A thrilling year for prep sports: Fall

Well, we’ve come to the end of another school year and with it the end of perhaps the most exciting nine months of area prep sports in recent memory.

We’ve seen championships and records broken as well as a number of gut-wrenching losses. But, most importantly, we’ve seen high-level competition. I can remember years where so many programs were afterthoughts – not so in 2008-09.

With that in mind, Access North Georgia takes a look back at the highlights and thrills that made up the 2008-09 prep sports calendar. This is a three-part series, focusing today on fall sports.

The start of the school year brought us numerous team state championships...

FALL

FOOTBALL
Of course football is still king in Georgia – even more so when your teams are among the best in the state. And there’s no denying that northeast Georgia produced some of the best gridiron action around in the fall of 2008.

The lone championship came from Buford, which claimed its sixth state title (1978, 2001, '02, '03, '07 and '08) after waxing Calhoun 45-21 in the Class AA championship. The Wolves went undefeated for the second straight season and stormed to a second straight crown just a year after graduating enough Division-I talent to have most programs drooling.

But this year’s football story consisted of far more than one chapter.

Flowery Branch certainly provided more than its share of thrills, setting off on an improbable playoff run that captured the attention of all of Class AAA. The Falcons, a No. 3 seed at the start of the postseason, won four straight road playoff games while traveling just under 1,000 miles, finally reaching the state championship game at the Georgia Dome, where they fell to Cairo 28-14. Flowery Branch led early and stayed close throughout until a late Syrupmakers score sealed the outcome.

Flowery Branch’s run was part of a big success story for Region 7-AAA this postseason, in which three of its four teams won in the first round of the playoffs.

Gainesville, which claimed its fourth region crown during the regular season, went undefeated for 12 straight contests. The Red Elephants’ explosive offense and air-tight defense proved too much for most opponents, as quarterback Blake Sims and receiver Tai-ler Jones helped light up 7-AAA and playoff foes Oconee County and Cartersville. Carver, Columbus finally ended Gainesville’s run, 28-14 in the Class AAA quarterfinals, in a game where the Red Elephants pulled within 21-14 before a missed fourth down opportunity sealed the contest in the fourth quarter for Carver.

Meanwhile, North Hall, which finished second in Region 7-AAA, displayed one of the most disciplined offenses and toughnosed defenses in Class AAA to reach the sweet 16 -- and so nearly moved on to the quarterfinals. The Trojans ultimately fell to Dunwoody 18-13 in a defensive battle, but, on that bitterly cold night in Atlanta, North Hall proved that it can never be counted out, nearly pulling off the upset after trailing throughout.

Elsewhere around northeast Georgia, Riverside Military Academy clinched its first-ever Georgia High School Association playoff berth in the Eagles first season back in GHSA since 2002 -- after a short time spent in the Georgia Independent Schools Association. Riverside qualified for the postseason from Region 8-AA but fell to Pepperell in the first round 38-10.

Region 8-AA’s champs, Jefferson, also posted a memorable campaign. The Dragons snared their first-ever undefeated regular season (10-0), winning their first region title in 31 years. In what would prove to be coach Bill Navas’s last game with Jefferson, the Dragons fell to Lovett in the second round of the Class AA playoffs 34-24.

Also in 8-AA, Banks County posted its first winning season and entered the playoffs for the first time in 11 years. The Leopards fell to Calhoun 63-0 in the first round.

Banks County neighbors Commerce reached the Class A playoffs but fell 21-7 to Wilkinson County in the first round.

In Class AAAAA, North Gwinnett fell to Newnan 20-3 in the quarterfinals. It was the Bulldogs’ third quarterfinal playoff appearance in as many years.

Also, Apalachee enjoyed a successful first season in Class AAAA, reaching the postseason before falling to Rome 16-8 in the first round.

SOFTBALL

Buford’s softball team showed that domination doesn’t just belong to the Wolves football squad, going 34-2-1 and winning its second straight Class AA title. Buford didn’t drop a single contest in the postseason and relied on the dominating form of two sophomore pitchers -- Melissa Dickie and Karly Fullem -- which is a good sign for future seasons.

Also, in Class AAAAA, Mill Creek did what many believed had been coming for years, clinching a state crown.

In Region 7-AAA, Creekview came out on top, while White County finished second. West Hall’s Lady Spartans also finished as the No. 3 seed, and Lumpkin County was fourth -- though no 7-AAA team made it through to the state finals in Columbus.


VOLLEYBALL

In its first season in Region 7-AAA, Creekview claimed the region crown over Flowery Branch. Creekview also advanced to the Class AAA semifinals, eventually falling to St. Pius X.

The Falcons, meanwhile, won one match in the state sectionals before falling to Ringgold. North Hall also won its first game in the state tournament but couldn't get past Columbus in the Sweet 16 bracket.

The Lakeview Academy volleyball team also reached the Class AA/A tournament, eventually falling in straight sets to Blessed Trinity.

Gainesville's Jubilee Christian Academy also won its third straight Georgia Christian Athletic Association Class A volleyball championship.

CROSS COUNTRY

Boys distance running was owned by Region 7-AAA in 2008.

Flowery Branch and North Hall dominated at the state meet at Carrollton High School, placing seven runners in the top 15 combined. In the end the Falcons took the team crown, placing all five runners in the top 24 to edge the Trojans and claim their first-ever team title for the school.

Daniel Martinez was the Falcons top runner, finishing eighth in a time of 16:32.36. David Farist was 11th, Maurice Riden 13th, Kenny Slavik 15th, and Jeffrey Velez took 24th as the five runners to count in the scoring.

Ty McCormack of North Hall placed fifth with a time 16:22.03 to pace the Trojans. Cody Barger also finished ninth; Nolan Clark was 10th; Brandon Lawson was 31st; and Reese Walker was 42nd. North Hall coach Jonathan Lillie said it was a great showing for his squad.

On the girls side, Kiara McCue-Woods of Flowery Branch finished in a time of 19:04.04 and as the state runner-up. Woods’ arch-rival Sarah Turner of Pickens was third with a 19:18.40 showing.

Region 7-AAA team runner-up West Forsyth, in just their second year as a program, came away with the morning’s most impressive team showing taking fourth overall with 151 points. The Lady Wolverines were paced by Taylor Roeck and Kat Gibson, who finished sixth and seventh, respectively.

CHEERLEADING

The Chestatee High competitive cheerleading squad won the Region 7-AAA title and automatically advanced to the state championships.

(Come back tomorrow for a look at what happened for the area’s winter sports programs like basketball, wrestling and swimming)