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Last season was not a memorable one by any stretch of the imagination for the Apalachee High School boys basketball team and coach Kevin Morris.

The team posted just one victory and the memory of that most recent season remains burned into Morris’ mind. The AHS coach has experienced the highs and lows of the profession. While a Final Four trip was recorded a few seasons ago, the 2010-2011 campaign bothered Morris on many fronts.

First, no coach enjoys seasons like that. You can keep all the talk of how it helped build character and how it tested the makeup of the squad. Morris, like all coaches, wants to see his players succeed and enjoy the thrills of victory, not the agonies of defeat. [Full Story »] 

My favorite television mini-series was the 1983 production of “Chiefs,” starring Charlton Heston.

In it, Heston plays the Southern political boss, Hugh Holmes, of the fictional town of Delano, Georgia. It chronicles several decades in how Heston tries to build the town and give it a good reputation. All the while, however, there is an undercurrent of activity going on involving a serial killer.
In one of the final scenes of the mini-series, Heston’s character views the carnage that has come to light and says, “I’ve worked most my life — 50 years — to give this town a name. Now every time it’s mentioned, it will be for this.”

I thought about that movie as the bizarre saga at Penn State unfolded in recent days. I’ve followed sports my entire life and there has always been tragedy and even chaos, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anything like this. [Full Story »] 

As it turns out, there would be no postseason appearance for either Apalachee High School or Loganville High School.

However, the two football teams put on a display Friday night at R. Harold Harrison Stadium which would have made one think the playoffs — or even more — were on the line.

In the end, the visiting Red Devils escaped with a 45-42 victory as quarterback Garrett Ford, showing a remarkable resemblance to Tim Tebow, fought in on an eight-yard run with three seconds left. That score capped a wild display of offense which had both teams scoring almost at will, especially in the second half. [Full Story »] 

Football, probably as much as any sport, is about emotion.

The Apalachee High School Wildcats have showed a remarkable ability to turn things around this season after a slow start. Ironically, the slow start was in the win-loss category only as AHS actually played well in its first four games of 2011, despite not posting a victory.

Close losses to Habersham Central (three points), Salem (seven points) and Heritage (five points) were tough to accept. Even in the game against undefeated and No. 3-ranked Flowery Branch back on Sept. 9, the Wildcats played well. It’s just the Falcons are a step above most, if not all, opponents in Region 8-AAAA this season. [Full Story »] 

Barrow County is unique — and lucky I suppose — in that it has a special rivalry between it’s two major high schools.

I’m sure rivalaries exist in counties such as Gwinnett but with so many schools and so many people, I’ve alway felt rivalries get lost in the shuffle. It’s not that way in Barrow County. Here we have Winder-Barrow High School, the program with a history dating back decades, and we have Apalachee, still the relatively new kid on the block.

While the football teams have only been playing since 2004, the gridiron rivalry has quickly become one the community enjoys and looks forward to. With some changes on the horizon in terms of classifications and region alignments, it would be a shame if it could not continue. [Full Story »] 

It’s easy to be a fan or a supporter when things are going in your favor.

It’s easy to be a fan when your team competes for region championships each fall. It’s easy to make your way to the game each Friday when you know your team will be in the playoffs again.

However, it takes a true fan or supporter to be there when the chips are down. That’s why the Winder-Barrow High School football players need your support and not your absence on Friday nights. [Full Story »] 

Knowing Shane Davis as long as I have, I know the Apalachee High School mentor is not one for moral victories.

Yet, even Davis will admit to the fact his team played well last Friday in a 22-17 loss on the road against undefeated Heritage. The Wildcats had legitimate chances to win the contest and pushed the Patriots as far as any opponent has in 2011. [Full Story »] 

For the amount of time Shane Davis has been in the coaching profession, he has not had to deal with his teams being involved with slow starts to a season.

To this point, 2011 has been one of just two seasons in 20 years Davis has had to try and get his team to turn around seasons which have started with a less than desired number of wins.

“The kids who are in our program here at Apalachee have never been through this,” Davis said. “It’s something new for me during my time as an assistant and as a head coach. However, we can’t let what has happened to this point keep us from realizing there are still seven more regular season games to play. Our goal at this point has to be to finish 7-3 and then see what happens.” [Full Story »] 

Two days later, the emotion was still evident in David Wagner’s voice.

His Winder-Barrow High School football team was so close to victory, yet in the end, that elusive first win was denied, grabbed away like a bully stealing your lunch money.

“It was a tough evening,” said Wagner, whose team led 21-0 at one point in the contest. “It wasn’t any easier going back and watching it the second time around. We started on a high note, but couldn’t finish it. I will say we never had a letdown in effort the entire time.” [Full Story »]