The Fayette Citizen-Sports Page
Wednesday, September 1, 1999
The beginning of another year of high school football

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Sports Editor

Doesn't it feel like the wait until football season starts gets longer and longer each year?

Starting Friday at 7:30 p.m., stadiums all across the state will light up, fill with people from the neighborhood, and roar like a freight train. Fayette County is lucky enough to host three home games this weekend, including a special Saturday night match.

Friday, the Fayette County Tigers host the Paulding County Patriots. The Patriots finished their season 4-6 last year, while the Tigers finished 6-4. Fayette County lost some offensive firepower but they still have tailback Wes Clark. Clark, returning this season from an injury that kept him out of deciding games last season for the Tigers, is back 100 percent, as well as bigger and stronger.

The Tigers will look to put some points on the board early and ease their team and their new quarterback junior Nathaniel Enloe into the new season. The defense should be able to hold Paulding County, but creating turnovers would truly help. The Fayette County defense needs to dramatically improve from last year, where they allowed over nine points more per game than they could score.

Coach Rodney Walker makes his coaching debut for Sandy Creek, as the Patriots host a truly tough competitor in the Morrow Mustangs. Morrow is a big team that continually reloads season after season, while the Patriots are coming off a season of heartbreaking losses.

Walker has a disciplined bunch that gets very fired up on defense. The defense will have to be good to give a young offense all the help it can get. The offense may be shaky early on in the season but, growing under new quarterback Andre Green, could become a formidable foe late in the season.

The Patriots are young and a tad inexperienced and playing the Mustangs in the opener will not likely be very pretty. If they can play mistake-free ball and get a few lucky breaks, it may be closer than anyone thinks.

The McIntosh Chiefs have to travel to play the Pebblebrook Falcons Friday night. Pebblebrook went 9-1 last season and made it to the second round of the playoffs. They are big, strong and can dominate a game from very early on. Though the Chiefs return five starters on defense, they needed to refill their entire defensive line.

The Chiefs lost a number of players to graduation, and a few more players to injury and suspension. They are not a very big team and often being out-sized can be the biggest disadvantage in high school football. Only two offensive starters return to the squad, but Ashmore believes his underclassmen are talented. They will be led by sophomore quarterback Luke Wiggs.

Saturday night will feature an interesting match-up, when the Starr's Mill Panthers host the Riverdale Raiders at Tiger Stadium in Fayetteville. Riverdale went undefeated last season and lost in the semifinals of the state playoffs, while the Panthers begin their first season with a senior class. The Panthers grew last season into a team that should not be overlooked, and their intensity on both sides of the ball could keep them close to most, if not all, of their opponents.

Junior Brad McClaren leads the team from the quarterback position, standing in front of a very talented back field. Craig Maddock is the work horse for the ground attack, supplemented by a state champion triple jumper in Reuben Houston and the quick feet of LaDon Cooper. Overall 10 starters return to the offense.

Seven starters return to the defense. Coach Earwood needs them to be aggressive and force their opponents into making mistakes. They must improve on last year's points allowed total, allowing their opponents to score over 30 points per game. A solid defense this year could result in the few extra wins necessary to get the panthers in the playoffs.

All games kickoff at 7:30 p.m. The Panthers will play their home games at Tiger Stadium in Fayetteville.

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