By Sports Staff
The Daily Citizen
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Northwest Whitfield opened this football season against Lambert and coach Sid Maxwell, but in a sense, the Bruins will have faced him three weeks in a row after hosting Sequoyah this Friday.
Maxwell was the longtime coach at Sequoyah, leaving the Chiefs two seasons ago to start Lambert’s program.
Al Morrell was an assistant under Maxwell before leaving Sequoyah and taking the same schemes over to Creekview to start that program. The Grizzlies were Northwest’s opponent last week.
This week, the Bruins face a group of Sequoyah seniors who spent two years with Maxwell and run many of his same sets.
“It is the same kind of offense three weeks in a row, so we should be used to it by now,” Northwest coach Mike Falleur said. “It is similar to what we have seen, but what makes them a little different is that their quarterback is a three-year starter.”
Quarterback Ben Rogers leads the Chiefs, who like the Bruins are a very surprising 0-2 to start the season.
So far this year, defending the wing-T sets that all three of these teams deploy hasn’t been the problem for the Bruins. The problem has been scoring.
“Our defense has given up only 10 total points, but we have to help them out on the offensive side of the ball and we haven’t done that,” Falleur said.
• HISTORY LESSON: In 1989, student protesters were driven out of Tiananmen Square by Red China tanks. Teenagers all over the world were glued to the television playing their Sega Genesis. Pete Rose was linked to allegations of betting on baseball.
Georgia Southern’s football team hit the big time on an ESPN Thursday night broadcast of what came to be known as the Hurricane Hugo Bowl, beating Middle Tennessee State in a driving rain and 60 mph winds.
That year was also the last time Southeast Whitfield started the season 2-0.
It has been more than 20 years since the Raiders opened the season with back-to-back wins, and after a season-opening victory over Murray County, Southeast will head to Allatoona on Friday with a chance to end that streak of futility. The Raiders beat Murray County 35-6 on Aug. 27, but had to endure an early off week after the win.
“We would have liked to have gotten right back on the field, but that is just the luck of the draw,” Southeast coach David Crane said. “Because of having the off week, it seems like we have been stuck in the longest preseason in history.
“But I think the kids are focused on getting back on the field. We had a good off week and worked on some things that we saw out of that first game.”
Southeast came close to winning its first two games in 1993, but the Raiders had to settle for a 13-13 tie with Darlington in the second game of the year. They lost to Dalton in the third game.
The last time the Raiders won three games to start a season came in 1985, when they reeled off nine consecutive wins to start the year before falling in the regular-season finale and then losing to Cedartown in the region playoffs.
• GOOD NEWS: Everyone at last week’s North Murray-Coosa game endured one of those moments of quiet concern in a hushed stadium when Mountaineers sophomore lineman Jacob Ledford was hit while running downfield on punt coverage and was eventually rolled off the field on a stretcher.
North Murray coach Larry Cornelius was concerned about Ledford having possibly suffered a concussion, but said earlier this week that Ledford came home from Floyd Medical Center without staying overnight on Friday.
“He’s fine,” Cornelius said. “He’s just got a sore back and he was up and running (at Monday’s practice). He got whiplash and that’s what knocked him out.”
Still, like any coach, Cornelius was glad to have a certified athletic trainer on his sideline — in this case, Ryan Bonanno of Hamilton Sports Medicine — and comforted by the fact that an ambulance was already on site.
“I have total faith in Ryan,” Cornelius said. “When a kid gets injured, we want him to be out there first, because the only thing we as coaches can do is go out there and console. We’re not experts in that area.”
• NORMAL ROUTINE: Murray County Public Schools opened this week, and Murray County coach John Zeigler believes that will help his players get into a rhythm.
“Last week, we went ahead and changed (to the school day schedule) because the teachers had to go in,” Zeigler said earlier this week. “Not much will change except the kids will have a fuller day. The first couple of days they may be a little more tired than they usually are. But they’ll get used to it.
“Once they get in a routine it’s better for everybody. Especially for the younger kids. They’re already at school and don’t have to find rides.”
Going back to school will also coincide with the team focusing on football fundamentals.
After giving up 230 rushing yards to Dalton running back Tre Beck in a 55-0 loss to the Catamounts last Friday, Zeigler said the team will be working heavily on tackling this week.
“We found out Friday, evidently we’re not good tacklers,” Zeigler said.
• CATS WANT TO GROW: Dalton’s Matt Land channeled former Cats coach Bill Chappell channeling late Valdosta coach Wright Bazemore when the first-year coach said in response to his team’s season-opening 27-14 loss to Calhoun, “Things are never as good as they appear or as bad as they seem.”
While that meant one thing after the loss to Calhoun, it meant something different when Land once again referenced the quote this week while reflecting on the 55-0 win at Murray County.
“One of the things that is a constant thread that kind of runs through all the top teams in the state from Lowndes to Buford on down is that they pay attention to detail,” Land said. “While the score is a feel-good score and a shutout for the defense and over 400 yards for our offense, you’ve got to look at the details.
“We’re chasing perfection. We don’t know what that looks like yet, but we’ll keep working on it and hopefully by the end of the season, we’ll achieve it.”
Senior lineman Watts Dantzler said it’s a lesson even veterans must review each week.
“Offensively, after we watched the film we realized there’s a lot of stuff we need to do better, definitely a ton of room for improvement,” he said. “We can’t be satisfied with the way we played.”
• EASY OPENER?: On paper, there is little reason to believe Christian Heritage won’t beat East Atlanta on Friday and open its Glory For Christ Football League schedule on a high note.
The Lions (2-0) have played the Mustangs four times previously and won them all, outscoring East Atlanta 164-12 and shutting them out twice in the process. The least amount of points Christian Heritage has scored in the series is 31, and it won that game by 25 points. The Mustangs (1-1, 1-0 GFCFL) have never scored more than six points against the Lions.
But Christian Heritage coach Mike Vaden says Friday’s game at Earl O’Neal Sports Complex in Conyers will be a test.
“They beat Unity Christian,” Vaden said in reference to a 35-18 win for the Mustangs last week, “and any time you have success, that increases your confidence level.”
First-year East Atlanta coach Joe Blount — he and his staff are all volunteers — isn’t so sure about that.
“Our problem is 10 of our 22 starters have never played football before,” Blount said. “We have a few good athletes and a bunch of good kids, but a lot of them are having to learn this game as fast as they can.”
