Wednesday, November 22, 2000
Wednesday, November 22, 2000 |
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The road to the finals continues as local teams win By MICHAEL BOYLAN Round one of the state football playoffs is over and four of the five local entrants survived. The only team to lose Friday night was Landmark Christian, which lost to Adairsville 37-0. Starr's Mill hosted Wayne County at Tiger Stadium at Fayette County High School. The Panthers started with the ball and looked impressive from their first carry. The Panthers have lived off their running game all season and it was no different Friday night as three different running backs Arlando Hinton, Reuben Houston and Jason Laney each had a touchdown run. The Panthers also got two blocked punts, which Tim Fevella and Darrell Burston each recovered for a touchdown. The Panthers had a 34-0 lead at the half and scored a touchdown late in the third quarter and a field goal in the fourth. Wayne County started to generate an offense in the second half, but it was too little, too late. The Panthers (11-0) will now travel to Warner Robins (11-0) Friday night to take on the Demons. Last week, Warner Robins defeated Colquitt County 41-0. The Demons are ranked number one in Class AAAAA, while the Panthers are ranked sixth in Class AAAAA. The winner of this game will play the winner of the Chattahoochee/Brookwood game away. The other local team from region 4-AAAAA to make it to the playoffs, the East Coweta Indians, won their game against the Bradwell Institute Tigers 39-14. The Indians led 20-14 at the half but scored 19 unanswered points in the second half to take the win. East Coweta gained 353 yards of total offense to the Tigers' 169 yards, as they set a new school record for most consecutive wins. The Indians (11-0) will host Northside (10-1) Friday night. Last week, Northside defeated Lowndes 28-3. Northside is ranked second in Class AAAAA, while the Indians are ranked seventh. The winner of this game will play the winner of the Parkview/Roswell game at home. Sandy Creek, a representative from region 4-AAAA, defeated Thomson 7-6 in overtime to make it to the second round of the playoffs. Tied 6-6 at the end of regulation, the Patriots got another solid performance from their defense, which kept the Bulldogs on their side of the field in the overtime period. Sandy Creek won on penetration after Riley Swanson intercepted a pass with over a minute and a half remaining in overtime. The Patriots had 308 yards rushing on the night, including big bursts from Mark Lawson, Kelvin German and Andre Green. The Patriots (9-2) will now travel to Columbus to take on the Shaw Raiders (10-0), the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last year and handed them their first loss in the first week of this season. The Raiders, the top ranked team in Class AAAA, defeated Sandy Creek 7-0 in the first game of the year and defeated Worth County 27-7 last week. Sandy Creek is currently ranked seventh in Class AAAA. This is the first time in school history that the football team has advanced to the second round of the state playoffs. The winner of this game will play the winner of the Washington/Murray County game away. Northgate was another team that survived in overtime to make the second round of the playoffs. The Vikings, the top seed in 5-AA, hosted Darlington and won 11-10. The two teams were tied 3-3 at the end of regulation and the score was the same after one overtime period. Darlington scored first and kicked the extra point, but Northgate calmly went down the field on its drive, scoring off a 15-yard pass from Mitch Stewart to Demarcus Hunter. Instead of kicking the extra point to tie, the Vikings went for the two-point conversion. They faked the run and passed to Maurice Huffman, who scored and gave the Vikings the win. Northgate (10-1) will host Putnam County (8-3) next Friday night. Putnam County defeated Dawson County Friday night 36-12. The winner of this Friday's game will play the winner of the Americus/East Laurens game away. |
