Archive for August, 2012

Last season, Jacorey Lewis became the first Mill Creek player to rush for 1,000 yards. It’s a pretty safe bet he’ll top that number.

The senior running back ran for 216 yards and three touchdowns as Mill Creek dominated Dacula 35-0. Displaying huge size up front, skill in the backfield, ability to throw and a swarming defense, Mill Creek coasted to the victory in the opener for both teams. The teams historically have played close ball games, but Mill Creek, the largest school in the state, may have outgrown the Falcons. Even after jumping to an early lead, Mill Creek coach Shannon Jarvis said he expected Dacula to come back and make it into another dogfight. Not this year.

“If you would’ve told me that it would’ve been like this, I don’t know that I would’ve believed you,” Jarvis said. “And that’s a credit to our kids. I was pleased with our effort and the way that we came out and executed in the first half. Good things happen when you got players flying to …

Continue reading Mill Creek 35, Dacula 0 »

By David Purdum / For the AJC

Milton ran over last season’s surprise and made a case to be one of this year’s upstarts with an impressive 35-28 win over No. 8 Alpharetta on Friday.

The visiting Eagles racked up 430 yards on the ground against a talented Raider front and took home the inaugural Mayor’s Trophy.

Peyton Barber led Milton’s ground game with 225 yards. Treyvon Paulk added 109 yards, highlighted by a 41-yard touchdown run that put the Eagles in command, 21-7 late in the third quarter.

The Raiders answered with a scoring drive, featuring a 41-yard completion from Josh Dobbs to Carlos Burse and capped by DeAndre Wise’s recovery of a Dobbs’ fumble in the end zone that cut the deficit to seven.

But Milton would answer with two more clinching scores. Paulk’s second touchdown, a two-yard plunge, and a 9-yard bootleg scamper by quarterback A.J. Bush put the Eagles up 35-14 with nine minutes to play.

Alpharetta wouldn’t go quietly, though. Dobbs hooked up …

Continue reading Milton 35, Alpharetta 28 »

Grayson won a showdown between teams ranked No. 1 by national polls on Friday.

Grayson, Georgia’s 2011 Class AAAAA champion, was ranked No. 1 by ESPN, while Miami Central was ranked as USA Today’s No. 1 team.

Grayson got two short touchdown runs from Robert Nkemdiche and longer scoring plays from Wayne Gallman and Jordan Germany in a dominating performance.

Grayson amassed 355 total offense to Miami Central’s 22. Miami had two running backs committed to FBS (formerly called Division I-A) schools but was held to 17 yards rushing and 3-of-12 passing. It was 21-3 at halftime.

David McTier 38-yard pass to Gallman set up Nkemdiche’s first touchdown, a 3-yard TD run, for a 7-0 lead with 5:58 left in the first quarter.

Early in the second, McTier hit Gallman on a 54-yard pass on third down for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

Grayson made it 21-3 on Nkemdiche’s 2-yard run with 14 seconds left in the half after a 76-yard, 15-play drive. Brandon Lewis’ 26-yard run and an …

Continue reading Grayson 35, Miami-Central 3 »

By Glennis Curry

For the AJC

Roswell fans had never known the struggle that came with last year’s winless season. A comeback victory by their crosstown rival hurt worst, but the Hornets reversed both fortunes and took back the Mayor’s Cup Friday in a 42-13 victory against Centennial at Ray Manus Stadium.

Roswell senior running back Andrew Kwateng ran for 236 yards in just under one quarter and a half, including a 90-yard burst that gave the Hornets a 21-6 lead. After the Roswell defense forced a fumble at its own 10, Kwateng took a handoff from Ryan Monty and went up the left sideline, breaking three tackles along the way. It was his third score of the half, as he broke free for a 51-yard run earlier in the second quarter and finished the Hornets’ first touchdown drive 16-yard run in the first quarter.

Backup tailback Shakur Jackson ran for 38 yards and a touchdown with seconds to go before halftime, putting Roswell ahead 28-6. Jackson carried the ball the entire second …

Continue reading Roswell 42, Centennial 13 »

The Patriots exploded for three second-quarter touchdowns to take a 31-0 halftime lead behind more than 300 yards of total offense in the first two periods.

Cole Garvin threw for 215 yards and four scores, one of them a 68-yard strike to Kyle Wilson. Demarre Kitt had 117 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while Eric Swinney led the ground attack with 90 yards.

The Patriots led 10-0 in the first quarter on a Mitchell McMillin field goal and a 27-yard scoring run by Delvin Weems. Backup quarterback Trey Walker threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Josh Branom on the final play of the third quarter, and Jayland Horne scored the final Sandy Creek touchdown with 6:16 to play in the game.

The Trojans got on the board late in the third on a 4-yard run by Quanderius Lee. It was the first time Banneker crossed midfield since its opening drive.

Continue reading Sandy Creek 52, Banneker 6 »

North Cobb quarterback Tyler Queen passed for two touchdowns and ran for two others as the Warriors opened their season with a 42-3 win at Starr’s Mill.

Queen completed 9 of 21 passes for 242 yards, including two long touchdown passes to Xavier Borishade. Queen also rushed for 64 yards on six carries in the win, which came in the first meeting between the two schools. Nick Miller rushed for 120 yards on 12 carries, including a 68-yard touchdown in the third period.

Starr’s Mill (0-1) was held to less than seven points in a regular-season game for the first time since 2008, according to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association. North Cobb (1-0) outgained the Panthers 458-171.

Queen got off to a fast start, passing for 168 yards in the first half as North Cobb, which went 5-6 in 2011, needed just two plays to reach the end zone in 2012.

Queen connected with Borishade for a 57-yard touchdown. Borishade, who finished with three catches for 137 yards and two …

Continue reading North Cobb 42, Starr’s Mill 3 »

By Michael Alpert

For the AJC

Peachtree Ridge and Parkview never really got going Friday night, but the Panthers got barely enough offense to win the teams’ first meeting, 3-0, at Parkview’s Karl Bostick Field.

The difference was Tyler Stephenson’s 26-yard field goal with 8:18 remaining, despite a bobbled snap by holder Kurt Hickman. The winning kick was made possible by Chris Carson’s 13-yard run on fourth-and-4 six plays earlier.

Carson finished with a game-high 208 yards rushing, including another fourth-down conversion run that nearly helped Region 8-AAAAAA Parkview (1-0) to a touchdown in the late moments.

The Region 7-AAAAAA Lions, 42-0 losers to Camden County in the previous week’s Corky Kell Classic at the Georgia Dome, will welcome their idle date next Friday to regroup, before beginning region play Sept. 14 at Duluth.

The win was Parkview’s first in a season opener since its 3-0 start in 2007. Panthers coach Cecil Flowe considered setting a winning tone vital before …

Continue reading Parkview 3, Peachtree Ridge 0 »

St. Pius X has plenty of new faces, but the fourth-ranked (AAA) Golden Lions still have options in the option and Ryan Braswell was chief among them Friday as the senior fullback rushed for 141 yards and two scores to lead SPX to a 21-3 win at Westminster.

With five players breaking off at least one run of 15 yards each, the Lions (1-0) ground out their second straight win over the Wildcats.

St. Pius won its first 12 games last season before falling to Cairo in the state Class AAA quarterfinals. That team graduated 25 seniors and sent stars Geno Smith to Alabama and T.J. Holleman to South Carolina while quarterback Trey White and fullback Logan Rosborough landed at The Citadel.

Yet head coach Paul Standard’s philosophy – run, run, consider for a moment a pass and then run again – is still in place, the Lions still have players, and they barely gave ground to Westminster (0-2) after the game’s first few plays.

St. Pius fumbled away its first two possessions, but …

Continue reading St. Pius X 21, Westminster 3 »

When Lassiter’s Robert Dowling returned an interception 75 yards for a touchdown on the third play of the game against Hillgrove on Friday, it appeared to open the floodgates on what would be an easy victory for the Trojans.

But despite building a 37-0 halftime, the Trojans didn’t secure the victory until Willie Police converted a fourth-and-short near the Hillgrove 20-yard line with less than a minute to play as they held off Hillgrove 37-29 in the first game of the East-West Cobb Classic at McEachern.

“I was really disappointed with how we played in the second half,” Lassiter coach Jep Irwin said. “Hillgrove is a very good football team. We knew they were going to play better in the second half. We had a few things go our way, and we managed to hang on and win. I’m really proud of how we finished the game, driving it down and running the clock out. But certainly there’s a lot of lessons to be learned from this game.”

Lane Jackman and Josh Danforth had …

Continue reading Lassiter 37, Hillgrove 29 »

Three fourth-quarter Quinton Turner interceptions helped Miller Grove hold off Lithonia in a 27-6 victory Friday.
Playing from behind pretty much all night, the Bulldogs (0-2) had their shots to catch back up late. But all three of their final-quarter possessions ended with the ball in Turner’s hands.
The first two of those found them in Miller Grove territory, fighting for a touchdown that could have made it a one-score game. But on both, Turner got defensive position from the right corner and snagged the Rashan Sullivan pass to thwart the opportunity.
The second one was the biggest, with Lithonia on the Miller Grove 15-yard line, down just 21-6 with more than 8 minutes left.
Turner sat back on the play and just waited for the ball to come in his direction.
“It was a 10-yard out,” Turner said. “I just read the quarterback’s eyes, and I got it.”
It’s the type of play Miller Grove coach Damien Wimes has come to expect from his junior defensive back, who is turning …

Continue reading Miller Grove 27, Lithonia 6 »

Welcome to the first full weekend of Georgia high school football, and the second Friday Night Chat of the 2012 football season.

I’ll be posting game updates and food for thought as the scores start rolling in tonight.

Here are 15 that should get plenty of interest.

Marist at Clarke Central
Lassiter vs. Hillgrove
Wilkinson County at Wilcox County
Buford at Elbert County
Miami Central, Fla. at Grayson
Colquitt County at Thomas County Central
Blessed Trinity at Lovett
Northside-Northside at Flowery Branch
Walton at McEachern
LaGrange at Newnan
St. Pius at Westminster
Darlington at Cartersville
Griffin at Dutchtown
Coffee at Ware County
Milton at Alpharetta

Continue reading Friday Night Chat: Report scores, find scores, talk live! »

Harris County will play its opening game tonight against Houston County on a new field after a tornado in November tore through the campus.

The football field, with new artificial turf and a track, came at a cost of $1.2 million and was paid for with insurance and SPLOST money.

A cleanup company, ServiceMaster Recovery Management, arrived the morning after the tornado struck, and more than a hundred workers began removing debris. Damage was extensive to various parts of the high school structure, with entire sections of roofing damaged, skylights blown out and metal siding ripped from the gym.

Because of the amount of debris that was scattered around campus, the entire football field had to be dug up. To avoid the risk of shards of glass and metal protruding through the field in years to come, the decision was made to provide the same turf used for the new Dallas Cowboys stadium.

“I didn’t really think we would be able to start football this year, even being back to where we …

Continue reading Harris County opens season in stadium rebuilt after tornado »

Franklin Stephens’ five-year record at Tucker was 64-6. How does that compare with the first five years at a school for other coaches? We found 18 who lost or tied fewer than 10 games over their first five seasons at their new schools. Let us know if we missed any. Only six of the 18 were first-time head coaches. Among those, Stephens has the third-fewest losses and ties.

68-3 – Jess Simpson, Buford (2005-09)

53-4 – Carlton Lewis, West Point (1948-52)*

52-4 – Robert Davis, Warner Robins (1973-77)

62-5 – Jack Johnson, Mitchell-Baker (1988-92)

53-5-2 – Bill Corry, Morgan County (1956-60)*

64-6 – Franklin Stephens, Tucker (2007-11)*

59-6 – Jeff Herron, Camden County (2000-05)

58-6 – C.B. Cornett, Macon County (1990-94)

56-6 – Wayman Creel, Lakeside-Atlanta (1970-74)

53-6 – Mike Hodges, West Rome (1979-83)

63-7 – Rick Tomberlin, Washington County (1992-96)

62-7-2 – Greg Oglesby Manchester (1994-98)

51-8-1 – Jimmy Dorsey, McEachern (1984-88)

58-9 – Alan …

Continue reading Best records in first five seasons at a school »

One of the more surprising events of the offseason was the decision of Franklin Stephens to leave Class AAAA powerhouse Tucker – where he had won two state championships in his five seasons – for Lamar County, a rural Class AA school in middle Georgia.

Stephens says there was no one reason for his decision to head for the country. He expressed gratitude for his opportunity to coach Tucker – he was 64-6 in five seasons – but also conceded what many knew, that he was attracted to a school that had its own stadium in a school system that allowed the athletics program to keep revenue from home games. In DeKalb County, schools give up gate revenue to be redistributed among DeKalb’s 19 football-playing high schools.

But Stephens said his move was precipitated by what he was getting, not what he was leaving behind. Lamar County, ranked No. 5 in Class AA, opens at Spalding tonight.

Todd Holcomb caught up with Stephens on Thursday and asked him five questions.

Don’t you miss the big …

Continue reading Former Tucker coach Stephens: ‘I didn’t coach for the limelight’ »

West Forsyth quarterback AJ Erdely threw for a touchdown and ran for another in a 32-30 win over Gainesville on Thursday night.

The score was much closer than the game, as Gainesville scored a pair of touchdowns in the final six minutes.

Gainesville quarterback DeShaun Watson, who has committed to Clemson, completed 24 of 43 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns with four interceptions. He also carried 15 times for 48 yards.

After Gainesville scored on the game’s opening series, West Forsyth rallied to take a 32-15 halftime advantage. Jake Wieczorek and Trever O’Brien each had scoring runs.

It was the season opener for both teams.

Continue reading West Forsyth 32, Gainesville 30 »