By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Sports Editor

The fifth week of the high school football season gave good results to the local AAA teams and not so good results for the AAAA teams. Starr's Mill and Sandy Creek both celebrated their homecoming on Friday night with wins to keep both teams undefeated, while McIntosh took on the top team in 4-AAAA, Lovejoy, and Fayette County felt the wrath of a Stockbridge team searching for their first win.

Sandy Creek set a record on Friday night as they won their fourth game in a row for the first time in the schools history. The Patriots took on the Forest Park Panthers and jumped out to a quick 17-0 lead. The first touchdown came on a 11 yard pass from quarterback Andree Green to Kedric Goalston. Gavin Bourgeois kicked a field goal for the Patriots shortly thereafter and Green ran 20 yards for a touchdown to put Sandy Creek up 17-0 at the half.

Things started to look bad in the second half though, as Forest Park scored 15 unanswered points. The Panthers scored a touchdown and then ran back a Sandy Creek punt for a touchdown before converting the two point conversion. Sandy Creek answered the gut check by relying on their ground attack. Mark Lawson ran three yards for a touchdown to push the lead back to nine and then J.R. Lemon ran nine yards for a touchdown to secure the win for the Patriots, 30-15.

Sandy Creek improved to 4-0 on the season. They face an enormous battle this Friday as they travel to Tara Stadium in Jonesboro to take on Mt. Zion, Jonesboro. Mt. Zion is 5-0 this season and are definitely considered to be one of the heavyweights in 4-AAA.

Starr's Mill hosted homecoming, ironically, not at home. They took on the Jonesboro Cardinals at Tiger Stadium in Fayetteville, shooting for their fifth straight victory. Jonesboro got great field position, off of several miscues by the Panthers offense and special teams. After a Starr's Mill fumble, Jonesboro jumped on the board with a field goal. It took awhile for the Panthers to get going, but with a little over a minute left in the first half, quarterback Brad McClaren found #2 for an 17 yard touchdown pass.

The second half was better for Starr's Mill as McClaren ran two yards for a touchdown at the start of the third quarter, but Jonesboro refused to go away. Starr's mill defense would come up big several times, Tony Tofanelli recorded four sacks on the night, but Jonesboro still squeaked out a drive, a touchdown and a two point conversion.

It was then that Starr's Mill woke up. A dirve started deep in their territory and ended with an incredible touchdown pass to Reuben Houston. The Panthers went up 21-11. The Panthers then got a big interception from Orlando Hinton, named prince at homecoming earlier in the evening. It was his second of the evening and it resulted in one more touchdown for Starr's Mill. The Panthers won by a score of 28-11.

Starr's Mill is now 5-0. They have the week off ands then will host Mt. Zion, Jonesboro at Tiger Stadium on Oct. 15. You can bet that the Panthers will have some scouts at the Sandy Creek-Mt. Zion game this Friday, trying to figure out how to keep the winning streak alive.

McIntosh had a very tough task ahead of them on Friday when they traveled to Twelve Oaks Stadium in Hampton to take on undefeated Lovejoy. Lovejoy scored in the first three minutes of the game, converting a two point conversion to make it 8-0. They scored again approximately a minute later after a fumble by the Chiefs. McIntosh established a small drive on their next posession, but got driven back due to penalties. Their punt was subsequently blocked, giving Lovejoy the ball on the Chiefs 16 yard line. With a minute left in the first quarter it was 22-0.

The second quarter stayed scoreless for a little over five minutes, until another McIntosh punt was blocked. Lovejoy scored again to make it 28-0 and then scored with 29 seconds left in the half to take a 35-0 lead. The third quarter was scoreless, and McIntosh showed some positive things both offensively and defensively. Jim O'Shea, the quarterback for the Chiefs, had some success running, but could not lead the team to the endzone. Lovejoy scored once more in the fourth quarter, winning the game by a score of 42-0. Lovejoy has outscored their opponents 162-50 this season.

The Chiefs will play host to the East Coweta Indians, winners of three in a row, on Friday. East Coweta got over their injury problems early in the season and have begun to look like the team of old. The Chiefs need to get fired up and stick with what worked against Stockbridge. If the line can hold off the pressure from the Indian defense, McIntosh might make things interesting.

Fayette County faced the Stockbridge Tigers in Stockbridge on Friday night and it did not look good from the get go. Stockbridge scored on the first play of the game with a 67 yard touchdown run. Fayette County established a good drive on their next posession and tied the game three minutes later on a two yard run by Marcus Hamilton. The Tigers, ours, got a field goal from John Deraney to take a 10-7 lead with about six minutes left in the half.

The second half started nearly as auspiciously as the frst. Fayette County turned the ball over three times on downs and twice with fumbles and found themselves down 21-10. Fayette County scored once more when quarterback Nathaniel Enloe found Grant Herron with a 25 yard touchdown pass. The Tigers, ours, could not convert the two point conversion and lost by a score of 21-16.

Fayette County hosts Lovejoy on Friday night in a game that could have critical ramifications. Right now, Lovejoy is in first all by their lonesome, but fayette County, East Coweta, Newnan and Carver are all tied for second with 3-2 records. Newnan plays Carver on Friday night and East Coweta is the favorite in their match with McIntosh. The Tigers will need a big defensive performance on Friday and a win may give them a proper boost over the next several games.

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