By HARVEY SIMPSON

Dispatch Sports Editor



ROCHELLE — Taking their cue from the old Willie Nelson hit tune, “On the Road Again,” that’s exactly where Wilcox High’s Patriots will be again Friday night for one of the two GHSA Class A Final Four contests.

After traveling to beat sixth-ranked Greenville (39-19) and top-ranked Wesleyan (20-15) the last two Friday nights, coach Mark Ledford’s 11-2 squad will be visiting Clinch County’s unranked Panthers (10-3) in Homerville. Kickoff time is 7:30 p.m.

“We’d certainly rather be playing at home (where the Patriots have a 24-game winning streak in progress), but at the same time we’ve had pretty good luck of late on the road, too,” Ledford said in hinting of the four straight out-of-town victories his team has posted.

“The main thing is we’re just glad to be where we are since a lot of folks had already written us off when we were 3-2 overall and 0-1 in our region (2-A) at mid-season.

“As it stands now, we’re in the Final Four for only the sixth time in school history (Lyndon Gordon led Wilcox there in 1970, Donnie Clack carried them that far in 1980, 1988 and 1989 and Ledford had them there in 2007) and that’s a big accomplishment in itself.

“Our goal, though, continues to be reaching the state championship game for only a second time in school history and then winning it for the first time ever.”

Ledford realizes, though, that’s going to be a tall order to fill as the Clinch team his Patriots are facing tomorrow night has been on a roll of its own. After going 2-3 in its first five starts, it has an eight-game winning streak that matches Wilcox's.

History is also on the Panthers’ side. From 2001-07, they made it to the state semifinals in six of those seven years. In that span, they won it all in 2002, shared the crown with Hawkinsville in 2004 and lost out in the 2006 finals. In 2004, they set a national record when they allowed just 116 yards rushing in the entire 15-game season.

Clinch has now won its region seven of the last 10 years and finished second on the three other occasions it failed to do so. Last week’s win over Holy Innocents was its 12th in 15 quarterfinal appearances.

As the 1-A runner-up last year, it went 9-3 including a second-round playoff loss to then defending champion Emanuel County Institute.

Head coach Jim Dickerson welcomed back seven offensive and five defensive regulars from the 2008 squad that began the year with losses to Charlton County (40-0) and Irwin (14-7). It then beat Randolph County (26-15) and Calhoun County (40-0) before bowing to Miller (7-0).

Since then, the Panthers have decked Bacon (33-6), Lanier (40-7), Atkinson (63-12), Pelham (39-14), Miller (25-20), Marion (34-7), ECI (39-28) and Holy Innocents (35-27).

In the area of individual talent, Clinch is led by quarterback Vintavious Cooper, who before last week’s win had thrown for 4,641 yards (1,125 of them coming this year) and 44 TDS in his three seasons as a starter.

“We’re excited about our quarterback,” Dickerson was quoted as saying before the season opener. “He brings a unique challenge to the defense because he’s a good throwing quarterback but he’s also like a running back. He’s a double threat and allows us to do a lot of things.”

Ledford also had good things to say about the Panthers’ field general, calling him “a tremendous player and a dual threat who throws the ball real well and scares you to death running it, too. He reminds me a lot of the talented quarterbacks Dooly County has had of late.”

The Panthers’ ground

Please see PATRIOTS page 2B



game is paced by speedy junior Trey Dorsey who has rushed for 1,089 yards.

Overall, Ledford is of the opinion that Wilcox and Clinch are very similar in their offensive approaches.

“They’re kind of like us in the way their team and season has evolved. Where they were under center quite a bit early in the season, they’re now in shotgun about 95 percent of the time as are we. They do run a little more option out of the gun than we do.

“Neither of us hesitate to throw the football as we both have 6-7 guys who do a great job of catching it. Still, Clinch seems to me to be a little more dangerous when a play breaks down and Cooper scrambles.”

When it comes to standouts in the team’s 5-2 defensive alignment, Clinch is sparked by junior linebackers Zack Thomas and Trey Richardson, the two leaders in tackles a year ago.

“They’re very aggressive on that side of the football as they build their defense around pressure designed to stop the run and at the same time disrupt the passing game with a lot of stunting,” Ledford said. “They’re not very big, but they are real quick.”

Ledford said the thing that impresses him most about the Panthers is the number of weapons they have offensively and the way they utilize them all.

As far as keys to his team’s chances of winning are concerned, he said that in a battle between two evenly matched teams turnovers and penalties oftentimes determine the victor.

“For the most part we’ve done well in limiting those two things thus far this year and we need to continue that trend.

“Our kids understand just how big this game is and know that we have to have it and that in order for that to take place we have to take care of business.

“When you get to this point in a season, no team is going to have a letdown. You’d better believe both will be ready to play in what figures to be a great game.”