By Nick Nunn
Staff Writer

On Jan. 31, the Morgan County Recreation Department (MCRD) held a town hall-style meeting to discuss the possible developments in the MCRD’s soccer program, which could lead to an increased level of community involvement.
Last year’s program involved 310 participants throughout the department’s age classes, which include micro soccer (four to five years) and leagues that span ages six to 13.
Discussion about the MCRD’s lack of a 13-14 soccer program turned quickly to the department’s relationship with the Madison Area Youth Soccer Association (MAYSA), whose program began with a 13-14 age group with very positive results.
Lance Alexander, director of the MCRD, mentioned the possibility of MAYSA and the MCRD “being under the same umbrella” in the future, which would, in turn, “give the community different options to play in different settings.”
Alexander later clarified his comments from the meeting by saying, “There is nothing in concrete yet, but there is information in the hands of MAYSA on how we might possibly make this work and we are working on it as we speak. The terms are many across the board but our goal in all of this is to make sure every child in Morgan County has a place to practice and play the game of soccer.”
MAYSA similarly states on their website, www.maysastorm.com, that their program, “has a close working relationship with the Recreation Department and coordinates the use of the soccer fields at Heritage Park and Dupree Track Field.”
Attendees heard about the department’s plans for training soccer coaches before the beginning of the season from Alexander, who stated, “We want our coaches to be better prepared when they step out on the field, so our kids learn the game properly and, in turn, have more fun as they grow in the sport.”

By Nick Nunn
Staff Writer

This Friday and Saturday, the State Championship Swim Meet will be taking place at the Georgia Tech campus, and the MCHS Swim Dogs’ Mary Claire Cardwell will be swimming in the ladies’ 100-yard backstroke competition.
Cardwell will swim in the preliminary race on Friday, and, if Cardwell is one of the 16 swimmers to advance to either the championship or consolation matches, then she will also compete on Saturday.
Saturday, the State Finals will be streaming online at www.ghsa.tv, according to the GHSA’s website, www.ghsa.net.

Printed in the February 7, 2013 edition

By Nick Nunn
Staff Writer

The Morgan County Middle School archery team placed first in the middle school division in a competition this past Saturday in Loganville.
Individual winners for the team were Jacob Vaughters, Tyler Koening, and Dylan Meyer, who took second, third, and fourth place in the boys’ competition, respectively. In the girls’ competition, Emily Dickson won third place for Morgan County.
The second and final competition of the year for the archery team will be the State Tournament in Perry, which will take place on March 15.

Printed in the February 7, 2013 edition

MCHS JV team ends season with 11-0 record

By Nick Nunn
Staff Writer

With victories against North Oconee, East Jackson, and Elbert County this week, the Morgan County Middle School junior varsity boys team secured an unblemished, 11-0 record for the 2012-2013 season.
Over the course of the season, the team scored a total of 619 points – an average of 56.27 points per game – while only allowing an average 38.55 points per game, totaling 424 points of the season.

This week alone, the JV team scratched up three more checks on the “W” column.
Their 49-42 victory against North Oconee was the first meeting of the teams this year; North Oconee had cancelled their first scheduled game at the last minute earlier in the season.

During the second two games this week, the JV boys played like a team possessed, rolling over East Jackson 72-40 and defeating Elbert County 73-55.

The depth of the JV team’s bench, one of its many assets, was apparent in these past two games; five players – Trey Chapman, Marcus Ford, Fraquan Moore, Stacion McClelland, and Donta Moore – scored 10 points or more in one or both of the games.
According to the original schedule, the JV team was going to be able to compete in a JV tournament, but Coach Jonathan Nelson found out just last Saturday that no JV tournament will take place this year.

“I’m really disappointed for the guys about the tournament because it’s something we’ve talked about since the season started,” said Nelson. “They envisioned that tournament as the ‘JV State Tournament’...”
Nonetheless, Coach Nelson turned quickly to summing up the year as a whole after the final game was in the books.

MCMS girls, boys beat Loganville and Carver

By Nick Nunn
Staff Writer

Last week, the Morgan County Middle School girls and boys basketball teams played their last regular season games of the 2012-2013. With a 30-28 overtime win against Loganville and a 40-18 victory over Carver, the girls team finished their season 12-2. The boys moved their record to an even 7-7 by beating Loganville 30-24 and Carver 52-21.
The Morgan County girls had trailed during almost the entire second half against Loganville before tying the game 23-23 by the end of the fourth quarter.

In overtime, two free throws by Salina Fortune made the difference in the scores and gave Morgan County the 30-28 victory.
The girls had less resistance against Carver Middle, who they beat 40-18.
Tatyana Davis scored 19 points against Carver, but all of the girls on the team got a chance to prove themselves for the season game of the year.

“We jumped out to a big lead and were able to get all 16 girls into the game,” said Coach Brian Cousins.
The boys team had an equally prosperous week. Although Loganville’s team came out strong and aggressive, Morgan County was able to get the upper hand on them in the second half of the game, winning 30-24.

To Coach Milfred Franklin, the boys’ 52-21 victory over Carver was a good way to warm up before the playoffs.
“The players played very well even though we were short some players due to injuries and various reasons,” said Franklin. “We were able to get everyone some good minutes to get any rust off themselves ready for the playoffs.”