seven of his points in the first half for the Wildcats.

Aminu, a Wake Forest signee, tallied 17 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks for the Blue Devils (ranked No. 6 by USA Today). Junior guard Denzail Jones added 13 points, senior forward A.J. Hawkins contributed 11 points and Mohammad finished with eight points for Norcross.

For Aminu, the 6-foot-9 forward who was recently named Mr. Basketball in Georgia by the Atlanta Tipoff Club, the three-peat is a nice sendoff to the collegiate level.

“After the all-star games, I’m going to get with my coaches and work hard on my game so I can be ready for Wake Forest,” he said. “Then I’ll go to Wake Forest and try to repeat some of the stuff that we did here.”

Patriots surging in McWhorter's second year

2008-02-14T13:59:00.001-05:00

Published February 13, 2008

By Dave Paul
Score Gwinnett

Berkmar head coach Tommy McWhorter endured a challenging season in his first year at the helm of the Patriots’ boys basketball team in 2006-07. His inaugural campaign produced a team that finished 10-16 overall and 7-7 in Region 8-AAAAA.

In year two of the McWhorter era, however, the Patriots have gelled into a formidable program that finished the regular season with a mark of 18-5 overall and 12-2 in the region, good for second place in the area standings.

“Last year was really tough,” McWhorter admitted. “As a coach, you go through your first losing season since you’ve been doing this, I thought it was a humbling experience for me. After going through last year, I thought I could do anything to be honest with you.”

Guided by two standout seniors this year in forward Wesley Witherspoon and guard Demarion Gordon, the Patriots are in position to compete for the region playoff title and make a run in the Class 5A State Tournament. Witherspoon, one of the top 70 high school players in the country, leads the team with averages of 18 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals per game. Gordon, hampered by a hip injury most of the season, still has averaged 17 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals per game.

A microcosm of Berkmar’s resurgence could be witnessed in the Patriots’ regular-season finale last Friday. With Gordon nursing his hip on the Patriot bench in the first half, Berkmar trailed South Gwinnett by 10 points at halftime. But encouraged by Witherspoon to play with pain, Gordon scored 14 points in the second half to ignite the Patriots in a 69-59 victory on Senior Night. Witherspoon poured in 21 points to lead all scorers.

“They’ve learned how to win,” McWhorter said. “These guys have big hearts. We were in a tough situation (Friday) night, we were down 10 and came back and won by 10. The passion that we share as a coaching staff has kind of rubbed off on our kids.”

Rivals.com ranks Witherspoon as the 56th-best player in the country and ESPN.com lists him as No. 64. He has not made a commitment to play in college yet, and each day seems to bring new suitors to his doorstep. Among major conference teams, Oklahoma, Texas, Memphis, Kentucky, Mississippi, Kansas State and Virginia have all shown interest.

Despite the nagging hip injury suffered in early January, Gordon has been asked to be a scorer for McWhorter’s team this season. In one game against Grayson, Gordon connected on 11 3-pointers. He received a scholarship offer from Life University (Ga.) last week and is also receiving overtures from Jacksonville State, Gardner-Webb, Wichita State, Samford and Stetson.

Eight players regularly receive playing time for the revitalized Patriots. Among the supporting cast are senior forward/wing Stavantae Rucker, junior guard Nick Henry and junior forward/wing Carlos Powell. The Gwinnett Tipoff Club named Rucker the Berkmar player of the month for January and he has also received a scholarship offer from Life University.

McWhorter believes his role players provide a nice complement to his stars.

“Carlos does the little things for us,” he said. “He gives us a little scoring and a little rebounding. Nick has made a vast improvement from last year to this year; I think he is the hardest playing kid that I have. Stavantae came out of nowhere, tried out, made the team and now he’s a starter. He’s very athletic and has the knowledge of the game of basketball.”

At press time, Berkmar was scheduled to play on Tuesday against the winner of the Brookwood-Grayson matchup. The Patriots beat both schools twice during the regular season by an average of 22 points per game.

“Our goal is to get to the state playoffs and play the best that we can,” McWhorter said. “This season in itself has been a great season for us. I just don’t want the kids to be content with it. What would really top it off for us is winning the region.”

However the postseason plays out, McWhorter has been emboldened by his program’s turnaround from last season.

“It’s rewarding knowing that the kids bought in,” he said. “In my mind I thought they all said, ‘Hey, all we have to do is trust this guy. He knows where to lead us.’ I give credit to those kids more than anything because last year was tough.”

Fellowship Christian can't Clinch spot in Dome

2007-12-06T13:12:00.001-05:00

Published December 6, 2007

By Dave Paul
Roswell Beacon

ALPHARETTA – Thirty-two teams qualified for the Georgia Class A high school football playoffs. Thirty-one will finish the season with a loss.

Fellowship Christian School experienced the heartache and bitter finality of losing in a third-round playoff game to a superior Clinch County team, 26-13, Friday night at Old Milton Stadium. Teammates solemnly hugged each other and some shed tears on the field after the Paladins ended the season with an 11-2 record in their second year of Georgia High School Association competition.

“I have so much emotion because I love all these guys so much and I’m going to miss them,” said Fellowship Christian junior quarterback Jimmy Stainback, voice cracking as he choked back tears. “It’s been a great season and I’m just disappointed but I guess there’s next year [for me]. It’s just tough because I’m just really going to miss all these seniors because I just love them to death.”

Clinch County (11-2) appeared to have an edge in size, strength, speed and stamina while Fellowship Christian struggled to find its groove. Stainback ran for one touchdown and threw for another but it wasn’t enough to overcome the production of Panthers senior running back Ronnie Hill, who rushed for 198 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries.

“I never got into a rhythm throwing the ball,” Stainback said. “I was having trouble making the right reads and I was having trouble getting time. Our running game wasn’t really working. Usually we set up the pass with the run. It was just all out of whack and we couldn’t stop No. 31 [Hill].”

Clinch County built a 14-0 first-quarter lead on a 13-yard touchdown run by Hill and a 56-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Vintavious Cooper to junior wide receiver Dominique Ellis. Ellis caught the ball in stride and split two defenders near the Paladins’ 40-yard line and raced untouched the rest of the way down the left sideline for the score.

The Paladins had a chance to cut into the lead after the Panthers’ first score. Fellowship Christian junior Jake Philpotts flipped the field with a 61-yard punt that caused the Panthers to start their second offensive series at their own 2-yard line. After forcing Clinch County to punt after three plays, the Paladins took possession at the Panthers’ 25-yard line. Failing to move the chains, Fellowship Christian settled for a 38-yard field goal attempt, which was missed by Philpotts to the left.

The Paladins managed to answer Clinch County’s second touchdown with one of their own early in the second quarter. Stainback dived into the end zone at the left pylon after scrambling nine yards on a third-down play that started in shotgun formation. That capped off a 68-yard drive, but Fellowship Christian failed to move the ball the rest of the half.

Clinch County went into halftime with a 20-7 lead after Hill scored another touchdown on a fourth-and-inches play from 3 yards out. Panthers kicker Anthony McNeil missed the extra point.

“They were playing a little bit tougher than we were,” Fellowship Christian head coach Bob Lord said. “We had to step it up and play more smash-mouth football and we didn’t do that in the first half.”

Hill sprinted 41 yards for his third touchdown midway through the third quarter and the Panthers failed on a two-point conversion.

Fellowship Christian responded with a 46-yard touchdown pass from Stainback to senior wide receiver Martin Weatherby, and a failed two-point conversion made the score 26-13 at the end of the third quarter.

Defense ruled the final period, allowing Clinch County to advance to the Georgia Dome for the semifinals this weekend, one year removed from replacing 20 of 22 starters from last season's runner-up squad.

“We played a very good football team and we were very fortunate,” said Clinch County head coach Jim Dickerson, whose school will be making its sixth semifinals appearance in the past seven years. “We played extremely well. We don’t want to take anything away from Fellowship, they’re very well coached and a sound football team. They’ve got a lot to be proud of.”

	1	2	3	4	T
Clinch County	14	6	6	0	26
Fellowship Christian	0	7	6	0	13

Rushing
Name	School	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD
Hill	Clinch County	26	198	7.6	3
Cooper	Clinch County	13	43	3.3	0
Rolader, E	Fellowship Christian	15	45	3.0	0
Stainback	Fellowship Christian	7	6	0.9	1

Receiving
Name	School	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
Ellis	Clinch County	3	123	41.0	1
Denmark	Clinch County	2	44	22.0	0
Calhoun	Clinch County	1	21	21.0	0
Dorsey	Clinch County	1	15	15.0	0
Weatherby	Fellowship Christian	5	99	19.8	1
Shirley	Fellowship Christian	2	66	33.0	0
Howard	Fellowship Christian	1	10	10.0	0
Mitchell	Fellowship Christian	1	10	10.0	0
Williamson	Fellowship Christian	1	8	8.0	0

Passing
Name	School	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Cooper	Clinch County	7/18	203	11.3	1	0
Stainback	Fellowship Christian	9/28	193	6.9	1	0

Clinch County		Fellowship Christian
18	Pass ATT	28
7	Pass COMP	9
0	INT	0
203	Pass YDS	193
257	Rush YDS	51
460	Total YDS	244
17	First Downs	9
3-1	Fumbles-Lost	0-0
5-45	Penalties-Yards	3-20

Three points enough for Paladins to advance

2007-11-19T12:56:00.001-05:00

Published November 19, 2007

By Dave Paul
Roswell Beacon

ALPHARETTA – Fellowship Christian recovered five Wilkinson County fumbles Friday night, but the loose ball that caused collective hearts to skip a beat at Old Milton Stadium was a Paladins fumble deep in their own territory with a minute remaining in the game.

Trying to run out the clock in a Class A high school football playoff game and clinging to a 3-0 lead, Fellowship Christian junior quarterback Jimmy Stainback took a snap at his own 15-yard line and inextricably dropped the ball while turning around to hand off to running back Evan Rolader. John Osborne, who moved from his traditional tight end position to offensive right tackle because an injury to regular starter Bin Cochran, pounced on the ball at the line of scrimmage and the home crowd exhaled.

“My heart stopped,” Fellowship Christian head coach Bob Lord admitted after the game. “My heart stopped because they are in field-goal range to tie it or throw a ball in the end zone.”

After Wilkinson County called its last timeout to stop the clock at 55.8 seconds, Stainback did not risk a handoff on third-and-7. He ran a bootleg toward the right sideline, where he wisely slid down inbounds for a 1-yard gain and the clock kept ticking. The Paladins called timeout with 9 seconds left and debated whether to take an intentional safety on fourth down.

Enter Jake Philpotts. The Fellowship Christian junior kicker/punter, who had accounted for the game’s only points with a 32-yard field goal in the second quarter, calmly lined up at his own 5-yard line and launched a 57-yard punt into the frigid night sky. The spiraling ball sailed over the head of Warriors punt returner Demonzio Stubbs and by the time he corralled it at his own 27-yard line, he was tackled for a 3-yard loss as the clock expired.

Game over, 3-0.

“We felt on the 16-yard line it was too long to try to get a safety,” Lord said. “We decided to punt and got a beautiful punt out of Jake.

“We said, ‘Jake, we’re gonna go tight and block everybody — just catch the ball and punt it.’ And so that’s what he did. He came up with one of his best punts of the year.”

The Paladins (10-1) would have preferred no drama in the final minute. After all, they had just collected their fifth and final Wilkinson County fumble of the night just moments before to stymie the Warriors (4-6-1) on fourth-and-6 from the Fellowship Christian 8-yard line. Wilkinson County had just marched 67 yards in eight minutes while converting four third downs and one fourth down, doubling the amount of first downs the Warriors had earned prior to that drive.

Going for the lead rather than a tie, Wilkinson County sophomore quarterback Arthur McDowell lined up in shotgun formation and dropped the ball when it was snapped to him. Fellowship Christian junior defensive lineman Dillon Herbert jumped on the ball to squelch the Warriors’ comeback attempt.

“We don’t have a good field-goal kicker,” Wilkinson County head coach James Hagins said matter-of-factly, which prompted the decision to go for a touchdown. “That’s been one of our problems this whole season. We’ve got to work on the kicker.”

The Warriors’ first turnover came on the first punt of the game. Philpotts rolled a 36-yard punt to Wilkinson County returner Benardis Hughes at his own 10-yard line and the ball bounced off his hands and was recovered by Paladins sophomore Josh Hart at the Warriors’ 12-yard line. But Fellowship Christian failed to capitalize and Philpotts missed a 28-yard field goal four plays later.

Wilkinson County senior running back Theseus Jackson fumbled on the Warriors’ first offensive series and Fellowship Christian junior David Rawlings blocked a punt by Hughes to end the Warriors’ second possession. That block led to Philpotts’ eventual game-winning field goal at the beginning of the second quarter.

“Our offense didn’t play well,” Hagins said. “We had opportunities but we turned the ball over five times. I thought we should have scored, we were in good field position but the offense just didn’t move the ball tonight.”

Wilkinson County junior running back Demontez Crockett coughed up the football late in the second quarter and junior wide receiver Detavius Underwood fumbled late in the third quarter, but the Paladins did not convert any turnovers into points.

“It was ugly but pretty,” Lord said. “The scoreboard is 3-0, so it makes it pretty.”

Games notes: The No.1-seeded Paladins will host Gordon Lee this week, a 16-14 winner over Commerce. … Rolader rushed for 96 yards on 22 carries. … Philpotts averaged 30.3 yards on seven punts before his 57-yarder to end the game. … Hughes had a 77-yard touchdown run nullified in the first quarter due to a Wilkinson County holding penalty.

	1	2	3	4	T
Wilkinson County	0	0	0	0	0
Fellowship Christian	0	3	0	0	3

Rushing
Name	School	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD
Jackson, T	Wilkinson County	10	57	5.7	0
McCrea	Wilkinson County	8	56	7.0	0
Crockett	Wilkinson County	8	30	3.8	0
Hughes	Wilkinson County	8	9	1.1	0
Taylor, J	Wilkinson County	1	3	3.0	0
Taylor, M	Wilkinson County	1	0	0.0	0
McDowell	Wilkinson County	7	-20	-2.9	0
Rolader	Fellowship Christian	22	96	4.4	0
Stainback	Fellowship Christian	5	-10	-2.0	0

Receiving
Name	School	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
McCrea	Wilkinson County	1	12	12.0	0
Hughes	Wilkinson County	1	9	9.0	0
Underwood	Wilkinson County	1	7	7.0	0
Mitchell	Fellowship Christian	3	24	8.0	0
Rolader, E	Fellowship Christian	2	7	3.5	0
Williamson	Fellowship Christian	1	4	4.0	0
Weatherby	Fellowship Christian	1	2	2.0	0

Passing
Name	School	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
McDowell	Wilkinson County	3/10	28	2.8	0	0
McCrea	Wilkinson County	0/1	0	0.0	0	0
Stainback	Fellowship Christian	7/22	37	1.7	0	1

Wilkinson County		Fellowship Christian
11	Pass ATT	22
3	Pass COMP	7
0	INT	1
28	Pass YDS	37
135	Rush YDS	86
163	Total YDS	123
10	First Downs	5
6-5	Fumbles-Lost	1-0
4-30	Penalties-Yards	7-65

Blessed Trinity tops Grady in season finale

2007-11-15T09:55:00.000-05:00

Published November 15, 2007

By Dave Paul
Roswell Beacon

ATLANTA – Trailing by a score of 7-3 at halftime in the final game of the year Friday night at Grady High School, Blessed Trinity head football coach Ricky Turner delivered a succinct message to his team at intermission.

“I told them they’ve got one half left in the season,” Turner recalled after the game. “Some of them will never play football again after this and ‘let’s go out and leave it all on the field.’ And they did, they did that. They gave it all they had.”

In trademark BT fashion, the Titans uncorked their rushing game in the second half and pulled away for a 24-7 conference victory over the Grey Knights at Grady Stadium. The win boosted BT’s overall record to 7-3 on the year (4-3 in conference) and equaled the school’s best record in its eight-year existence.

“We went 7-3 early in our career here when we were in double-A,” Turner said. “And we went 7-3 and had a great year (this season) in a tough region with a lot of teams in the region.

“I’m proud of our guys. It sets the tone going into next year for the guys coming back.”

Among the players returning next year will be junior running backs Bruce Johnson and Sam Burkhalter and junior quarterback Kohl Hegetschweiler. Each of those players scored a second-half rushing touchdown against Grady when the BT offense asserted its ground game and won the battle in the trenches at the line of scrimmage.

A microcosm of BT’s rushing prowess could be witnessed on the Titans’ second possession of the second half. Pinned at its own 2-yard line, BT manufactured a 98-yard touchdown drive on 15 running plays that gave the Titans a 17-7 lead. The nine-minute march was capped off by Burkhalter’s 10-yard scoring run with 7:15 remaining in the game.

“A lot of that is because of the offensive line coming off the ball and blocks Bruce makes,” Turner said. “We lose some of our receivers (next year), [Trevor] Barden and [Joseph] Cordova who had a great year this year. They made some great blocks out there tonight, our receivers did, to break some of those long runs on the outside.”

Any chance of a Grey Knights (6-4, 4-3) comeback was thwarted after Burkhalter’s touchdown when BT kicker Garrett Jack lofted a short, high kick that landed between two Grady return men. The ball bounced once and landed in the hands of BT special-teams gunner Kyle Milo at the Grady 19-yard line.

Burkhalter then ran 18 yards around the left end to set up Hegetschweiler’s one-yard sneak for a touchdown and a 24-7 lead.

On the other side of the ball, BT’s defense chased Grady starting quarterback Jeremy Turner out of the game in the first quarter with interceptions by defensive backs Jake Skole and Ricky Kleban. Grady reserve quarterback Jamal Londry-Jackson engineered the Grey Knights’ lone scoring drive in the second quarter by completing 3-of-4 passes for 48 yards before yielding to running back Barry Stephens for a one-yard touchdown run with 40 seconds remaining in the first half.

That was the only blemish by an otherwise stellar Titan defense. In addition to two interceptions, BT defenders registered five tackles for loss, three pass break-ups (Skole, Matt Strok, Matt Frate), one turnover on downs and benefited from three Grady false-start penalties.

Senior defensive lineman Stephen Alford was helped off the field in the second quarter after suffering a right knee injury, but he returned later in the game with a heavily bandaged leg to finish off his last game with the Titans. He joined 14 other BT seniors that experienced the sweet taste of victory in their final high school game.

“We’ve got a great group of seniors and we’re going to miss them all,” Turner said. “But that’s part of it and we’ll keep building with this program year after year.”

Game notes: Burkhalter rushed for 171 yards and a touchdown on 31 carries. … Johnson rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. … Jack connected on a 27-yard field goal in the first quarter and missed a 55-yard field goal to end the first half. The second kick had enough distance but was wide left. … BT senior offensive/defensive lineman Harris Howard has made an oral commitment to attend Tulane on a football scholarship. … BT senior tight end / defensive end Ben Kopacka is considering scholarship offers from Elon, Air Force and Cornell, among others.

	1	2	3	4	T
Blessed Trinity	3	0	7	14	24
Grady	0	7	0	0	7

Rushing
Name	School	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD
Burkhalter	Blessed Trinity	31	171	5.5	1
Johnson	Blessed Trinity	8	80	10.0	1
Hegetschweiler	Blessed Trinity	4	25	6.3	1
Milo	Blessed Trinity	2	6	3.0	0
Stephens	Grady	12	28	2.3	1
Turner	Grady	3	18	6.0	0
Gibson	Grady	3	17	5.7	0
Farley	Grady	1	1	1.0	0
Londry-Jackson	Grady	1	1	1.0	0

Receiving
Name	School	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
Burkhalter	Blessed Trinity	1	22	22.0	0
Barden	Blessed Trinity	1	2	2.0	0
Stephens	Grady	3	35	11.7	0
Watts	Grady	2	14	7.0	0
Francais	Grady	1	18	18.0	0
Farley	Grady	1	14	14.0	0
Turner	Grady	1	9	9.0	0

Passing
Name	School	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Hegetschweiler	Blessed Trinity	2/7	24	3.4	0	0
Londry-Jackson	Grady	7/14	90	6.4	0	0
Turner	Grady	1/7	-2	-0.3	0	2

BT		Grady
7	Pass ATT	21
2	Pass COMP	8
0	INT	2
24	Pass YDS	88
282	Rush YDS	65
306	Total YDS	153
13	First Downs	9
0-0	Fumbles-Lost	1-0
4-40	Penalties-Yards	6-26

Blessed Trinity nearly perfect in beating North Atlanta

2007-11-15T09:54:00.001-05:00

Published November 8, 2007

By Dave Paul
Roswell Beacon

ATLANTA – Blessed Trinity head football coach Ricky Turner had been waiting all season for his team to play a perfect game as he took the Titans into Grady Stadium on Friday night for a conference tilt against North Atlanta High School. Even though his team had produced four shutouts in eight games this year, Turner was still seeking perfection as the eighth-year coach sought to equal the school’s regular-season record for wins.

Aside from a fumble in the first half, BT was nearly flawless as it pulled away from a halftime tie with the Warriors to post a 24-10 victory and improved its record to 6-3 on the year (3-3 in conference play). The Titans scored two touchdowns within three minutes in the fourth quarter and the defense forced turnovers on North Atlanta’s final two possessions to seal the triumph.

“I think it’s the best game our team played all year,” Turner said. “Special teams played great, offense played great and defense played great.”

The Titans started the game in typical fashion by rushing 13 straight times and capped off their opening seven-minute drive with a one-yard Sam Burkhalter touchdown run. Garrett Jack’s extra point gave BT a 7-0 lead.

North Atlanta (2-7, 2-4) responded with a 31-yard field goal by senior kicker Chad Watson and the two teams traded punts before BT committed its lone mistake of the game midway through the second quarter. Running back Bruce Johnson fumbled the ball after a six-yard run and Warriors senior Joshua Matthews recovered the ball at his own 45-yard line. That turnover led to a 32-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Deandre Derico-Lewis to Derrick Boddie. The Warriors converted a crucial fourth-and-four play from the BT 34-yard line to set up the go-ahead score. With 1:42 remaining in the half, the Titans found themselves trailing, 10-7.

A short ensuing kickoff and a 16-yard return by Jake Skole set up the Titans near midfield and they managed to move the ball to the North Atlanta 34-yard line before yielding to their senior kicker. It was just enough real estate to allow Jack to boot a 51-yard field goal that barely cleared the crossbar with 12 seconds to go in the half.

“He makes them in practice from 60 (yards),” Turner said of Jack. “I knew when we put him on the field we had a shot to make it. I believe in him 100 percent every time I put him out there.”

BT’s defense turned up the heat after halftime. North Atlanta’s possession chart in the second half looked like this: punt, turnover on downs, interception, fumble.

Titans running back Kyle Milo capped off an 80-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run 3:05 into the fourth quarter to make it 17-10. Two plays later, BT senior defensive back Matt Frate intercepted Derico-Lewis and set up BT at the Warriors’ 20-yard line.

From there, four running plays put BT into the end zone and culminated with a six-yard touchdown run by Burkhalter. He finished the game with 107 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries.

Titans junior defensive back Keanan Gomez recovered a fumble by Derico-Lewis on North Atlanta’s final possession and the Titans ran out the clock to end the game.

BT will play its final game this week against Grady with a chance to set a new school record for wins.

“We’re 6-3 now,” Turner said. “Our goal is to go 7-3 and have the best record in Blessed Trinity history. Our goal is to go out and play a tough game against Grady and hopefully we can pull it out and win it.”

	1	2	3	4	T
Blessed Trinity	7	3	0	14	24
North Atlanta	3	7	0	0	10

Rushing
Name	School	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD
Burkhalter	Blessed Trinity	23	107	4.7	2
Johnson	Blessed Trinity	14	62	4.4	0
Milo	Blessed Trinity	4	4	1.0	1
Hegetschweiler	Blessed Trinity	1	4	4.0	0
Skole	Blessed Trinity	1	0	0.0	0
Matthews	North Atlanta	12	34	2.8	0
Swift	North Atlanta	1	5	5.0	0
McKinley	North Atlanta	5	5	1.0	0
Derico-Lews	North Atlanta	9	-8	-0.8	0

Receiving
Name	School	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
Barden	Blessed Trinity	1	40	40.0	0
Kopacka	Blessed Trinity	1	8	8.0	0
Cordova	Blessed Trinity	1	6	6.0	0
Boddie	North Atlanta	4	84	21.0	1
Swift	North Atlanta	3	23	7.7	0
Smith	North Atlanta	3	22	7.3	0
Matthews	North Atlanta	1	8	8.0	0
Wells	North Atlanta	1	-5	-5.0	0

Passing
Name	School	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Hegetschweiler	Blessed Trinity	3/7	54	7.7	0	0
Derico-Lewis	North Atlanta	11/17	132	7.8	1	1

BT		NA
7	Pass ATT	17
3	Pass COMP	11
0	INT	1
54	Pass YDS	132
177	Rush YDS	36
231	Total YDS	168
14	First Downs	9
1-1	Fumbles-Lost	3-1
6-50	Penalties-Yards	4-22

Chattahoochee survives on playoff quest

2007-11-15T09:51:00.000-05:00

Published November 1, 2007

By Dave Paul
Roswell Beacon

ALPHARETTA – The Chattahoochee High School football team produced another successful chapter to its storybook season Friday night with a 24-14 victory at Alpharetta High School. But the Cougars will need some better bookend performances if they hope to script their way into the postseason playoffs.

The Chattahoochee defense gave up touchdowns on its first and final shifts of the game to a spirited Raiders squad on Homecoming weekend. The final touchdown came after a botched punt by the Cougars with two minutes remaining in the game. That mishap gave the Raiders excellent field position and, three plays later, quarterback Matt Robinson connected with Evan Gray on a 28-yard touchdown pass with 1:16 to go. That made the score 24-14, but Chattahoochee recovered Alpharetta’s onside kick and subsequently ran out the clock to secure the win.

“Right there at the end of the game, I’m disappointed with how we finished that game off,” Chattahoochee coach Terry Crowder said. “For the most part, I thought Alpharetta played really well. That’s not the same Alpharetta I’ve seen on film.”

The Raiders (2-6 overall, 0-3 in Region 6-AAAAA) were firing on all cylinders to start the game. Robinson connected on his first three passes for a total of 52 yards and senior running back Chad Christopher ran 12 yards for a touchdown on the fourth play of the game to give Alpharetta a surprising 7-0 lead before some spectators had taken their seats.

“I really didn’t say anything, I wanted to see how they responded,” Crowder said of his team after Alpharetta’s opening touchdown drive. “There wasn’t any panic in their eyes and the coaches made some adjustments. I just wanted to see how we responded. I’m not glad that it happened but it’s going to make us better down the road.”

Chattahoochee (7-1, 3-0) turned to senior running back Elton Ford to carry the load while starting running back Gary Grace saw limited action with lower-leg injuries but still managed to gain 101 yards. Ford had a 21-yard touchdown run to even the score at the end of the first quarter and he bolted 28 yards for another touchdown on a fourth-down play midway through the second quarter to give the Cougars a 14-7 lead.

“I’m thankful that my offensive coordinator gave me the ball,” said Ford, who ran for 148 yards on 24 carries. “Number 10 (Grace) helped me through it. Really, he’s the featured back. I’m just a little scatback but I’m thankful that they gave me the ball.”

Chattahoochee junior kicker Conner Coons booted a 43-yard field at the end of the second quarter to give the Cougars a 17-7 halftime lead.

Alpharetta started the second half much like it began the first. After Coons missed a 44-yard field goal to open the third quarter, Robinson directed the Raiders on a promising drive from their own 20-yard line and Gray survived a flattening hit that drew a 15-yard personal foul on the Cougars at midfield. Just when it looked like Alpharetta would cut into the lead, Chattahoochee senior defensive lineman Stephen Howard intercepted Robinson at the Cougar 15-yard line to end the threat.

Chattahoochee then marched 80 yards on nine consecutive running plays, capped off by quarterback Brendan Cross’s one-yard keeper for a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter. Kyle Hady tacked on his third extra point of the night to give Chattahoochee a 24-7 lead.

Alpharetta’s next two drives were stopped on big plays by the Cougars’ defense. Zach Hipes and Nolan Grage combined to sack Robinson on fourth down at the Chattahoochee 46-yard line to turn the Raiders over on downs. Ford ended the next Raider drive by intercepting Robinson in the end zone on a 40-yard prayer with 5:20 left in the game.

“I just think that Elton on a Friday night is a football player,” Crowder said. “He’s a kid when the lights come on is going to make plays for you. We try to get him in that position every chance we can because he’s going to make plays for you on Friday nights.”

Now Chattahoochee will prepare for a first-place conference showdown with Centennial. Both teams are undefeated in league play and the Cougars can expect to be tested in practice this week, especially when it comes to the two-minute drill.

“Once you get into the playoffs – if we make the playoffs – it’s going to come down to situations like that,” Crowder said. “Our kids still yet don’t understand the game is never over.

“We’re going to work on that in practice and I’m going to make my point clear on that. I’m going to make them make some plays under duress.”

	1	2	3	4	T
Chattahoochee	7	10	0	7	24
Alpharetta	7	0	0	7	14

Rushing
Name	School	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD
Ford	Chattahoochee	24	148	6.2	2
Grace	Chattahoochee	9	101	11.2	0
Denu	Chattahoochee	4	24	6.0	0
Ke	Chattahoochee	6	9	1.5	0
Cross	Chattahoochee	8	-3	-0.4	1
Christopher	Alpharetta	6	36	6.0	1
Whitfield	Alpharetta	3	25	8.3	0
Robinson	Alpharetta	13	22	1.7	0

Receiving
Name	School	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
Ford	Chattahoochee	1	22	22.0	0
Ke	Chattahoochee	1	4	4.0	0
Alalade	Chattahoochee	1	1	1.0	0
Lange	Chattahoochee	1	-1	-1.0	0
Gray	Alpharetta	4	69	17.3	1
Bennett	Alpharetta	5	62	12.4	0
Owens	Alpharetta	3	50	16.7	0
Whitfield	Alpharetta	1	26	26.0	0
Stewart	Alpharetta	1	4	4.0	0

Passing
Name	School	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Cross	Chattahoochee	4/12	26	2.2	0	0
Robinson	Alpharetta	14/30	211	7.0	1	2

Chattahoochee		Alpharetta
12	Pass ATT	30
4	Pass COMP	14
0	INT	2
26	Pass YDS	211
279	Rush YDS	83
305	Total YDS	294
16	First Downs	15
1-1	Fumbles-Lost	1-1
1-15	Penalties-Yards	3-30

Roswell rebounds with shutout win over Alpharetta

2007-11-14T20:32:00.000-05:00

Published October 25, 2007

By Dave Paul
Roswell Beacon

ALPHARETTA – How a football team responds to defeat is sometimes a truer test of its character than how it handles victory. The losing effect is amplified for a defending state co-champion that found its back against the wall one week after league play began.

Led by quarterback Dustin Taliaferro, running back Alex Daniel and a stout defense that gave up just one big play, Roswell High School responded to last week’s conference-opening loss to Chattahoochee with a dominating 45-0 win over Alpharetta in a Class AAAAA subregional game Friday night at Alpharetta High School.

Taliaferro picked apart the Raiders’ defense with magnificent play-action fakes and precision passing in the first half while connecting with five different receivers on 9-of-13 passing. He threw for 198 yards and two touchdowns in the first 24 minutes while looking calm in the pocket and tossing the deep ball with tremendous accuracy. Scoring strikes of 46 and 11 yards to wide receiver Garrett Embry in the second quarter helped boost the Hornets to a 31-0 halftime lead.

“It just felt great,” Taliaferro said. “Our whole offense was clicking – offensive line, running backs, everybody. I’m just fortunate to play with great teammates and the coaches had a great game plan so it feels good when you have games like that. It just feels good to go out there and get the job done like we did.”

Daniel ran for 70 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries in the first half and kicker Jim Broadway connected on a 28-yard field goal to help Roswell (5-2 overall, 1-1 conference) go into the halftime break with a commanding lead.

Trying to set the tone even more, the Hornets almost recovered an onside kick with a 24-0 lead late in the second quarter. But a Roswell special-teams player touched the ball before it traveled 10 yards and Alpharetta (2-5, 0-2) was awarded the ball at Roswell’s 45-yard line.
The Raiders could not move the chains and turned the ball over on downs, which eventually led to Embry’s second touchdown catch with 25 seconds left in the first half.

“I gave the special-teams coordinator permission to do it,” Roswell coach Tim McFarlin said of the onside kick. “We just felt like we’re at a point where we’ve got to keep doing the fundamentals but we’ve also got to do things from time to time that may be a little different. If you’re not making slight changes here and there with what you do, people catch up with you and that may have happened to us last week.”

Roswell relied on its ground game in the second half as Daniel added a third touchdown and finished with 118 yards. Reserve running back Stephen Peasant ran eight times for 84 yards and a touchdown to cap off a 439-yard performance by the Hornets’ offense.

While the Roswell offense was clicking, the Alpharetta offense was sputtering. The only time the Raiders entered the red zone was just before halftime after quarterback Matt Robinson hooked up with Michael Bennett on a 53-yard heave to the Roswell 12-yard line with 15 seconds remaining before intermission. A Robinson five-yard scramble took the clock down to 9 seconds and, rather than attempt a pass in the end zone on second down, the Raiders elected to kick a 24-yard field goal which was missed wide right by kicker Bo Swanson.

The Hornets’ defense limited Alpharetta to three-and-out possessions on five occasions and surrendered just six first downs and 138 total yards during the game. Lavelle Larry had a potential 94-yard interception return called back during the run on a Roswell illegal block. That pickoff led to the Hornets’ second touchdown of the game.

“I thought our guys up front on defense did a tremendous job,” McFarlin said. “We got pushed around a little bit last week by Chattahoochee and we had to shore that up. Those guys up front that don’t get a lot of recognition, they made this happen tonight.”

Roswell now turns its attention to Milton for a chance to move up in the standings and get back into the playoff hunt. Both teams have identical records after Milton’s loss to Centennial last week.

“We have to win every game,” Taliaferro said. “We have Milton next and that will be big. We’ve got to win every game from here on out.”

	1	2	3	4	T
Roswell	7	24	7	7	45
Alpharetta	0	0	0	0	0

Rushing
Name	School	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD
Daniel	Roswell	19	118	6.2	3
Peasant	Roswell	8	84	10.5	1
Chastain	Roswell	2	13	6.5	0
Plantico	Roswell	1	9	9.0	0
Taliaferro	Roswell	5	4	0.8	0
Suhr	Roswell	1	4	4.0	0
Jones	Roswell	1	4	4.0	0
Christopher	Alpharetta	12	33	2.8	0
Robinson	Alpharetta	5	7	1.4	0
Stanley	Alpharetta	3	5	1.7	0
Whitford	Alpharetta	1	-6	-6.0	0

Receiving
Name	School	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
Embry	Roswell	3	74	24.7	2
Bennett	Roswell	2	41	20.5	0
Kenerleber	Roswell	1	33	33.0	0
Jones	Roswell	1	30	30.0	0
Hughes	Roswell	2	20	10.0	0
Plantico	Roswell	1	5	5.0	0
Bennett	Alpharetta	2	50	25.0	0
Owens	Alpharetta	3	23	7.7	0
Gray	Alpharetta	2	16	8.0	0
Cox	Alpharetta	1	9	9.0	0
Terry	Alpharetta	1	2	2.0	0

Passing
Name	School	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Taliaferro	Roswell	10/14	203	14.5	2	0
Hickman	Roswell	0/2	0	0/0	0	1
Robinson	Alpharetta	9/18	99	5.5	0	1
Burns	Alpharetta	0/2	0	0.0	0	0

Roswell		Alpharetta
16	Pass ATT	20
10	Pass COMP	9
1	INT	1
203	Pass YDS	99
236	Rush YDS	39
439	Total YDS	138
16	First Downs	6
2-1	Fumbles-Lost	2-0
6-60	Penalties-Yards	3-30

Burkhalter, Titans stomp Riverwood

2007-11-14T20:06:00.001-05:00

Published October 18, 2007

By Dave Paul
Roswell Beacon

ROSWELL – One-play drives are not the recipe for success for football teams that prefer to run the ball. Usually indicative of a turnover, one-play drives allow the opposition to win the time-of-possession battle and they leave a defense on the field for an extraordinary amount of snaps.

But if a team has Sam Burkhalter in its backfield, one-play drives can make all the difference in a game. Displaying a combination of quickness and shiftiness, The Blessed Trinity junior running back scored on touchdown runs of 87 and 27 yards to highlight a 24-0 victory over Riverwood on Friday night at Blessed Trinity High School.

Both scores came one play after the Titans’ defense turned the Raiders over on downs and propelled BT to a conference victory in front of a packed stadium on Homecoming weekend. Burkhalter scored another touchdown on a five-yard run in the second quarter and upped his season total to 14 touchdowns in six games.

“The way he stops, adjusts, moves and accelerates – you just don’t see that in too many kids,” BT coach Ricky Turner said of Burkhalter, who ran for 270 yards and averaged 13.5 yards per carry. “Those runs that he had were great runs, all three of those touchdowns.”

Burkhalter’s first touchdown of 87 yards came late in the first quarter after BT (4-2 overall, 1-2 conference) stopped Riverwood on fourth and two at the Titans’ 11-yard line. The Raiders had lined up in an exotic formation with six players split to the far right side of the field. Raiders quarterback Jay Scott took the snap and ran toward the left sideline and pitched to LeFloyd Phillips, who was tackled out of bounds for a two-yard loss. Burkhalter outran the entire Riverwood defense on the next play and a Garrett Jack extra point put the Titans on top, 7-0.

Burkhalter’s 27-yard scoring scamper late in the fourth quarter occurred once more after a Titans defensive stop when Scott was tackled short of a first down on fourth and 10 by BT junior defensive back Ricky Kleban. Burkhalter then put the game out of reach by stepping through a tackle at the line of scrimmage and running 27 yards down the left sideline with just over four minutes remaining in the game. Jack’s extra point made it 24-0.

“Sam Burkhalter played a tremendous ball game,” Turner said when asked who on his team deserved a game ball. “It all comes together. Our kicker (Jack) had a big field goal to put us up by three scores in the fourth quarter. The offensive line does a great job for us, too. But Sam Burkhalter with some of those runs was just amazing.”

Although Riverwood (3-3, 1-2) controlled the ball for nearly 30 minutes during the game, the Titans buckled down on defense when they had to. Fumble recoveries by Court Kasten and Harris Howard in the second half helped keep the Raiders off the scoreboard. An interception by Jake Skole after Burkhalter’s first touchdown nullified a 57-yard kick return by Phillips.

Howard also deflected a fourth-down pass by Scott midway through the second quarter which eventually led to Burkhalter’s second touchdown. Howard is a starting offensive lineman who also played about half of the team’s snaps on defense.

“This is the first game that we really played him a lot on defense,” Turner said of Howard. “He’s a three-year starter on the offensive line for us but we got him in there to play some defense for us and he did a great job.”

The Titans defense registered a shutout by coming up with key stops or turnovers each time Riverwood crossed the BT 25-yard line.

“Our defense didn’t let them in the end zone,” Turner said. “We’re giving up too many yards on certain plays so we’ve got to get back and get that fixed. The thing is, we never gave up and we never let them in the end zone so I’m proud of them for that.”

	1	2	3	4	T
Riverwood	0	0	0	0	0
Blessed Trinity	7	7	0	10	24

Rushing
Name	School	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD
Scott	Riverwood	18	85	4.7	0
Phillips	Riverwood	11	66	6.0	0
Umizi	Riverwood	10	24	2.4	0
Hollman	Riverwood	9	23	2.6	0
Bradley	Riverwood	1	-1	-1.0	0
Burkhalter	Blessed Trinity	20	270	13.5	3
Johnson	Blessed Trinity	6	50	8.3	0
Hegetschweiler	Blessed Trinity	5	24	4.8	0
Dufner	Blessed Trinity	1	2	2.0	0
Milo	Blessed Trinity	2	0	0.0	0
Strok	Blessed Trinity	1	-1	-1.0	0

Receiving
Name	School	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
Brown	Riverwood	1	4	4.0	0
Phillips	Riverwood	1	3	3.0	0
Hollman	Riverwood	1	2	2.0	0
Bowens	Riverwood	1	0	0.0	0

Passing
Name	School	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Scott	Riverwood	4/6	9	1.5	0	1
Fegley	Riverwood	0/1	0	0.0	0	0
Hegetschweiler	Blessed Trinity	0/5	0	0.0	0	1

Riverwood		Blessed Trinity
7	Pass ATT	5
4	Pass COMP	0
1	INT	1
9	Pass YDS	0
197	Rush YDS	348
206	Total YDS	348
10	First Downs	9
2-2	Fumbles-Lost	2-1
3-25	Penalties-Yards	4-50

Grace leads Cougars to Homecoming win

2007-11-14T18:59:00.000-05:00

Published October 4, 2007

By Dave Paul
Roswell Beacon

ALPHARETTA – Chattahoochee senior running back Gary Grace sets the bar pretty high for himself. Although he did not attain his personal goal of gaining 250 yards Friday night, he produced two big first-half touchdowns and led the Cougars to a 28-14 Homecoming victory over Sprayberry at Chattahoochee High School.

Grace scored twice within four minutes late in the second quarter to give the Cougars a comfortable 21-0 halftime lead. His second touchdown was a 35-yard burst on fourth down where he lined up on the left side of the formation and came in motion while taking a quick handoff from junior quarterback Brendan Cross. Grace broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and outran the rest of the Yellow Jackets’ defense to the end zone.

“My linemen did a great job as usual,” said Grace, who had 63 yards rushing and 43 receiving yards and was also named Homecoming King. “I just ran hard, lowered the shoulders and from there just took it in for the touchdown.”

Sprayberry converted a fake punt on fourth down early in the fourth quarter to preserve a drive that was capped off by a three-yard touchdown run by junior running back David Carter. All-purpose junior Forest Holt did most of the damage for the Yellow Jackets, having set up the drive with a 10-yard punt return. Later, Holt lined up as an upback in punt formation on the Cougars’ 47-yard line and took the snap before throwing a perfect pass to senior wide receiver Adam Johnston for a 16-yard completion on fourth down and six. Holt then passed to senior Brynden Trawick for 12 yards and ran two quarterback keepers for a total of 16 yards before yielding to Carter for the score and cutting the lead to 21-7.

Any threat of a Sprayberry comeback was thwarted on Chattahoochee’s subsequent 11-play, 75-yard drive that included three third-down conversions. Cross completed throws of 26 yards to senior Elton Ford and found junior wide receiver G Alalade wide open for a 30-yard touchdown with 3:35 remaining. Both plays came on third down.

“The play was 81 Waggle Cross,” Alalade said of his touchdown catch along the left sideline. “I’m supposed to go to the post and the other receiver runs across. The safety came up and he didn’t see I was running a post. Once he came up I was wide open and the quarterback saw me.”

Devin Suttler returned the ensuing kickoff 51 yards for Sprayberry to the Cougars’ 34-yard line and Carter tacked on another touchdown in the final minute but it was too little, too late for the Yellow Jackets (2-3).

“I feel like we had the game in hand at all times,” said Chattahoochee head coach Terry Crowder. “The thing that I was watching was to see if we kept playing hard. Sprayberry is good, they’re going to get their points. We kept playing hard so I’m happy with that.”

Chattahoochee (4-1) now gets a week off before starting region play and taking on defending state co-champion Roswell. As the Cougar players enjoyed the band’s post-game concert, they eagerly talked about their next challenge against the Hornets.

“I’m going to work extra hard for Roswell,” Grace said. “The training is going to be intense. We’re going to work 10 times as hard as we worked this week. We work pretty hard from week to week but each week gets harder and harder. This week is going to be more up-tempo than ever.”

Game notes: Cross scored the game’s first touchdown on a five-yard keeper and threw for 170 yards on 12-of-17 passing. … Ford blocked a Sprayberry punt to set up the Cougars’ second touchdown drive at the Yellow Jackets’ 37-yard line. … Holt finished with 192 all-purpose yards.

	1	2	3	4	T
Sprayberry	0	0	0	14	14
Chattahoochee	7	14	0	7	28

Rushing
Name	School	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD
Holt	Sprayberry	10	108	10.8	0
Carter	Sprayberry	14	58	4.1	2
Fairbanks	Sprayberry	5	22	4.4	0
Trawick	Sprayberry	1	0	0.0	0
Grace	Chattahoochee	12	63	5.3	2
Cross	Chattahoochee	13	31	2.4	1
Ford	Chattahoochee	5	22	4.4	0
Kelly	Chattahoochee	10	12	1.2	0
Ke	Chattahoochee	1	6	6.0	0

Receiving
Name	School	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
Johnson	Sprayberry	3	41	13.7	0
Holt	Sprayberr	3	23	7.7	0
Cole	Sprayberry	2	16	8.0	0
Carter	Sprayberry	3	11	3.7	0
Trawick	Sprayberry	1	12	12.0	0
Alalade	Chattahoochee	3	47	15.7	1
Ford	Chattahoochee	4	43	10.8	0
Grace	Chattahoochee	4	43	10.8	0
Kelly	Chattahoochee	1	37	37.0	0

Passing
Name	School	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Holt	Sprayberry	8/12	61	5.1	0	0
Cundiff	Sprayberry	8/12	47	3.9	0	0
Cross	Chattahoochee	12/17	170	10.0	1	1

Sprayberry		Chattahoochee
24	Pass ATT	17
16	Pass COMP	12
0	INT	1
108	Pass YDS	170
188	Rush YDS	134
296	Total YDS	304
16	First Downs	14
1-0	Fumbles-Lost	1-0
2-30	Penalties-Yards	2-10

Titans dial up Burkhalter in convincing win

2007-11-14T14:54:00.000-05:00

Published September 27, 2007

By Dave Paul
Roswell Beacon

ATLANTA – Sam Burkhalter had his number called early and often Friday night. The Blessed Trinity junior running back answered the call in a big way by rushing for 205 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Titans to a 38-0 victory over South Atlanta in a non-conference football game at Grady Stadium.

The Titans’ offensive line overpowered its counterparts and allowed the running game to single-handedly dominate the game. It took BT only four plays – all Burkhalter runs – to find the end zone on Blessed Trinity’s opening drive, which covered 61 yards and culminated in a 17-yard touchdown run as Burkhalter found open space around the right side of the line and trotted untouched for the score.

“It felt pretty good,” Burkhalter said after the game. “I have to give a lot of credit to my offensive line. They’re really doing the dirty work out there along with my fullback [Bruce Johnson]. We just came ready to play today.”

The Titans’ ground assault continued each time they touched the ball. Averaging 8.5 yards per carry for the game, Burkhalter set up BT’s second touchdown in as many drives by running seven times for 51 yards. That barrage included an eight-yard gain on fourth down and four from the Hornets’ 24-yard line and led to Johnson’s 16-yard touchdown run up the middle. That gave the Titans a 14-0 lead near the end of the first quarter.

Burkhalter added a five-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter and kicker Garrett Jack added his third point-after conversion to give BT a comfortable halftime lead at 21-0.

“He’s the first rusher we’ve had in two or three years now that’s had a 200-yard rushing game,” said BT head coach Ricky Turner. “I was very proud of him. He had several touchdowns. He was hitting the hole hard. He’s a back we knew we could go to and will continue to go to.”

On the other side of the ball, the Titans (3-0) gave South Atlanta quarterback Quentin Trent fits all night. Working almost exclusively from a shotgun formation, Trent was running for his life most of the game and could not direct the Hornets past midfield. South Atlanta generated only 23 yards of total offense for the game.

The only time South Atlanta (1-3) reached the 50-yard line was after a 38-yard kickoff return by junior Michael Daughtry to open the second half. But the Titans forced the Hornets to punt after a third-down sack by senior defensive lineman Stephen Alford and South Atlanta never crossed into BT territory the entire game.

With Burkhalter running wild on a variety of moves, he guided the Titans on a 76-yard touchdown drive on their opening possession of the second half. It appeared that Burkhalter would score from 32 yards out on the ninth play of the drive but he tripped up at the 15-yard line with nothing between him and the goal line. But BT quarterback Kohl Hegetschweiler called Burkhalter’s number again and he broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and finished off the drive with his third touchdown of the night.

“I got a little happy feet,” Burkhalter said of his self-inflicted tackle. “I didn’t expect it to open like that. I just wanted to get in but I made up for it on the next play.”

Eight different players carried the ball for the Titans. Johnson had 49 yards and a touchdown on eight rushes and junior running back Kyle Milo had a touchdown on fourth-and-inches to go along with 32 yards on 12 carries.

Jack made a 42-yard field goal as the game expired. The kick had enough distance despite being partially blocked by the Hornets at the line of scrimmage.

Next up for BT is the conference opener this Friday against Chamblee. Look for the Titans to continue their running attack.

“They’re a very good team,” Burkhalter said of Chamblee. “They were ranked No. 3 in the state last year. They’re a very strong, well-disciplined team and we’ve got to get ready. We’ve got to practice hard this week and get our stuff down.”

	1	2	3	4	T
Blessed Trinity	14	7	7	10	38
South Atlanta	0	0	0	0	0

Rushing
Name	School	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD
Burkhalter	Blessed Trinity	24	205	8.5	3
Johnson	Blessed Trinity	8	49	6.1	1
Milo	Blessed Trinity	12	32	2.7	1
Dufner	Blessed Trinity	4	20	5.0	0
Skole	Blessed Trinity	3	10	3.3	0
Hegetschweiler	Blessed Trinity	1	6	6.0	0
Nocerini	Blessed Trinity	1	4	4.0	0
Strok	Blessed Trinity	1	2	2.0	0
Trent	South Atlanta	9	12	1.3	0
Daughtry	South Atlanta	4	7	1.8	0
Ellison	South Atlanta	1	2	2.0	0

Receiving
Name	School	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
Cordova	Blessed Trinity	1	23	23.0	0
McGann	Blessed Trinity	1	19	19.0	0
Barden	Blessed Trinity	1	10	10.0	0
Gomez	Blessed Trinity	1	9	9.0	0
Greet	South Atlanta	1	14	14.0	0

Passing
Name	School	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Hegetschweiler	Blessed Trinity	3/4	38	9.5	0	0
Trent	South Atlanta	1/9	14	1.6	0	0

Blessed Trinity		South Atlanta
4	Pass ATT	9
3	Pass COMP	1
0	INT	0
38	Pass YDS	14
328	Rush YDS	9
366	Total YDS	23
22	First Downs	3
0-0	Fumbles-Lost	0-0
4-40	Penalties-Yards	5-45

Roswell cruises past Lassiter

2007-11-14T14:33:00.001-05:00

Published September 13, 2007

By Dave Paul
Roswell Beacon

ROSWELL – Two consecutive plays made all the difference Friday night as the Roswell Hornets lived up to their No. 1 state ranking and beat Lassiter, 38-7, in a Class AAAAA football contest at Roswell High School.

With the Hornets clinging to a 14-0 lead at the beginning of the second quarter in their home opener, Lassiter was about to make a game of it after traveling 66 yards on a drive that consumed more than six minutes. But as Trojans senior quarterback Schuyler Vaughan floated a fade pass to the right corner of the end zone to running back B.J. Fullwood, Roswell senior cornerback Dominique Wheeler intercepted the ball to end the threat.

After the touchback, Roswell senior running back Alex Daniel took a toss right and galloped 80 yards for a touchdown after cutting across the field and outrunning would-be tacklers down the left sideline. The Hornets (2-0) never looked back after taking a commanding three-touchdown lead.

“I was concerned because they were moving down the field,” said Roswell head coach Tim McFarlin. “We were one play away from being in a 14-7 dogfight and as it turned out we were one play away from being in a 21-nothing game. But that’s high-school football. It turns on a dime.”

It was Daniel’s third touchdown of the game. His numbers in the first half: six carries, 101 yards, three touchdowns and a two-point conversion. Hornets senior quarterback Dustin Taliaferro was very efficient in the first half, too. His numbers: three attempts, three completions, 100 yards and a touchdown. Taliaferro’s scoring strike was a 66-yard bomb to senior wide receiver Garrett Embry. It was the second one-play drive of the half for the Hornets and they took a 28-0 lead into the halftime break.

Lassiter (0-2) prevented Roswell’s offense from crossing the goal line in the second half and the only real question was whether the Trojans would score any points themselves. To their credit, they mounted a gutty 20-play drive at the end of the game that nearly exhausted the entire fourth quarter. The 86-yard march was capped off by a one-yard touchdown run by Fullwood and featured two fourth-down conversions by Lassiter. Fullwood finished the night with 60 yards on 23 bruising carries into the teeth of a punishing Roswell defense that stacked the box to stop the run.

“You always want a shutout,” McFarlin confessed after the game. “But we didn’t get it and to Lassiter’s credit, they put together a nice 20-play drive and kept our offense off the field. It was an impressive drive.”

Overall, it was a solid all-around performance by the defending state co-champions.

“I felt like we played hard and that’s just an important thing for us to do every Friday night,” McFarlin said. “I felt like there was a little lull there in the second quarter defensively where we stayed on the field a little bit too long.

“We were happy. I was really happy with our special teams. I thought tonight our kicking game performed well for us.”

Game notes: Roswell senior kicker Jim Broadway converted three point-after attempts, made a 33-yard field goal and booted four of six kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks. … Lassiter converted all four of its fourth-down attempts in the game. … Roswell senior Lavelle Larry had a 47-yard punt return to set up the Hornets’ first touchdown and returned a fumble 36 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. … Average starting field position for Roswell was its own 42-yard line; average starting field position for Lassiter was its own 19-yard line. … A standing-room-only crowd was on hand to witness Roswell’s first home game since winning a share of the Class AAAAA championship last year.

	1	2	3	4	T
Lassiter	0	0	0	7	7
Roswell	14	14	10	0	38

Rushing
Name	School	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD
Fullwood	Lassiter	23	60	2.6	1
Vaughan	Lassiter	8	29	3.6	0
Fairbanks	Lassiter	6	26	4.3	0
Sterrod	Lassiter	3	1	0.3	0
Dupree	Lassiter	1	1	1.0	0
Lutzenkirchen	Lassiter	1	-2	-2.0	0
Daniel	Roswell	10	112	11.2	3
Smith	Roswell	5	19	3.8	0
Taliaferro	Roswell	2	15	7.5	0
Peasant	Roswell	1	40	40.0	0

Receiving
Name	School	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
Zingler	Lassiter	4	61	15.3	0
Fairbanks	Lassiter	3	24	8.0	0
Stephens	Lassiter	1	3	3.0	0
Embry	Roswell	2	81	40.5	1
Hughes	Roswell	2	30	15.0	0

Passing
Name	School	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Vaughan	Lassiter	8/17	88	5.2	0	1
Taliaferro	Roswell	4/4	111	27.8	1	0

Lassiter		Roswell
17	Pass ATT	4
8	Pass COMP	4
1	INT	0
88	Pass YDS	111
82	Rush YDS	186
203	Total YDS	297
13	First Downs	7
2-1	Fumbles-Lost	1-1
1-10	Penalties-Yards	1-5

Alpharetta shakes off North Forsyth

2007-11-13T13:26:00.000-05:00

Published September 6, 2007

By Dave Paul
Roswell Beacon

CUMMING – On a humid evening under threatening skies Friday night, one had to wonder whether the Alpharetta High School football team was waiting for a jolt of lighting to jump-start its offense as it opened the season on the road at North Forsyth High School.

While the visiting Raiders surrendered a 32-yard field goal to North Forsyth on its opening drive of the game, Alpharetta nearly sleepwalked through the first half before shaking off the cobwebs and striking for two late touchdowns in the second quarter. Scoring passes from senior quarterback Matt Robinson to Brandon Stanley and Vincent Williams in the final 1:20 of the half sparked Alpharetta to a 14-3 halftime lead en route to a 24-12 non-conference victory over the host Raiders.

After Stanley sneaked past the North Forsyth secondary and hauled in a 36-yard bomb along the right sideline for Alpharetta’s first touchdown on fourth down, junior linebacker Anthony Guarcello intercepted a pass from North Forsyth junior quarterback Eli Chester two plays later. Robinson and Williams then hooked up for a 20-yard strike on a second-down crossing pattern over the middle with 32 seconds left in the half to take a commanding lead. Williams caught the ball around the 10-yard line and flashed toward the left sideline where he turned upfield and broke three tackles on his way to the end zone.

“It was a quick five-yard hitch and I saw the QB scrambling,” Stanley recalled of the frantic first touchdown when the North Forsyth defense flushed Robinson out of the pocket and Alpharetta receivers raced to find open space downfield. “I just broke it long and I was open. It looked like it was going out of bounds so I just reached out and got it and put it in the end zone.”

A steady rain made things more interesting in the second half but Alpharetta coach Bill Waters said the weather did not affect either team despite two official timeouts for lightning. The visiting Raiders (1-0) took a 17-3 lead midway through the third quarter on a 27-yard field goal by senior kicker Bo Swanson to complete an 11-play, 46-yard drive that featured eight runs up the middle and chewed up nearly six minutes. Running backs Willie Whitford and Chad Christopher combined for 28 yards on the ground during the drive.

Any chance that North Forsyth (0-1) had to get back in the game occurred early in the fourth quarter. A third-down sack by North Forsyth senior defensive lineman Adam Vaughan forced Alpharetta to punt and the home Raiders found themselves in good position at the Alpharetta 47-yard line. Wasting no time and working out of a shotgun formation, Chester hurled a 42-yard pass through the hands of two defenders and into the waiting arms of senior wide receiver Michael Norton. Three plays later, Chester found senior wide receiver Jacob Otwell in the end zone for a five-yard touchdown to make the score 17-10 with 9:00 remaining.

Alpharetta responded with a 10-play, 66-yard drive capped off by a Robinson keeper from one yard out to catapult the visiting Raiders to a 24-10 lead with 5:31 remaining. A critical 26-yard pass from Robinson to Williams on third and 25 kept the drive alive. Great protection from the Alpharetta offensive line gave Robinson plenty of time to find Williams down the left side of the field for the crucial conversion to the North Forsyth 16-yard line. Robinson snuck into the end zone three plays later and subsequently took an intentional safety on the next possession to account for the final score.

The Alpharetta defense buckled down and forced North Forsyth into a punt and an interception on its final two possessions to effectively end the game. Alpharetta senior Donte Blair picked off Chester in the final minute to seal the victory.

Despite the triumph, Waters told his players that it was an ugly victory and they needed to be critical of themselves and improve upon some inconsistencies that are common for the first game of a new season.

“Not a chance,” Waters said when asked if his team accomplished what it set out to do. “We wanted to win the game, yeah, but we’ve got some work to do. Offense, defense, kicking game, we’ve got to get better.”

Still, credit was given to the host school for taking an early lead and keeping it close.

“They were ready to play and kept us at bay for the most part in the first half,” Waters said. “In the second half we got two big plays and that helps.”

North Forsyth coach Jared Zito thought that his team played well and, minus a handful of plays, battled toe-to-toe with Alpharetta.

“Although I am not happy with a loss, I am very proud of our players for playing with great effort, attitude and energy all night,” Zito relayed via email Saturday morning. “I felt like they played together as a team and we really competed and played to win which is something that they did not do a good job of last year. We will continue to work hard and get better starting first thing Monday morning.”

	1	2	3	4	T
Alpharetta	0	14	3	7	24
North Forsyth	3	0	0	9	12

Rushing
Name	School	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD
Christopher	Alpharetta	19	72	3.8	0
Whitfield	Alpharetta	5	20	4.0	0
Stanley	Alpharetta	3	5	1.7	0
Sands	Alpharetta	2	5	2.5	0
Robinson	Alpharetta	6	-20	-3.3	1
Chester	North Forsyth	9	36	4.0	0
Martin	North Forsyth	11	19	1.7	0
Walsh	North Forsyth	2	16	8.0	0

Receiving
Name	School	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
Gray	Alpharetta	3	62	20.7	0
Williams	Alpharetta	2	46	23.0	1
Stanley	Alpharetta	1	36	36.0	1
Bennett	Alpharetta	4	32	8.0	0
Cox	Alpharetta	2	23	11.5	0
Norton	North Forsyth	5	78	15.6	0
Otwell	North Forsyth	2	21	10.5	1
Martin	North Forsyth	1	19	19.0	0
Walsh	North Forsyth	1	16	16.0	0
Totten	North Forsyth	1	12	12.0	1

Passing
Name	School	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Robinson	Alpharetta	11/22	199	9.0	2	0
Chester	North Forsyth	10/28	146	5.2	1	3

Alpharetta		North Forsyth
22	Pass ATT	28
11	Pass COMP	10
0	INT	3
199	Pass YDS	146
82	Rush YDS	71
281	Total YDS	217
13	First Downs	13
1-1	Fumbles-Lost	0-0
7-65	Penalties-Yards	5-35