Georgia HS Football Thread 2009 edition

[JonInMiddleGA]

Can you believe it's that time already?

I'm leaving in a few minutes for the pre-season scrimmage between Athens Academy & what should be an improved Oglethorpe County team that has upgraded their head coaching position.

I'll hook up the pre-season polls later this weekend but things officially get underway tomorrow night for 8 teams at the Georgia Dome with the annual Corky Kell Kickoff Classic.

Etowah (#9 in Class AAAAA) vs Starr's Mill (unranked AAAA)
Brookwood (unranked in AAAAA) vs McEachern (unranked AAAAA)
Camden County (#4 in AAAAA) vs Grayson (#2 in AAAAA)
Norcross (unranked AAAAA) vs Walton (unranked AAAAA)

Also tomorrow night down in south Georgia it's Bainbridge (unranked AAAA) visiting the Cairo Syrupmakers (#5 in AAA). In a nice note, last year's game in Bainbridge was cancelled due to Tropical Storm Faye so Cairo is giving their opponent a 50-50 split of the gate tomorrow night to help them make up for having only 4 home gates last year.

Incidentally, Tucker is at Stephenson for a scrimmage tonight. Stephenson (alma mater of {gulp} Reggie Ball) will get national exposure later this year as they host M.L. King on ESPNU October 16th.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Looks like silly season is starting early this year with one coach already fired & an administrator suspended.

McNair fires head coach Roderick Moore two days before their season opener against Stephenson. Moore, who was 26-18 in four seasons at McNair, told GHSF Daily that Davis met with him Monday and expressed concern over a team meal and the choice of music played at a scrimmage against Carver of Atlanta on Saturday at Panthersville Stadium.

Instead of having the meal at the stadium, the booster club had the cookout on school grounds because transportation to the stadium was delayed. Davis asked Moore on Monday why he wasn't notified and told him Moore job was in jeopardy.

Meanwhile, in the county next door to me, the principal at North Oconee HS has been placed on leave (presumably until dismissal procedures can be completed) after comments about the disparity in facilities between the counties two schools. John Osborne told reporters that he had instructed coaches not to schedule games against their (larger & older) in-county rival Oconee County until they had facilities that would at least let them compete somewhat equally. For example, Oconee has two weight rooms, North Oconee doesn't have one at all. Apparently not being willing to give the more established school easy wins in major sports on an annual basis didn't go over with some of the higher ups. Over 300 parents met last night to demand answers & to try to save his job since they've done well under his tenure academically since opening a few years ago.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Also some Thursday night action as Newnan beat LaGrange 26-15 on the road with a backup QB playing well & their defense holding the Grangers to just two first downs all night. Kentucky commitment Joe Mansour hit a 57 yd FG for LaGrange, the 7th longest in state history.

Tonight I'll be at Slaughter Field as Athens Academy hosts Southwest Atlanta Christian in what should be a glorified scrimmage against a second-year program. But we didn't look very good last week in the actual scrimmage against rebuilding Oglethorpe County so who knows. The game should be available via webcast tonight at 404 Not Found

Fair warning, due to time constraints for the students, I've been able to do very little in terms of helping them out with the webcast so far, so good or bad I get no credit or blame for whatever it looks like (it's usually decent as long as there are no tech issues). Incidentally, the entire production is student run with no adult on-air or technical work beyond facilitation. Considering most of the crew are sophomore or less (the pbp guy is 14), it's actually pretty remarkable they get on the air at all.

Also tonight that I'm aware of, in addition to a variety of local radio broadcasts that might be online, the Centennial-Northview game will be Webcasted tonight both live and On Demand in the first of 14 games around the state that Georgia Public Broadcasting/Score Atlanta will produce in their "Road To The Dome" schedule. This game, sponsored by the U.S. Army, can be watched live and On Demand at GPB.org/football. And St. Pius-Marist is the HS Game of the Week for 790 The Zone. You can listen to the game live on 790thezone.com.

The Top 10's
Class AAAAA

1. Lowndes (0-0)
Next: Friday vs. Woodland, Stockbridge
2. Grayson (1-0)
Next: Sept. 4 vs. Warner Robins
3. Peachtree Ridge (0-0)
Next: Friday at Harrison
4. Camden County (0-1)
Next: Sept. 4 vs. First Coast (Fla.)
5. Stephenson (0-0)
Next: Saturday vs. McNair (Hallford)
6. North Gwinnett (0-0)
Next: Saturday vs. Prattville (Ala.)
7. Northside, Warner Robins (0-0)
Next: Thursday vs. Perry
8. M.L. King (0-0)
Next: Friday vs. S.W. DeKalb (Hallford)
9. Etowah (1-0)
Next: Sept. 4 at McEachern
10. Newnan (1-0)
Next: beat LaGrange 26-15 Thursday night

Class AAAA
1. Southwest DeKalb (0-0)
Next: Friday vs. M.L. King
2. Tucker (0-0)
Next: Saturday at Brunswick
3. Rome (0-0)
Next: Friday vs. East Paulding
4. Marist (0-0)
Next: Friday vs. St. Pius
5. Sandy Creek (0-0)
Next: Friday at East Coweta
6. Griffin (0-0)
Next: Friday vs. Dunwoody
7. Westside, Macon (0-0)
Next: Friday vs. Central, Macon
8. Statesboro (0-0)
Next: Friday vs. Josey
9. Sequoyah (0-0)
Next: Friday vs. Cherokee
10. Loganville (0-0)
Next: Friday at Clarke Central

Class AAA
1. Carver, Columbus (0-0)
Next: Friday at Spencer (Columbus Memorial)
2. Gainesville (0-0)
Next: Friday vs. Chestatee
3. Flowery Branch (0-0)
Next: Friday vs. Stephens County
4. LaGrange (0-0)
Result: lost 26-15 at home vs Newnan on Thursday
5. Baldwin (0-0)
Next: Friday at Glenn Hills
6. Peach County (0-0)
Next: Friday vs. Macon County
7. Carrollton (0-0)
Next: Friday vs. Westminster
8. Cairo (0-1)
Next: Sept. 4 vs. Thomas County Central
9. Washington County (0-0)
Next: Friday at Cross Creek
10. Jackson (0-0)
Next: Friday vs. Therrell

Class AA
1. Buford (1-0)
Next: Sept. 4 at North Hall
2. Calhoun (0-0)
Next: Friday vs. Dalton
3. Thomasville (0-0)
Next: Friday at Thomas County Central
4. Fitzgerald (0-0)
Next: Friday at Irwin County
5. Jefferson County 0-0)
Next: Friday vs. Laney
6. Pepperell (0-0)
Next: Friday at Paulding County
7. Lovett (0-0)
Next: Friday at Woodward Academy
8. Callaway (0-0)
Next: Friday vs. Troup
9. Brooks County (0-0)
Next: Sept. 4 at Tift County
10. Jefferson (0-0)
Next: Friday vs. Commerce

Class A
1. Wesleyan (0-0)
Next: Friday at Clarkston (North DeKalb)
2. Wilcox County (0-0)
Next: Friday vs. Seminole County
3. Clinch County (0-0)
Next: Friday at Charlton County
4. Lincoln County (0-0)
Next: Friday at Greene County
5. Wilkinson County (0-0)
Next: Friday at Twiggs County
6. Emanuel County Institute (0-0)
Next: Friday at Savannah Country Day
7. Brookstone (0-0)
Next: Friday vs. Landmark Christian
8. Savannah Christian (0-0)
Next: Friday at Montgomery County
9. Turner County (0-0)
Next: Friday at Worth County
10. Bremen (0-0)
Next: Friday at Alexander

[Alan T]

A few days late on this, but how did McEachern do in the dome? I went to Lassiter, but usually follow McEachern as well (my mother was a teacher there in the early 1980s. She later taught in Woodstock until she eventually moved up here to be near my family).

[JonInMiddleGA]

McEachern rolled past Brookwood 42-32, with 413 yds of total offense (209 run, 204 pass). The game wasn't as close as the final score, as B'wood scored 12 points in the final 90 seconds to narrow the margin.

[Alan T]

Thanks!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Thanks!

No problem. I figure they'll be considerably better than they were last year but maybe not back to their high water mark either. Seems like they're finally getting comfortable with the shift to the more balanced "Pistol" offense after the years of the Wing-T and it's showing.

Hard to judge from one game for sure, as Brookwood appears to be down quite a bit versus the last decade or so.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Slow start for Athens Academy against second-year football program Southwest Atlanta Christian (alma mater of Dwight Howard), scoreless after the first before we finally got a little something going. Pulled away for a 37-14 win that wasn't really that close in the end.

Webcast (best I could tell from the inside) was fair, several problems both technical & personnel really held it back tonight. I spent most of the night spotting for our 14 y/o pbp guy, trying to help keep the first time stat keeper somewhere around reality, and trying to keep the first time scoreboard operator from leaping out of the booth head first whenever he had problems getting down & distance right.

My back is killing me, been quite a while since I stood up for 4 quarters plus an hour pre-game.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Friday Night scores (that I can find) August 28

Butler beat Hepzhibah 31-0 to end the state's longest active losing streak at 31 games. Cross Keys assumes the dubious distinction at 29 and counting with their 28-0 loss at North Springs.

The Top 10's
Class AAAAA

1. Lowndes (0-0)
Won vs Woodland (Stockbridge) 61-7
2. Grayson (1-0)
Next: Sept. 4 vs. Warner Robins
3. Peachtree Ridge (0-0)
Won at Harrison on the road 35-13
4. Camden County (0-1)
Next: Sept. 4 vs. First Coast (Fla.)
5. Stephenson (0-0)
Next: Saturday vs. McNair (Hallford)
6. North Gwinnett (0-0)
Next: Saturday vs. Prattville (Ala.)
7. Northside, Warner Robins (0-0)
Won vs Perry 42-14 Thursday night
8. M.L. King (0-0)
Won vs SW DeKalb (#1 in AAAA) 13-9
9. Etowah (1-0)
Next: Sept. 4 at McEachern
10. Newnan (1-0)
Won vs LaGrange 26-15 Thursday night

Class AAAA
1. Southwest DeKalb (0-0)
Lost to M.L. King (#8 AAAAA) 13-9 SWD starting QB played only one snap before an ankle injury
2. Tucker (0-0)
Next: Saturday at Brunswick
3. Rome (0-0)
Lost vs East Paulding 25-22
4. Marist (0-0)
Lost vs St. Pius 28-3 1st win at Marist for St. Pius in 35 years
5. Sandy Creek (0-0)
Lost vs East Coweta 28-27 (2OT, blkd PAT)
6. Griffin (0-0)
Won vs Dunwoody 27-0
7. Westside, Macon (0-0)
Won vs Central, Macon 34-0
8. Statesboro (0-0)
Won vs. Josey 31-6
9. Sequoyah (0-0)
Won vs. Cherokee 33-7
10. Loganville (0-0)
Lost at at Clarke Central 20-15

Class AAA
1. Carver, Columbus (0-0)
Won at Spencer 34-6
2. Gainesville (0-0)
Won vs. Chestatee 34-0
3. Flowery Branch (0-0)
Won vs. Stephens County 38-8
4. LaGrange (0-0)
Lost vs Newnan (#10 AAAAA) 26-15 on Thursday
5. Baldwin (0-0)
Won at Glenn Hills 33-12
6. Peach County (0-0)
Won vs. Macon County 41-20
7. Carrollton (0-0)
Won vs. Westminster 9-7
8. Cairo (0-1)
Next: Sept. 4 vs. Thomas County Central
9. Washington County (0-0)
Won at Cross Creek 47-15
10. Jackson (0-0)
Won vs. Therrell 37-7

Class AA
1. Buford (1-0)
Next: Sept. 4 at North Hall
2. Calhoun (0-0)
Won vs. Dalton 31-28
3. Thomasville (0-0)
Won at Thomas County Central 13-9
4. Fitzgerald (0-0)
Won at Irwin County 48-0
5. Jefferson County 0-0)
Won vs. Laney 28-20
6. Pepperell (0-0)
Won at Paulding County 27-7
7. Lovett (0-0)
Won at Woodward Academy 23-13
8. Callaway (0-0)
Lost vs. Troup 13-10
9. Brooks County (0-0)
Next: Sept. 4 at Tift County
10. Jefferson (0-0)
Won vs. Commerce 30-13

Class A
1. Wesleyan (0-0)
Won at Clarkston 48-0
2. Wilcox County (0-0)
Won vs. Seminole County 33-20
3. Clinch County (0-0)
Lost at Charlton County 38-0
4. Lincoln County (0-0)
Won at Greene County 14-7
5. Wilkinson County (0-0)
Won at Twiggs County 16-6
6. Emanuel County Institute (0-0)
Won at Savannah Country Day 14-10
7. Brookstone (0-0)
Won vs. Landmark Christian 31-17
8. Savannah Christian (0-0)
Won at Montgomery County 34-0
9. Turner County (0-0)
Lost at Worth County 39-0 (unranked AAA)
10. Bremen (0-0)
Lost at Alexander (unranked AAAA) 28-0

[JonInMiddleGA]

Tucker has apparently survived in overtime at Brunswick, 27-20.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Currently watching Athens Academy at Whitefield Academy (top 20-30 caliber smallest classification teams streaming from a link at
Media & Technology Club

Elsewhere St. Pius X vs Greater Atlanta Christian is on
GPB.org/football

[JonInMiddleGA]

And my erstwhile webcast crew makes it halftime on the road (first game away from home for about half the group).

9-7 Spartans at the half thanks to a FG as time expired.

Neat (and nicely done) halftime show rolling now, detailing a recent student trip to India to help in a tsunami stricken area.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Lost it 21-15 when Whitefield struck for a 48 yd TD pass on 4th & 8 with 1:15 left. They pick off a desperation pass with about 30 secs left & run out the clock.

I gotta give our young webcast crew a hand, not really thrown off by several technical glitches & if anybody watched any of the game, the camera person was doing her first actual game ever (previous exp consisted of 1 scrimmage). They aren't where they can be, but they're going to get there if we can get the right people in the right places, the whole production could catch up to our young voice.

Among the usual suspects action tonight, AAAA #1 Tucker leads Lakeside-Dekalb 60-7 in the 3rd quarter, AAAAA #1 Grayson has beaten Warner Robins 10-0 and AAAAA #2 Lowndes Co led #3 Peachtree Ridge 24-3 at halftime.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

AAAA #1 Tucker leads Lakeside-Dekalb 60-7 in the 3rd quarter

The sad thing is that LHS has talent. It's a situation of poor coaching and, because the team has stunk for so many years now, poor community support. It was barely over a decade ago that LHS was a state power.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Gonna be a heck of a battle with Tucker & St Pius down the road if both stay on track. Pius clobbered GAC tonight 56-7.

For Alan T -- Lassiter & Pope are tied at 25 in overtime & McEachern is 35-10 over #10 Etowah in the 4th, big win for them.
EDIT: Lassiter wins in OT 32-31.

And for those who haven't found them yet but are interested, best scoreboard for the state these days seems to be at Score Atlanta - Your Source for Sports in the ATL » Scoreboard
And the email Georgia High School Football Daily Newsletter is a good read in your in box, subscribe at http://visitor.constantcontact.com/m...emrjP_Pg%3D%3D

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Gonna be a heck of a battle with Tucker & St Pius down the road if both stay on track. Pius clobbered GAC tonight 56-7.

For Alan T -- Lassiter & Pope are tied at 25 in overtime & McEachern is 35-10 over #10 Etowah in the 4th, big win for them.

And for those who haven't found them yet but are interested, best scoreboard for the state these days seems to be at Score Atlanta - Your Source for Sports in the ATL » Scoreboard
And the email Georgia High School Football Daily Newsletter is a good read in your in box, subscribe at http://visitor.constantcontact.com/m...emrjP_Pg%3D%3D

Thanks! Go Lassiter!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Week 2 Top 10 Results (GACA Coaches/GA Prep Country Poll)
Note this poll had several differences from the AP/Writers Poll)

AAAAA
#1 Grayson(8-AAAAA) beat Warner Robins 10-0
#2 Lowndes(1-AAAAA) beat #3 Peachtree Ridge 51-17
#3 Peachtree Ridge(7-AAAAA) lost to #2 Lowndes 51-17
#4 North Gwinnett(7-AAAAA) beat Brookwood 41-13
#5 Northside, Warner Robins(1-AAAAA) was off
#6 Newnan(4-AAAAA) beat Chapel Hill 41-0
#7 Stephenson(2-AAAAA) beat Columbia 68-0
#8 M.L. King(2-AAAAA) beat North Cobb 49-12 on Thursday
#9 Camden County(3-AAAAA) beat First Coast, FL 30-24
#10 Etowah(5-AAAAA) lost to McEachern 49-10

AAAA
#1 Tucker(6-AAAA) beat #10 Lakeside-Dekalb 60-27
#2 Southwest DeKalb(6-AAAA) beat Miller Grove 21-7
#3 Statesboro(2-AAAA) beat Groves 44-0
#4 Westside, Macon(1-AAAA) beat Forest Park 54-0
#5 Sequoyah(7A-AAAA) lost to Creekview 14-7
#6 Rome(7A-AAAA) lost to Hillgrove 14-3
#7 Griffin(4-AAAA) beat Spalding 42-10
#8 North Clayton(4-AAAA) plays Banneker tonight
#9 Ware County(2-AAAA) lost to Burke Co 19-14
#10 Lakeside, DeKalb(6-AAAA) lost to #1 Tucker 60-27

AAA
#1 Carver, Columbus(2-AAA) beat Tri-Cities 39-13 on Thursday
#2 Flowery Branch(7B-AAA) beat Lumpkin Co 35-7
#3 Gainesville(7B-AAA) beat Franklin Co 41-0
#4 Baldwin(3-AAA) beat Troup Co 20-13
#5 Peach County(1-AAA) beat Rutland 31-13
#6 Carrollton(6B-AAA) beat Douglas Co 31-7
#7 Washington County(3-AAA) beat Greene Co 13-0
#8 Cairo(1-AAA) lost to Thomas Co Central 14-3
#9 St Pius X(5B-AAA) beat Greater Atlanta Christian 56-7
#10 Ridgeland(6A-AAA) lost to #2 AA Calhoun 35-7

AA
#1 Buford(6-AA) beat North Hall 35-7
#2 Calhoun(7B-AA) beat #10 AAA Ridgeland 35-7
#3 Thomasville(1-AA) lost to AAAAA Colquitt County 35-19
#4 Fitzgerald(1-AA) beat Hawkinsville 63-0
#5 Jefferson County(3-AA) beat Dodge Co 42-7
#6 Lovett(6-AA) beat #6 Callaway 56-28
#7 Pepperell(7A-AA) beat Cedartown 45-13
#8 Brooks County(1-AA) beat AAAAA Tift Co 27-7
#9 Callaway(5-AA) lost to #6 Lovett 56-28
#10 Dublin(3-AA) was off

A
#1 Wesleyan(8-A) beat Darlington 35-0
#2 Wilcox County(2-A) beat Perry 34-13
#3 Lincoln County(7-A) beat McCormick, SC 28-6
#4 Wilkinson County(7-A) beat Bacon Co 40-2
#5 Brookstone(4-A) lost to Chattahoochee Co 42-20
#6 Emanuel County Institute(3B-A) lost to #7 Sav. Christian 34-0
#7 Savannah Christian(3A-A) beat #6 ECI 34-0
#8 Bowdon(6-A) beat Haralson Co 35-15
#9 Miller County(1B-A) lost to AA Early Co 34-6
#10 Johnson County(3B-A) beat Calvary Day 27-7

[JonInMiddleGA]

My son asked me an interesting question a few minutes ago & with a little Googling I found the answer and thought it might be of some interest in this thread.

He wanted to know how much football referees were paid for HS games.
The answer is $90 per man (6-man crew) for varsity & 1/2 fee for clock operator and chain crew members. It's $53 per man for JV.

Here's the fee schedule for all sports, from football to JV lacrosse.
http://www.ghsa.net/files/documents/...ee%20Chart.pdf

[JonInMiddleGA]

Week 3 stuff

Just got home from Mayretta a few minutes ago, on the road to help with a webcast that never got off the ground. Insufficient servers available on site to handle the upload (or even simple web downloads for that matter) meant that the kids never got anything outbound after about 15 minutes prior to kickoff. Tough break as they're collectively putting at least 20 hours into preparation for the game & the pre/half elements as well as 4 guys on site tonight without much to do except be really frustrated (although they tried every trick their technical minds could come up with).

Meanwhile, on the field, we looked pretty weak last week in a loss & headed down to Cobb County to face The Walker School (2-0) who cracked the top 10 for the first time in school history in the latest poll. I guess you just never know, as we built a 28-0 lead by the third quarter and won 28-7 in spite of three fumbles in the second half.

Go figure, all of a sudden our kids blocked, ran hard north & south, we could complete passes, we could tackle, we could pass defend, and we decided it might be fun to just generally knock the living hell out of anyone not wearing green. And did it for nearly all of four quarters before some fatigue crept in.
Off week next week (more about that later, 'cause the details are very unusual in my experience) and then back home against one of two biggest rivals Prince Avenue.

Elsewhere, you definitely never know for 100% sure what's going to happen as Lovett snaps Buford's 32 game winning streak 28-21 (streak also covered 49 regular season wins in row and 58 straight region wins across two classifications, last losing to a region opponent in 2000).

Tucker rolled Lithonia 32-7, St. Pius bombed Oconee County 49-0, and AAAAA #6 Northside-Warner Robins beat AAA #1 Carver-Columbus 21-12 in what sounds like a darned good game.

I can't confirm a McEachern final, I've seen/heard a 37-31 final in OT but one version says McEachern won, another say Woodstock won so until the longer stories post around the newspapers I have no idea which is correct.

[Alan T]

Wow.. The Walker School has a football team?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Yep, in it's 9th season I believe I was told. Not much history of success so far, so being ranked was really a big deal to them. The headline on the Marietta Daily Journal story this morning really sums it up: "REALITY CHECK".

Also last night, Lassiter beat Kell 28-17 and it was McEachern rallying with 21 unanswered points to beat Woodstock in OT 37-31

[JonInMiddleGA]

Okay, so week 5 is in the books.

Athens Academy wins at home 35-7 over Prince Avenue, after trailing 7-0 very early when PA gets a 71 yd run off tackle for a quick score. Was 14-7 at the half but should have been more if not for two turnovers & we just steadily took over from there. We'll head up the road to Commerce next week, getting the Tigers after they let one slip away against Lincoln Co.

There'll be a new #1 in AAAA this week (most likely Griffin), as top ranked Tucker ran into a Marist buzzsaw & lost 32-7. Marist rushed for 376 yards and Tucker never found an answer to their big plays, giving up scoring runs of 38,52, and 81 yards and a 48 yd TD pass. Interesting bit of trivia dug up by an AJC writer this week, pointing out that Marist & Tucker are the only region rivals (i.e. two teams same region) to both have more than 100 wins this decade. Northside-Warner Robins came into tonight with 111 & Lowndes had an even 100 which technically isn't more than 100 ... or wasn't until Lowndes bombed Tift County 50-0. Basically it was trivia with a one week expiration date.

So #1 AAAAA Lowndes wins big, #1 AAAA Tucker loses big, #1 AAA Gainesville beats county rival West Hall 56-0, #1 AA Calhoun beat up Coosa 47-16, and #1 A Wesleyan blanks Lakeview Academy 45-0 for their

#2 in AA Fitzgerald (5-0) finally gets scored on but rolls over Mitchell Co. 54-12, retaining their spot as the highest scoring offense in the state (came in averaging 53 ppg). Lakeside-Evans (4-0) also got scored on for the first time but wins 42-7 over Harlem. That makes the aforementioned Wesleyan the best scoring defense in the state having allowed just 2 points in 5 games.

[JonInMiddleGA]

If you heard a sound from the general direction of northeast Georgia Friday night, that was probably just Commerce handing Athens Academy their ass.
28-7 but it was nowhere near that close, as the Tigers ran roughshod over our Spartans. More specifically Deon Brock ran wild, unofficially 261 yards rushing and 43 more receiving with 4 TD's, including a 96 yd TD run that was one shy of the school record. We didn't help with 4 turnovers but even a spotless game wouldn't have slowed him down, just a great performance from a darned good HS running back that we could neither catch nor tackle.
edit to add: This photo from the Athens Banner-Herald kind of sums up a lot of the night as Clark runs through another batch of would be tacklers.


Elsewhere, Class A #1 Wesleyan romped over Social Circle 52-6, giving up a long TD run on the final play of the game for the first points they've given up all season ... Class AA #1 Calhoun rolled over Gordon Central 56-14 ... Class AAA #1 Gainesville shut out West Forsyth 34-0 ... Class AAAA #1 Griffin was off, #2 Westside-Macon rolled Lee County 56-22, while #3 SW DeKalb, #7 Marist, and #8 Tucker were all off as well ... Class AAAAA #1 Lowndes County is unbeaten no more, upset by #4 Northside-Warner Robins 10-7 while #2 Grayson blanked Shiloh 32-0 and #3 North Gwinnett was off, so no idea who'll be number one next week.

Other teams that catch some interest here included AAAAA #6 McEachern (6-0) beating Marietta (2-4) 42-28, Valdosta (4-1) losing 14-7 at Colquitt County, and my old alma mater Pickens getting embarassed at homecoming by their arch rival Gilmer, was 24-0 with 2 minutes left and I presume it ended that way.

edit to add: Another notable loser tonight was Class AA #3 Lovett, who got knocked off by Westminster just a couple of weeks removed from their own stunner over Buford.

second edit: adjusted Brock's stats (I think we failed to remove a couple of plays that were called back on penalties)

[Alan T]

A Marietta loss is always good news.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Yes, I've been remiss.

Several big games around the state tonight, including Marist vs SW DeKalb.

Meanwhile Athens Academy gets about as big a test as possible: at #1 Wesleyan, defending Class A state champ & owner of a 20 game winning streak.

Worst possible scenario just about for our Spartans, as they get Wesleyan on Senior Night, coming off their worst performance of the year (a 28-3 win over Commerce), so they'll probably be in the mood to show that being down by 3 at the half last week was an aberration & try to clinch the region title early. Meanwhile AA would pretty much have to play a perfect game to have a chance at an upset, in a season where they really haven't put together four solid quarters in a single night much less sniffed perfection. This could get ugly, as Wesleyan is about a fast on defense as you'll ever see on this level & against an offense that has gone in fits & starts could really control the game for 4 quarters. BUT they don't play 'em on paper, so we'll see what happens.

Starting with pre-game coverage around 7pm, you should be able to watch live at
Athens Academy 09-05-08

[JonInMiddleGA]

31-0 loss to Wesleyan in sporadic downpours, pretty much as ugly as it sounds. Two dropped punt snaps in the first quarter led to easy scores for the Wolves, who aren't exactly a team who needed the help & couldn't help but score on passes from our 19 & 22 yard line. It was just more yuck from there.

#7 Tucker beats Stone Mountain 7-0 in spite of five fumbles, that clinches a playoff spot for the Tigers ... Class AAAA #3 SW DeKalb beat #5 Marist 21-7 behind 22 carries for 182 yds & 1 TD from Georgia commitment Ken Malcome ... Lassiter goes to 8-0 with a 42-28 win at Walton. Another big night for QB Hutson Mason, 24/40 for 347 & 5 TD's, just one week after his state record 545 yd performance in a 56-32 win over Milton ... Class AAAAA #1 Grayson (9-0) beat Meadowcreek (0-8) 56-0 ... Class AAAA #1 Griffin (8-0) beat Jonesboro (2-6) 51-0 ... Class AAA #1 Gainesville (8-0) beat Gilmer (4-4) 36-7 ... Class AA #1 Calhoun (8-0) beat Dade Co. (5-3) 41-7 ...

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Lassiter goes to 8-0 with a 42-28 win at Walton.

Woo hoo!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Well this could be an interesting Friday night for me personally. While Athens Academy at Lakeview Academy may not look like a great game on paper, my interest could be heightened considerably if, as I learned tonight is quite possible, I'm pressed into service to do my first p-b-p in several years.

A combination of scheduling conflicts has left the available student pool almost non-existent and while the goal is a 100% student production, if you don't have the bodies ... well, as the guy in charge put it "the show must go on" or at least it ought to since this has gotten pretty popular with out of town family members (including a really cool msg this week from a dad who was in China on business last week but watched the first half of his son's game before his meeting).

Still very much up in the air as to how things will shake out but to be honest, I'm kind of hoping it turns out that I'm needed on air for one night. I have to admit it'd be a kick to do one again in a nostalgic sort of way. My biggest fear is probably that my eyes simply aren't up to it like they used to be & I don't know how well I'll adjust to that.

edit to add: I should also mention that my 11 y/o may end up making his webcast debut as well in some form or fashion TBD. The crew may be down as low as zero available experienced camera people, which could put him on either the coach's main camera (due to his MS filming experience) aka "Camera One" or possibly Camera Two which is the a tighter shot for webcast use only. Interesting to hear him hoping to be on Two because it seems a lot easier to him, which I thought was odd since (in my head) the wider shot is much easier since you don't have to follow the ball as well, but to him staying wide is sort of counter intuitive which just struck me as being an unusual take on it. If he's not behind a camera, there's a chance he could end up making his on-air debut as well since I won't be able to troll the net for out of town scores but he might. If he does, and I'm on-air myself, I'll probably try to finagle him delivering some of those scores himself.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Oh goodie, let me add to the potential fun, which might border on hilarity in a worst case scenario: Apparently Lakeview runs some sort of triple option offense (not sure which style yet). So now not only am I worried about picking up the ball but they'll be actively trying to disguise it from everyone, me included. Lovely, just lovely

It's hell getting old.

[Ben E Lou]

hehehehhehe

link to listen pls k thx

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

hehehehhehe

Yeah, figured somebody would think this was funny

link to listen pls k thx

Should be able to go directly to it at
Athens Academy 09-05-08

That's a permanent link to their live stream, blank when there's nothing & active around 7pm on Fridays (give or take a few minutes, pre-game sometimes starts as late as 715, depends on the content the kids generate for the week & whatever technical gremlins they encounter on site)

I figure what will happen is that I'll prepare for the game, go through my usual routine & everything and then at some point something will put the kibosh on it: technical problem, administrative decision (as there'll probably be some controversy over using an adult on the air), scheduling issues somehow clear themselves up, whatever. But I'll try to be a big boy about it if that happens.

The whole situation really gets into a teaching opportunity for the faculty advisor. One of the biggest lessons some of the students need to pick up right now seems to be the notion that the world doesn't revolve around them every minute of every day. There was a pretty strong undercurrent of "see how screwed the webcast/class/club/school is if WE aren't around to be wonderful? Heh heh heh" and it sounds as though the reality of us old guys being capable of running the tech side, the cameras, and the on-air hit without missing too much of a beat hit some of them like an ice cold bucket of water. Somewhere between a reality check and "oh shit, I think we overplayed this hand" is my impression of the reaction so far, I'll hear more today after their class and tomorrow after their club meeting.

They really are a good group of kids, especially the younger ones, and they've got all the potential in the world. But some of them have only a fleeting relationship with perspective and even less understanding of the differences between divine right, opportunity, and responsibility. That's been the big challenge to deal with all season really and it's definitely been a learning experience for me too, since virtually everything in my toolbox to deal with those issues really isn't appropriate for my role nor for impressionable minds (although I personally think a full dose of Jon might be the best thing in the world for several of them, better now than down the road, because they're going to bring that upon themselves from someone at some point unless they have several epiphanies).

I'll update the status again between now & Friday, so keep watching this space.

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

(although I personally think a full dose of Jon might be the best thing in the world for several of them, better now than down the road, because they're going to bring that upon themselves from someone at some point unless they have several epiphanies)

I think that would give Chuck Norris pause...but only briefly and barely perceptable.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I figure what will happen is that I'll prepare for the game, go through my usual routine & everything and then at some point something will put the kibosh on it: technical problem, administrative decision (as there'll probably be some controversy over using an adult on the air), scheduling issues somehow clear themselves up, whatever. But I'll try to be a big boy about it if that happens.

Just call me Nostrjonmus

Got an email this afternoon, apparently the regular pbp student has experienced some sort of schedule change and will be attending this Friday's game after all.

But now he wants to know if I'll work it on-air with him. Dunno about that yet, gotta talk to their actual boss the faculty advisor & see what he prefers about that.

It would actually be a good learning situation for him, as I discovered a couple of weeks ago that he's (the regular pbp) never worked with anyone on-air before until then & what he had in that case were a couple of female students who are the first to admit they know zero football & were left with nothing more than stats to contribute every few plays. At some point either this year or next we've got to find someone younger to put on the air with him, as the search for his eventual replacement from the students really starts now, as he's only got two more years left after this. Working smoothly with a second voice is something that you either have naturally through a relationship with that person (kind of rare out in the wild) or through learning how to integrate them into the flow comfortably (pretty much a must if they've got zero experience on air).

I'll update again later once I know if I'm on at all just in case but figured I'd go ahead & drop this in for now. And I suspect that now the regular camera kid will attend as well (since he won't be the only guy on the bus with the cheerleaders) and that would leave my son on the outside of the production as well.

[JonInMiddleGA]

My bad, the regular pbp guy has three more years after this one (I forget that he's just a freshman amidst the mostly sophomore group). But after further conversations today, it appears that I WILL have an on-air role tomorrow night after all.

TPTB decided to take advantage of the opportunity for a more hands-on teaching approach, so as of tonight the working plan is for both of us to work in both pbp & color. More like the arrangement you hear with some baseball radio crews, where they'll switch off at some point. That's largely to give him a chance to experience both being a second voice as well as having a second voice.

Fair warning, it may be pretty rough, first time together for any pairing is usually iffy stuff at best. But that's the latest scoop so I'm formally inviting & encouraging the FOFC to join us if you can.

This direct link should work fine
Athens Academy 09-05-08
but in case it doesn't, there'll be a prominently displayed link at (and I think the window has now been embedded directly into the page as well)
Webcast Homepage

[JonInMiddleGA]

An utterly miserable evening in the rain, might very well be the worst clusterfuck of an environment in terms of facilities that I've ever tried to broadcast from. We finally got on with a single camera & a single handheld mic somewhere around the end of Q1 or the start of Q2 (it all sort of runs together at this point). I did a couple of score updates myself just trying to give our pbp a break for a few seconds. We win 28-7 after giving up an early score. Probably sounded & looked better than it had any right to, dunno how the heck we even managed to get anything on the air frankly. Nothing like trying to run 300 ft of Cat 5 across a practice field in the rain.

Lassiter rallied from 2 TD's down to beat Centennial 42-35 to go to 9-0.
SW DeKalb blanked Tucker 26-0 to claim the region title there.
Warner Robins (6-2) shocks Northside-WR (8-1) 21-20

[Big Six]

I just discovered this thread, and I was absolutely pumped to learn that it was largely dedicated to the fortunes of the Athens Academy Spartans!

I lived in Athens for three years in the late 1980s, and was an assistant track and field coach for the Spartans. I watched a lot of Athens Academy football and basketball because many of my athletes played those sports, too.

My connection to Georgia high school football goes even farther back than that. I grew up in Dalton, home of the Catamounts. My father taught and coached at Dalton High; he coached varsity girls' basketball and varsity baseball, and he was an assistant football coach (today we'd call hiim the offensive coordinator). I played for DHS in the late 70s.

Now I live in Virginia, and I'm teaching history and coaching, too. I'm the public address announcer for our home football games, and I'm the statistician for away games. When my wife and I were dating, I promised her I wouldn't coach football, and my involvement with the football program is our compromise.

Anyway, thanks for a fun read.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Big Six

I lived in Athens for three years in the late 1980s, and was an assistant track and field coach for the Spartans. I watched a lot of Athens Academy football and basketball because many of my athletes played those sports, too.

I went to Brookstone, graduated in '87. I was at the Brookstone-AA games at your place in '85 and '87, and was the PA announcer in '86, and maybe in '84 as well. (I took over the job during the '84 season...not exactly sure which game.) I *think* the last game of the series was in '87. Things became imbalanced when we had several D1 kids playing for us. If I recall, the last game was a 46-0 Brookstone win. It got to where it wasn't worth it for either team to drive a long way every year for a mismatch.

[Big Six]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

I went to Brookstone, graduated in '87. I was at the Brookstone-AA games at your place in '85 and '87, and was the PA announcer in '86, and maybe in '84 as well. (I took over the job during the '84 season...not exactly sure which game.) I *think* the last game of the series was in '87. Things became imbalanced when we had several D1 kids playing for us. If I recall, the last game was a 46-0 Brookstone win. It got to where it wasn't worth it for either team to drive a long way every year for a mismatch.

I remember those Brookstone teams. You had a running back that absolutely ran over our guys. I remember looking at the program and noticing his name, because I could tell he was going to be very, very good.

You already know who I'm talking about, don't you?

It was Mack Strong. I got the idea he was a class act, and I followed him at Georgia and in the NFL.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

I went to Brookstone, graduated in '87. I was at the Brookstone-AA games at your place in '85 and '87, and was the PA announcer in '86, and maybe in '84 as well. (I took over the job during the '84 season...not exactly sure which game.) I *think* the last game of the series was in '87. Things became imbalanced when we had several D1 kids playing for us. If I recall, the last game was a 46-0 Brookstone win. It got to where it wasn't worth it for either team to drive a long way every year for a mismatch.

Nicely done, it was '87 for their last regular season game and it was a 46-0 Brookstone win. The series lasted 11 years with a 5-5-1 mark between them, including 84-86 where AA won by 1 point, tied, and won again by 1 point before the thrashing.

The teams have played one time since, in the Class A quarterfinals in 2007 with the Spartans winning 14-13 en route to a Final Four appearance.

Can you tell that I love this website?
Georgia High School Football Historians Association. Recording the History of Georgia Football. GHSFHA.org

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Big Six

I remember those Brookstone teams. You had a running back that absolutely ran over our guys. I remember looking at the program and noticing his name, because I could tell he was going to be very, very good.

You already know who I'm talking about, don't you?

It was Mack Strong. I got the idea he was a class act, and I followed him at Georgia and in the NFL.

Mack and I lived in nearby neighborhoods, a good 10-12 miles from Brookstone. He's two grades behind me. He rode to school with me his freshman and sophomore years, and I took his sister (who went to another school) to homecoming once and the prom once. And yes, Mack was and is a class act.

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Nicely done, it was '87 for their last regular season game and it was a 46-0 Brookstone win. The series lasted 11 years with a 5-5-1 mark between them, including 84-86 where AA won by 1 point, tied, and won again by 1 point before the thrashing.

The teams have played one time since, in the Class A quarterfinals in 2007 with the Spartans winning 14-13 en route to a Final Four appearance.

Can you tell that I love this website?
Georgia High School Football Historians Association. Recording the History of Georgia Football. GHSFHA.org

The '87 season was the best in Brookstone history. I haven't watched the season video in 10ish years, but I wouldn't be shocked if I could list the games of that season in order with the correct score. Here's a try...

Week 1: Athens Academy, 46-0
Week 2: Crawford County, 49-6
Week 3: Central-Talbatton, 69-0
Week 4: Heard Co, 38-0
Week 5: Hogansville, 50-6
Week 6: Taylor County, 47-7
Week 7: Woodbury, 70-0
Week 8: Greenville, 7-14
Week 9: East Coweta, 58-18
Week 10: Pacelli: 21-20
Region Playoffs: Taylor County, 31-7
Region Championship: Greenville, 20-12
State Playoffs: East Rome, 31-7
North Georgia Championship, Palmetto, 24-20
State Championship, Lincoln County, 14-19

I'm pretty sure I got the scores right (maybe a point off for some of the opposition...extra points in blowouts), not certain about the order.

Now I gotta look 'em up.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Mack and I lived in nearby neighborhoods, a good 10-12 miles from Brookstone. He's two grades behind me. He rode to school with me his freshman and sophomore years, and I took his sister (who went to another school) to homecoming once and the prom once. And yes, Mack was and is a class act.
The '87 season was the best in Brookstone history. I haven't watched the season video in 10ish years, but I wouldn't be shocked if I could list the games of that season in order with the correct score. Here's a try...

Week 1: Athens Academy, 46-0
Week 2: Crawford County, 49-6
Week 3: Central-Talbatton, 69-0
Week 4: Heard Co, 38-0
Week 5: Hogansville, 50-6
Week 6: Taylor County, 47-7
Week 7: Woodbury, 70-0
Week 8: Greenville, 7-14
Week 9: East Coweta, 58-18
Week 10: Pacelli: 21-20
Region Playoffs: Taylor County, 31-7
Region Championship: Greenville, 20-12
State Playoffs: East Rome, 31-7
North Georgia Championship, Palmetto, 24-20
State Championship, Lincoln County, 14-19

I'm pretty sure I got the scores right (maybe a point off for some of the opposition...extra points in blowouts), not certain about the order.

Now I gotta look 'em up.

Just looked. I flip-flopped some games. SUE ME!

I reversed weeks 3 & 4, and 6&7. Missed the Taylor County playoff game by one point. They missed the extra point, apparently. It was 31-6.

And Jon, that site is teh AWESOME!!!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Impressive ... somewhat disturbing frankly, but impressive

Yeah, that site is pretty mindboggling considered the amount of work that it entails. There's still a few bugs in it, especially with some missing coaches & misspellings that caused the same coach to appear twice but to be as close as they are (and pretty much always with documentation to back it up as far as I can tell), it's off the charts.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Nicely done, it was '87 for their last regular season game and it was a 46-0 Brookstone win. The series lasted 11 years with a 5-5-1 mark between them, including 84-86 where AA won by 1 point, tied, and won again by 1 point before the thrashing.

The teams have played one time since, in the Class A quarterfinals in 2007 with the Spartans winning 14-13 en route to a Final Four appearance.

Can you tell that I love this website?
Georgia High School Football Historians Association. Recording the History of Georgia Football. GHSFHA.org

Great website!

Looked up my school's only winning season when I was there:

Georgia High School Football Historians Association. Recording the History of Georgia Football. GHSFHA.org

Had to win the last game of the season for a trip to the playoffs. We got shelled by Marietta 31-3, led by QB Eric Zeier which I am sure people have heard of.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Alan T

We got shelled by Marietta 31-3, led by QB Eric Zeier which I am sure people have heard of.

I did one game of his on radio, a 44-0 pounding of Cherokee by Marietta back in 1990.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Impressive ... somewhat disturbing frankly, but impressive

The video yearbook of that season has been watched so many times by me and many, many others, it's truly scary. Whenever anyone associated with that team gets together, quotes from it (usually yells from fans of the opposition during road games) dominate the conversation. If some of my old buddies saw this thread, they'd rag on me for remembering so poorly.

Oh, and I really, really, really miss the days when they played a Region Championship Game, and one rep from each Region went to state. The Region Championship was always the day after Thanksgiving, so everyone was home for it, and many people went, even if their school wasn't playing. It was like a Region Reunion, really. In college, you'd laugh and joke with guys from other schools who had been your bitter enemies just 2 or 3 years earlier. Brookstone-Greenville matched up for four straight Region Championship Games from '86 to '89, winning two each. I've often tried to imagine how much fun all those Tucker-Marist Region Championship games would have been in the 2000s if they hadn't changed the format.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Oh, and I really, really, really miss the days when they played a Region Championship Game, and one rep from each Region went to state.

At least we don't have the fouled up situation that they're dealing with in Tennessee right now. They went to some sort of all-classification geographical-based "region" format this year, then dealt with classification & playoff seeding only after the regular season was complete. The first release of the brackets was some six hours late and coaches didn't even know their opponents until late Saturday afternoon & could only then even start trying to arrange film swaps (incidentally I've been surprised to learn that it's apparently not unusual to do those swaps on late Friday night during the regular season now instead of early Saturday morning like it used to be, technology related I guess). Just a big time cluster in TN sounds like, which is pretty much what I expected as did a lot of people up there.
Details & grips in this article at
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/no...racket-busted/

[JonInMiddleGA]

Not sure whether I'll be on air at all tonight or not, but there's definitely playoff seeding on the line as Athens Academy hosts Social Circle. Winner is the #3 seed for Round 1 of the playoffs next week, loser is the #4. Both team will be on the road, the loser heading to Region 5-A champion Holy Innocents (9-1) while the winner is looking at the #2 seed from Region 5, which should be the winner of tonight's Eagle's Landing Christian Academy (7-2) at Whitefield Academy (6-3) game. Our #1 seed, top-ranked Wesleyan will host the winner of tonight's Landmark Christian (5-4) at Mt. Pisgah Christian (5-4) game, while our #2 Commerce (5-4) will host the loser of the ELCA-Whitefield game.

Lots of games for seeding and/or playoff berths tonight around the state, including Lassiter vs Roswell in a matchup of 9-0 teams that will determine the Region 6-AAAAA champion. Close to Athens, another pair of 9-0 teams - East Jackson & Jefferson - will meet for the Region 8-AA title.

There are also some familiar names who are either already eliminated from the post-season or on the verge of it. Those include perennial powers & bitter rivals Brookwood & Parkview who will play tonight for the #4 seed in Region 8-AAAAA. Parkview hasn't missed the playoffs since 1993. Class AAAA semi-finalist last year to 3-6 & eliminated this year, that's the fate of the Rome Wolves. In AAAA down in Columbus, Shaw fired their coach in mid-season but it didn't help, they're 1-8 going into tonight but will still average 10 wins a year for the decade. Greater Atlanta Christian will miss the playoffs for the first time since 1995, they're 1-8 and get Buford tonight.

In DeKalb County this week, two teams saw their records turned upside down as Lithonia (was 4-5, now 0-9) & Stone Mountain (was 6-3, now 1-8) both forfeited several games due to the use of ineligible players. In an odd occurrence, the meeting between the two teams that was a Stone Mtn win on the field has been declared a double forfeit. The head coach at Lithonia & an assistant coach at Stn Mtn have both been fired.

And while the 2009 playoffs start next week, the face of football for 2010-2014 will start shaping up even sooner, as the reclassification process is due to start on Monday with the receipt of the official enrollment numbers from the state DOE. They'll do preliminary classification & post it Tuesday, with schools having until Nov 24 to request permission to play up in class. In early December the GHSA will finalize the classifications & place schools in regions, appeals for lateral transfers take place by mid-December, and ratification of the first four-year plan in the state will take place on Jan 11-12.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Lots of games for seeding and/or playoff berths tonight around the state, including Lassiter vs Roswell in a matchup of 9-0 teams that will determine the Region 6-AAAAA champion.

Woo hoo, go Trojans!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Woo hoo, go Trojans!

In case you're home, I'll happily excuse you from our game so you can watch Lassiter-Roswell in what should turn into a shootout.

*Roswell at Lassiter, 7:15 p.m. pregame, 7:30 p.m. kickoff, Football Fridays in Georgia | Georgia Public Broadcasting (available live and On Demand)

edit to add: I've seen a different link for that game, not sure if both work or what
http://www.gpb.org/football/watch

[JonInMiddleGA]

Lassiter finishes strong & beats Roswell on the road 42-25. At one point that game was something like 24-17 or so. Game recap at
http://www.ajc.com/sports/high-schoo...ns-189127.html
First 10 win season, first region title in Lassiter history.

Our game was over by halftime really, 21-6 at that point & Athens Academy pulled away for a 41-14 win over Social Circle. Makes us a #3 seed & we'll head to Eagle's Landing Christian after they blew out Whitefield Academy 39-7. Incidentally I ended up working as the color commentator for the 2nd half, on another weird night. This week it wasn't technical gremlins that plagued the webcast, it was personnel issues. Long story, I'll spare you the details.

Brookwood ended up beating Parkview 28-14, Tucker blew out whoever they were playing (I forget at the moment), and Gainesville routed Flowery Branch in AAA 49-17.