SportsWeek Sect,on B Also Religion , Obituaries , Classifieds October 23, 200s File photo West Forsyth linebacker Pete Balthrop (far left) is one of the top defensive players around the city this year. West's Balthrop is tough defender For the past two week's I've kind of revealed my list of top high school football play ers. Two weeks ago I released a top 10 list of skilled players. Last week, I released a list of 12 underrated offensive skilled players. . Again, this isn't any kind of All-Chronicle team or any thing. I'm simply giving my opinion about some of the top prep football players around here. If a player doesn't make my top list that doesn't mean I CJ. Hill. He also plays on the offensive line. But he does his thing on defense. He's arguably the most athletic line man this city has seen in years. He's built more like a line backer than a lineman. And, he's got the feet of a fullback. He's got some rhythm too. I saw him dancing with the Carver band after one game, and he fit right in. Number nine goes to East Forsyth's senior linebacker CJ Wilson. Wilson is a head aon t respect his game. It simply means that he didn't fall within my top - 10 list, which isn't hard. There's a lot more than 10 tal ented players in this city. Straight up. This week I'm going to FROM THE HUDDLE hunter. He reminds me of Florida State's senior line backer Derrick Nicholson. Nicholson always seemed to know what offenses were trying to do to him when he was at Mt. Tabor. That's how Wilson name my top 10 defensive players this year. I tend to think of the skilled players over some of the big men because that's simply where my mind goes when I start to think of lists like this. I will try not to mention defensive backs. I do want to add that most of my guys are seniors. I will also try not to mention guys that were on my other lists. My number 10 defender is Carver's defensive lineman looks on the neia. He plays as if he knows what's going. He hits pretty good too. Number eight goes to two Atkins guys. I'm going with senior defensive lineman Charles White and senior offensive lineman and line backer Joel Oglesby. Charles White has a great name (Former NFL great). And, he plays as well as any football player around here on most Friday nights. White has great See HUI on B2 Photo by Charlie Pfaff Carver head football Coach Brent David and High Point Andrews head coach Rodney McCoy both have warm feelings for their respective schools. Those feelings will be put aside when they battle at Simeon Stadium on Friday night. 'Special' Game Coaches used to play for opposing schools BY ANTHONY HILL THE CHRONICLE It's not often that two head football coaches lead their respective teams into battle against r take a step toward one of our goals of winning the conference. They're going to be tough They're also undefeated in conference play." Forget the records of the two schools. Don'l think about the playoff indications of Friday squads that once meant a great deal to them. High Point Andrews head coach Rodney McCoy and Carver's Brent David will do just that when they lead their squads against each other on Friday night. The game will also mean a great deal to their teams, as they are both in the hunt for the con ference title with unbeaten confer ence marks till this point. Carver defeated Glenn earlier this week, while Andrews (5-2, 2-0) picked up a victory over Reagan last Friday. ? nr f r i i m Coach McCoy night's clash. Several fans will be interested in seeing how the two for mer high school stars. Brent David and Rodney McCoy, react to the cir cumstances surrounding the game. McCoy is a former Carver high ath lete that also helped coach the team to a state championship in 2002 ? his first year on the Yellowjacket staff. McCoy was the Carver defen sive coordinator until three years ago. He's been the head coach at Andrews for the past two years. David is a former multi-sport star at "Kodney is doing a great job over there," said David. "He's opened up the offense. He's got a great player in Tony Washington that does a lot for his offense. This is a very important game for us. This will give us a good implication of where we stand in the conference. It will also give us an opportunity to Andrews, who also coached with the Raiders for a short time after his athletic career ended. "Carver is my home," McCoy said. "Carver raised me. I'm going to always miss that. Carver will always be in my heart. But you have to move forward. I'm happy to be at Andrews." See Game on B4 Akira Fitzgerald Honor goes to Wake goalie CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT Wake Forest junior goal keeper Akira Fitzgerald was named A C C Men's Soccer Co Player of the Week on Tuesday morning as announced by the league office . in Tracy Greensboro. Maryland for ward Casey Townsend shared the honor with Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald recorded a pair of shut outs last week help ing the Deacons to a 6-0 vic tory over UNC Greensboro and a scoreless tie against Duke. The Baltimore, Md., native tied a career high with five saves against the ' Spartans and made four saves to keep the game with the Blue Devils scoreless. Fitzgerald now has an ACC best nine shut outs on the season. The nine shut outs ranks Fitzgerald in a tie for second for most shut outs in a single season at Wake Forest. Fitzgerald ranks sec ond in the ACC with a goals against average of 0.43. He is the, fourth different Deacon to earn player of the J. week honors from the con ference office, joining Lyle Adams. Austin da Luz and Marcus Tracy. No other team in the conference has had more than two players hon ored. In other Wake soccer news, senior forward Marcus Tracy was featured in the See Soccer on B2 North Forsyth JV falls to West, 21-0 BY ANTHONY HILL THE CHRONICLE It's been a long season for the North Forsyth JV football team. The young Vikings are 2-5, with most of their remain ing games being tougher than the ones they've already played. Unfortunately for the Vikings, they ran into West a week it suffered a tough loss to Davie County. The Titans seemed to take that loss out on North ? defeating the Vikings 21-0 during last week's JV Game of the Week. "I'm really happy with the effort we showed tonight," said West head JV coach Brian Bowman. "I'm also happy with our ability to bounce back after a tough loss. Last week was tough for the kids. They played together tonight and did a great job." The Titans, who played without talented sophomore running back Donta Wade, struck early when freshman Kevin Rumfelt outran the Viking defense for a 76-yard touchdown run on the Titans Photo by Charlie Pfifl North Forsyth quarterback Edward Valentine tries to grasp of West Forsyth 's Doug Whelan. first possession of the game. Ryan Vestal's kick made it 7-0 with 8:59 to go in the opening quarter. "He (Kevin Rumfelt) gave us a good boost tonight," said Bowman. "Jermaine Lewis also gave us a boost when he came in. I'm real proud of those guys. I'm real proud of the way our defense played as well. The defense has really been keeping us in every game. They played the whole third quarter. I think we may have run two plays in the third quarter." North couldn't seem to get anything going on offense in the first half, despite the efforts of quarterback Ed Valentine and running back Anthony Davis. Marvin Young, Daniel Woodruff and Muriel Hilliard also put in a good effort for the North offense early in the game. The North defense, led by Danny Promutico, played well in the first half. "Hie Vikings held West to only one score until late in the second quarter. West then got a boost from See JV on B2 High 'Gamble' Photo by CMn Watkin* Carolina Panther cornerback Chris Gamble lays a high hit on New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush during the Panthers' 30-7 victory at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday. 722-8624 - MASTERCARD. VISA WD AMERICAN