OCHS football team

falls to Jefferson
B2
B 1 SECTION TWO

Derek
Wiley
Life of
Wiley
I put on my Royals jersey
and took off to the airport
Last Wednesday, I received a phone call
from my father-in-law in Kansas City.
It was just after 10 a.m. and he wanted to
know if Hillary and I were interested in going
to Game 7 of the World Series that same
night. He would pay for the flight and the
tickets. We just had to come together and
drop everything we were doing because the
flight was leaving Atlanta at 4:15 p.m.
After trying to get a hold of my wife, who
didnt answer her phone because she was
teaching at Athens Tech, I called my fatherin-law back and pretty much told him no.
Wednesdays are hectic at The Oconee
Enterprise. Its the day we lay out the paper
so I had no idea when Id be able to leave the
office. But I still texted Hillary. I needed her
to tell me the idea was crazy.
At 12:45, she finally did. My wife also said
she had a meeting at 3. There was no way she
could go. So I let it go, sort of.
At 1:30, once the paper was nearly done
and I realized I had a shot at making a 4:15
flight, I called my father-in-law.
He didnt answer. So I let it go again.
Until, he called me back 10 minutes later.
I told him Hillary couldnt go but if the
offer was still on the table that I couldnt turn
down the opportunity and that I would make
it to the airport.
He began looking at flights. The original
Southwest one was now sold out. But there
was a Delta flight that departed at 4:10.
I raced home to let my dogs out. I put on
my Royals jersey and grabbed my phone
charger. I packed nothing, not even a toothbrush and took off for Hartsfield-Jackson
Atlanta International Airport.
The GPS on my phone said I would arrive
at 3:30, when the plane was scheduled to
begin boarding. But I had to stop for gas.
After parking my car, I ran to the ticket
counter where more than one person told me
there was zero chance I would make my
flight. I was too late. I didnt have time to get
through security. But at 3:45, after I told her I
was trying to get to the World Series, a sweet
lady finally gave me the boarding pass and by
3:57 I was sitting in first-class. I had run
through the airport. I was a sweaty mess, had
no idea when exactly I would return to
Atlanta or even what would happen when I
arrived in Kansas City. My conversations
with Hillarys father hadnt gone that far. We
had only discussed the flight there, which I
had somehow made.
When I landed, my mother-in-law was at
the airport to pick me up. In the passenger
seat of her Chevy Tahoe was my World
Series ticket and a jacket. She gave me $100
and dropped me off at Kaufman Stadium.
When I arrived at my seat, which was in the
upper deck behind home plate, I got a fan
behind me to take my photo and posted it to
Twitter and Facebook to make all of my
friends jealous.
The game itself was unlike any other I had
experienced.
I was at Fulton County Stadium on Oct. 5,
1991 when the Atlanta Braves defeated the
Houston Astros to clinch the National League
West, but I had never been to a MLB playoff
game, much less Game 7 of the World Series.
The Kansas City crowd was electric, on
their feet in every inning, chanting, Lets go
Royals, or the name of their favorite player.
Unfortunately there wasnt more to celebrate as the Royals lost 3-2.
After the game, I found out my flight home
would depart from Kansas City at 9:25 a.m.
However, there was a layover in St. Louis
and I wouldnt get back to Atlanta until 2:30
p.m., which was later than I was hoping. I
needed to be at Athens Academy for a cross
country meet by 5. The layover turned out to
not be so bad. On my flight to St. Louis, I sat
next to sportscaster Joe Buck. He had called
the World Series and was flying home.
He was incredibly friendly as we mostly
talked about sports.
At the St. Louis airport, I bought a cheap tshirt at a gift shop so I wouldnt show up to
Athens Academy wearing my sweaty Royals
jersey. I landed in Atlanta shortly after 2 p.m.
and was back in Watkinsville around 4:15.
A week later, I still cant believe I made it
to Game 7 of the World Series but as Babe
Ruth once said, Never let the fear of striking
out get in your way.
Derek Wiley is the sports editor of The
Oconee Enterprise. Opinions expressed are
those of the writer.

Sports

Lady Wolverines
second in Class A
BY DEREK WILEY
Prince Avenue Christian made
progress in its third trip to
Columbus in three years but not
as much as the Lady Wolverines
were hoping.
After falling to Eagles Landing
Christian 8-7 in extra innings
Friday night, Prince was able to
battle its way out of the losers
bracket and into Saturday
afternoons if necessarily game
for the first time.
But the Lady Wolverines didnt
have enough gas left in the tank
to dethrone the Lady Chargers as
Prince fell 14-7 to finish second
in Class A Private for the third

straight year.
Were disappointed but were
very proud of the season that we
had, obviously, PACS head
coach Lacy McClendon said. To
be able to come in second in the
state three years in a row is
definitely no small feat but this
was the year that we thought we
just really had the team to go all
the way. It just didnt work out
the way we wanted it to work out
but were still very proud of the
girls for what they did.
The Lady Wolverines opened
play in the Elite Eight last
Thursday with 1-0 victories over
Tattnall Square and First

North Oconee tops

Stephens, now in
second in 8-AAAA

When asked if he planned on

doing anything other than giving
the ball to Bryant in overtime,
NOHS head coach Terry Tuley
responded, Not unless they
made us.
The Titans jumped on Stephens
early, scoring in just five plays to
take a 7-0 lead with 7:24
remaining in the first quarter.
A 43-yard run by Bryant got
NOHS well into Indians territory
and Shields then broke free for an
18-yard touchdown.
Stephens County began moving
the ball in the second quarter but
NOHS senior lineman Brackin
Smith recovered a fumble at the
Titans 29-yard line.
After Stephens County missed
a 40-yard field goal, NOHS went
into halftime up 7-0 but feeling
like it shouldve done more on
offense.
We let them beat us to the
punch up front, Tuley said. I
thought we could actually block
them and run out stuff and we did
that first series and went down
the field and it was 7-0 just liked
we owned it and maybe I got a
little too believing in that and
didnt do as much of a scheme
and adjusting kind of stuff. I just
called the plays and lets go run
them and then we get into
halftime and I was pretty hard on
the offensive line because it felt
like they had let me down but I
thought we played hard in the
second half.
Taking advantage of a short
field after a NOHS fumble, the
Indians tied the game at 7-7 on a
28-yard touchdown pass from
Long to Isaiah Mighell with 1:28
remaining in the third quarter.
Stephens County then took a
14-7 lead with 7:50 left to play

NOHS golfer signs

college scholarship
B3

THURSDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2014

Prince Avenue Christians softball team finished second in Class A Private to Eagles Landing Christian for the
second straight year. [Photo by Linda Zeagler]

Presbyterian to set up their first

game against ELCA.
Prince fell behind 7-4 after four

innings before fighting back with

a run in the top of the fifth, sixth
and seventh to tie the game at 7-

7. The Lady Chargers won the

game with a run in the eighth.

Reservation for two

BY DEREK WILEY
TOCCOAA
week
after
giving up 58 points, North
Oconees defense got its groove
back Friday night.
On fourth down from the 1yard
line,
Titans
safety
Zantravious
Shields
sacked
Stephens County quarterback
Mason Long to secure a 21-14
overtime victory.
The Indians, who were
averaging over 37 points per
game and hadnt scored less than
28 all season, had three shots
from the 2-yard line to punch it in
but North Oconees defense
stood tall.
Shields recorded seven tackles
but none bigger than the one to
end the game.
We thought they were going
to pass it on that last play and our
defensive line and linebackers
really did a great job of coming
up in support and he [Long] just
ran it outside, Shields said. I
saw him fake the ball and I saw
him pull it and I just knew that
was my responsibility.
He
definitely slipped up. It would
have been a nice foot race if he
hadnt fallen a little bit. It
definitely helped.
The Titans got the football first
in overtime and scored in four
plays on a 3-yard run by Kawon
Bryant.
Bryant, who went over 6,000
career years in the game, got all
four carries in the extra period
and finished with 148 yards on
28 carries.

SEE

PACS SOFTBALL PAGE B2

North Oconee senior Zantravious Shields put the Titans on the scoreboard first with an 18-yard touchdown run
past the Stephens County defense. [Photo by Tony Vismor]

on a 7-yard touchdown run by

Desmond Wheeler.
With less than 5 minutes
remaining, the Titans thought
they had answered but a 46-yard
touchdown run by Shields was
called back for holding.
On third-and-13 from the 26yard line, Tate Adcock connected
with Shields for a 25-yard gain.

Bryant then punched it from

the 1-yard line to tie the contest
at 14-14 with 2:12 left to play.
The touchdown gave Bryant 87
for his career, which is one more
than Herschel Walker.
After stopping the Indians
offense, NOHS got the ball back
with 40 seconds remaining and
two timeouts. But the Titans

turned the ball over on downs

after they were unable to convert
a fourth-and-1 at midfield.
I almost blew it there on that
fourth down pass but all I was
really trying to do was get a
sideline out and then get another
one and give [kicker Justin]
Peachey a shot, Tuley said.
SEE

NOHS FOOTBALL PAGE B2

The Ellis Pain Center/Oconee Enterprise Athlete of the Week

Doster leads Wolverines past Lakeview in all phases

PACS senior Jonah Doster had 373 all-purpose yards in Fridays 49-10
victory over Lakeview Academy. [Photo by Derek Wiley]

BY DEREK WILEY
Prince Avenue Christian has
asked senior Jonah Doster to do a
lot this season.
Hes the Wolverines leading
rusher but also starts at cornerback, returns kicks and is the
teams punter.
Doster had his most productive
game of the season Friday at
Lakeview Academy, finishing
with 373 all-purpose yards to go
with four tackles and a pass break
up on defense in Princes 49-10
victory, making him the Ellis Pain
Center/Oconee Enterprise Athlete
of the Week.
He just did it in every phase,
PACS head coach Jeff Herron
said.
He had a good punt return. He
had a good kickoff return. He had
catches. He had runs but hes
done that all year. Hes just that
kind of player. He makes plays in
every phase of the game. Hes a
very well liked kid. He can do
most anything.

ATHENS-BOGART
ROYSTON
Doster carried the ball 11 times
for 181 yards but his favorite play
of the game was an 84-yard
touchdown reception from quarterback Tyson Herron late in the
first half.
That was a big momentum
shift and kind of got them down,
Doster said. They had us all the
way down inside the 20 yard line
and we were able to go all the way
down and score.
Doster was just as busy on
defense trying to shut down a
Lakeview attack that threw 41
passes.

The Wolverines allowed just

one touchdown on a 19-yard pass
at the end of the first half.
It was challenging but I knew
our defensive backs had been
working at it all week to be ready
for the pass before the run,
Doster said. We let up a few big
plays that kind of set them up for
their touchdown but overall I
think we did pretty good in the
secondary.
Doster likes playing on offense
the most but will do whatever
needed to help his team.
I like having the ball in my
hands but whatever the coach tells
me to, Ill do it, he said.
The Ellis Pain Center/Oconee
Enterprise Athlete of the Week is
chosen by the sports staff of The
Oconee Enterprise. Local coaches
are welcome to email their nominations to sports@oconeeenterprise.com by Monday at 10 a.m.
Ellis Pain Center can be reached
at www.ellispain.com.