Gator Football 2004 is here

BY LARRY PURDOM
Sports Editor
Driving home on that long ribbon of concrete back to Swamp Country, I was still hurtin' from Ware’s historic loss to Warner Robins in the semi-finals of the state football playoff Friday.
As I thought back to the opportunity that was there for Ware Friday evening in the Georgia Dome, I couldn't help but remember all the hard work and sacrifice it took by the Gators to get there, and I was proud of our Gator team.
Actually I was proud of the whole community. If you weren't there in the Dome, then maybe you saw it on television. The Gator Nation looked great, starting with the cheerleaders and running through the Golden Gator Marching Band and the thousands of Ware County fans in attendance.
The large Gator contingent got the attention of Dome and Georgia High School Association officials, including Steve Figueroa, the GHSA press liaison.
"Traditionally, we get larger crowds from the South Georgia football teams because football is more important to them," Figueroa told the Atlanta Constitution. While Georgia Dome officials didn't have attendance numbers yet, Figueroa said Ware County had one of the largest turnouts on Friday. "Ware County must have been deserted," he said.
The WCHS cheerleaders are a super hard-working group. They've been great all year and it was great to see them bringing down the thunder at the Georgia Dome. And they had plenty of fans to help them too. We stretched from one end of the home side to the other.
Our marching band was also one of the best ever seen in the Dome, if you ask this impartial observer. We sounded great. This was one wonderful showcase for the Waycross-Ware community and it was wonderful to be up there in it.
The game itself didn't turn out like Swamp Country wanted, but two out-of-three isn't bad. We give a great big Swamp Country bow to Clinch and Charlton counties, two teams that will carry the Okefenokee banner, yes, deep into enemy territory this weekend. We’re very, very proud of the Panthers and the Indians. Making things even juicier, both state championship matchups, in A and AA, feature return matches against old nemesis as Clinch goes against Hawkinsville and Charlton tangles once again with Buford. Both matchups promise to be “hide-the-children, take-no-prisoners” type affairs that we’ll be previewing later in the week.
In the meantime, go that extra step to say something nice to your favorite Gator. The team was hurtin' after the game, “historic” because its fourth quarter marked the first time the GHSA mercy rule was used in a semi-final game at the Dome. Interestingly, it was a Ware County victory that saw the rule used for the first time in the playoffs, a Gator rout last year in the first round over Douglas County.
You had to feel sorry for the lads. They never quite got it going and never got to showcase all that talent. A big Gator hug goes to wide receiver and cornerback Cedric Jones, who played despite a badly sprained ankle. Jones was spectacular in the face of adversity, only coming out when he couldn't go any longer. Then he’d return, trying his best to help his team.
It’s been that kind of unselfish play all year, out of Jones and the others. Post-season honors will surely go to Jones as they will for many other Gators. Ja'Mario Barkley led the Region in rushing, and the quarterback combination of Henry Chubb and Victor Daniels led with their passing and running. So many times the Gator offensive line paved the way for a big Barkley run or a big completion to Jones, Xabo Thomas, Michael Duncan or Antone Wilson. Fellow running back Javarzeiya Walker came up big time and again with big plays to keep a Ware drive alive. You could go right on down the roster, such was the exemplary way each Gator performed both on the field and off this year.
Ware made it to the Final Four. It’s hard to win your first time in the Georgia Dome. Next time Ware goes to the Dome, they’ll be more like our neighbors Clinch and Charlton, Dome veterans.
This year’s Gators were an achieving bunch that made us proud every time they took the field. They were Champions of Region 1-AAAA for the second straight year. They’ll be going for their three-peat next year.
Thank you Gators for a wonderful season. You broke the “second-round curse” and laid a firm foundation you can be sure our fine coaching staff will be building on. Warner Robins is one fine team. It will take an equally-fine defense to slow down that Demon offense. Is Statesboro the defense to do it? The Blue Devils think so. It should be a hum-dinger this weekend.
As we turn our attention to upcoming state championship games, and the upcoming roundball season, let’s not forget to say thanks to the WCHS Gators. It was a fantastic accomplishment to make it to the semi-finals; a lot of other teams didn't get that far.
What a fine program Coach Dan Ragle has instituted at Ware High. Players get a firm foundation on the middle school teams, headed up by coaches Mike Woodard (WXMS) and Tony Yeomans (WCMS), then they join Coach Ragle at the high school where they get game experience on the ninth grade team, then continue their progress on the Junior Varsity squad, then join the Varsity. It’s already paid big dividends.
Thanks Coach Ragle and staff. There was a time hardly anybody in the state took notice of Ware High football. Now we’re a perennial top ten team. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.