In the third episode of the new school year, sports editor Michael Boylan and staff writer Kevin Wandra talk about the latest results of all the fall sports and preview this Friday's football games.

Their guests in this week's episode are Our Lady of Mercy head football coach Chad Flatt and McIntosh cross country runners Carl Eifert and James Breest.

Click here to watch this week's episode.

Losing to Blessed Trinity 2-1 in the Class AAA state championship game last season still stings for the Sandy Creek Lady Patriots.

Fayette County still is searching for its first victory of the season after losing its third straight game Friday, 31-7 to Douglas County.

The Concorde Fire South Under-18 Boys Classic II soccer team from Fayette County won first place in their Division at the Dick’s Sporting Goods 7th South Charlotte Invitational Soccer Tournament, Aug. 15 – 17, in Charlotte, North Carolina. They allowed only one goal the entire tournament, while scoring nine goals themselves. In the back row, from left, are Coach Richard Park, Brian Washington, Okurin Aiyaukhebor, Evan Summerville, Andrew Bartholomew, Jack Wucher, Patrick Hall, Sean Rayburn, and Spencer Lauderdale. In the front row are Maitreyah Bell, Dylan Johnson, Hunter Blair, Jacob Tootle, Tyler Schleif, Chandler Winner, and Sam Khair. Photo/Special.

Georgia District 4 Big League took second place in the recent Wood Bat Tournament sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods of Fayetteville.  Players represented several teams from the district Big League program and were coached by Gary Snider and Tommy Thomas.

McIntosh experienced a first this season Friday night — a 34-14 loss to Lithia Springs that dropped them under .500 for the first time this young season.

When injuries take a toll on a team, backups are expected to fill in and play admirably.

The fifth-ranked Sandy Creek Patriots played without two key starters Friday, standout running back Rajion Neal and fullback/defensive tackle Alex Green, but they didn't miss a beat as Lucky Charleston ran 29 times for 146 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start in a 28-7 victory over Alexander.

In the Class AAAA division of the Carrollton Invitational, Starr’s Mill’s girls placed first, while McIntosh placed fourth and Sandy Creek placed eighth.

In their first region game of the season, Landmark Christian School rolled to a 40-7 win over Pace Academy.

The War Eagles first score came when junior defensive end Josh Gebhardt recovered a fumble and ran it back 44 yards for a touchdown. Gebhardt recovered another fumble later in the game and ran it back 71 yards to the Pace two yard line.

The Our Lady of Mercy Bobcats, fresh off a bye week, roared to an early 20-7 halftime lead over North Cobb Christian, but the second half was filled with a ton of offense for both teams and Our Lady of Mercy won the shootout 55-34.

The Whitewater Wildcats struck first in their game against Mays last Friday as Thomas Frierson ran 9 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter. Mays answered though with a nine-play, 73-yard drive that was capped off with a 5-yard touchdown run.

Close games haven't benefited the Starr's Mill Panthers thus far this season.

Starr's Mill lost its second straight close game Friday, 14-13 to Tri-Cities at Panther Stadium in Fayetteville.

Tri-Cities - 14 Starr’s Mill - 13

Mays - 17 Whitewater - 14

Thomas Frierson scored two touchdowns for the Wildcats and Mays kicked a field goal with five seconds left to get the win.

The volleyball game between the second ranked Whitewater Lady Wildcats and the third ranked Sandy Creek Lady Patriots is available for viewing as part of The Citizen’s Game of the Week series. Sandy Creek defeated Whitewater in what was an exciting night of volleyball

The volleyball game between the second ranked Whitewater Lady Wildcats and the sixth ranked Starr’s Mill Lady Panthers is available for viewing as part of The Citizen’s Game of the Week series. Whitewater won the match in exciting fashion.

Game of the Week - Football - Sandy Creek vs. East Coweta

The first game of the 2008 season was a humdinger with Sandy creek and East Coweta battling in a close and competitive game that went to overtime before a victor was decided.

Click here for the first half.

Click here for the second half.

In the second episode of the new school year, sports editor Michael Boylan and staff writer Kevin Wandra talk about the latest results of all the fall sports, sit down for an interview with Whitewater head volleyball coach Ben Thacker and Starr's Mill football player Chris Ward, and preview this Friday's football games.

Click here to watch this week's episode.

Fayette County Tigers (0-2) at Douglas County Tigers (0-2), Friday, 7:30 p.m.

Both teams are winless heading into Week 3. Defense has been a problem for Fayette and Douglas County; Douglas County is allowing 29.5 points per game, and Fayette has been slightly better, giving up 29 points per game. Fayette is coming off one of its worst games in two years, a 31-0 loss to Houston County in which it committed seven turnovers. Both of Douglas County’s losses have come against solid teams, 10th-ranked Whitewater and Carrollton.

Local football fans were blessed with getting to watch Calvin Johnson play both his high school and college ball in the area.

The football game between the Fayette County Tigers and the Houston County Bears is available for viewing as part of The Citizen’s Game of the Week series.

Dan Ellis turned in one of the best special teams performances in Starr’s Mill history Friday, returning a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns, but Villa Rica withstood Ellis’ long returns and defeated Starr’s Mill 22-17.

McIntosh had a chance Saturday to pull out a tie in regulation and send its game against Newton into overtime.

But host Newton picked off a pass by McIntosh quarterback Cam Porter late in the fourth quarter to escape with a 22-15 victory.

Sometimes in the game of football, when a play doesn’t work as planned, it can be a good thing.

That’s what happened Friday, when Sandy Creek, down 16-10 to Shaw, called a play late in the fourth quarter that was intended to be a pass from quarterback Rio Johnson to wide receiver Jarrett Davis over the middle.

Landmark Christian School’s varsity football team made some offensive mistakes in the first half of their game with the Warren County Screaming Devils last Thursday, but the War Eagle defense stayed strong and kept Warren County out of the endzone, keeping the score deadlocked at 0-0 at the half.

Whitewater, currently ranked fifth in Class AAAA, started their game with Upson-Lee on last Friday on the right foot and never looked back, winning 21-7.

The rebuilding process continues for the Fayette County Tigers.

Houston County forced seven turnovers, converting three into 17 points, in a 31-0 victory Friday over host Fayette.

Sandy Creek's Alex Chisum caught the winning touchdown pass with 10 seconds to go to improve the Patriots to 2-0 on the season and give them a 17-16 win over Shaw. Rajion Neal scored the other touchdown and Zach Lopez connected on a field goal in the victory.

The Fayette County Lady Tigers and McIntosh Lady Chiefs have the same issue to contend with this season — youth and inexperience.