The G.A.S. Pump (Sept 27)
September 27th, 2007 Posted in College Football, Hunting and Fishing, College Baseball, Martial Arts, Georgia, Youth Basketball, High School Football, High School Softball, High School Volleyball, High School BasketballTime 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 on the following links to find:
Yesterday’s Edition
Top 10 Rankings
Week 5 Schedule
High School Football
Heard County running back Dontavius Jackson confirmed that Penn State has been eliminated from the short list of colleges he has under consideration…Buford’s Omar Hunter visited with Carroll over the phone Tuesday and received an offer from the coach of top-ranked Southern Cal…Walton defensive end Chase Thomas visited Stanford on Saturday…Calhoun running back Adam Urbano has scholarship offers from Georgia Southern and Troy and is being heavily recruited by UAB and Western Kentucky. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Football Report. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here are the best 11 nicknames in Georgia history, all belonging to schools that have closed but should be held up as models. Why 11? If you have to ask, your team’s nickname is probably the Eagles. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Player of the Week: Tommy Seals (Warren County): Seals earned his second career player of the week honor with his five touchdowns against Jefferson. He finished the game with 17 rushes for 180 yards and those five scores. He had four scores from 1 yard out and added a 46-yard scoring jaunt in the contest. Seals also completed 3 of 4 passes for 66 yards. He was credited with five total tackles on defense. Augusta Chronicle
Prep Notes. Augusta Chronicle
Their biggest rival vanquished, the Brunswick Pirates hit the road to Jesup this week for another Region 3-AAAA contest, this time at Wayne County. Winners of two straight after losing at Ware County to open the season, the Pirates (2-1 overall, 1-1 region) can’t afford to take the struggling Yellow Jackets (1-3, 1-2) lightly on Friday. The Brunswick News
Last year’s game between the Trion Bulldogs and Adairsville Tigers was one that Adairsville fans would rather forget. Trion walloped Adairsville, 50-7, at Sam R. McCain Memorial Stadium in Trion for the most lopsided win in the history of the series, which dates back to at least 1972. Now, Adairsville (3-1) has a chance for revenge as the Tigers host Trion (1-3) Friday night in a non-region game at Tiger Stadium. The Daily Tribune News
TODAY’S HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL GAMES: HARRIS COUNTY VS. NORTHSIDE and SMITHS STATION AT ROBERT E. LEE. Ledger-Enquirer
This is where Spalding head coach Tommy Gilstrap wanted his team to be last year: Undefeated, at 3-0, heading into a date at defending state champ Peach County in Fort Valley. Griffin Daily News
Griffin Christian’s offensive line has led the way for the offense this season, but even Crusaders coach Kerry Phillips admits he takes them for granted sometimes. “They get no credit,” Phillips said. “They’re the ones that get fussed at when we get sacked or tackled for a loss, but when we get a good play we don’t congratulate them like we should.” Griffin Daily News
Ten years ago yesterday, the Greater Atlanta Christian football program was still in its growing stages, nearly as green as I was as a young reporter. As the new kid at the Daily Post, I rarely got to cover our Game of the Week but the more experienced guys decided to give me a feature game, Buford at GAC. Their reasoning: No way GAC would beat Buford, so they wouldn’t miss an exciting game. Griffin Daily News
The Long County Blue Tide football team is only in their sixth season since resurrecting their football program back in 2002. Having already won three games this season, they have already eclipsed their best season, which was last year when they finished 2-8. But being 3-0 this year has turned a team, which other teams look forward to playing, into a team to be reckoned with in the 2-AA Region. But when you look at their season so far, just how good are they? Coastal Courier
Today’s high school football capsule, Dutchtown at Northside. The Telegraph
Northgate Viking head football coach Bill Luckie refers to the 2006 meeting with Fayette County, a 15-13 victory for Northgate, as an ideal contest for his club. “We got points in a various number of ways. We had a safety, a field goal, a touchdown, and another field goal. We made good drives and got points out of them,” explained Luckie. The Times-Herald
As the East Coweta Indians have moved through their 2007 non-region schedule, there has been one constant throughout the season. Improvement. With the non-region portion of the schedule complete, it is time for the Indians to go after a bigger prize. The Times-Herald
Following three weeks of progress, the Heritage Hawks hit a bump in the road last Friday. The Hawks are coming off a 33-6 loss to the Pinecrest Paladins, a loss in which there were some problems stopping Paladins quarterback Michael Metz. The Times-Herald
In a rare Thursday night football game, the Alcovy Tigers and the Rockdale County Bulldogs open Region 8-AAAA South play tonight at Homer Sharp Stadium. Alcovy comes into tonight’s contest at 1-3 and has lost two in a row, to Winder-Barrow and Apalachee. Three weeks ago, the Tigers picked up their first win in school history when they beat county rival Newton 23-0. Rockdale Citizen/Newton Citizen
Entering the 2007 season, the Statesboro coaching staff had a decision to make — Cone or Connell? The Blue Devils rotated juniors Luke Connell and Aaron Cone at quarterback during the 2006 campaign. The two-quarterback system has now been scrapped, and Connell has taken over full time behind center. Statesboro Herald
They may have started off the season 1-3, but the Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets have shown that they have some very real threats on the offensive side of the ball. Statesboro Herald
Two county football teams will try to erase some bad memories, while two others get a well-deserved night off this Friday. Social Circle and George Walton Academy will both try to come up with an elusive win. The Redskins travel to McDonough to face Eagles Landing, hoping to bounce back from back-to-back shutouts. GWA has lost two close games in three weeks. The Bulldogs will be in Sandersville to meet Brentwood Academy. The Walton Tribune
The Loganville Christian Academy Lions suffered their first defeat of the eight-man football season Friday in a 58-21 loss to Harvester Christian Academy. The Walton Tribune
A year ago, Valdosta High won just one football game. Now the Wildcats are 3-1 heading into the Region 1-AAAAA portion of their schedule. Valdosta opens the region season Friday, hosting longtime rival Colquitt County at 8 p.m. at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium. The Valdosta Daily Times
It feels like just yesterday that we were all waiting anxiously for the fast-approaching 2007 football season. Well that’s come and gone, and now we are in the fifth week of the season. There’s only six weeks left until the postseason, then we have to sit and wait until next year. Oh no. The Valdosta Daily Times
“Football is a violent sport, and there is a potential for injury,” said Ron Courson, director of sports medicine at UGA. “But the better technique we have, hopefully, we can prevent that.” Courson helped develop a video called “Heads Up” to teach high school teams across the country how to reduce the risk of paralyzing head and neck injuries. 11Alive
Game of the Week: North Hall at Gainesville. WSBTV
PrepCountry.com Radio Network Schedule. GaSports.com
High School Softball
Evans celebrated on Greenbrier’s field Tuesday night like no Columbia County team has in nearly a decade. For the first time since 1999, Evans beat Greenbrier in softball. The Augusta Chronicle
Prep Roundup: Canes, Cats fall on road. The Daily Tribune News
The Citizen Sports Blitz, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007. Mike and Kevin talk about local softball and volleyball. The Citizen
Erin Justice has had many memorable moments throughout her softball career at McIntosh. But perhaps none has been more memorable than what the senior accomplished Tuesday, hitting a first-pitch, game-winning, two-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning in McIntosh’s 3-2 come-from-behind victory over sixth-ranked Starr’s Mill in a key Region 2-AAAA game on Senior Night in Peachtree City. The Citizen
The Griffin High softball team heads back into Region 4-AAAA Division A play 5 p.m., today at Forest Park trying to shake off the effects of a pair of losses earlier this week. Griffin Daily News
Sometimes it’s the little things that will make the difference in a game. Or, in Wednesday’s game between Collins Hill and Peachtree Ridge, one run. A single run was the difference in the game and one run determined the Region 7-AAAAA champion. Griffin Daily News
Prep Roundup: O’Rouke gets 12th win for Bulldogs. Griffin Daily News
A two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth inning gave Houston County a 6-5 win against Rutland on Wednesday in a GHSA non-region softball game. With two outs, the Lady Bears (15-6) strung together three consecutive hits, including Kourtny Thomas’ single to center that knocked in Ashlee Burkett and gave them a one-run lead heading into the top of the seventh. The Telegraph
High School Volleyball
The Citizen Sports Blitz, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007. Mike and Kevin talk about local softball and volleyball. The Citizen
The Whitewater Wildcats had a quick night on Tuesday as they dispatched of Fayette Co. and Lovejoy in Area 3 play at Whitewater. The Citizen
Starr’s Mill, ranked number one in Class AAAA, hosted McIntosh, ranked number two, on Tuesday afternoon and won 25-21, 25-18. The Citizen
The George Walton Academy volleyball team rolled over two more teams to mark its best start ever with a 10-0 record. The Lady Bulldogs defeated region rival Young Americans Christian School, 3-2. For the first time, GWA dropped the first two games (25-20, 26-24), but came back and won the next three by scores of 25-23, 25-15, 16-14. The Walton Tribune
High School Soccer
The First Presbyterian Christian Academy’s JV soccer team returned to Macon on Sept. 22 to compete in the first annual C Team Challenge hosted by First Presbyterian Day School. Coastal Courier
High School Cross Country
It’s hard to imagine after losing Jackie Drouin, one of the top runners in the state, that Collins Hill would ever have a runner to fill her big shoes. But believe it or not they have. Gwinnett Daily Post
The Gwinnett County cross country association announced the Runners of the Month for September at Dacula High School on Tuesday. Each team had two runners honored. Gwinnett Daily News
Once again, the annual Aubrae Gunderson Invitational looks to feature some of the top cross county runners in the state. The event, which begins at 8 a.m. Saturday at the Georgia International Horse Park, will be divided into three sets of races: red, white and blue. Rockdale Citizen/Newton Citizen
Loganville High School won both the girls and boys races in the varsity and middle school divisions last week to capture the Walton County cross country championship against Monroe Area. LHS took the girls varsity race 14-28, won the boys competition 17-41 and claimed the first four spots in the middle school event to win easily. The Walton Tribune
High School Basketball
Wednesday morning Beach High School introduced Simmons, 26, as its new varsity boys’ basketball coach. Simmons, a math teacher at the school, coached the Bulldogs’ junior varsity last year and served as a varsity assistant under Russell Ellington, who died Sept. 1 from complications of lung cancer. In taking over the reigns of one of the area’s top high school basketball programs and having to replace a local legend, Keith Simmons knows he has a lot to live up to. Savannah Morning News
College Football
GSU offensive lineman and Hinesville native Marcelo Estrada puts the hurt on a Mocs’ player in Friday night’s game at Paulson Stadium. The Eagles went head to head against their opponent from Chattanooga, causing the game to go into overtime at the end of the fourth quarter (38-38). Coastal Courier
The jewel of Savannah State’s 2007 recruiting class will have a chance to shine Saturday. Freshman quarterback Greg McCrary will make his first start when the Tigers (1-2) play NCAA Division II Fort Valley State (3-2) at 5 p.m. at Wildcat Stadium. Savannah Morning News
Georgia Southern’s Jayson Foster is the rare quarterback who doesn’t mind returning punts. In fact, Foster said returning punts has some advantages. Savannah Morning News
After winning its first two games by a combined score of 110-3, the Valdosta State football team slowed down the pace a little bit last week, escaping Arkansas Tech with a winning score of 28-27. While it was the fewest points the Blazers have scored all season, and by far the most the defense has given up, in many ways, VSU still dominated. The Valdosta Daily Times
College Baseball
Few alumni have represented Valdosta State as well as Tommy Thomas, or for as long as he has. Now comfortably enjoying his retirement, Thomas remains a big supporter and fan of the school he gave most of his life to. On Saturday, Thomas will be honored as Valdosta State’s 2007 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. He will receive the award Saturday morning at the annual Alumni Association meeting, then will be honored at halftime of the Blazers’ football game with Ouachita Baptist in the afternoon. The Valdosta Daily Times
Youth Basketball
North Oconee is hosting a youth basketball clinic on Saturday, Oct. 20 from 9 a.m. to noon for boys and girls ages 6 to 8. Athens Banner-Herald
Roundups
Sports Briefs. Griffin Daily News
Notebook. The Telegraph
Bulletin Board, Sept. 27. The Telegraph
High school-college roundup. Savannah Morning News
Brenau loses in Wednesday volleyball, soccer. AccessNorthGa.com
Miscellaneous
The fall fishing season is about to bloom, and along with it comes inshore tournament fever. Four fundraising events are on the immediate calendar thus far, and there may be more in the making. One already is in motion, and the other three are coming up in October. Savannah Morning News
Fishing for red drum in marshes. Spring tides and muddy water are generally not what is needed for good fishing. However, they do provide better access to the marshes, and that is where the red drum often will be, searching out fiddler crabs and other such food. Savannah Morning News
With the 2007-08 Georgia deer season upon us, evidence that the closest confirmed case of Chronic Wasting Disease in deer is several hundred miles from Georgia borders (West Virginia) shouldn’t lessen CWD concerns of local sportsmen. Savannah Morning News
This table lists top fishing times and days for the coming days. For best results, begin fishing one hour before and continue one hour after the times given. Times apply to all time zones (X indicates best days). Savannah Morning News
High spring tides slow area fishing action. Easterly winds and current spring tides have halted much of the fishing action along the Georgia coast. Current muddy water conditions are not expected to improve until tide levels recede back into the 6- and 7-foot range. Savannah Morning News
It was Kids Day at the Richmond Hill Fish Hatchery this past Saturday in conjunction with National Hunting and Fishing Day. Savannah Morning News
OUTDOORS CALENDAR. Savannah Morning News
Stephen Leon, 3rd Degree Black Belt and resident of Hahira, recently won the title of World Champion for his victory in the American Taekwondo Association sparring competition. The ATA World Championships are held in Little Rock, Ark. Competitors travel around the world in an attempt to win this prestigious title. The Valdosta Daily Times
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