The first week of the season was a mixed bag for the local football

teams. While several teams opened up with wins, all know that there are

areas where they have to improve.

Region 4-AAAAA

Fayette County (0-1) lost on the road to the Upson Lee Knights,

28-3. The Tigers were down 7-0 with 13 seconds remaining in the first

half when kicker Barrett Ratliff connected on a 42 yard field goal to

make it 7-3. Upson Lee came on in the second half, scoring two minutes

in to the third quarter after intercepting a pass. The Knights would

add two more touchdowns and would keep the Fayette County offense in

check for the remainder of the game. This week, the Tigers will play

their first home game of the season when they host the Jonesboro Cardinals

(0-0-1), which tied Mundy's Mill, 13-13 last Friday.

Starr's Mill (1-0) played in the Corky Kell Kickoff Classic

on Saturday and defeated Walton 20-3. The Panthers got off to a shaky

start, allowing Walton's Justin Forte to gain a bunch of yards rushing

right off the bat. The Starr's Mill defense eventually settled down

and became a dominant force, thanks to outstanding play from Jeff Partlow

(12 individual tackles), Matt Johnson and Justin Dupont (13 individual

tackles). Walton scored first with a 40 yard field goal, but Starr's

Mill answered later in the second quarter when Robby Davis connected

with Sean O'Brien who went 78 yards down the field and followed

it up with a two yard touchdown run.

The second half started shaky for both teams as both Starr's Mill

and Walton exchanged fumbles. Starr's Mill's Antonio Scott

rushed for a 64 yard touchdown a little over four minutes into the third

quarter and then broke off a 75 yard touchdown run at almost the same

point in the fourth quarter to solidify the win. Scott finished with

152 yards rushing, with the majority of the yards coming on two plays.

Coach Mike Earwood also cited good play from Dante Allen, who had an

interception, Ben Griffin, Carter Scurry and punter Erick Murphy, who

had a 40.1 yard average punt.

Starr's Mill will play at Pebblebrook (0-0) this Friday. Fans of

the Starr's Mill football team who don't want to make the drive

to Pebblebrook this Friday, can tune into channel 45 on their Comcast

Cable and watch the game live at 7:30 p.m. The game will also be simulcast

on Sports Talk 790 "The Zone."

Region 4-AAAA

McIntosh hosted Douglas County last Friday and found themselves

in a hole early. Douglas County rushed for a touchdown three minutes

in and scored another four minutes later. The scoring continued for the

Tigers in the second quarter as they put up four more touchowns and took

a 40-0 lead at the half. The Chiefs got some big plays from the defense

in the first half, including sacks by Anthony Caldwell and Sean Nerny.

The Chiefs held Douglas County scoreless until the fourth quarter with

more big stops from Caldwell, Travis Jones and Eric Van Hecke. Tyson

Sandlin had a huge run called back due to a holding penalty in the fourth

quarter but Nader Juron hit a 46 yard field goal to give McIntosh their

first points of the season.

McIntosh (0-1) will play at Villa Rica (0-1) Friday.

Sandy Creek (1-0) got their first win by handily defeating Villa

Rica 28-7. The Patriots held Villa Rica scoreless until the fourth quarter

when many of the Sandy Creek starters had been pulled and replaced with

less experienced and junior varsity players. The starting defense held

Villa Rica to 10 yards in the first three quarters.

"We just had a great team effort from the defense," said Walker,

who earned his 250th career victory with the win last Friday. He was

quick to deflect the credit, stating "A lot of people, good player

and coaches, helped make that happen."

The Patriot offense was good in places. Reggie Ellington rushed for

82 yards and two touchdowns, while Jamal Rome caught two passes for 14

yards and a touchdown. Ishmael Gordon added another touchdown for Sandy

Creek, which gained 196 yards on the ground and 28 yards passing.

The Patriots will be off this week and will play at Northgate (1-0)

next Friday.

Whitewater (1-0) outlasted Temple 13-12 last week to start their

first varsity season on the right foot. Touchdowns came from Kevin Lewallen

and Blake Underwood, while Jonathan Bringuel, Jonathon Ashley, Jonathan

Jaurige. and Ryan Johnson had some huge defensive plays. Ashley recorded

two interceptions, while Johnson added one. Jaurige had a sack to stop

a Temple scoring drive, an interception and two pass knockdowns, while

Bringuel had two knockdowns. Leewallen also added an interception as

time ran out.

Whitewater will play at Heard County Friday.

Region 5-A

Landmark Christian (0-1) lost to Twiggs County, 34-6. It was

a matter of revenge for Twiggs, which lost to the War Eagles, 47-6 in

the second round of the playoffs last year. Miles King got the only score

for Landmark with a 31 yard touchdown run. Coach Kenny Dallas mentioned

offensive lineman Hahns Petty for having a good game and added that quarterback

Matt Moody settled in eventually. On defense, Dallas cited linebacker

Zachariah Glaize with having a pretty good game.

"This game tells us the truth of where we're at right now,

but we're not satisified with that," said Dallas. "We

will get better every Friday and we definitely grew up a lot from this

game.

Landmark will host Cross Keys (0-1) on Friday.

Our Lady of Mercy (0-1) faced a very talented Pacelli team last

Friday and lost 61-0. Still, coach Curtis Barrineau saw reasons for optimism.

"Though we have a long way to go, we played hard," said Barrineau. "There

are a lot of little things to work on. It seemed like we were often one

block away from breaking off a run." The Bobcats hurt themselves

early in the game with turnovers on their first three drives.

Our Lady of Mercy also had a scary moment as Matt Sanchez got injured

in a collision with a Pacelli player (See sidebar).

This week, Our Lady of Mercy hosts Walker (0-1), a team that has also

undergone a coaching change in the off season and is figuring out how

to put the pieces together.