Score Atlanta Vol. 10 Issue 43

Time to look great!

VOLUME 10 ISSUE 43 | NOVEMBER 21-27, 2014

Only Just Begun | Pg. 8 What we learned from a thrilling first round of the state playoffs.

Home At Last | Pg. 13 The division-leading Falcons return to the Dome for the first time in six weeks.

|

YOUR SOURCE FOR SPORTS IN GEORGIA

J-HEY GOODBYE Braves trade fan-favorite Jason Heyward to Cardinals | Pg. 5

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Vol. 10 Iss. 43 | November 21-27, 2014

STARTING LINEUP PUBLISHER/EDITOR I.J. Rosenberg

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COLUMNISTS

05

ON THE COVER

08

PREP COVER

ART/CREATIVE DIRECTOR DJ Galbiati Blalock

MANAGING EDITOR Craig Sager II

MARKETING/ Lauren Goldstein PARTNERSHIP DIRECTOR

BUSINESS MANAGER Marvin Botnick BEAT WRITERS Ricky Dimon (Braves)

Matthew Cason (Tech) Brian Jones (KSU) Dan Mathews (UGA)

Craig Sager II (Falcons)

Kyle Sandy (Hawks, GSU,

Gladiators)

STAFF WRITERS Jalisa Smith

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Copyright 2014 Score Atlanta Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Score Atlanta is published in print every other week on Fridays and a digital version is posted to ScoreAtl.com in-between print issues. Views expressed in Score Atlanta are not necessarily the opinion of Score Atlanta, its staff or advertisers. Score Atlanta does not knowingly accept false or misleading editorial content or advertising nor is Score Atlanta responsible for the content or claims of any advertising or editorial in this publication. No content (articles, photographs, graphics) in Score Atlanta may be used for reproduction without written permission from the publisher.

TEAM SCOOP AND VOICES

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SCORE LIST | NUMBERS GEORGIA STATE | KENNESAW STATE GEORGIA | GEORGIA TECH BRAVES | FALCONS HAWKS | GLADIATORS

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SAGER SAYS

PLAYOFF ACTION KEEPS GETTING BETTER

BY CRAIG SAGER II | CSAGER@SCOREATL.COM

efore the playoffs began, many high school Bpostseason football experts predicted that Georgia’s would be the most competitive

out of any state in the country. The first round did not disappoint and once again we are faced with mammoth matchups with one of the deepest fields of playoff teams the state has seen.

In Class AAAAAA, Colquitt County is the projected favorite to win the state championship and is playing just its fifth home playoff game in its last 23 postseason games. The Packers smashed Rockdale County 62-12 last week but they’ll face a Dacula team that is disciplined, well-coached and very opportunistic on the defensive side of the ball. Dacula has over 30 sacks, more than 70 tackles for loss and 17 interceptions this season.

DOWN IN THE TRENCHES…

Alpharetta has the lowest odds of the remaining 16 teams in Class AAAAAA to win the state title according to the Maxwell Projections, but this is a dangerous Raiders team that is capable of challenging McEachern. Alpharetta’s pass rush is led by Tennessee-commit Andrew Butcher and he’ll face a McEachern offensive line that features Louisville-commit Chandler Jones and USC-commit Chuma Edoga.

The winner of McEachern and Alpharetta will take on the winner of Grayson at Tucker in the quarterfinals. Grayson lost a coinflip after tying for the Region 8 championship and earned the No. 3 seed. Tucker is the top seed out of Region 2 and comes off a 31-29 first round victory over Tift County. Grayson dominated Mill Creek 24-7 in the opening round.

The matchup we thought we were going

SANDY’S SPIEL

A STUDENT’S PLEA FOR KENNESAW STATE BASKETBALL

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

nother college basketball season is here, A and I am afraid that it will be more of the same for the Kennesaw State Owls. I have

been a student at KSU for five years and will be graduating this May. I played basketball my entire life and was hoping to be able to attend a ton of Kennesaw games throughout my time in school. However, ever since the upset victory over Georgia Tech in 2010, I along with other Owl fans have been force fed the same slop each year: a team that lacks discipline, heart, and direction.

I have seen Kennesaw go 20-105 in my time at school. I cannot bring myself to even attend games anymore because the product is so poor; Owl games are consistently empty.

Trust me; this student fan base would love to

get behind Kennesaw. We are stoked for the football team and are excited to go out and root on our home team, but when the basketball team is losing by 20-30 points each night to fellow A-Sun teams, enough is enough.

FINDING FIGHT…

Talent has not been the biggest problem for the program. There have been nice pieces in place. Markeith Cummings ended his career as KSU’s all-time leading scorer and now plays in the NBDL. Aaron Anderson finished his career as the program’s all-time leading rebounder and has been successful playing overseas. On this year’s team, Delbert Love is back for his senior season along with former highly touted recruits Benard Morena, Willy

to see with Valdosta and North Gwinnett in the second round was spoiled by Newton and Central Gwinnett upsets. Newton dominated Valdosta 27-14 as junior quarterback Romario Johnson increased his season total to 2,358 passing yards, despite two of Newton’s games being called off for lightning storms earlier this season. Central Gwinnett held North Gwinnett to 160 total yards of offense and won 12-9.

Central Gwinnett posted five total sacks and shut down what many thought was the top passing offense in the state, so Johnson and the Newton offense will have their hands full buying time in the pocket.

Roswell at Hillgrove sets up a fantastic second round matchup and the winner faces the winner of Lee County at Archer. Roswell sophomore Sheldon Evans ran in 16 of the Hornets’ 22 rushing touchdowns in the regular season and the offense continued rolling in last week’s 36-13 win over Lambert. Hillgrove’s potent offense features Sonny Harris, who racked up 314 yards on 28 carries and ran in eight touchdowns in the Hawks’ 72-46 win over North Paulding this season.

YOU’RE NEXT…

Archer toppled two-time defending champion Norcross 38-22 last Friday and quarterback Gabe Tiller finished 18-of-26 passing for 289 yards and two touchdowns while adding a rushing touchdown. Randy Nails had six recep-

Kouassi, and Damien Wilson, so can somebody explain to me how this team is not even being competitive? With losses of 47 and 34 points under its belt, it looks like Kennesaw is well on its way to another disappointing season. Many will say I am overreacting this early in the season, which I hope I am, but I have seen this all before.

The past three years Lewis Preston was in over his head as head coach. The team was sloppy, had no offense and couldn’t defend. He had the horses to compete last season with a plethora of new faces, but could only muster three wins before taking a leave of absence on Jan. 3 and later was relieved of his duties. Jimmy Lallathin led the team to three wins the rest of the season, which unfathomably was only six less wins than what Preston could come up with in his two and a half seasons.

Preston refused to recruit in the hotbed that is Metro Atlanta and chose to reach for players from up north. There is more than enough talent in Georgia that should be getting recruited by KSU, but for some reason Kennesaw struggled to land any difference makers. Athletic Director Vaughn Williams decided to roll the dice after last season and named Jimmy Lallathin the official head coach instead of looking for options outside of Kennesaw. Lallathin recently was suspend-

tions for 173 yards and a score to go along with 75 yards rushing and a touchdown while Jamyest Williams added 62 yards receiving and 30 yards rushing for Archer. The Tigers host Lee County, which thrashed Lovejoy 44-6 in its Class AAAAAA postseason debut last Friday.

Etowah at Westlake features a potent Eagles rushing attack that will look for running room against a Westlake defense that has allowed just 8.7 points per game this year.

Etowah RB Tyray Devezin rushed for 204 yards on 25 carries in the first round in a 48-22 win against South Forsyth. Devezin has unofficially rushed for 1,126 yards this year after filling in for his older brother Raishod, who rushed for over 1,000 yards through seven games this year but suffered a season-ending injury.

The most mysterious matchup could be Hughes at Milton. These two teams have the size and strength to play with anybody in the state but they both lack playoff success. Milton has made the playoffs five of the past six seasons but won its first playoff game since 1953 last week and first region title since 1952 the week before. Hughes opened in 2009. The Panthers have advanced one round each of the past two seasons but never made a quarterfinal. Milton beat Northview 37-0 in the first round and Hughes topped North Cobb 42-28.

Photo courtesy of Ty Freeman.

ed one game after NCAA violations, but now will have full reigns of the team.

BROKEN PROMISES…

As a student, I was promised last year that things would be different and that the team would compete. It has been the same song and dance for five years now and I am tired of it. The community of Kennesaw deserves a team that will play hard and compete.

There is no way the talent discrepancy in the A-Sun is that of 15-20 points nightly. Coach Lallathin needs to bring this team together and fast. I have heard over the years, “the team is young”, “the team needs time to grow”, “let the coach put his system in”, but enough has been enough and it is time to be brutally critical.

The highly recruited Damien Wilson who was granted immediate eligibility after transferring from Memphis has gone 4-20 from the field with 11 turnovers in two games. This team is in dire need of a player to lead. Someone has to say they are sick of losing and that things must change. The coaches can preach the right things, but if players don’t buy in and don’t build a winning mentality it is all for not. All I am asking for this holiday season is for Kennesaw to win some games and make me proud.

Photo courtesy of KSU Athletics.

Vol. 10 Iss. 43 | November 21-27, 2014

ON THE COVER

ATLANTA BRAVES

BRAVES DEAL HEYWARD, THINGS COULD GET WORSE BEFORE THEY GET BETTER

BY RICKY DIMON | RDIMON@SCOREATL.COM

I

n this current era of sports—and even beyond sports, really—everything is about the “now.” If a coach does not win now, he’s out. If a player does not deliver now, he is benched… or flat-out released. As for fans, in this social media-driven age they want their information now. Not the next morning. Not tonight. Now. More importantly, they want a championship right now.

Braves Country is no exception. In fact, with no World Series titles since 1995 and not even an NLCS championship since 1999, Atlanta fans might be more immediately demanding than usual. Even the Royals—with a former Braves’ employee as their general manager, no less—made it to the Fall Classic last season and the Cubs of all teams have advanced to the NLCS more recently (2003) than this franchise (2001).

That’s why what happened on Monday is especially painful, beyond the simple fact of losing arguably the city’s most beloved player.

The Braves traded homegrown talent and star outfielder Jason Heyward to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for starting pitcher Shelby

Miller. Time and time again, this franchise has reloaded—not rebuilt—immediately following departures of some of its biggest and brightest stars. This Heyward deal, however, reeks of a rebuilding process.

“I think there will be some people who will applaud the deal and some people who are going to be heartbroken,” general manager John Hart told the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

“It’s very difficult to trade Jason Heyward, but this deal was made, I think, to help us not only short term, but long term as we go forward.”

Translation: “it will help us only long term (if it helps at all), but maybe there are one or two novice Braves’ fans whom I can goad into thinking it will also help us short term.”

THANKS, J-HEY …

It does not, of course, do any favors for Atlanta’s 2015 roster. Even with Heyward on board in 2014, the Braves still finished second to last in all of Major League Baseball in runs scored (573) and slugging percentage (.360).

They were 26th in the majors in batting average (.241) and 24th in on-base percentage

(.305). Take Heyward’s 74 runs scored, .271 batting average, .351 on-base percentage and .384 slugging percentage out of the equation and you would have some truly terrifying team totals at which to look.

It was in the field where Heyward made his biggest impact. He earned two National League Gold Glove Awards (2012 and 2014) and turned in an all-time great defensive performance this past year. He made a mere one error in 375 chances, good for a percentage of 99.7. He recorded 365 putouts and also had nine assists.

On the basepaths he sped to three seasons of double-digit steals, including 20 in 2014.

Heyward also had intangibles—and a lot of them. Not only was he loved simply for being a local, but he gave 100 percent every day, provided a flair for the dramatic and generally instilled a sense of excitement within the Turner Field faithful. Never were such characteristics more evident than on April 5, 2010.

With no playoff success to speak of during Heyward’s tenure in Atlanta, you have to delve into the regular-season history books to locate memorable moments in recent Braves’ history. Arguably the most indelible image of the last five years—heck, maybe even 10 years—was delivered by Heyward himself. In his first-ever major league at-bat during the 2010 Opening Day game against the Chicago Cubs, the former Henry County High School standout launched a 414-foot home run. That momentous blast sent the crowd into a frenzy, propelled Atlanta to a six-run first inning and a 16-5 win and also ignited the team’s run to its first postseason appearance in five years.

It is true that the level of greatness portended by that moment never came for Heyward; at least not in a Braves’ uniform. Although he was a darn good, multi-dimensional baseball player, he did not blossom into a superstar in Atlanta. Season averages of .262, 17 home runs, 73 runs scored and 58 RBIs are nice. They are not Hall of Fame material. They are not the second coming of Hank Aaron. That being said, it is impossible to tell what remains in store for Heyward. If his career reaches new heights in a new location, he would not be the first former Brave to do that. At 25 years old and seemingly headed for the most productive part of his baseball life, Heyward is a candidate to inflict another such wound in the souls of Atlanta fans.

“I really do like Heyward,” the team’s website reported Hart as saying. “I feel he has done some tremendous things with the Braves. He is a homegrown player and he’s young. He’s in

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the prime of his career. But nonetheless, he was going out [as a free agent next year]. We didn’t want to be left encumbered by all of this.”

WHAT’S NEXT? ...

So, yeah, it stinks that he is gone. You know it really stinks when the man who made the trade (Hart) basically agrees that it stinks. While the circumstances surrounding the trade are unfortunate, the trade itself may not be. Miller is just 24 and has turned in two stellar seasons despite enduring a bit of a sophomore slump relative to his lofty rookie standards (from 15-9 with a 3.06 ERA to 10-9, 3.74). Jenkins, the 50th overall pick in the 2010 draft who is only 22, showed plenty of promise with St. Louis’ Class A affiliate and in the recent Arizona Fall League.

Trading everyday starters with an eye toward the future is never fun, but Braves’ fans may have to get used to it. Second baseman Tommy La Stella was shipped off Chicago last weekend in order to put 24-year-old reliever Arodys Vizcaino back in an Atlanta uniform.

Left fielder Justin Upton and catcher Evan Gattis are also on the market.

Hart and company won’t admit it, but the Braves are positioning themselves to peak in 2017, when SunTrust Park opens in Cobb County and Dan Uggla’s bloated contract is mercifully a thing of the past. Braves’ fans have always been impatient. Now with the Heyward trade, many are downright disgruntled. Will they be able to wait until 2017? Well, they may not have a choice.

Photos courtesy of the Pouya Dianat/Atlanta Braves and AP Images.

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Georgia Tech

Atlanta Falcons

Kyle Korver

The Jackets keep rolling after beating down No. 19 Clemson 28-6. Powered by a rejuvenated Synjyn Days, Tech has won four straight games and sits tied atop of the Coastal Division. The Ramblin’ Wreck can clinch the Coastal crown with a Duke loss this weekend.

Georgia Tech will test their mettle a week from Saturday when they visit Athens.

Don’t look now, but your Atlanta Falcons currently hold the division lead with a record of 4-6. Atlanta has dominated the struggling NFC South, going a perfect a 4-0 after its nail-biting two-point victory at Carolina this past Sunday.

The slate gets tougher for Atlanta as it hosts the Browns and the 9-1 Cardinals the next two weekends.

In his 11th season out of Creighton, the shaggy-haired bomber is leading the NBA in three-point shooting percentage of those with at least 30 attempts. Korver is netting a blistering 56 percent of his deep balls. Korver already has two games with six three-pointers and three games with four buckets from beyond the arc. He only trails Damien Lillard in threepointers made this season.

SCORE LIST

By Brian Jones

FALCONS ON TOP

It has been an interesting season, but with a 4-6 record the Falcons are currently in first place in the NFC South.

They have done it by solid defense and the steady hand of Matt Ryan the last two weeks. Now they have to face the Cleveland Browns who get back Josh Gordon for the first time this season.

DAWGS ON THE MOVE

After a big win against Auburn, the Bulldogs are back in the Top 10 and have a good chance of making it back to the SEC Championship if Missouri loses one of its last two games. With the strong play of Hutson Mason, Nick Chubb and Amarlo Herrera, the Bulldogs looked poised to do something special when it’s all said and done.

GURLEY INJURED

But with all the good, the Bulldogs did get some bad news on Saturday as Todd Gurley will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Gurley was able to rush for over 100 yards in his return game after missing the last four weeks due to a suspension by the NCAA. We wish Gurley a speedy recovery.

HEYWARD GONE

The Braves made a shocking move by trading Jason Heyward to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitcher Shelby Miller. It was a smart move by the Braves because they get a quality starting pitcher for the next four years, which was needed. But man do I hate seeing the Henry County native go. Good luck to you J-Hey.

TO THEIR NEXT ROUND

It’s the second round of the high school football state playoffs and the games will be intense. One matchup to watch is Dalton traveling to Northside-Warner Robins and another is Langston Hughes taking on Milton. Be sure to log onto scoreatl.com all night on Friday for all the scores and recaps from all the games.

WHO’S NOT

By Matt Cason & Kyle Sandy

WHO’S HOT

SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

Todd Gurley

Broderick Snoddy

Top Seeds

After serving a four-game suspension, the star running back looked great in his against Auburn, racking up 138 yards. Unfortunately, Gurley saw his season end after tearing his ACL in the contest.

Luckily for the junior, UGA upped his insurance policy before the game to ensure he would not lose as much cash if he slips in the NFL Draft.

The Georgia Tech A-back suffered a gruesome injury as he fractured his leg in Saturday’s 28-6 win over Clemson, prematurely ending his season.

Snoddy had proven to be a spark plug for Paul Johnson’s offense, showcasing his great speed as he rushed for a career-best 283 yards and three touchdowns while aiding Tech to a 9-2 record.

Six No. 1 seeds were sent home from the state playoffs in an exhilarating first round slate. Among those top teams that saw their season end in disappointing fashion were Class AAAAAA’s No. 6 ranked North Gwinnett, who fell 12-7 to Central Gwinnett. The remaining No. 1 seeded teams should be on their toes during Round 2.

NUMBERS

OUR TWO CENTS

By Kyle Sandy

Our email newsletter is something we take a lot of pride in at Score. If you aren’t familiar with it, it is a high school sportsheavy publication that we produce each day to fill in our readers on the latest happenings in Georgia prep sports. We send it out Monday through Friday throughout the year and Monday through Saturday during the fall.

Not only do we cover popular sports like football, basketball and baseball, we also cover every other varsity sport the GHSA fields. If you like Georgia high school sports at all, sign up for our email newsletter by visiting www.tinyurl.com/scorenewsletter and enter your email address(es) that you’d like added to the distribution list.

?

TRIVIA QUESTION

“

SANITY AT LAST

WHAT TEAM WERE THE BRAVES FACING WHEN JASON HEYWARD HOMERED IN HIS FIRST MAJOR LEAGUE AT BAT?

“I really do like [Jason] Heyward. I feel he has done some tremendous things with the Braves. He is a homegrown player and he’s young. He’s in the prime of his career. But nonetheless, he was going out [as a free agent next year].

We didn’t want to be left encumbered by all of this.”

ANSWER ON PAGE 14

- John Hart- Braves President of Baseball Operations on losing Jason Heyward.

25

Wins by new Braves pitcher Shelby Miller over the last two seasons

18

The Yellow Jackets ranking in current College Football Playoff Poll

7

Straight games without a touchdown for Falcons WR Julio Jones

4

Straight times Georgia Tech men’s basketball team has beat UGA

6

No. 4 seeds playing in the second round of GHSA State playoffs

102.6

Points per game average for the Atlanta Hawks

56.1

Three-point shooting percentage for Atlanta guard Kyle Korver

2009

The last time the Georgia Tech had nine wins in a season

Vol. 10 Iss. 43 | November 21-27, 2014

THIS COMEBACK ATHLETE HAD A LONG ROAD BACK.

TODAY IT’S 8.5 MILES. Know a young athlete who overcame a serious injury or illness? Nominate them for Comeback Athlete of the Month at choa.org/comeback.

©2014 Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Inc. All rights reserved. For official contest rules, visit choa.org/comeback.

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HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

STATE PLAYOFFS KICKOFF WITH A BANG

BY CRAIG SAGER II | CSAGER@SCOREATL.COM

W

e’ve only seen 80 of the 185 state playoff games that will hit the Georgia gridiron this season and history has already been made.

In Class AAAAAA, Region 8 won the battle of Gwinnett and made a clean sweep of Region 7. Central Gwinnett shocked North Gwinnett 12-9 and Grayson dominated Mill Creek 246. Archer held off Norcross 38-22 and Dacula survived for a 17-14 win over visiting Peachtree Ridge. It does not get easier for Region 8 this week as Central Gwinnett takes on Newton, Grayson visits Tucker, Archer hosts Lee County and Dacula visits top-ranked Colquitt County.

ROAD WARRIORS…

There were six No. 1 seeds that fell in the opening round and upsets by Sequoyah and Appling County were among the major ones.

Sequoyah beat an undefeated Lanier team 24-21 and Appling County upset previously

undefeated Peach County 14-7. Central Gwinnett, Washington-Wilkes, Pace Academy and Oconee County were the other No. 4 seeds to knock off top-seeded opponents.

CLASS A ACTION…

As Class AA-AAAAAA opened its playoff action last Friday, Class A had a week off before its 16-team brackets get underway. In Class A-Private No. 16 Christian Heritage visits No. 1 Calvary Day and defending champion Aquinas hosts No. 15 St. Francis. Landmark Christian faces Mount Pisgah and after opening the season 0-6, ELCA will will host Athens Christian.

First Presbyterian is in the playoffs for the fifth time in the last six seasons and visits former Camden County head coach Jeff Herron and his Prince Avenue Christian Wolverines.

Mount Paran enters the playoffs and faces

Stratford Academy, which is in the GHSA playoffs for the first time after spending decades dominating GISA competition.

After posting losing records for five straight seasons, Randy Grace has led Pacelli to consecutive 7-win seasons and they’ll face 2010 state champion Savannah Christian.

Tattnall Square dominated its first season in GHSA competition and jumped to a 9-0 start before falling 49-21 to Aquinas in the Region 7 championship game. Tattnall Square will make its GHSA postseason debut with Pinecrest Academy on Friday.

In A-Public, defending champion Marion County earned the top-seed and faces No. 16 Greenville, which was 1-9 in Vex Farley’s first season last year but has reached the postseason with a 5-5 record this year. No. 9 ECI won the Class A-Public championship in 2012 and enters its first round matchup with No. 8 Mount Zion-Carroll at 8-2. Mount Zion-Carroll was 0-20 from 2010-11 but has gone 17-13 since Keith Holloway took over the program in 2012.

Charlton County posted three straight state titles from 2004-06 but has not reclaimed the title since. Coincidentally, the Indians’ first round opponent is 14-time state champion Lincoln County, whose last title also game in the 2006 season. Lincoln County is led by first-year head coach Kevin Banks and enters the playoffs with momentum after falling

15-13 to Aquinas and topping Stratford Academy 21-20 in the final regular season game.

Hawkinsville boasts a defense that has allowed a state-best 6.3 points per game and will face Jenkins County, which has made a tremendous turnaround after a 1-9 season last year. Calhoun County has won seven games in a season for the first time since 1993 and the Cougars wrapped up their season with a 30-0 victory over Baconton Charter. Their one region loss came to their first round opponent, Mitchell County, which opened its season 1-4 but went 5-0 in Region 1 play, including a 12-8 victory over visiting Calhoun County.

Clinch County will take on Commerce and Dooly County will face Claxton for the first time in school history. After suffering losses to Marion County, Hawkinsville and Schley County, Dooly County got back on track and closed the season with three straight double-digit victories over quality opponents. Claxton lost region matchups to Calvary Day and Savannah Christian but was able to topple ECI (29-23) and Jenkins County (35-21) this year. Atkinson County snuck into the playoffs at 6-4 and will visit Irwin County for a rematch after falling 2114 to the Indians on Halloween.

Photos courtesy of Jason Mussell and Sonny Kennedy.

Vol. 10 Iss. 43 | November 21-27, 2014

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SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

Score Atlanta Pre-Playoff Football Rankings Class AAAAAA 1................. Colquitt County 2.............................Grayson 3............................ Valdosta 4...............................Dacula 5..................North Gwinnett

6.................................Milton 7..........................Mill Creek 8........................ Lee County 9................................Archer 10..............................Tucker

6................................ Lanier 7.................Houston County 8..........................Creekside 9.................... Harris County 10................................Mays

6..................Central-Carroll 7......................Westminster 8...............Westside-Macon 9........................Hart County 10................................ Cook

Class AA 1..Greater Atlanta Christian 2...............................Vidalia 3................................ Lovett 4.......................Benedictine 5..........................Fitzgerald

6...................Brooks County 7................... Macon County 8..........................Darlington 9....................Lamar County 10.....................Thomasville

1.................. Marion County 2..................... Irwin County 3..................... Hawkinsville 4................Charlton County 5.....................Dooly County

6.................. Lincoln County 7.........................Commerce 8....................Clinch County 9..Emanuel County Institute 10.............................Claxton

Class A-Private

Class AAAA 1...............................Buford 2................................Griffin 3................................Marist 4..................... Sandy Creek 5........ Woodward Academy

1.......... Washington County 2.............................Calhoun 3..................Blessed Trinity 4....................Peach County 5...........................Jefferson

Class A-Public

Class AAAAA 1..................... Ware County 2................................Coffee 3...........................Allatoona 4....................................Kell 5...................Northside-WR

Class AAA

6........................... St. Pius X 7........................Cartersville 8....................Mary Persons 9.................................. Cairo 10......................Whitewater

1..................... Mount Paran 2.............................Aquinas 3.......................Calvary Day 4.......... Savannah Christian 5....................Mount Pisgah

6..........Landmark Christian 7...Prince Avenue Christian 8.................. Tattnall Square 9................................Pacelli 10................................ ELCA

SUBMIT YOUR NOMINATIONS

atlantafalcons.com/ youthteamcheersquad

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Now through mid-November, you can submit your nominations for Youth Football Team/Cheer Squad of the Week, Coach of the Week and Captain in the Community weekly at AtlantaFalcons.com Presented by Local Ford Dealer Official partner of your Atlanta Falcons

Vol. 10 Iss. 43 | November 21-27, 2014

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SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

CHARLESTON SOUTHERN UP NEXT; GEORGIA NEEDS A TENNESSEE WIN

BY DAN MATHEWS | DMATHEWS@SCOREATL.COM

A

fter seven straight weeks of playing SEC games, Georgia finally has its chance to play against other teams outside the conference. This is also a chance for the Georgia fans to temporarily give their allegiances to Tennessee, at least just for one game.

Charleston Southern comes to Sanford Stadium for a noon kickoff, with an 8-3 record on the season. The Buccaneers have experience this season playing an FBS opponent and almost came away with a win against Vanderbilt. The Commodores were able to hold on for a 21-20 win in October. Georgia head coach Mark Richt isn’t going to take them lightly.

“They’re not afraid to go into an SEC setting and beat someone’s tail,” Richt said. “They had Vanderbilt on the ropes already this season and we know that they’re an outstanding football team. I’ve said this before and I mean it. It’s hard to beat teams that are used to winning. And this team has got the fever when it comes to winning.”

Charleston Southern’s team has also lost

GEORGIA STATE

BASKETBALL OPENERS SUCCESSFUL; VOLLEYBALL STRUGGLES

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

he basketball season tipped off for both the T men’s and women’s teams this past weekend with both squads cruising to wins. The

dynamic backcourt of Ryan Harrow and R.J. Hunter combined for 49 points in the Panthers’ 115-55 win over Tennessee Temple last Friday.

The 60-point drubbing marks Georgia State’s largest margin of victory in school history. The Panthers moved to 36-10 at home under Head Coach Ron Hunter and set a school-record of 27 assists as they rolled to their 14th straight win at home. The Panthers shot a sizzling 62.5 percent from the field and nailed 13 threes.

When asked about the game Coach Hunter said, “As much as we did on offense tonight, I really can’t explain how much I like this team defensively. We are getting better. I thought that we shot the ball with more confidence tonight than we did in our exhibition games. That is only going to continue to get better.”

The visiting Lady Panthers forced 28 turnovers and made 18 steals on their way to a 72-59 win over North Florida last Saturday.

Georgia State cashed the 28 turnovers into

to Coastal Carolina and Presbyterian this season. However, it has won three straight games and put up 576 yards of total offense in last week’s win over Liberty. This is a Big South Conference record according to CSU’s game notes. All this being said, senior wide receiver Michael Bennett says the Bulldogs need to try and keep their strong momentum rolling.

“It is a little bit difficult, but it’s just another time to compete,” Bennett said. “I think that’s what it comes down to. We’re competitors and it doesn’t matter who we’re playing.

Charleston Southern has a good team. They’re 8-and-3 and they’re a hard, physical team.”

ROCKY TOP LOVE…

Win or lose, these final two games of the season have no bearing on what happens to Georgia in terms of the SEC East race. They just need Missouri to lose one of its final two games against Tennessee and then Arkansas.

The question was brought up earlier can Georgia cheer for Tennessee? Bennett thinks it can.

“I’ll probably just paint a ‘T’ somewhere and run through it or something like that,” Bennett said. “Me and (Georgia quarterback) Hutson (Mason) will be definitely cheering them on.”

Tennessee is being picked by many to win this game, so Georgia fans are hoping the experts are right this weekend. They’re also able to root for former Alpharetta QB Joshua Dobson, as he tries to pull off the upset.

34 huge points. Seniors Kayla Nolan and Brittany Logan led the Panthers in scoring with 15 apiece. Logan grabbed nine rebounds while Nolan harassed the Ospreys on her way to five steals. The Panthers were outrebounded 5039 and found the game hanging in the balance with 6:33 remaining as their lead was trimmed to 59-54. Georgia State was able to answer quickly scoring six straight points and putting the game back into double digits as the Ospreys never managed to threaten again.

DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS…

A trip to Texas was unkind for the Panthers volleyball team as it was defeated 3-1 by Texas State and then 3-0 by UT Arlington. Deidra Bohannon continued her strong play in the losses recording two double-doubles. The loss to UT Arlington marked the final road match of the season. Now 9-18, the Panthers welcome Troy and Appalachian State on Friday and Saturday as they battle for a spot in the Sun Belt tournament. GSU is currently in seventh with the top eight schools going to the tournament.

DAVID VS. GOLIATH…

This Saturday the 1-9 Panthers visit Clemson in a game in which GSU has a chance to shock the college football world. Nick Arbuckle leads the 22nd-ranked passing attack into Death Valley. Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson will be out with a LCL injury. Cole Stoudt, who struggled vs Georgia Tech, will be expected to start.

GEORGIA TECH

JACKETS MAKE CLIMB TO NO. 18 IN LATEST POLL

BY MATT CASON | MCASON@SCOREATL.COM

W

hile a red-hot football squad takes the back burner with a bye week, the Yellow Jackets have gotten off to a great start on the hardwood. Brian Gregory’s squad is off to a 2-0 start after defeating Alabama A&M 66-46 on Tuesday night as two transfers played a large factor in the contest. DeMarco Cox, a senior transfer from Ole Miss, led scorers with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field while Charles Mitchell, a junior transfer from Maryland, chipped in 12 points and 14 rebounds, including nine offensive boards.

This win, while gratifying, was not as pleasing as its victory in the season opener last Friday. McCamish Pavilion played host to some “Clean, Old Fashioned Hate” as Mitchell made quite a splash in his Georgia Tech debut, dropping 20 points and pulling down nine rebounds while sophomore Quinton Stephens scored a game-high 22 points. Following the victory, Coach Gregory spoke about the possible ceiling for Mitchell. “I think he’s got a chance to

KENNESAW STATE

OWLS DOMINATED

BY ORANGE IN SEASON OPENER

BY BRIAN JONES | BJONES@SCOREATL.COM

A

fter months of preparation, the men’s basketball team has kicked off the 2014-15 season and it started with a trip to Syracuse to face the Orange last Friday night. The Owls could not handle one of the best teams in the ACC as they fell 89-42. Nigel Pruitt led the Owls with 11 points while Delbert Love added eight.

“I thought we did some good things,” head coach Jimmy Lallathin told ksuowls.com. “Offensively in the first half we were very stagnant, kind of waiting for somebody else to make the play. In the second half we got things going the way we want to. We didn’t defend their actions well or hit the offensive boards and that’s just part of the maturation process. We need to look at this and highlight the positives and move on.”

For the Orange, Rakeem Christmas scored 21 points while B.J. Johnson added 19 in the win.

The Owls traveled across the country on Sunday to face the Cal Golden Bears. And it was the same result, losing 93-59. It was

be a really good player,” said Gregory. “That’s the thing, I think you need to challenge him every day to become really serious about being a great player. And I think he can be.”

MOVING ON UP…

The fourth edition of the College Football Playoff poll was released on Tuesday and, again, Georgia Tech finds itself making another leap in the rankings. The Yellow Jackets are ranked No. 18 in the nation following a tremendous defensive effort in their 28-6 victory over No. 22 Clemson. It is the high ranking for the Ramblin Wreck since Oct. 9, 2011 when it was ranked No. 12. Paul Johnson’s team is to wrap up the regular season slate when it goes “Between the Hedges” to battle No. 10 Georgia on Nov. 29 at noon. The game is set to be shown on the SEC Network.

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY… Georgia Tech received pleasing news regarding the ‘Big Dance’. ‘The Flats’ was selected on Monday as the host school for the 2018 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball South Regional. The event is scheduled to take place on March 22 and 24. This will be the ninth time an NCAA South Regional has been held in the Atlanta and the first time at Philips Arena.

This news comes one week after Atlanta was awarded the 2020 Men’s Final Four at the new Falcons stadium.

domination from the jump as the Golden Bears outscored KSU 41-15 in the first half. However, it was another strong performance for Pruitt, who scored 16 points, including 13 in the second half. The Owls played Mercer on Wednesday in Macon. They then make another long journey on Friday when they travel to Fargo, N.D. to face North Dakota State.

FAST START…

While the men’s team has struggled out the gate, it was not the same story for the women’s team which also started the season last Friday. In the Lady Owls first game of the year, they faced the College of Charleston and won 68-61. Four players scored in double digits including Breonna Mosely who scored 19 points. Kristina Wells added 14 points and eight rebounds, while Deandrea Sawyers scored 12 points and had nine boards.

On Monday, the Lady Owls took on Tennessee State and earned a 65-56 road win.

Mosely scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds, while Jasmine McAllister had a game-high 25 points and 14 rebounds.

“Overall I am just extremely excited about getting a road win,” said head coach Nitra Perry. “It speaks volumes on the character of the team. There were a couple of small, big things that we need to work on. We had several turnovers that were unforced because we were being casual with the ball, but I think we learned our lesson and it did not result in a loss.”

Vol. 10 Iss. 43 | November 21-27, 2014 ATLANTA HAWKS

HAWKS DROP PAIR AFTER FOUR STRAIGHT WINS

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

A

tlanta’s four game winning streak was snapped this past Saturday when the Hawks fell in Cleveland 127-94. The Cavs used a record-setting first quarter to annihilate Atlanta. Cleveland hit nine consecutive shots from beyond the arc, making them the first team to do so in history. They hit their first 11 threes of the game and led by 16 after the first period. In total the Cavaliers drained 19 threes and shot 54 percent from the field compared to Atlanta’s 44 percent. LeBron James led Cleveland with 32 points. Paul Millsap was the high man for the Hawks with 16. John Jenkins made his season debut after having back surgery in February and was able to pitch in 12 points. When asked about the loss point guard Jeff Teague said, “It was just a rough night. We’ve got to just throw this one away. When they started making shots, I thought we put our heads down.”

TOUGH ONE...

Tuesday night saw the Hawks (5-5) drop

ATLANTA BRAVES

BRAVES PART WITH HEYWARD, LA STELLA ALSO MOVED

BY RICKY DIMON | RDIMON@SCOREATL.COM

I

t did not exactly come as a huge surprise, but the Braves’ offseason began with a stirring jolt when right fielder Jason Heyward was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday. Heyward, who signed a two-year extension prior to last season while a whole host of teammates inked long-term contracts, was set to become a free agent following the 2015 campaign. Ultimately, general manager John Hart and the rest of the management team decided to part ways with Heyward now and get something in return rather than risk losing him to 2015 free agency while being on the receiving end of nothing.

“I didn’t know what to expect going into the offseason,” Heyward told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “But as time went and I didn’t ever see anybody reach out to me as far as wanting to discuss an extension to be here longer than next year, I kind of got (the idea) that I would get traded.”

In exchange for the 25-year-old, who was

a tough one to the visiting Lakers (2-9) 114109. Los Angeles got off to a hot start and led 31-20 after the first quarter. They held a 15 point lead at the half and were able to hold on after a better second half from the Hawks.

“Games are not won in the first quarter,” Kyle Korver said when asked about the slow start.

“But they can be lost in the first quarter. We’ve got to do better at the start of the game. We’ve got to bring more energy, bring more juice.” Atlanta used a 13-0 run to start the second half but were never able to get over the hump. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 28 points while Nick Young poured in 17 in his season debut. Paul Millsap led all scorers with 29 and Jeff Teague added 23. The loss marks Atlanta’s first defeat at Philips Arena this season. The Hawks were tied for the second best home record in all of basketball heading into the night.

UP NEXT…

The Hawks welcome the Detroit Pistons (3-8) this Friday at 7:30 P.M. Coming back to town will be Georgia-native Josh Smith.

J-Smoove played nine seasons with Atlanta and helped build the Highlight Factory. In his one plus seasons in Detroit he has struggled, shooting five percent less from the field and seeing his free throw shooting drop 13 percent.

For tickets to see the Hawks battle J-Smoove and the Pistons, visit atlantahawks.com.

joined in the four-man deal by reliever Jordan Walden, Atlanta got pitchers Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins. Miller, 24, has two successful years of Major League Baseball experience under his belt. He was especially impressive as a rookie in 2013, going 15-9 with a 3.06 ERA in 31 starts. Miller also started 31 games last season, posting a 10-9 record to go along with a 3.74 ERA. Jenkins, 22, was the 50th overall pick in the 2010 draft. He went 6-5 with a 3.28 ERA in 13 Class A starts in 2014.

LA STELLA SENT TO CHICAGO ...

Two of Atlanta’s eight everyday position players at the end of last season departed in the span of about 24 hours. One day prior to the Heyward deal, second baseman Tommy La Stella was shipped off to Chicago in exchange for former Brave Arodys Vizcaino.

La Stella, 25, replaced Dan Uggla midway through the year but was always going to be expendable with 20-year-old Jose Peraza looming as Atlanta’s second baseman of the future.

Peraza may not be ready for a full-time stint in the bigs at this point, so the Braves could be in the market for a stop-gap veteran second baseman this offseason. Vizcaino, meanwhile, is a 24-year-old reliever who played for Atlanta in 2011 before missing all of 2012 and 2013 as a result of Tommy John surgery.

ATLANTA FALCONS

HUNGRY BROWNS VISIT DIVISIONLEADING FALCONS

BY CRAIG SAGER II | CSAGER@SCOREATL.COM

T

he 6-4 Cleveland Browns are fighting for their playoff future and will take on the 4-6 Falcons on Sunday. The Browns’ last road game resulted in a 24-3 rout over Cincinnati Week 10. First-year head coach Mike Petine has made a strong debut after coordinating defenses for the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills.

The Browns’ defense has been led by a secondary that features 3-year pro Tashaun Gipson, who hauled in six interceptions in Cleveland’s first eight games this season.

Atlanta is 3-10 all-time against Cleveland, but has taken two of the last four meetings, including a 20-10 victory at Cleveland in 2010.

Matt Bryant kicked a pair of field goals and Matt Ryan threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Roddy White to give Atlanta its first lead of the game. Kroy Biermann iced the victory with a 31-yard interception return for a touchdown.

BACK TO BUSINESS…

Atlanta moved to 4-0 in division games with a 19-17 victory over Carolina last Sunday.

GWINNETT GLADIATORS

GLADIATORS DROP THREE STRAIGHT

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

T

hree straight losses now put the Gladiators at 5-6-0-0 on the season and looking for momentum. The Greenville Road Warriors dispatched Gwinnett on Thursday, 3-2 in the first of their two matches. Chad Nehring scored his fourth goal of the season on a power play in the first period. Greg Carey continued his hot play for the Gladiators netting his fifth goal of the season and later added an assist. Ryan Hegarty scored the game tying goal for the Road Warriors and Josh Nicholls added the game winner at the 14:19 mark in the third period.

A day after the narrow defeat to Greenville, the Gladiators were handed a 4-2 loss as they blew another early third period lead.

Casey Pierro-Zabotel gave Gwinnett an early lead with the team’s first first-goal lead in two weeks. Pierro-Zabotel struck again for the Gladiators in the second period scoring off a deflection and made it 2-0. Late in the period however, it was Chad Nehring dropping in his fifth goal of the season for the Road Warriors that cut the deficit to one goal. Hegarty and

13

The win was paired with a lopsided Saints loss to Cincinnati and Atlanta took over first place in the NFC South. The Saints host the Ravens for Monday Night Football this week and if the Falcons can beat the Browns, New Orleans would have to beat Baltimore to avoid dropping two games back to the Falcons in the division race.

ROLL CALL… All the news was not positive following Atlanta’s back-to-back road wins and the team must account for more key injuries. Running back Antone Smith has a broken leg and was placed on season-ending injured reserve.

Smith was injured on a special teams play in Sunday’s win over Carolina.

“Antone has done some really good things for us, not only on special teams, which he’s an ace on our special team unit, but he’s also a guy, you guys know, when he touches the ball he’s got the ability to take it the distance,” said head coach Mike Smith.

Starting cornerback Robert Alford will miss two-to-four weeks with a wrist injury suffered in the Carolina game. Robert McClain will take over the cornerback spot in Alford’s absence.

The injuries freed up a roster slot and Atlanta added defensive tackle Ricky Havili-Heimuli to the practice squad on Tuesday. Havili-Heimuli is a 6-foot-4, 314-pound college free agent out of Oregon originally signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars this year.

Sy Nutkevich scored goals 28 seconds apart in the third period and Vinny Saponari added a late goal to lock up the win for Greenville.

HOME SICK …

On Sunday the Glads dropped their third straight game, this time losing to Florida 6-3 during the team’s Movember celebration.

Greg Carey had been recalled by the Portland Pirates, so the Gladiators were out their best goal scorer. Brenden Walker, Marshall Everson, and Casey Pierro-Zabotel all had a goal and an assist in the game, but Florida’s success on the power play (4-of-6) proved to be too much.

The Gladiators will meet the Florida Everblades on their home ice this Friday at 7:30 P.M. Gwinnett welcomes the South Carolina Stingrays to town on Nov. 25 at 7:05 P.M. MOVEMBER A SUCCESS …

The Third Annual ‘Stache Bash was a success this past Sunday. The team auctioned off a one-of-a-kind hockey stick autographed by the Gladiator team and painted blue in honor of Prostate Cancer Awareness. The silent auction concluded at the end of the second intermission with the lucky winner bringing home the stick. Each player on the Gladiators donned or at least attempted to don a mustache in honor of the day’s celebrations but were unable to come away with a win for the home crowd.

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THE BRAVES WERE FACING THE CHICAGO CUBS WHEN JASON HEYWARD HOMERED IN HIS FIRST MAJOR LEAGUE AT BAT.

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Vol. 10 Iss. 43 | November 21-27, 2014

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