Walter L. Johnson II Archive

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Prep Football Game of the Week—Mount de Sales at Deerfield-Windsor

 

What: First round (quarterfinals) of the GISA Class AAA playoffs

When: Friday, November 11, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Webb Stadium, Albany

2011 records: Mount de Sales is 7-3, 3-3 in GISA Region 2-AAA. Deerfield-Windsor is 9-2, 8-0 in GISA Region 1-AAA.

Last week: Deerfield-Windsor defeated Southland, 41-0. Mount de Sales lost to Tattnall Square, 22-0.

All-time series record: Deerfield leads 7-3.

First meeting: Mount de Sales 20, Deerfield-Windsor 14 (Overtime)—(1988)

Last meeting: Deerfield-Windsor 30, Mount de Sales 27 (2010)

 

Analysis: The Deerfield-Windsor Knights will begin their quest to win back-to-back state championships, as well as their third title in the last four years, when they play host to the Mount de Sales Cavaliers from Macon at Webb Stadium Friday night.

Although this is the 11th meeting all-time between the two teams, this week’s meeting will mark just the second straight between the Knights and Cavaliers since 2005. Deerfield downed MDS, 20-13, en route to a 9-3 finish six years ago.

Although Deerfield has won the last four meetings against Mount de Sales, three of those contests have had dramatic finishes, with the Knights winning all of them by a combined total of 14 points. Deerfield defeated MDS, 25-21, in 1999, the aforementioned seven-point overtime win six years later, as well as last year’s thrilling win, 30-27, that propelled the Knights into the championship game. The lone blowout win during Deerfield’s current win streak came in 2001, when the Knights shut out the Cavaliers, 24-0, in one of just five regular season meetings all-time. The only other regular season games between both teams came during a four-year period from 1990-1993, with Deerfield going 3-1 in those meetings. Ironically, though, both teams played in a fifth straight game in the quarterfinal round of the 1994 playoffs, with MDS winning big, 29-6. It turned out to be last time the Knights lost to the Cavaliers.

Allen Lowe has an all-time career record of 194-99-3 going into this week’s game against MDS, including a mark of 47-22 at the Savannah-based Calvary Day from 1995-2000. In his two stints at Deerfield (1987-1994, 2001-present), Lowe has a combined record of 147-77. He needs just six more victories to reach 200 wins for his coaching career.

Perhaps the most memorable game in the Deerfield-MDS series came in the semifinals of last year’s playoffs, when a last second field goal from Trey Puckett helped put the Knights into their third straight state title game. They defeated Tattnall Square, 38-22, the following week, to win their second state championship in three years. Don’t be surprised if this year’s game between the Knights and Cavaliers goes right down to the wire.

Source: Georgia High School Football Historians Association (http://www.ghsfha.org/)

 

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Mayoral candidates state positions

 

Written by Walter L. Johnson II

 

On Tuesday, registered voters will choose between three people to become the next mayor of Albany: restaurant owner B.J. Fletcher, former Ward II city commissioner Dorothy Hubbard, and former state representative John White.

While all three candidates recognize the challenges that Albany currently faces, whether it be crime, economic development, education, joblessness, or poverty, the way they plan to address such issues are different.

Hubbard sees education—combined with job skills training—as being among the city’s biggest issues. She wants to involve all three of Albany’s colleges, as well as the public schools in bridging that gap.

“What we need to do is to give our children the job skills and the job sets,” Hubbard said, “a set of job skills that are needed, higher education and technical education will also play a part in that.”

As the owner of multiple eateries throughout Albany, including the popular Café 230 downtown, Fletcher has seen a troubling downward spiral for her hometown in several areas.

“Over the years, I have a witnessed a decline in our tourism, in our industry, in our population, in our attitude,” said Fletcher. “I want to be a part of moving Albany forward.”

Like Fletcher, White has also seen Albany’s decline first hand.

“Albany has been stagnant for several years,” said White. “Not moving very forward, not bringing in any new things to Albany.

“New activities, new businesses, have come very spottily in the area,” White added. “But we have all of the skills in Albany that we need.”

White, who served 11 terms as a state representative on the Georgia General Assembly from 1975-1997, wants to increase educational, as well as recreational opportunities for local youth.

Among the things he hopes to bring to Albany if elected mayor, is a boxing gymnasium, with the help of a former champion to serve as an alternative to in-school suspension.

“I’ve talked with the relatives of (former heavyweight champion) Evander Holyfield,” White explained. “I want to tie that to the schools.

When asked why he proposed a boxing gym as an alternative to in-school suspension in middle and high schools, White added: “We have to take some of that energy away from children, the ones who will disrupt normal classes.

“That’s generally why they go (into in-school suspension),” he continued, “either they’re fighting, or they’re disruptive in other ways.

“So with a boxing gym, you would send the students to (the) gym rather than to in-school suspension, for those kind of activities that they would create in a normal school.”

            Although the AOL-based website—dailyfinance.com—recently named Albany as the No. 4 poorest city in the U.S., miscalculated numbers very could have put the city at No. 1, Fletcher said.

“They quoted our population at 162,000 people,” said Fletcher. “That was the entire (five) county (metropolitan statistical area) that they were counting on.

“If they had just pulled the city numbers, of approximately 76,000 (residents),” Fletcher added, “that we were probably ranked No. 1.”

Supporting the Strive 2 Thrive initiative sponsored by the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce will be a key to reducing, if not completely eliminating poverty, Hubbard said.

“I think the (Strive 2 Thrive) initiative that’s being done by the Chamber is a good start for working on poverty,” said Hubbard. “I think that we’re going to have to embrace that, and help more people support it, in order for us to really make a dent in poverty.”

A jobless rate that’s well above the national average is also a major contributor to the poverty rate in Albany, Fletcher explained.

“We are at a little less than 15 percent unemployment, which means that is approximately 12,000 people without work.

“We are facing 39 percent poverty here locally. When we can get industry to come look at our area, we don’t have incentives set in place to make these people want to call Albany their home.”

            Hubbard believes Albany can turn around if citizens can come together, and deal with the various issues affecting the city as a whole.

“I think it’s going to take us working together to turn our city around,” said Hubbard. “I think it’s going to take changing our mindset, believing we are the greatest city, and that our city is great because we have chosen to live here.

“I think that we have to stop other people from talking negatively about our city, because there are people who come back here to live, and they think that we have a great city.

“But I guess because we’re here and here all the time, and we see everything, and see how things are going, and then we take it for granted. So, what I hope to do is to be able to turn that around, and share with people some of the wonderful things that this city has to offer.”

On The Web: B.J. Fletcher—http://www.bj4mayor.com

Dorothy Hubbard—http://www.hubbardformayor.com

John White—http://www.johnwhitemayor.com

 

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Prep Game of the Week: Early at Albany

 

When: Thursday, Oct. 27, 7 p.m.

Where: Hugh Mills Stadium, Albany

2011 records: Early County is 3-5, 1-3 in Georgia High School Association Region 1-AA. Albany is 4-4, 1-3 in GHSA Region 1-AA.

Last week: Early County lost to Cook, 27-26. Albany lost to Brooks County, 62-27.

All-time series record: Early County leads 16-3

First meeting: Albany 25, Early County 13 (1984)

Last meeting: Early County 13, Albany 7 (2010)

 

The Albany Indians will play their most meaningful game since 2002 — the last time they advanced to the playoffs — when they play host to the Early County Bobcats at Hugh Mills Stadium, in a must-win game for both teams Thursday night.

Head coach Felton Williams and the Indians won three of their first four games in 2011. Two of those victories came against their fellow Dougherty County School System rivals in Dougherty (39-7 on Aug. 27) and Monroe (14-13 on Sept. 13), while losing to Westover (13-7 on Sept. 3). Their lone non-region win outside of Albany-Dougherty County came against Randolph-Clay in a shutout, 41-0, on Sept. 15.

It’s been in GHSA Region 1-AA play, however, that Albany has had its struggles of late. The Indians have been outscored 153-68 in their region losses, to Fitzgerald (56-21 on Sept. 22), Thomasville (35-20 on Oct. 6), and last week to Brooks County (62-27). Their only region victory so far this season came against Berrien in a 42-7 rout on Sept. 30.

As for Early County, the Bobcats have had several close losses in 2011. Of the five games they’ve lost so far this year, four have been by four points or less. Those losses came Bainbridge (16-12), Thomasville (13-12 in overtime), Fitzgerald (20-14), and most recently to Cook (27-26). Additionally, the Bobcats have had one double-digit loss, 33-13, to Seminole County on Sept. 9.

Albany won the first two meetings against Early County in 1984 and 1985, including a 27-0 shutout win in the latter season. Since then, though, the Bobcats have dominated the series, winning 16 of their last 17 meetings against the Indians dating back to 1990. There have been two interruptions in the series, with neither team playing each other from 1986-1989, or from 1992-1995.

Since the series resumed in 1996, Early County has won 14 of the previous 15 meetings against Albany. The Indians only win in the series over the Bobcats during that span came in 1999, when they won 34-25 on the way to a 2-8 record that season. Early County has won 11 straight games since then.

Even with the struggles both teams have had so far during the 2011 season, the winner of Thursday’s match-up between the Bobcats and Indians will still have an outside shot of advancing to the playoffs going into the final week of the regular season.

Albany must both of its remaining games, against Early County and Cook, and maybe get some outside help, to advance to the playoffs. The Indians upset a Lamar County that finished the 2002 regular season unbeaten at 9-0, by a score of 21-14, before losing to Pierce County, 35-21, in the second round of the state playoffs that year.

Early County, on the other hand, finds itself in the same situation as Albany. Like the Indians, the Bobcats must also win out and get help to advance to postseason play for the first time since 2007. The Bobcats were shut out by Jefferson County, 13-0, in the first round of the GHSA Class AA state playoffs that season.

A win over Early County this week would not only assure Albany of its first .500 or better season since that 2002 campaign, the Indians would also take a giant step towards earning their first playoff berth since then. So don’t be surprised if this contest comes right down to the final play.

Source: Georgia High School Football Historians Association /www.ghsfha.org).

 

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Prep Game of the Week: Cairo at Westover


When: Friday, Oct. 21, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Hugh Mills Stadium, Albany

2011 records: Cairo is 5-2 overall, 3-0 in GHSA Region 1-AAA. Westover is 4-3 overall, 2-1 in GHSA Region 1-AAA.

Last week: Cairo defeated Worth County, 33-27. Westover defeated Crisp County, 20-6.

All-time series record: Cairo leads 17-3

First meeting: Cairo 18, Westover 0 (1969)

Last meeting: Cairo 45, Westover 0 (2010)

 

            The Westover Patriots will play not only their biggest game of the 2011 season, but maybe the biggest game in the history of their football program, when they play host to the Cairo Syrupmakers at Hugh Mills Stadium Friday night.

Westover improved to 2-1 in Georgia High School Association (GHSA) Region 1-AAA action with a 20-6 win over Crisp County last week. With that win, the Patriots put themselves in prime position to win their first-ever region championship.

On the other hand, the Syrupmakers needed overtime to stay undefeated in GHSA Region 1-AAA play, as they held off the Worth County Rams, 33-27. In addition to their win over Worth, Cairo has also notched wins over Dougherty (42-13) and Monroe (33-7).

Both teams have played their share of close games so far this season, as the Syrupmakers are 2-2 in games decided by six points or less, including a 7-6 win over Drew in the season opener on Aug. 26. Cairo lost both of its contests, to Bainbridge and Thomas County Central, respectively, by the identical score of 17-14.

As for Westover, the Patriots have struggled in close games, as all three of their losses have come by a combined total of 10 points, losing to Bainbridge (23-20 in triple overtime), Early County (21-19), and Worth County (23-18). They did win one close game over cross-town rival Albany High, 13-7, on Sept. 3.

Cairo has dominated the series against Westover over the previous 20 meetings, with the Patriots’ last win over the Syrupmakers coming in 1993. Westover shut out Cairo, 7-0, en route to a 6-4 record that season. Since 1994, the Syrupmakers have won 11 straight games over the Patriots, including seven in a row dating back to 2004.

With Cairo being the lone unbeaten in GHSA Region 1-AAA action, and Westover being among three other teams (3-1 Americus-Sumter and 2-1 Crisp County) with at least one loss in region play, a win by the Patriots could create a log jam at the top of the region standings. They’ll have to play a near-perfect game, however, to pull off one of the most improbable wins of the 2011 season.

            Source: Georgia High School Football Historians Association (www.ghsfha.org)

 

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Prep Game of the Week: Crisp at Westover

When: Friday, Oct. 14, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Hugh Mills Stadium, Albany

2011 records: Crisp County is 4-2 overall, 2-0 in GHSA Region 1-AAA. Westover is 3-3 overall, 1-1 in GHSA Region 1-AAA.

Last week: Crisp County defeated Americus-Sumter, 8-7. Westover had a bye.

All-time series record: Crisp County leads 16-5

First meeting: Westover 13, Crisp County 8 (1970)

Last meeting: Crisp County 14, Westover 3 (2010)

            The Crisp County Cougars and Westover Patriots will meet for the 22nd time in yet another critical Georgia High School Association (GHSA) Region 1-AAA contest at Hugh Mills Stadium on Friday night.

The teams met six times during the 1970s, with the Cougars winning four of the six match-ups. Crisp County won the games played in 1971, 1974, 1978, and 1979, while Westover emerged victorious in 1970 and 1975. The series went dormant during the 1980s, with the next game not being played until 1990, when the Cougars crushed the Patriots, 34-8.

Since 1990, there have been another six seasons where the Westover-Crisp County series has not been played, with no games played in 1996 or 1997, or from 2000-2003.

Since the series resumed in 2004, the Cougars have had the upper hand in it, winning six of the last seven games, including the last three contests. The Patriots lone win in that span come in 2007, when they downed the Cougars, 31-20.

Over the years, Crisp County has won eight region championships, five of them as a member of GHSA Region 3-AAA during the 1980s, as well as their most recent crown in 1995, when the Cougars won the Region 2-AAA title en route to advancing to the state semifinals in the Georgia Dome, losing to eventual state runner-up Cedar Shoals, 27-24, in overtime. Ironically, the 1995 campaign would be last double-digit win season for the Crisp County program, as the Cougars finished it 12-2 under then head coach Clay Hill.

Last week, Crisp County moved into a tie for first place in GHSA Region 1-AAA with an 8-7 win over Americus-Sumter at home, while Westover used its bye week to re-group after losing to Worth County, 23-18, on Sept. 29.

With the last six meetings decided by 11 points or less, the team that makes the big plays when they need to, as well as the fewest mistakes, will likely win this week’s match-up. With Crisp County and Cairo currently sitting at 2-0 in region play, followed by Americus-Sumter at 2-1, Westover at 1-1, Monroe and Worth County, and Dougherty at 0-3, the Crisp-Westover matchup could go a long way towards not only deciding which team wins a region title, and also which teams will punch a ticket to the state playoffs deep into November.

            Source: Georgia High School Football Historians Association (www.ghsfha.org)

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Sherwood’s Fourth Movie Debuts Across America

By Walter L. Johnson II

Amid an age and culture where American families struggling to stay together in challenging times, a film that was produced in Albany made its debut in movie theaters nationwide Friday.

Courageous, which was produced by the Albany-based Sherwood Pictures, will be the fourth film released by the ministry, which is affiliated with Sherwood Baptist Church. It’s expected to be shown in around 1,200 theaters in 49 out of the 50 states throughout the U.S.

The other films produced by Sherwood Pictures are Flywheel (2003), Facing the Giants (2006), and Fireproof (2008).

Like the three previous movies before it, Courageous deals with the challenges of building strong families, marriages and parenthood included. The film focuses on the lives of four Dougherty County sheriff’s deputies who come together under tragic circumstances. Together, they use that tragedy to commit themselves to being Godly husbands and fathers.

Nancy Lovell, who is a principal partner with the Dallas, Tex.-based public relations firm Lovell-Fairchild Communications, believes the decision to portray police officers in Courageous parallels their role as protectors not only for families, but for society as a whole.

“An officer’s duty, like a father’s,” Lovell said, “is to serve and protect. Police are the metaphor.

Alex Kendrick, who serves as an associate pastor at Sherwood, says that men must re-establish their roles as leaders in the family.

“We believe God is calling men to rise to leadership in their homes, to serve and protect their families and their children,” Kendrick said. “And we’re honored that God has allowed us to be a part of that call.”

Lovell thinks the timing of Courageous is right on target.

“The U.S. Census Bureau says 1 in 3 kids (24 million) live apart from their biological dads—and we’re telling men with children that no kid needs perfection,” Lovell said. “Every kid needs a dad.”

Statistics show that not having a father at home can have devastating consequences as well, Lovell added.

“Kids who grow up without their dads, on average, are two or three times more likely to be poor, use drugs, suffer in school, and have health and behavior problems,” she said.

“Unlike kids living with married, biological (or adoptive ) parents, boys and girls minus dads are more likely to be victims of child abuse and to show criminal behavior.”

Having a positive male role model while growing up also provided the foundation for his role of being a husband and father, Kendrick added.

“My brothers and I grew up with a father who has modeled for us what it means to be a man of God, to love his family and to be a chain-breaker: the one who says, ‘No matter what came before in my family history, I will be the husband and father God calls me to be.”

Lovell says that Courageous should serve as an opportunity to see fatherhood as an adventure instead of a burden.

“This movie calls men to the adventure of fatherhood—and is great for men to see with men—and to talk about afterwards over coffee,” Lovell said.

 

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Game of the Week: Monroe at Worth

When: Friday, Oct. 7, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Worth County Stadium, Sylvester
2011 records: Worth County is 3-3 overall, 1-1 in GHSA Region 1-AAA. Monroe is 2-4 overall, 0-2 in GHSA Region 1-AAA.
Last week: Worth County defeated Westover, 23-18. Monroe lost to Americus-Sumter, 6-0.
All-time series record: Worth County leads 14-7
First meeting: Worth County 42, Monroe 14 (1988)
Last meeting: Worth County 21, Monroe 20 (2010)

The Monroe Tornadoes and Worth County Rams will meet for the 22nd time in Sylvester Friday night. Both teams are heading into yet another all-important GHSA Region 1-AAA contest going in different directions.

While the Rams escaped Hugh Mills Stadium in Albany with a 23-18 win over Westover, the Tornadoes lost their fourth straight game in a heartbreaking 6-0 setback on the road to Americus-Sumter. Monroe hasn’t won since holding off Northeast (Macon), 14-6, on the road in the second game of the season on Sept. 2.

In their Region 1-AAA opener on Sept. 23, the Rams lost a heartbreaker of their own, losing to the same aforementioned Americus-Sumter squad, 36-29. As for the Tornadoes, they fell to Cairo in their first region contest at Hugh Mills Stadium, 33-7, that same night.

From 1988-1995, both Monroe and Worth County played each other eight straight years, with the Rams winning the first four games, followed by three wins in a row by Tornadoes from 1992-94, before the Rams snapped that skid with a 26-0 shutout win in 1995. The two teams didn’t meet in 1996 or 1997.

Since the series resumed in 1998, the ‘up and down’ has continued, with Worth reeling off five straight wins, before Monroe came away with a 25-22 triumph in 2003. Since 2004, the Rams have won four of the last seven meetings, including the last three contests.

Friday’s contest serves as a very critical one for both teams. While the Rams hope to improve to 2-1 in region play with a win, and move one step closer to advancing to the state playoffs for the second straight season (Worth finished 6-5 in 2010, losing to Thomson, 21-19, in the GHSA Class AAA first round), the Tornadoes find themselves in a must-win situation to keep themselves in playoff contention. Monroe’s last region win came on Oct. 29, 2010, when the Tornadoes defeated Dougherty, 34-14.

Source: Georgia High School Football Historians Association (www.ghsfha.org)

 

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Blair, others striving to change downtown image

If you haven’t noticed, things are slowly, but surely, improving in downtown Albany.

Downtown Manager Aaron Blair, who has held the position since October 2010, hopes to see more improvement in downtown’s fortunes, thanks to new businesses — such as the downtown general store, and the Verge consignment clothing store — that opened in March.

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