SportsWeek October 2 3, 2QQ3 Eagles fly over North Forsyth Rucker not enough to propel Vikings BV ANTHONY HILL THE CHRONICLE North Forsyth ninth-grade tailback Michael Rucker runs to the left, then to the right, then up the middle. That was the scene for the North Forsyth junior varsity football team (now 3-4, 1-2) during its game against East Forsyth (5-3) last Thursday night. Rucker finished the game with an amazing 161 rush ing yards on 28 carries. But that wasn't enough to propel t h e Vikings over the Eagles, as East won 17-14. "I think No. 20 for North Forsyth, Mr. Rucker, is a pretty good player," East head JV coach Greg Tuttle said. "We didn't stop him tonight. We didn't even contain him. A penalty here or there was what really helped us tonight. We did enough to win. And after being 4-1 and then dropping to 4-3, (this) made us really want to win." The entire game seemed to have a nice flow to it. Neither team really jumped out to a commanding lead the whole game. Both teams battled back and forth all the way until the final horn. "Yeah, the game did have a nice flow to it," said North head JV coach Joe Wade. North got on the board early when the talented Rucker capped a six-play, 27-yard chive with a 7-yard gallop into the end zone with 11:54 to go in the second quarter. East did n't take long to answer as soph omore quarterback Nick Corak burst through the Viking defense for the score with 9:10 See Eagles on Bit I Rucker Photo by Bruce Chapman Vikings running back Michael Lawrence tries to fight off a Falcon defender during a Peewee game last Saturday. The Pop Warner playoffs will begin on Saturday. Pop Warner teams finish in style Falcons take out Vikings; Indians dust Grayhounds BY ANTHONY HILL THE CHRONICLE 2 Most of the Pop Warner teams Finished their seasons last Saturday in style. And the players on various squads got in gear for the playoffs, which will begin on Saturday. One of the most exciting games of the weekend had to be the Junior Peewee game between the Tiny Vikings and the Falcons. It was one of the better defensive games in recent memory, with both teams battling each other for four quartets, and eventually over time. Too bad both teams couldn't have left Mineral Springs as win ners. The Vikings pulled out the 12-6 win in overtime. "The team played tough, and hard." said Viking Junior Peewee coach Pat Payne. "We've had great practices this week. Our guys did what they had to do to pull out the victory. 1 think the defense brought us through the game. If it wasn't for them, we would not have even been in the game. "When we scored in the fourth quarter, I wasn't really worried about overtime. We almost had a game go into overtime earlier this season. I just told my coaches to get prepared for it, and we did. We're on a high nght now. I told the goys that we cdOldn't let them take our hearts out. because we'd be on a low ride next week (Satur day). I told them to play hard, and take their hearts out. and we did." The Junior Peewee Vikings will have to face those same Fal cons in the first round of the play offs at 9 a.m. Saturday at Gray hound Field. The rest of the games were pretty much dominated by the tal ented and well-coached Falcons. The Falcons won the Flag, Mitey Mite. Peewee, Junior Midget and Midget games. Information about the Flag and Mitey Mite games was not immediately made avail able. but the Falcons were able to win those games. Another one of See Pop Warner on Bll What ever happened to middle school football? The kids really give it their all on Saturdays, don't they? I'm not talking about the college guys either. I'm talking about the young future stars of the gridiron who play in the Pop Warner nation. I t doesn't matter i f you're a fan of the Vikings, Tiny Indi ans, Packers, Falcons or whomever. All of the teams have a lot of talented players who can do some amazing things during the course of a single play. Don't get me wrong, some of those teams have a lot more talent than others, but, for the most part, no team is really left talent less. One thing that I am notic ing more and more with the P n n r Warner players is their lack of funda mental skills. I ' m s e r i - ous. I never thought I would see the day when I would get more excited over a great block over an amazing run. I'm still being serious. It's just so rare that you see a good .block, a play that was Sec Hill on B11 FROM THE HUDDLE Anthony Hill WFU players capture honors CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT Last week was a good one for the Deacs of Wake Forest. T k r ? 1 III t t p Demon Deacons - run n i n g back Chris ? Barclay, line backer Ke 11 e n . Brantley and cen ter Blake Lingruen - were named ACC Players of the Week for their performances < in WFU's 42-13 win at Duke last Saturday. Bar clay Was Barclay named A C C Offen s i v e Back of t h e Week after tal lying a career- < best 163 ., .. - ,1 .. y a i u a and three touchdowns on 22 carries, all of which came in the first half. Barclay carried the ball seven times for 71 yards on the Deacs' opening drive of Lingruen t h e game, and notched his sec o n d straight 100-yard game in the first minute of the second quarter. He added to his total with a career-best 47-yard TD run just before halftime. It was the highest rushing total by a Deacon back since Morgan Kane had 224 against Georgia Tech in 1998. It was also the second time in Bar clay's career that he scored Sec WFU on B1 I Brantley Big 4 games bring nostalgia Older bailers put on show for classmates, fans BY ANTHONY HILL THE CHRONICLE j What a scene it was at the old Atkins gymnasium last Fri day night, when the Big 4 geared up for a showcase of skills on the basketball court. The alumni basketball games were as good as advertised, and more exciting than anyone could've expected. "We're so extremely pleased." said Patricia Sadler Day. event coordinator and Anderson High alumna. "This really exceeded our expecta tions. We were hoping that peo ple came out and supported this, and they came out in large num bers. We had to turn people away. This was a major suc cess." One of the reasons why the event was such a success was the level of skills the older play ers exhibited on the court. A lot of the guys on all four teams looked as if they still had a little bit of the talent that made them famous once upon a time, espe cially former Anderson star Robert Little. Little literally put on a show on his way to scoring mote than 10 points in Ander son's 19-18 victory over Paisley. Little did it all, from skying over Panthers for rebounds to dishing the rock to teammates. A number of players on both teams had great games, though. Anderson also was led by Eugene "Genie Boy" Griffin, Hantzel Hentz. Rodney Massey, Dewayne Aikens and Harrison Davis. Paisley was held down by the very talented Isaiah "Butch" Black Jr. Black paced an impressive Paisley run in the second half that almost gave the Panthers the victory by stroking the nets from the outside. "I've run the AAU basket ball program at Winston Lake for the last 10 years," Black said. "I also coach at a charter school here in Winston. So 1 work out with the boys there. I've also got two grandboys that keep me running. This really took me back over 30-some thing years. "I think this is something that the city needs, because this is something we'll never get back. As you can see. the crowd is here tonight. The word got out. and I think this was a sell out. There's no doubt this is big for the city. I hope the tradition keeps on." William Butler. Anderson See Big 4 on B3 Photo bv Anthony Hill An Atkins player shows Carver's Waldo Hauser some love after the Camels beat the Yellow jackets 42-30 last Friday night. Carl Russell, Crosby's traveling basketball teams to hold sign-ups Leagues available for kids of all ages BY ANTHONY HILL THL CHRONICLE One of the hottest leagues in the city last year, Carl Rus sell Community Center's Generation Best Basketball League, is set to hold registra tion for the upcoming season. The center has already started sign-ups and will continue through Dec. 19. The league is for kids 4-5, 6-9, 10-12 and 13-15 years of age. "This year will mark the first year of the 4-5 age group." said Carl Russell director Aaron Bailey. "The expectations for this year are high, with an amazing year last year and a high talent level. This year will be extremely exciting." The league not only con centrates on increasing bas ketball skills, but improving academics as well. Along with regular practice schedules, the players will have the avail ability of computers to com plete homework or other school-related work. The price of the league will be the same as previous years: $25. "That (price) will include trophy, jersey and banquet," Bailey concluded. "We're also looking at getting more coaches with the addition of more teams." For more information about the Generation Best basKet b a tl League, contact Aaron Bailey at the Carl Russell Commu n i t y Center at 7 2 7 - 2580. Footnote: Hubert Crosby is set to hold registration for his trav eling basketball teams. Cros by is holding sign-ups for two different teams. "We're doing what we can to get kids in our league," Crosby said.' "We feel good about it. and we're ready to get it started." There will be registration St* Basketball on B2 ?E S