By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Sports Editor

There seems to be nothing but adversity in store for some of the local football teams this season.

Whether they come in the form of injuries, turnovers, mental errors or officiating, it just seems some teams cannot get by. Friday night produced one win and three losses for the four county teams and some playoff hopes were dashed.

Fayette County hosted Upson Lee Friday night in the FCHS homecoming game. The Tigers came out and looked ferocious. Wes Clark ran for close to 50 yards on the first play of the game and, though the drive eventually stalled, Fayette County scored on the next possession, with a 62-yard touchdown pass to Trevor Bowman. It was just what the Tigers needed, offensive production.

Fayette County then missed the extra point, leading to a score at the end of the first quarter of 6-0. The Tigers gave up a touchdown to Upson Lee early in the second quarter and then both teams did nothing for the rest of the half.

Upson-Lee opened up the second half with huge runs from their quarterback and a touchdown. Fayette answered with a field goal and then would answer no more. They drove deep into the Knights' territory in the last two minutes of the game, but quarterback Nathaniel Enloe was intercepted and the Tigers' hopes for a win were dashed.

McIntosh played the Griffin Bears Friday and they were hoping that the Bears would still be stuck in the slump that had them lose three of their last four games. The Bears were feeling OK, mostly because they overmatched the Chiefs at nearly every position.

Luke Wiggs returned from an early season injury and got some time at quarterback. Unfortunately, his stint included an interception that was run back for a touchdown. Griffin also had several huge runs for touchdowns and they ran back a punt for a touchdown. The final score was 41-0.

Sandy Creek might have been looking past Woodward Academy Friday. The Patriots lost 35-7 and were ineffective on both sides of the ball. Their usually explosive offense was very limited with J.R. Lemon gaining 85 yards rushing. The defense, which has typically been intense and the fire in the team belly, fell flat and gave up the most points in any game this season.

The Patriots trailed Woodward 21-0 at the half. They allowed 280 yards rushing, unusually high for the usually potent defense. The offense sputtered, gaining 125 yards on the ground and 76 yards passing. Their touchdown came early in the third quarter when quarterback Andre Green hit Kedric Golston with a pass across the goal line on fourth down. The drive looked like vintage Patriots, going 80 yards in 10 plays.

Starr's Mill needed to get back on the winning track after their disappointing overtime loss to Mt. Zion. The Panthers traveled to face Jones County and got everything back in order. The Panthers led 13-6 at the half, scoring on two field goals and a 19-yard touchdown pass to LaDon Cooper.

As in many of their games this year, the Panthers really started clicking in the second half. The defense played fired up, despite giving up a touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Tony Tofanelli, Matt Defenbaugh and Matt Fuhrmann all continued to tackle well. The main man was Drew Cofty, who caught a touchdown pass in the third quarter and then had an 11-yard touchdown run in the fourth. Quarterback Brad McClaren continued to lead the team. He ran for over 100 yards and had two touchdown passes.

Looking ahead to this weekend, there is the biggest match in the county this season. Starr's Mill (6-1) will host Sandy Creek (5-2) at Tiger Stadium. This game has major playoff and region standings implications. Currently, Starr's Mill is all alone in second place and Sandy Creek is tied for third with Woodward Academy. The two teams are very much alike and both squads are extremely well-coached. Last year's game went down to the wire with the Panthers pulling out a victory in the last seconds. Do not miss this game.

In other matches this weekend, McIntosh (1-7) hosts Newnan (6-2) and Fayette County (3-5) travels to Griffin (4-4). It will be a long road for both teams. In other games of interest, East Coweta (6-2) hosts Carver, Columbus (4-4), Landmark Christian (1-6) hosts Mt. Zion, Carrollton (1-6) and Northgate (4-3) hosts Temple (0-7).

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