Saturday, September 6th
by snotsargent
Gordon Lee’s Jacob Groce found his groove on Friday night at Tommy Cash Stadium.
The senior scored both touchdowns for the Trojans to lead his team to a 14-6 victory over Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe.
The speedy running back had a total of 136 yards rushing in Gordon Lee’s first win of the season. That included his TD runs of 11 and 12 yards.
Groce said his team knew they had to “step it up” against Class AAA LFO (1-1) because they “have a good team and some great athletes.”
The last time the two teams played was in 2001 when the Warriors defeated the Navy-and-White 20-0.
“Last week I had a rough week,” Groce said. “It feels good to get a few good runs under my belt.”
Logan Fields made several key plays on defense for LFO. He said he was proud of his team’s effort and expected them to impove before next week.
“We expected everything we saw from Gordon Lee,” he said. “We knew what they could do.”
Gordon Lee Head Coach Kevin McElhaney said he wasn’t suprised to see so much fight in LFO.
“Coach Windham and his staff were getting people in the right spots,” he said. “Those linebackers and defensive ends played lights out for them.”
Gordon Lee scored on its first possession of the game. They covered 71 yards in four plays. Groce sprinted 51 yards on the first play of the drive. He scored three plays later from the 11 with 8:14 to play in the second quarter.
The extra point attempt was no good.
LFO tied the game with :56 to play in the quarter.
Quarterback Cody Commons broke three tackles to put up six points. The PAT was also no good.
The final score of the night came after the Gordon Lee defense was able to hold LFO on a fourth-and-goal at the Trojans 1. Commons tried to run up the middle, but was brought down by a host of Trojans.
Groce gracefully made his way to the endzone on a 12-yard run. Gordon Lee quarterback Josh Weller threw to Jordan Afman for the two-point conversion.
The Trojans finished the night with 306 total yards to LFO’s 255.
Commons led the Warriors with 117 yards rushing on 13 carries.
Story From PrepGameFace.com
Saturday, September 6th
by admin
The Calhoun High football team put the Dalton loss behind them Friday with a 28-9 victory over the visiting Ridgeland Panthers.
The Jackets struck first in their opening drive when quarterback Michael Johnson snuck into the end zone on a 19-yard run. Adam Griffith nailed the kick for a 7-0 lead.
After getting stopped for minus-12 yards on their opening drive, the Panthers rebounded on their second drive, taking the ball down the field and then catching a big break near the end zone.
The break came when the ball, which was thrown Panthers quarterback Alex Ridge, ricocheted off attended receiver Mike Bowman 26 yards down the field and fell into the hands of a Michael Roberson, a second receiver.
Calhoun looked to score again early in the second quarter when they took the ball on Ridgeland’s 39 yard line. After a Johnson run of 10 yards and a five yard penalty on Ridgeland, which put the ball on the 16 yard line, Johnson looked to hit one of his receivers for a TD but instead threw it into the hands of Panthers safety Devaughn Buchanan, ending the drive.
After stopping the Panthers, the Yellow Jackets drove the ball down the field on a 19 yard pass from Johnson to Rhett McGowan, a 10 yard run by Kedron Aker and an eight yard run by Dustin Christian. Aker then punched the ball in on a five yard run. The kick was good, making the score 14-7 with six minutes to go in the half.
Calhoun increased their lead to 14 with fewer than two minutes to go in the first half when Panthers running back Terryl Freeman dropped a backward pass from Ridge and Calhoun’s Cody Ralston picked up the loose ball and took it 56 yards to the promise land.
A 60 yard kick return by Devin Bowman put Ridgeland at the 30 yard line, but they were not able to capitalize against the stingy Yellow Jacket defense.
Calhoun then ran out the clock and took the 21-7 lead into halftime.
The second half was slowed to a crawl as both teams racked up fumbles and penalties.
Midway through the third quarter the Yellow Jackets hit the end zone again on a seven yard run by David Collins. The play was set up by a fumble recovery at the Panther’s 17 yard line by linebacker James Hunt. Griffith knocked the PAT through the post for a 28-7 Calhoun lead.
The Panthers got on the board again in the fourth quarter thanks in part to a bad Calhoun snap for a safety. Yellow Jacket Landon Curtis fell on the ball to avoid giving up the TD.
Story From PrepGameFace.com
Thursday, September 4th
by admin
After a tough, physical game at Ridgeland this past Friday, the Trojans will be put to the test on the road yet again this week as they head north to take on rival LFO.
The Warriors are a much different program now than they last time they faced Gordon Lee.
LFO won the last meeting, 20-0, back in 2001, when the Red and White were in the midst of a very successful run that saw them advance to the playoffs for four consecutive years.
But since an 11-win season in 2004, the Warriors have had just three wins, two coming last year when they snapped a long 25-game slide.
However, second-year head coach Todd Windham appears to be on the right track to turning the program around.
A young offense is improving behind the skills of junior quarterback Cody Commons and junior tailback LaGreg Burns.
Throw in two more junior running backs in Dominique Turner and Kenny Macon and the Warriors have enough speed to give teams problems.
Preston Casey and Matt Holden are dependable targets in the Warriors’ new pass-happy offense and LFO has experience and size on the line of scrimmage with seniors Zach Oliver, Drew Lemons and Michael Dunn.
On defense, Derek Laney is a rising star on the line while linebackers Logan Fields and Gabe Herman are two of the team’s leaders.
“LFO is a really good team in the fact that they have a lot of skill kids that can make big plays,” Gordon Lee head coach Kevin McElhaney said. “Burns has great speed and Commons is a scrambling playmaker.
“We’ll have to be on our game. They are a good football team, but hopefully we can hang with them.”
The Warriors fell behind 19-0 at Coosa last week, only to see a fourth-quarter rally fall short in a 19-12 loss.
Commons was 9-of-18 in the air for 147 yards, including a touchdown pass to Holden.
The all-time series between Gordon Lee and LFO is deadlocked at 12 victories apiece, including three ties.
The Warriors have won the last seven meetings in the series, which dates back to the late 1940’s.
Story From PrepGameFace.com
