Wednesday, August 28, 2002
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Wednesday, August 28, 2002 |
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H.S. football season starts Friday
By MICHAEL
BOYLAN
The wait for the beginning of the football season seems interminable, though that is probably due to the heat and the dog days of a baseball season with a possible work stoppage looming. The wait will soon be over, though, as the high school football teams will take the field beginning Friday. There are no true home games for fans of teams in the Fayette County area this weekend. McIntosh was scheduled to host Eagle's Landing this Friday but renovations to the bleachers are not done yet, so the Chiefs will host the Golden Eagles at Sandy Creek High School. McIntosh finished the 2001 season with a 2-8 record and has graduated 22 seniors from last year's roster. Among the players returning to the squad this year are Cameron Hall, Nick Achor and Yacov Baum. The Chiefs will have some new faces on both sides of the ball and are looking to start the season strong with road games at Upson Lee and Lowndes in the following two weeks. The Fayette County Tigers start their season on the road this year with a game at Douglas County, a team from 4-AAAA. The Tigers finished last year with a record of 6-4 and this year are under new head coach Jim Lindsey. Fayette County graduated a lot of experience, especially in some of the skill positions, perhaps most notably in T.J. Brandenburg, one of the top receivers in the region during the past few years. Quarterback Jeff Crisp has experience though and he will undoubetedly find new targets for the Tigers this year. Sandy Creek High School will be off this week but will kickoff their season next Friday with a home game against Fayette County in what promises to be an interesting game and a great rivalry. The Patriots are coached by Rodney Walker and finished the season 4-6 last year. Our Lady of Mercy had a mixed schedule of varsity and junior varsity games last year but will play a full varsity schedule in 5-A this year, starting with a game at Pacelli Catholic. The Bobcats went 2-1 in varsity play last year and 3-4 in JV play. The team is stacked with juniors including quarterback/cornerback Ralph Woolfolk, running back/linebacker Sam Etuk, offensive tackle/linebacker Matt Gill and wide receiver/ free safety Josh Flores. Some other players to keep an eye on this year are fullback Chris Calle, offensive guards/nose guards Nathan Calle and Austin Lewis and freshman tight end and linebacker Doc Lee. Landmark Christian School bounced back last year with a 6-3 record, a trip to the playoffs and encouraging signs of a potent offense and a tough defense. The War Eagles are coached by Kenny Dallas and led by junior quarterback Alex Mortensen. They will start their season on the road as well with a game at Cross Keys to be played at Adams Stadium in DeKalb County. Starr's Mill starts on the road this weekend as well as they will play Dacula in the Corky Kell Kickoff Classic at the Georgia Dome on Saturday at 2:45 p.m. The Panthers lost to Northside, Warner Robins in the second round of the playoffs last year but are looking to return to the postseason yet again. Though 20 seniors from last year's roster have graduated the team has some very experienced players on the squad including seniors Deante Battle, Johnny Edwards, Rodrigues Heard, Patrick Mullnix, Chris Strauch, Bobby Clark and Alex Cookfair among others. Among other games of interest this weekend are East Coweta against Parkview in the Corky Kell Kickoff Classic on Saturday at 8 p.m. and Newnan hosting Northgate at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Northgate has moved from Class AA to Class AAAA and is playing in the same region as Sandy Creek.
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