Georgia Youth and High School Sports News Blog

The G.A.S. Pump (Sept 24)

Time to fill ‘er up at The Georgia Amateur Sports (G.A.S.) Pump, brought to you by LocalReplay.com. Enjoy our daily look at amateur sports headlines from around the State of Georgia. Click here for yesterday’s edition.

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High School Football

To Leroy Ryals, it was just like any other game and any other win. But it was the second-year Clarke Central football coach’s first win at Billy Henderson Stadium. When senior Beau Evans kicked a 52-yard field goal to secure a Gladiator 22-20 win over Loganville with 1.3 seconds remaining in the game, Clarke Central (2-1-1, 1-0 Region 8-AAAA) ended its home winless streak that dated back to 2005…Athens Banner-Herald

Former Cartersville High School standout Ronnie Brown is no stranger to success on the football field. After a stellar prep career for the Canes, Brown went on to Auburn to star in a two-back system with Cadillac Williams. While at Auburn, Brown finished seventh on the Tigers’ all-time rushing list with 2,707 yards and fifth in rushing touchdowns with 28. Football didn’t end there for Brown either. After graduating with a degree in communications from Auburn, Brown was drafted No. 2 in the NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins in 2005. Now in his third season with the Dolphins, Brown said he couldn’t be loving life anymore…The Daily Tribune News

A year ago, Norcross was ranked No. 1 in Class AAAAA entering the high school football playoffs. However, it was a team that Norcross had beaten — Region 7-AAAAA rival Peachtree Ridge — that wound up playing for the championship, tying Roswell in the title game. Now, Norcross is back on top of the rankings and needing a victory Friday at defending co-champ Peachtree Ridge to keep the No. 1 spot. Norcross defeated Peachtree Ridge 6-3 last season. Peachtree Ridge is 3-1, having lost to Grayson 17-14. The Norcross-Peachtree Ridge game is one of several big matchups this week. Here are some others…Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Even before he watched Auburn score a season-best 55 points against New Mexico State from the stands at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday, Carver wide receiver Jarmon Fortson had made his decision. There were plenty of factors that played a part, but the opportunity to play early sold Fortson on the Tigers. He verbally committed to Auburn this weekend, becoming the 12th player in the Class of 2008 to commit to Auburn. “I was looking for a place that was a good fit for me,” said Fortson, who earned first-team All-Bi-City honors at wide receiver as a sophomore and junior. “I talked to Coach (Tommy) Tuberville while I was there, and he said that there would be a chance to play early…Ledger-Enquirer

Sheldon Hancock and D.J. Morgan scored two touchdowns each and quarterback Marcus Waller threw a pair of touchdowns as Griffin High won its Region 4-AAAA Div. A opener, 42-17, Saturday night at Tara Stadium against winless Forest Park. Forest Park (0-3-1 overall, 0-2 subregion) — which had scored all of 12 points this year going into the game and hasn’t won in its last 19 games, dating back to the 2005 season — broke a scoreless tie less than three minutes into the game on a 24-yard field goal…Griffin Daily News

Over the course of the first three weeks of the 2007 season, East Coweta head coach Danny Cronic has seen marked improvement from his Indians and was hopeful of more last Thursday against the Mt. Zion Bulldogs. In his 200th game in Sharpsburg, Cronic received a nice gift from the Indians who committed three penalties and zero turnovers as well as not having to punt the ball on the way to a 43-6 win over the Bulldogs at Twelve Oaks Stadium. “We have been getting better each week,” Cronic said. “The kids are blocking better and have been doing a better job at tackling. There is still some things to work on but I was pleased that we didn’t have that many mistakes tonight…The Times-Herald

The defensive coordinator of the Heritage Hawks may have Pinecrest quarterback Michael Metz in his dreams while sleeping through the next few days. Metz passed and ran for 138 yards in the Paladins 33-6 win over the Hawks Friday night in Cumming. “When Flint River faced them they had trouble containing him,” commented Hawks head coach/defensive coordinator Ron Beaucham. “We simply didn’t have the speed needed to contain him…The Times-Herald

Villa Rica offensive coordinator David Thrower will have to dig deep to beat the near flawless game he called at Northgate on Friday night. The Wildcats rushed with great success and when they threw they enjoyed a favorable outcome. The Northgate defense did a good job of containing the jet sweep and the inside counter carries. It was Villa Rica’s power game that punished the Vikings the most. Fullback Everett Hickman did the bulk of the damage. Hickman made the most of his 14 carries, rushing for 119 yards and three touchdowns…The Times-Herald

The [Monroe] Purple Hurricanes started strong and never let up in their first win of the season, beating the Clarkston Angora Goats 28-0. Senior quarterback Bobby Ervin had another strong showing, running for 56 yards and two touchdowns and passing for an additional 113 yards and two more touchdowns. But the true star of the game was junior defensive back Tommy Hendricks, who caught four interceptions from two different quarterbacks on the night…The Walton Tribune

Fabled Death Valley/Billy Henderson Stadium has seen its share of nail-biters over the past 30 years, including dozens of postseason games and three state championship contests. Yet, nothing could have topped the intensity and excitement brought on by Friday’s Clarke Central vs. Loganville match-up. Clarke Central’s Beau Evans booted a 52-yard field goal with 1.6 seconds left in the game to hand the snakebit Red Devils a 22-20 loss. LHS dropped a 12-7 decision at Cedar Shoals a week earlier when the Jaguars scored with 1:12 to play. The defeat left the Devils at 1-3 overall and 0-1 in Region 8-AAAA (A). It was the subregion opener for both teams…The Walton Tribune

After opening the season with games against three of the top five teams in GISA’s Class AAA, George Walton Academy stepped down in classification but not competition Friday night. Taking to the road for the first time this year, the Bulldogs traveled to Thomasville, just above the Georgia/Florida border, and were ambushed by the Warriors of The Brookwood School 24-21. The Warriors (4-0), ranked third in Class AA, avenged last year’s 42-14 loss to GWA. Brookwood quarterback Scott Cheney shredded the GWA defense, completing 26 of 31 passes for 302 yards [and] three touchdowns, all to receiver Blair Austin, who had seven catches for 137 yards…The Walton Tribune

For the second straight week, the Social Circle High School football team was held scoreless — this time at the hands of the Whitefield Academy Wolfpack — falling 31-0 Friday night. Fumbles plagued the Redskins and offensive highlights were few and far between…The Walton Tribune

Walton’s defense kept them close, but special teams earned them the victory. Adam Shreiner booted a 58-yard field goal, Billy Burns returned a punt 80-yards for a touchdown and the Raiders defense played phenomenal in a 13-10 upset over co-defending champion Roswell…P.J. Williams ran for 192 yards and two touchdowns and Debrale Smiley added 174 yards on the ground and scored twice to lead Thomas County Central to a 32-13 win over Tift County…Derrick Harris ran for 138 yards and two touchdowns to help Tucker in an easy 35-0 defeat over St. Pius X…P.J. Green rushed for 174 yards and two touchdowns to lead Rome to a 34-13 win over Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe…Michael Turner threw a 7-yard touchdown to David Arnold with 2:37 left in the fourth quarter to lift Valdosta to a 21-17 win over Lincoln of Tallahassee, Fla…11Alive

Team of the Week: North Cobb Warriors…11Alive

High School Softball

Oconee County’s softball team went 5-1 at the Greenbrier Tournament on Friday and Saturday at Augusta. Haley Bird led the Lady Warriors (23-3) with nine hits. She was paced by Megan McClain (eight hits) and Kirstin Rodrigues (seven hits). Alana Thomas had 42 strikeouts and won four games to improve to 21-3…Athens Banner-Herald

Spalding High School’s softball team came in third place in the Bronze division during this weekend’s Brookwood Tournament. The Lady Jags started the tournament with a 2-1 loss to Loganville on Wednesday, then split a doubleheader on Friday — a 4-1 win against Class AAAAA No. 3-state ranked North Gwinnett and a 2-1 loss to Warner Robins. In Spalding’s win against North Gwinnett, Jenni-Lynne Smith struck out four batters, Dayla Middlebrooks hit a home run, Ashley Kennedy went 2-for-3 with a pari of doubles and Cember Carmichael had two RBIs. Spalding played three games on Saturday, losing 2-1 to Cherokee High School in extra innings, defeating Dacula 1-0 and falling to North Gwinnett 5-0…Griffin Daily News

High School Cross Country

Athens Christian’s Whitney Bishoff captured first place in the Bulldog Stampede, a cross country meet that is back after a three-year hiatus. The senior set a new course record at the UGA Golf Course. She placed first with a time of 18:48, breaking the course record set more than 10 years ago by Kristen Hefflefinger with a 19:08. Bishoff led the Lady Eagles to a second-place finish (115 points), behind North Hall (109 points). Dunwoody came in third place (119 points), Oconee County captured fourth place (122 points) and Flowery Branch came in fifth (131 points)…Athens Banner-Herald

College Football

The Eagles Nest football show - GSU vs. Chattanooga…Statesboro Herald

Georgia Southern has had its moments of shoddy play during the first two games of the season. But the Eagles had many reasons to be encouraged after two weeks. They weren’t playing their best but they were winning. That optimism took a hit Saturday night in a 45-38 overtime loss to Chattanooga in Paulson Stadium. Now the facts appear discouraging for GSU, which slipped to 2-1 overall, 0-1 in Southern Conference play. The Eagles lost at home to a team picked to finish seventh in the eight-team Southern Conference…Savannah Morning News

College Basketball

SAVANNAH STATE UNIVERSITY 2007-08 MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE…Savannah Morning News

Miscellaneous

Drifting in my boat with the northeast wind Tuesday afternoon in the mouth of the Clark Hill Park cove on Thurmond Lake, I spotted what I thought were whitecaps far out on the lake in front of the dam. Then, I realized they were blowing the wrong way, from southwest to east. The huge school of big hybrids and stripers sounded before I was able to get to the area and never surfaced again. But the action is just a hint of what’s to come, once the current inclement weather picture (along with next week’s full moon) moves out…Augusta Chronicle

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