Class AAAAA Rankings from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

FINAL Rankings
1. Peachtree Ridge (11-3-1)
1. Roswell (13-1-1)
3. Tift County (12-2)
4. Warner Robins (9-5)
5. Norcross (12-1)
6. North Gwinnett (11-2)
7. Brookwood (9-3)
8. Stephenson (10-3)
9. Coffee (9-3)
10. Campbell (9-3)

"GaSports.com Football Coaches Poll" AAAAA

Updated 12/23/06

No	School	W-L	Last Week
1	Norcross(7-AAAAA)	12-1	1
2	Camden County(3-AAAAA)	10-2	2
3	Tift County(1-AAAAA)	12-2	4
4	Brookwood(8-AAAAA)	9-3	5
5	Coffee(1-AAAAA)	9-3	6
6	North Gwinnett(7-AAAAA)	11-2	3
7	Roswell(6B-AAAAA)	13-1	7
8	Central Gwinnett(8-AAAAA)	8-3	9
9	Campbell(5-AAAAA)	9-3	--
10	M.L. King(2-AAAAA)	10-2	--

Despite disappointment, future looks bright

By John Hollis, Carroll Rogers, Robert Haddocks, Larry Hartstein
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/05/06
A few days ago, five Gwinnett football teams were knocking on the door of the Georgia Dome. Only Peachtree Ridge got in for a state semifinal this weekend. Though Buford, Greater Atlanta Christian, Norcross and North Gwinnett were turned away in the state quarterfinals, each had a year most schools would envy. Here's a glance at their seasons and prospects for next year.
NORTH GWINNETT (11-2)
What went right: Almost everything. The Bulldogs won their first nine games, earned their first No. 1 ranking and made the quarterfinals for the first time. Led by quarterback Michael Tamburo (20 TDs, 6 INTs), receiver Ryan McDaniel (69 catches) and running back Evan Gilles, North's spread offense struck quickly and often. Lineman Eric Eberhardt and linebackers Chris Knox and Eloka Anyaorah keyed a shut-down defense. First-year coach Bob Sphire established himself as one of the state's best. What went wrong: The Bulldogs mustered only seven points total in their two losses. Against Tift County in the quarterfinals, turnovers and inconsistent pass protection doomed North Gwinnett. Looking ahead: Tamburo is just a sophomore, and so is wideout Tyler Jarry. Eberhardt, Anyaorah and defensive backs Marquese Quiles and Jim Moreland are among a host of talented juniors. With Sphire at the helm, the Bulldogs should contend for years to come.
—Larry Hartstein

 

Potent North Gwinnett offense blanked by Tift County

12/02/2006
By Corey Clark
Staff Writer
Corey.clark@gwinnettdailypost.com
TIFTON — Ryan McDaniel was inconsolable. Mikey Tamburo limped through the handshake line after the game and looked like he had just come out a war zone. It was a bitter, and completely bizarre end to the North Gwinnett season on Friday night in a 13-0 loss at Tift County in the quarterfinals of the Class AAAAA state playoffs. Tift (12-1) advances to the semifinals at the Georgia Dome, while the Bulldogs' record-breaking season ends at 11-2. Tamburo, who went over 2,000 yards passing for the season, was battered and bruised all night and McDaniel, the county’s leading receiver, was held to just one catch for minus-7 yards in the 13-point defeat. For the game, the high-flying Bulldogs were held to 74 yards of total offense and zero first downs in the second half. “They took away a lot of things we like to do,” North head coach Bob Sphire said. “They did a good job on our running game and on the corners … I just hate it for these (seniors) to come down here and face as much adversity as they had to face. And I’ll leave it at that.” Sphire wouldn’t talk about the officiating on Friday night, but fans from both sides would definitely agree — it wasn’t very good. There were numerous calls, both ways, that left coaches and players shaking their heads. On top of the questionable calls, it seemed like every penalty in the game, and there were 15 total, seemed to spark a lengthy debate. One delay took almost 10 minutes and another took over five. The game itself took almost 2 hours and 50 minutes to play. And it was 2 hours and 50 minutes that was dominated by the defenses. “Our defense played its guts out,” Sphire said of a unit that allowed just 214 yards of total offense and forced two turnovers. But the Tift defense was even better. North had six possessions in the second half. Three were three and out and three ended in turnovers. “It was an unbelievable effort by our defense,” Tift head coach Jay Walls said. “That’s been our strength all year. And we relied on our defense, we told them to stop the run and get on No. 9 (Tamburo).” And they did just that. They sacked the sophomore QB six times on the day and forced two interceptions. Tift senior QB Sean Baxley didn’t fare much better — he was sacked four times himself — but he made a play when it counted. On third-and-26 from the North 38-yard line late in the third quarter, Baxley hit Marqus King on a post pattern in the end zone, just out of the reach of North safety Jim Moreland, for the game’s first touchdown. And the Bulldogs could never respond. North’s deepest penetration in the second half was its own 26-yard line. The Bulldogs also had four turnovers in the final two quarters, a fumble by Evan Gilles, a muffed punt by McDaniel and two Tamburo interceptions. “Tift played great, I’m not taking anything away from Tift,” Sphire said. “They played really well.” The Blue Devils put the finishing touches on the win with 1:46 left when Lanarius McKinley ran in from five yards out on a play where it looked as if the Bulldogs, who were running out of time and timeouts, let him score to get the ball back. But Tamburo’s second pick of the fourth quarter ended any hopes for a miracle North comeback, and it ended the high school careers of a Bulldog senior class that went through four coaches in four years. “This senior class, you can’t say enough about them,” Sphire said. “They showed tremendous character, and they deserved to be here.” Like the second half, the first half was marred by questionable officiating calls on both ends, but still resulted in a scoreless tie after 24 minutes. On North’s second drive of the game, the Bulldogs drove from their own 3 to Tift 35-yard line, highlighted by a 37-yard run by Tamburo. But two plays later from the Tift 32, Tamburo was sacked on third down for a loss of eight yards. However Tift was called for defensive holding on the play. That’s where the confusion began. After a lengthy delay of more than eight minutes, the referees ruled the holding call should be enforced from the end of the play, rather than the original line of scrimmage. So instead of first-and-10 from the Tift 22, it was third-and-5 from the Tift 30. North then was called for a delay of game penalty and Tamburo was only able to get three yards on the next run and the Bulldogs were forced to punt. Tift, which collected over 80 yards worth of penalties in the first half alone, then got another tough break from the officials when a short toss from Baxley, that appeared to be a forward pass, was ruled a lateral and North’s Eric Eberhardt recovered on the Tift 35-yard line with 59 seconds left in the half. An ensuing personal foul penalty on the Blue Devils gave North the ball first-and-10 at the Tift 20. But after a nine-yard pass, Tamburo was sacked for a loss of 10 on second-and-one and his third down pass toward Ryan McDaniel in the end zone fell incomplete — though there was considerable contact from the Tift corner on the play. Chad Gross’ 37-yard kick sailed wide left and the score remained deadlocked heading into the locker room. It was the last time North would be in Tift territory.
Tift County 13, North 0
North 0 0 0 0 — 0
Tift 0 0 7 6 — 13

FIRST QUARTER
None
SECOND QUARTER
None
THIRD QUARTER
Tift: Marqus King 38 pass from Sean Baxley (Charlie Edwards kick) 1:28
FOURTH QUARTER
Tift: Lanarius McKinley 5 run (kick failed) 1:46

North Tift
First downs 7 14
Rushes-yards 21-28 34-68
Passing yards 50 146
Comp.-Att.-Int. 11-22-2 18-26-0
Fumbles-lost 2-2 5-2
Penalties 6-58 9-112

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — North: Evan Gilles 7-46, Mikey Tamburo 14-(-18). Tift: Kaream Hess 21-100; Lanarius McKinley 2-5; Israel Troupe 2-(-3); Sean Baxley 9-(-34).
PASSING — North: Tamburo 11-22-2, 50. Tift: Baxley 17-25-0, 120; Marvin Chaney 1-1-0, 26.
RECEIVING — North: Tyler Jarry 6-35; Brandon Rodd 2-13; Gilles 2-9; Ryan McDaniel 1-(-7). Tift: Hess 7-32; Marqus King 3-48; Troupe 3-39; Worth Ellis 3-14; Jared Davis 1-8; Chaney 1-5.

TIFT COUNTY 13, NORTH GWINNETT 0:
Blue Devils' defense closes down Bulldogs Eight sacks, four turnovers pivotal

By Larry Hartstein
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/02/06
Tifton —- Tift County coach Jay Walls was momentarily speechless when told his Blue Devils had just held high-powered North Gwinnett without a second-half first down. "Unbelievable," he said. "Unbelievable. Unbelievable effort by our guys." In shutting out the Bulldogs 13-0 and advancing to next weekend's semifinals in the Georgia Dome, No. 2 Tift (12-1) had eight sacks, got four turnovers and allowed 60 total yards. Tift last reached the Georgia Dome in 1997, when the Blue Devils fell to Parkview in the championship game. North's defense also played well, keeping the game scoreless until Tift capitalized on a third-quarter fumble. On third-and-long from the Bulldogs' 38, Sean Baxley completed a pass to Marqus King behind two defenders in the end zone. That was all the offense the Blue Devils needed. Led by linebackers Jeffery Searcy and Josh Abbott and lineman Larry Bryant, Tift harassed North quarterback Michael Tamburo all night. "We just kept getting in really tough down-and-distance situations," Bulldogs coach Bob Sphire said. "It just made it tough, and I didn't do a good job tonight." North Gwinnett nearly fell behind by two touchdowns with 6:52 left. Tamburo fumbled on a sack, and defensive lineman Jamal Rogers picked it up and ran toward the end zone. He was hit at the goal line and fumbled; North Gwinnett recovered. Although one official signaled touchdown, he was overruled, and the Bulldogs were awarded a touchback. But Blake Reddick intercepted a pass on a trick play, and Tift tacked on a 6-yard touchdown run by Lanarius McKinley with 1:46 left. The Bulldogs wasted one great scoring chance. With one minute to go, officials ruled a Tift screen pass a lateral, and Eric Eberhardt recovered at the Blue Devils' 35. Tift committed its third personal foul on the play, setting up North at the 20. Tamburo rolled left and hit Tyler Jarry for 9 yards, but he was sacked for the fifth time at the 21. When Tamburo threw to the end zone for his favorite target, Ryan McDaniel, the pass was broken up. Gross missed a 37-yard field-goal try. In Sphire's first season, North Gwinnett (11-2) finished with the most victories in school history.

 

N. Gwinnett fans hit the road for quarters
Up to 2,000 Bulldog backers expected to make trip to Tifton

By LARRY HARTSTEIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/30/06
Ron Zumer is a Pittsburgh-area transplant with no direct connection to North Gwinnett High School. Friday, he'll board a bus to Tifton chartered by the North Gwinnett Touchdown Club. "I absolutely wouldn't miss this game," the 56-year-old steel salesman said of the Bulldogs' state quarterfinal against Tift County. Zumer, whose daughter was in college when he relocated, became a Bulldogs fan anyway and has been a regular at North games the past seven years. He'll be among 1,500 to 2,000 fans expected to make the 200-mile trip. That's what happens when a team does the unprecedented. These Bulldogs have won the most games in the history of the school, which opened in 1958. They're the first group to reach the quarterfinals. The first to make the playoffs three straight years. The first to earn a No. 1 ranking. (Now they're No. 4.) Even Zumer admits he didn't see this breakthrough coming. Not after North lost its preseason scrimmage to Tucker. "I wondered what type of season we would have," said Zumer, who owns nearly every piece of Bulldogs sportswear available. "Here you have another new coach [Bob Sphire], the fourth one in four years. But then we win at Walton, then we go down to Brookwood and beat them on their home field. That's when I knew we really had a team." Sphire's catchphrase — "Stay loose, go reckless, score now!" — has taken hold among the faithful. In turn, fans have created slogans such as "Let's get Sphired up!" and "In ... Sphired." "I didn't know you could use my name in so many ways," the coach said with a laugh. With only four starters returning from last year's team, North was predicted by many observers to go 6-4 or 5-5. Instead, the Bulldogs are 11-1 and one win away from the Georgia Dome. Their lethal spread offense has helped build the following — and even unexpected recognition. Senior wideout Ryan McDaniel was leaving Buford's playoff game last Friday when a stranger stopped him. "I didn't have a clue who he was, but he knew me and he knew our team very well," said McDaniel, who was able to attend the Buford game because North played (and beat) Etowah on Saturday. "He told me, 'Y'all have had a great year — keep doing what you're doing.' "That kind of thing didn't happen before this season." McDaniel said the team is "excited about everything, but we also remember there's a state championship we've got to win. Maybe then we'll let it get to us." Practice remains intense and focused. "When we step in that field house, we mean business," McDaniel said. Even on the holiday weekend, about 1,500 Bulldogs fans attended Saturday's 31-7 win over Etowah at McEachern in Cobb County. Now the Bulldogs are venturing to South Georgia for the first time. "Everybody I've talked to plans on going," Touchdown Club President Steve Jarry said. "This game is huge." The principal, John Green, said the team will get a nice send-off when they board their buses just after noon Friday. The band and cheerleaders won't leave until school gets out at 2:10 p.m. "It's a real important time, getting ready for exams," Green said. "Our No. 1 focus is academics, but it's great for school spirit to see the team do well and see everybody get behind them."

 

Gwinnett Sports: Storming the gates

It's been a breakthrough football year for Class AAAAA quarterfinalists Norcross, North Gwinnett and Peachtree Ridge.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/29/06

2006 is the FIRST TIME . . .

. . . North (11-1) has won 11 games

. . . Norcross (12-0) has won 12 games

. . . Peachtree Ridge (9-3) has won more than six games

. . . North will play a team from farther south than Covington (at Tift County)

. . . Norcross will play a team from farther south than Riverdale (vs. Warner Robins)

. . . Peachtree Ridge will play a DeKalb County team (vs. Stephenson at Hallford Stadium)

. . . North has reached the quarterfinals

. . . since 1991 that Norcross has reached the quarterfinals

. . . North has made the playoffs three consecutive years

. . . Norcross has made the playoffs in back-to-back years

. . . since 1982-84 that North has had three consecutive winning seasons

. . . Norcross will finish with a winning percentage higher than .909 (10-1 in '94)

. . . North will finish with a winning percentage higher than .750 (most recently, 9-3 in '04)

Ridge's rapid rise

Only two schools since 1968 reached the quarterfinals in the state's highest classification faster than Peachtree Ridge, in its fourth varsity season. Here are the six who got there within four years:

Age..School ..........Year....Finish

3....Kendrick ........1970....Lost QF

3....Starr's Mill ....2000....Lost semifinal

4....Columbia ........1970....Lost QF

4....Henderson........1971....Lost QF

4....Westside-Macon ..2000....Lost semifinal

4....Peachtree Ridge..2006....—-

Note: Two schools that were formed by student-body mergers made it faster, Central Macon (1970) in its first year and Upson-Lee (1993) in its second.

Did you know?

> Seven different Gwinnett teams reached the AAAAA quarterfinals in the past two years (including Brookwood, Central, Dacula and Parkview last year).

> Counting Greater Atlanta Christian and Buford in AA, half of Gwinnett's 18 football programs have made a quarterfinal appearance in the past two seasons.

> This is the first year since 1971 that no team in Region 8's highest classification won at least 10 games. That region has produced 11 of North Georgia's 15 state champions since 1968.

> North Gwinnett has made the playoffs four times in five years, under four different coaches. Compiled by Todd Holcomb and Buddy Pinkston from Georgia High School Football Historians Association records

 

Firsts keep coming for North with win over Etowah

11/26/2006
By Scott Smith
Senior Correspondent
scott.smith@gwinnettdailypost.com
MARIETTA — North Gwinnett continued its historic season Saturday night as the Bulldogs topped Etowah 31-7 in the second round of the Class AAAAA state playoffs at McEachern High School. North, which had already set a school record for wins in a season, extended that to 11 (with one loss) while advancing to the quarterfinals for the first time ever. The next target for North will be Tift County on Friday.“I could not be happier for this group of seniors,” North head coach Bob Sphire said. “This group of has endured so much with the transitions and the changes. It is a real tribute to them for the character they’ve displayed.”Etowah entered Saturday’s game with some history of its own as the Eagles were in the second round for the first time in their history. For one half Etowah ran stride for stride with North as the two teams were knotted 7-7 at the half. The fact the game was tied was a break for North as Etowah (8-4) had two touchdowns called back on penalties. After that tight first half, North took control in the second half with some big plays on special teams and defense. Tyler Jarry gave North the jump start it needed when he took the second-half kickoff 67 yards to the Etowah 13-yard line. North took advantage of the short field and scored four plays later when Evan Gilles bulled in from one yard out for the 14-7 lead. Special teams again set North up when Etowah was forced to punt on the ensuing possession. This time it was Ryan McDaniel that provided the lift, returning the kick 52 yards to Etowah’s 15. The Eagles stiffened and held North to a 23-yard field goal by Chad Gross, but those 10 quick points gave North a surge of momentum it would not relinquish. “It’s great making history,” Jarry said. “Special teams were huge tonight. The coaches also did a great job of getting us ready and the O-line did a great job.” Gilles, who led North in rushing with 84 yards on 18 carries, added his second TD of the night on North’s next possession when he scored from five yards out, capping off a 9-play, 55 yard drive. After Gilles’ TD put North comfortably ahead at 24-7, Cameron Demps put an exclamation mark on the game when he picked off a Trey Wilborn pass and returned it 25 yards, holding the ball in the air as he crossed the goal line. “Our effort was there, but when mistakes happen and you play a team like North, it’s hard to bounce back,” Etowah head coach Bill Stewart said. “We made some critical errors and let them get on top of us.” The Eagles grabbed an early 7-0 lead when running back Buster Skrine broke through for a 61-yard TD run. Etowah would have had more points but a block in the back penalty negated a 42-yard TD interception return by Allen Singleton and an ineligible receiver downfield wiped out a TD by Skrine on a 55-yard screen pass. North, which also had a field goal blocked in the first quarter, finally got on the board with 4:41 left before half when Tamburo scrambled around the right end for a 19-yard TD run. Tamburo finished the night with 74 yard rushing on 11 carries with one score while passing for 110 yards on 10 of 13 attempts with one interception. Etowah’s leading rusher with Wilborn, who had a game-best 108 yards on 26 carries.

 

North Gwinnett, Houston County advance

FROM STAFF REPORTS
Published on: 11/26/06
Two big special-teams plays set up North Gwinnett's powerful offense, and the Bulldogs turned Saturday's halftime tie into a 31-7 rout of Etowah at McEachern High's Cantrell Stadium.
A 67-yard return on the opening kickoff of the second half by Tyler Jarry and a 60-yard punt return by Ryan McDaniel propelled Class AAAAA's fourth-ranked Bulldogs, who will travel to Tift County in the quarterfinals. Evan Gilles scored on runs of 1 and 6 yards in the second half, and Cameron Demps' 25-yard interception return sealed the deal for North Gwinnett, which improved to 11-1. Quarterback Michael Tamburo was 9-for-12 passing for 110 yards and also had a 19-yard touchdown run while piling up 72 yards on 11 carries. Etowah, which completed its best season in the history of the school at 8-4, was hurt by penalties that wiped out two scores.

 

NORTH GWINNETT: TEAM WORK

New head coach, staff have long relationships
By John Hollis
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/22/06
It's been likened to getting the ol' band back together.
When new North Gwinnett football coach Bob Sphire reunited with some of his most trusted lieutenants, it paved the way for a run of surprising success. Five of the assistant coaches Sphire added to his staff this summer had played or worked for him. Their chemistry has energized a North team that was hit hard by graduation and in need of self-assurance after the departure of its third coach in as many years. "It feels like 'The Blues Brothers' or something," joked Sphire, whose fourth-ranked team is 10-1 and plays Etowah on Saturday night at McEachern High School in the second round of the Class AAAAA state playoffs. "But I don't think we could have had the kind of year we're having without having so many guys on the same page." None of that might have happened, however, had comparable positions not been available at the school. Sphire wasn't presumptuous enough to demand the hiring of his assistants as part of the deal to succeed Matt Moore, who went on to a college job at Troy University. But school Principal John Green worked with him to make things happen. Defensive coordinator Maurice Dixon left a head coaching job in Florida to begin his third stint with Sphire. "It's so hard to find people who know what you're thinking, feel your pain," Dixon said, "but, once you do, anything is possible." The Bulldogs recognize the value of their coaches' long relationships. "They've been coaching together for a long time," senior receiver Ryan McDaniel said. "It seems like they're a big family, and it's been a big help." It had been 10 years since Dixon last coached with Sphire. He spent the previous four seasons as the head man at North Broward Prep in Florida and the six years before that as a head coach in Kentucky. Still, he didn't hesitate when Sphire called to see whether he was interested in joining him at North Gwinnett. "It's like going back to grade school for football," he said. "There's so much to learn with Bob. You spend a day with him, not to mention a whole season, and you look at things from a different point of view. A lot of people are a play ahead or a day ahead, but Bob's 15-year vision starts right now. He taught me how to teach football." The reverence in which they hold Sphire is obvious. Each took a chance to team up with his mentor again. Receivers coach Troy Hobbs coached alongside Sphire at Lexington Catholic for 10 years, helping that school win a state championship in 2005. Hobbs also was on Sphire's staff on the Lexington Horsemen, a United Indoor Football League team. Offensive line coach Chuck Allen played for Sphire from the sixth grade through high school and joined the Lexington Catholic staff after college. Running backs coach Traye Moore was a young head coach at nearby Bryan Station in Lexington when he caught Sphire's attention; they later worked together at a number of summer camps. Linebackers coach Wes Cissell was a volunteer coach on Sphire's staff at Lexington Catholic while attending college at Kentucky. "I thought it was a great opportunity," Cissell said. "Learning from coach Sphire made it easy." Sphire accepted the job at North in January but had to wait on the rest of his future staff to finish with other responsibilities before they could all come together. At times this spring, he and Byron Shells, the sole holdover from the Moore regime, were the only coaches to be found. Dixon and Cissell were going back and forth from Florida, while Hobbs, Allen and Moore weren't free of their jobs with the Lexington Horsemen until two days before the start of two-a-days in August. "I'm not sure the team really believed we had a full staff at first," Sphire laughed. "But I told them, 'When the cavalry arrives, you're going to know what you got. Trust me on this.' "I think that's been the one most critical piece of this whole thing."
THE SPHIRE CONNECTION
These North Gwinnett assistants had previous connections with coach Bob Sphire:
Chuck Allen......Offensive line
Wes Cissell......Linebackers
Maurice Dixon....Defensive coordinator
Troy Hobbs.......Receivers
Traye Moore......Running backs

 

No. 5 North rallies late to oust Chattahoochee

11/18/2006
By Dwayne Aultman
Staff Correspondent
SUWANEE — Decisions. Decisions.
With half of his staff telling him to go for it and the other half telling him to take the points, North Gwinnett head coach Bob Sphire had to make the biggest “call” of the night in his team’s 21-17 win over Chattahoochee in the first round of the Class AAAAA state playoffs.
The fifth-ranked Bulldogs had just kicked the game-tying field goal with 5:32 remaining in the game, but Chattahoochee was called for roughing North Gwinnett kicker Chad Gross on his follow-through. North Gwinnett could take the points, which would have made it 17 all, or take the first down and take its chances from the Cougars’ 7-yard line. Decisions. Decisions. The old coaching adage is to never take points off the board, but, “I’ve never been much of a by-the-card kinda coach,” explained Sphire. After accepting the penalty and sending his offense back on the field, the Bulldogs made their coach look brilliant three plays later. Quarterback Michael Tamburo dove across from the 1-yard line and North Gwinnett went on to post the 21-17 victory over Chattahoochee in the opening round of the AAAAA state playoffs Friday night at Tom Robinson Memorial Stadium. North Gwinnett (10-1), which was playing its first home playoff game in 10 years, advances to play at Etowah (8-3) next Friday. The top-seeded Eagles from Region 5-AAAAA defeated Parkview, 26-21. “I was really worried about (tonight), I’m not going to lie,” said Sphire. “We had our flattest practices of the season on Monday and Tuesday. We lost a tough game last week (against Norcross) and our kids hurt after that loss. But I want them to hurt, because we expect to win.”
Outside of an opening 11-play, 71-yard drive that produced a touchdown run of 10 yards from Tristan Rodney-Hazelton, Chattahoochee did next to nothing offensively against the North Gwinnett defense. Minus that drive, the Cougars managed just 49 yards of offense the rest of the night. But the North Gwinnett offense was having difficulties of its own getting untracked. The Bulldogs’ vaunted aerial attack did not complete a single pass until four minutes into the second quarter and two plays later, a Tamburo pass went through Ryan McDaniel and into the hands of Rodney-Hazelton, who returned the interception 83 yards for his second score of the game.
North did manage to put together a quick scoring drive late in the quarter as Tamburo hit Brandon Rodd with a 12-yard scoring strike to pull within a touchdown at 14-7 with 2:29 remaining in the half. And if not for some clock mismanagement, the Bulldogs might have scored again. Tamburo was sacked on third down at the Cougars’ 9-yard line, and, out of timeouts, the clock ran out before the Bulldogs’ could get their field goal team on the field. Another turnover on a fumble by McDaniel on the second half kickoff provided Chattahoochee its next scoring opportunity. The Cougars went 19 yards on four plays before settling for a Jordan Utley 29-yard field goal to take the 17-7 lead.
Tamburo, who finished with 112 yards rushing on 18 carries, scored his second rushing TD of the night, this one from 26 yards out, to cut the lead to 17-14 heading into the final quarter. The sophomore also passed for 180 yards and a TD, completing 14 of his 25 attempts with the one interception. “He put us on his back,” said Sphire of his sophomore quarterback. “That was one great game by Michael. He really only made one mistake all night — taking that sack at the end of the first half. But that was just a sophomore mistake. I promise you he won’t make the same mistake twice.” After the Bulldogs took the 21-17 lead, Chattahoochee had two more possessions to try and answer. But the Cougars’ gained just two yards total in seven plays as quarterback Brendan Cross threw three incomplete passes and was sacked twice, including on his team’s last snap of the game. The Cougars finished the night with just 120 yards of total offense.
Meanwhile, North Gwinnett gained 360 yards in total offense, led by Tamburo’s 292 yards of output. Running back Evan Gilles had 53 yards on 13 carries and Tyler Jarry finished with four catches for 56 yards. Despite being held to just three catches for 29 yards, Ryan McDaniel broke the Gwinnett County single-season record for receptions as his third reception of the evening gave him 64 for the year.

NORTH GWINNETT 21, CHATTAHOOCHEE 17

Chattahoochee 7 7 3 0 — 17
North Gwinnett 0 7 7 7 — 21
FIRST QUARTER
Chattahoochee: Tristan Rodney-Hazelton 10 run (Jordan Utley kick) 6:27
SECOND QUARTER
Chattahoochee: Rodney-Hazelton 83 interception return (Utley kick) 7:04
North Gwinnett: Brandon Rodd 12 pass from Michael Tamburo (Chad Gross kick) 2:29
THIRD QUARTER
Chattahoochee: Utley 29 FG, 9:50
North Gwinnett: Tamburo 26 run (Gross kick) 3:48
FOURTH QUARTER
North Gwinnett: Tamburo 1 run (Gross kick) 4:25

 

 

NORTH GWINNETT 21, CHATTAHOOCHEE 17

Bulldogs turn game around in 2nd half

By Robert Naddra
For the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/18/06
After two flat practices to begin the week, Bob Sphire found Friday night that his North Gwinnett football team still wasn't done mulling its loss to Norcross last weekend. Less than 20 minutes into its first home playoff game in 10 years, No. 4-ranked North found itself down two touchdowns to Chattahoochee, the third seed from Region 6-AAAAA. But after nearly three quarters of clawing its way back, led by quarterback Michael Tamburo and a stingy defense, North overcame its demons and beat Chattahoochee 21-17. North, which travels to Etowah next week for a second-round game, improves to 10-1; Chattahoochee ends its season 7-4. Sphire let his team know what he thought of the comeback when he addressed his team minutes after the win. "Once you decided to play, and play like you know you can, that was a gut-check championship effort," Sphire said. "Now let's keep this caravan rolling." But the caravan was stuck in neutral for most of the first half. Chattahoochee took the opening kickoff and drove 71 yards for a score, the touchdown coming on a 9-yard run by Tristan Rodney-Hazelton. North struggled offensively, and Tamburo didn't complete his first pass until halfway through the second quarter. Two plays after that completion, Rodney-Hazelton picked off a Tamburo pass that bounced off the hands of North receiver Ryan McDaniel and raced 83 yards for a score and a 14-0 Chattahoochee lead. "I don't know if anything more could have gone wrong in the first half," Sphire said. "But we still felt like our defense was better than their offense and our offense was moving the ball." Tamburo, who was chased out of the pocket and was uncomfortable in it in the first half, settled down after the interception. He threw a touchdown pass and ran for two more scores to lead the comeback.The Bulldogs mounted a 63-yard, 13-play drive in 5:25 for the game-winning score. During the drive, North took three points off the board after a roughing-the-kicker penalty on a field goal by Chad Gross. The penalty set up North on the Chattahoochee 7, and Tamburo scored three plays later."Mikey [Tamburo] is a great athlete, and he put us on his back tonight," Sphire said. "It was a case of him just taking what their defense gave him. And our defense really bowed their necks. The defense just did a great job."

 

Sophomore QB a big surprise
North's Tamburo a quick-footed, precision passer

By John Hollis
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/16/06
His new coach's first reaction was lukewarm. Michael Tamburo was a scrawny freshman, hardly seeming like the maestro Bob Sphire would need to run his demanding offense. "Initially, I wasn't that impressed," Sphire said, recalling that February day in the weight room. "He's not that big, and he's fairly unassuming. He wasn't like a guy under the rack that's yelling and screaming and just pounding his fists. But he wasn't ... shying away from really working. It was over the course of time that you realized what you have." A year removed from splitting reps on the freshman team, the sophomore has been a force behind the Bulldogs' surprising rise to prominence. He's shown not only quick feet and precision passing, but rare maturity for a 16-year-old. "I didn't know I was going to have the success I did," Tamburo said, "but I worked hard in the summer and that was my goal. So far, I've realized it, but it's not my overall goal. That's winning a state championship." Entering Friday's Class AAAAA first-round game against Chattahoochee, Tamburo (6 feet, 1/2 inch, 165 pounds) has completed 70 percent of his attempts (150 of 214) for 1,674 yards, with 19 touchdowns and three interceptions. He's second on the team with 215 yards rushing and eight scores. Not even his imaginative coach envisioned such a debut in a no-huddle offense that demands critical reads and play-calling. One passing route, for example, carries 134 variations, Sphire said. "I'd be a liar if I said I would have predicted [Tamburo's year]," Sphire said. "I knew he was going to be good," senior fullback Evan Gilles said, "but I've got to be honest, I didn't think he'd be this good. He's what we imagined he'd be and then some." Former coach Matt Moore saw the potential. "We knew he had a lot of talent," said Moore, now offensive line coach at Troy University. "He's confident but not cocky. And he's young enough to think he can do it all." Tamburo shared reps on the freshman team last fall with Will Huff, now his varsity backup. The two alternated between quarterback and tailback. Moore said that experience made Tamburo hungrier and educated him on routes and blocking schemes that would make him a better quarterback. Tamburo's ascent hasn't come easily, as evidenced by last week's two interceptions in the 31-10 loss to Norcross for the region championship. "Honestly, I thought I was going to throw more picks [this season]," he said, "but sometimes you have to take a chance and let our playmakers come through. I try to keep up with the stats, but winning is the most important stat." His calm demeanor keeps Tamburo grounded. "He's a tough guy to read," said his father, John, a former running back at Lehigh. "He's never too high, never too low. He's always the same guy." Some credit might go to former Georgia quarterback David Greene. The two left-handers met about four years ago. Greene's best advice: If you have a bad play, just forget it and go on to the next one.Tamburo's growing confidence is most apparent in the huddle. "I have a lot more command now," Tamburo said. "In August, if I had told everybody to be quiet, they would have laughed. Now, most of the time, I get things done."

 

NORCROSS 31, NORTH GWINNETT 10:
No doubt, they're 10-0
Blue Devils state case by derailing No. 1

By John Hollis
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/11/06
All the talk of the many near-misses this season had caused some to doubt. The third-ranked Norcross Blue Devils had survived scares from Peachtree Ridge, Mill Creek and, most recently, Collins Hill, leaving doubters to question just how good they really were. Consider the questions answered. Using a mesmerizing all-around performance, Norcross defeated top-ranked North Gwinnett 31-10 on Friday night. With the impressive victory, the Blue Devils (10-0, 8-0 Region 7-AAAAA) completed the regular season as the state's last remaining undefeated in team Class AAAAA and laid claim to the school's second region championship, the first since 1991. Norcross will host Region 6-AAAAA fourth seed Wheeler in next week's first-round playoff game; the Bulldogs (9-1, 7-1) will play 6-AAAAA third seed Walton. "It's a huge win," Blue Devils quarterback Bryce Dykes said. "It's the first region championship in a long time, and we went 10-0. This is only the second time our school has ever done that. This makes a big statement going into the playoffs." Dykes accounted for most of the damage, passing for 248 yards and two touchdowns, while a suffocating defense did the rest in sending the standing room-only crowd at Tom Robinson Memorial Stadium home disappointed. Dykes, a senior, consistently carved up the North secondary, completing 18 of his 25 attempts, including 15-of-20 in the decisive first half. "Once we started hitting a couple of routes, it gave us some confidence, so I felt good about it," he said. Junior wide receiver Brice Butler was the biggest beneficiary, catching five passes for 117 yards and a score. Senior Darius Hanks accounted for two more touchdowns as the Blue Devils' advantage in speed and athleticism won out. "I thought they played as well in the first half as I've seen any team play in a long time," North Gwinnett coach Bob Sphire said after his team fell short in trying to win the school's first region championship. "I thought their quarterback played like a champion and their key guys made all the plays when they had to." Norcross scored first following Tyler Maloof's 43-yard punt return late in the first period put the Blue Devils deep in North Gwinnett territory. It took Dykes three plays to hook up with Butler for an 11-yard touchdown pass that put the visitors ahead 7-0 with 1:24 left in the opening period. Dykes added another scoring pass in the second period —- this time to Hanks from 13 yards out with 4:09 remaining in the half —- as Norcross forged a 14-3 halftime advantage. The Bulldogs, who entered the game averaging nearly 33 points per game, totaled 56 yards of total offense in the first half and managed just one pass completion longer than 6 yards.

 

No. 3 North battles No. 1 Norcross for region title

By Corey Clark
Staff Writer
corey.clark@gwinnettdailypost.com
11/10/06
This is the kind of game most high school football players only dream about being a part of.
It's the last two undefeated teams in all of Class AAAAA - one is ranked No. 1 in the state in the AP poll, the other is ranked No. 3. It's for the Region 7-AAAAA championship. It's going to be in front of a boisterous, overflowing crowd. And it just so happens to be the biggest regular-season game in school history for either team. So if you're planning on going to Suwanee tonight to watch No. 1 Norcross take on third-ranked North Gwinnett. Be sure to do one thing: Get there early. "It's like everything has finally come together," said Norcross defensive end Brooks Cunningham. "It's 9-0 vs. 9-0. It's a huge game. There are going to be tons of people there. It's something we've worked really hard for." Said North defensive end Eric Eberhardt: "This is a big one. It's two undefeateds coming together. It's going to be a huge crowd." The Norcross Blue Devils haven't won a region title in football since 1991. The North Gwinnett Bulldogs have never won one. So tonight, some history is going to be made. And it's going to be made in front of a lot of people. North head coach Bob Sphire said the school has already sold more than 2,000 tickets for the contest, and a huge walk-up crowd is expected as well. Norcross athletic director Nathan Franklin confirmed on Thursday that the school has already sold more than $6,000 worth of tickets for the game. "And we're the away team," Franklin said with a laugh. An away team that has the chance to win a region title for the first time in 15 years. "When our kids walked off the field at Brookwood last year (after losing in the first round of the state playoffs), they realized what they wanted," Norcross head coach Keith Maloof said. "They wanted to get their own region championship. They've worked hard to get that. Now it comes down to us and North Gwinnett. "You couldn't ask for anything better." Said Norcross linebacker James Simien: "Our goal has always been to finish first. So why not do it in the biggest game in Gwinnett County history?" Whether or not it's the biggest regular-season game in county history is certainly debatable, but there is no question it's the biggest one of the year. Not only is it a Battle of the Undefeateds, but tonight's game might end up meaning even more for the two programs. It might just represent a shifting of power within the county. Gwinnett has long been dominated on the state scene by Brookwood and Parkview, and rightfully so - the two have combined for five state championships in the last dozen years and four runner-up finishes. But now the rest of Georgia has been forced to take notice of the Blue Devils and the Bulldogs. And this season, this game, could be the start of something much bigger for both schools. "It might be," Cunningham said. "I know I'm starting to think that way. I know North Gwinnett has a great quarterback (Michael Tamburo) for two more years after this season. And we've got a great team behind (our senior class), so it's looking that way." "We'll see," said Sphire, who is in his first year at the Suwanee school after enjoying immense success at Lexington Catholic (Ky.). "We've been very fortunate over the course of the last dozen years or so to win a lot of football games because of the way we approach things ... I think we're putting the plan in place and hopefully they'll continue to buy into it." As long as the wins keep coming like they have this year, the communities for both schools will keep buying. But what both coaches are quick to point out about tonight is that no matter how excited the student body and fan base is about this game, there's plenty of football left to be played afterwards. Both teams are guaranteed of hosting a first-round playoff game and both teams will have plenty left to play for after tonight. "We've put ourselves in position to be 9-0 and play for a region championship," Maloof said. "But we're not going to get too high. We're going to try and play a football game. Then we'll let the hype move on and go out and play another game next week."Said Sphire: "(A region championship) is a nice goal to have, but it's not the big goal. It's one of the goals you can accomplish on the way to the big goal. ... this is not a playoff game. Everybody is going to wake up Saturday morning and go get ready for the playoffs. "It's the kind of game you ought to go out and have a blast playing in and coaching in. Even with the way the region has played out, I don't see this game as a lot of pressure. We'll just go out and have fun and see what happens." The buildup has certainly been fun for the players from both schools, players that haven't become accustomed quite yet to the state-wide spotlight. "It's great," Cunningham said. "Now I know what Parkview and Brookwood feel like."
North's Eberhardt agrees. "You always read about the Parkviews and the Brookwoods playing against each other," he said. "So to be part of a growing tradition, and to have all the fans and all the pressure on you, it's a great feeling."

 

Friday Metro Highlight: Norcross-N. Gwinnett
Season-ending game a rare clash of metro unbeatens

By ROBERT HADDOCKS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/09/06
It's a dream matchup, one that drips with intrigue: North Gwinnett's high-powered, pass-happy offense versus Norcross' daunting, shut-you-down defense. Two teams' quest for regular season perfection, the winner grabbing the Region 7-AAAAA championship and home field throughout the playoffs. It's No. 1 North Gwinnett vs. No. 3 Norcross in a rare season-ending game pitting undefeated metro Atlanta teams. The Georgia High School Football Historians Association Web site compiles records dating to 1952 and this is the only game that has matched 9-0 metro schools in the state's largest classification. Coaches aren't getting caught up in the historical significance. They're more concerned with each other's teams — and with good reason. North's offense (averaging 33 points a game) and Norcross' defense (allowing eight points a game) get the hype, but both teams are stacked with talent on both sides of the ball. "They're scary as can be," North Gwinnett coach Bob Sphire said of the Blue Devils. "They've got some players, got some game-breakers, athletes. Those guys get the publicity, but those big heavies they've got on both sides of the ball are pretty darn good." Norcross coach Keith Maloof said his chief task is to be in position against North's intricate spread offense and to slow down quarterback Michael Tamburo, the region's passing leader with 1,590 yards, 19 touchdowns and just one interception. His favorite target, Ryan McDaniel, leads Gwinnett County with 58 receptions and 13 touchdowns. "We've got to find a way to get to Tamburo," Maloof said. "We're not going to get to him all the time, but that's going to be the key to our success on defense." Sphire is equally concerned about Norcross' often-overlooked offense. Quarterback Bryce Dykes has thrown for 1,485 yards and 17 touchdowns. He spreads the wealth among a trio of talented receivers — Darius Hanks, Brice Butler and Devonta Bolton. The Blue Devils are averaging 31 points a game, just two fewer than the Bulldogs. "Their quarterback is outstanding," Sphire said. "He's really athletic, he can beat you throwing or running. He's very creative, a lot of improvability. And he's got some weapons to distribute the ball to. They've got the most weapons of anybody we've faced this year. And No. 6 (running back Demetrius Hill), this cat can take it to the house." Sphire, who has burst on the scene after winning a state title last season at Lexington Catholic in Kentucky, downplayed the game with some coach-speak.
"We're really just going to go out and enjoy it," he said. "It's really a game that has no real pressure. It's not a playoff game. It's not do or die. It's a fun game. When all is said and done, we're all going to get ready for the playoffs and that's when it really starts."

 

BIG-GAME RIVALRIES:
NORCROSS vs. NORTH GWINNETT

As time goes by, loyalties can change

By Ken Sugiura
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/10/06
Tonight's football game between Norcross and North Gwinnett high schools won't be as memorable for Larry DuVall as the 1960 West Gwinnett-South Gwinnett game. That night, he scored his first touchdown for West Gwinnett, which was renamed Norcross High in 1962. After the game, he went to the Varsity on his first date with a cute freshman cheerleader named Gloria Craft. They never stopped dating and have been married since 1964. But, tonight's game will still be pretty exciting. "We can't wait till Norcross and North play," said DuVall, 61, of Lawrenceville. "There's a lot of ties there." "A lot" may be understating it. DuVall's two children graduated from North Gwinnett. Years ago, he coached a member of his Buford area church, David Hamilton, another Norcross grad, whose son Matt is North Gwinnett's center. DuVall and Hamilton attend Temple Baptist Church, whose pastor, Steve Pritchett, is a former Norcross football star. DuVall is friends with Norcross coach Keith Maloof. All that, and the game is one of the biggest in both school's histories. Both teams are 9-0 and playing for the region championship on the last night of the regular season. North Gwinnett has never won a region title, while Norcross has just one. "It's just been exciting for us," DuVall said. It's been exciting for a lot of people in the two communities. North Gwinnett athletics director Chris Culpepper is expecting a crowd that could reach 10,000. At Norcross, students have quickly snapped up hundreds of special T-shirts made for the game by the booster club, athletics director Nathan Franklin said. Culpepper described the buzz at the school as "about the highest level of excitement as you can expect. There's no doubt this is the biggest event in [the school's] football history." The season and the game have fired up long-time followers of both schools, among the oldest in Gwinnett County, fans who can remember a time when Gwinnett football wasn't ruled by perennial giants Parkview and Brookwood. "I'm a member of the local Kiwanis club," said North Gwinnett fan Toby Blackwell, an insurance agent in Suwanee. "It's about all they were talking about this week." Few are as loyal as Dodger DeLeon, who was born and raised in Norcross and estimates that he has seen all but about 15 Blue Devils games since he started attending in about 1960. DeLeon, 68, deems this Norcross team the second-best in school history, following the 1994 team that went 10-1. "I still feel very much a part of the school and the community," said DeLeon, who made an unsuccessful bid for a City Council seat in Tuesday's elections. "I still feel like it's a part of me." DeLeon was a member of the "Depot Gang," the name given to young men who hung around the train depot in downtown Norcross when it was actually a depot and not a restaurant. Depot Gang members, including DeLeon, founded the school's first booster club, which helped build the football stadium and field house. "Word gets around in a small community like Norcross," said DeLeon, who has lived his entire life within Norcross' borders. "I've seen some people at the ballgames that you don't ever see." Many members of DuVall's church will be attending. DuVall has been taking ribbing from fellow congregants, mostly residents of the North Gwinnett cluster, about his loyalties. While he was invited to sit with North Gwinnett fans, he said he'll watch from the end zone. He doesn't want Maloof, the Norcross coach and a friend, seeing him pulling for the rival Bulldogs. The elder Hamilton has no such concerns. While he, too, played for Norcross —- he was the running back and his eventual pastor was the quarterback —- he wears North Gwinnett red and black. As do, apparently, many others. "The past three years, North Gwinnett has brought more fans to the away games than the home teams do," he said. "It's pretty neat."

 

Showdown prompts friendly bet between councilmen

By John Hollis
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/09/06
Steve Edwards was sure fellow councilman David McLeroy could talk the talk. He wanted to see if he'd walk the walk, too. At least when it comes to Friday night's Region 7-AAAAA championship showdown between unbeatens North Gwinnnett and Norcross. So Edwards, a councilman from the city of Sugar Hill, whose district encompasses North Gwinnett, proposed a friendly wager with his friend McLeroy, a councilman from nearby Norcross. The bet: The councilman representing the losing team will have to wear the winning team's helmet at their next City Council meeting next month. "I know Dave has always followed the Norcross football and basketball teams," Edwards said, with a laugh. "So I thought it was about time the gauntlet was thrown down." McLeroy welcomed the challenge. "It was not a hard bet for me to make," said McLeroy, who won re-election Tuesday for an at-large seat. "I think it will be an easy battle for Norcross." Edwards had initially wanted the loser to shave his head, only for McLeroy to note that Edwards' head is already shaved. It didn't take long before the two settled on the wearing of the helmet at their next respective city council meetings, both of which will be televised. Both participants have already begun making plans following their team's victory. "They have a public input part of their meeting," McLeroy said. "I plan on getting up and giving Steve some input." Edwards was likewise ready to get the last laugh. "I'm going to come [to the Norcross meeting], take pictures and heckle him," he said.

 

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Open it up and let it fly
Bulldogs' pass-happy offense a hit with QBs, receivers

By David Purdum
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/08/06
North Gwinnett may not have the tradition of Parkview or Brookwood, but it does have something those two powerhouses don't —- a pass-happy offense that talented playmakers like quarterback Michael Tamburo find attractive. "When people think of North Gwinnett, they think of an explosive offense, a team that likes to throw it around and have some fun," Principal John Green said. Tamburo moved out of the Collins Hill district to the North Gwinnett district in the middle of his eighth-grade season. He says former North coach Dennis Roland's quarterback-friendly offense played a major role in his decision. "The style of offense was the biggest factor in our decision," John Tamburo, the quarterback's father, said. "We weren't in an ideal situation for a quarterback." The spread offense, which is predicated on getting athletes the ball in open space, is especially appealing to quarterbacks and wide receivers that have aspirations of playing major-college football. It's hard for a throwing quarterback to shine in an offense that attempts only a handful of passes per game. "You put Mikey [Tamburo] or [North star receiver] Ryan McDaniel on a team that throws the ball only four or five times and they're nobody," John Tamburo said. "They're the same players with the same skills, but they're not going to stand out." Collins Hill coach Larry Sherrill uses a run-first, I-formation attack but says his offense is adapatable to his players' strengths. "We believe we have a system that is capable of highligting our players' abilities," Sherrill said. "We've always had good tailbacks here, so we're going to run the ball, and throw it on our terms." A quarterback leaving one team to play for a team that throws the ball more isn't unusual. Patrick Witt, last year's starting quarterback at Parkview, left for Texas to have a chance to pass. He has committed to Nebraska. Scout.com recruiting analyst Scott Kennedy doesn't see a trend developing, though, and points out the success that Parkview and Brookwood have sticking to the ground game. "With the importance of camps and combines, where there's a level playing field, I don't think we're going to see an increase of players moving just to play in a certain kind of offense," Kennedy said. Roland brought the spread offense to North in 2004 before leaving to become the head coach at Southeastern Louisiana. In his first and only season, the Bulldogs set a school record with nine wins and reached the second round of the state playoffs. Matt Moore, who succeeded Roland in 2005, stayed with the spread offense and took North to the playoffs for the second straight season, a first in the school's 45-year playing history. So of course, when Green and athletics director Chris Culpepper began their search for the next coach, they preferred one who believed in the offense. "It wasn't a prerequisite," Culpepper said, "but we have had some success with it." Green added, "We wanted to find the best coach for our kids. It was just an added bonus for the next coach to maintain consistency with our philosophy." First-year coach Bob Sphire fit the mold, and his high-powered spread attack has taken North to new heights. Entering Friday's Region 7-AAAAA showdown with fellow unbeaten Norcross, the Bulldogs are 9-0 and ranked No. 1 in the state. Sphire spent the past 15 years as coach at Lexington (Ky.) Catholic. He began his tenure there running the wing-T. "We had some success," he said, "but we couldn't beat teams that had better athletes." In 1997, Sphire scrapped the option for the spread offense. Before making the switch in philosophies, Sphire was 40-22 in his first six years at Lexington Catholic. Utilizing the spread, he went 100-17 in his final 10 seasons and won the AAA state title in his final season. "There's 101 ways to skin a cat, and there's 101 ways to win," Sphire said, "but to make a commitment to be a true spread team is a major work-ethic commitment." Wesleyan is the only team in the county that has attempted more passes than North. But Sphire points out that the running game is a major part of his offense. North has attempted 204 passes and run 256 times. "It's the perfect system to be a quarterback in," said Michael Tamburo, who has completed 71 percent of his passes for 1,590 yards, 19 touchdowns and just one interception.

 

Surprise! North vs. Norcross the true marquee finale

By Buddy Pinkston
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/08/06
There's never been a game like this before. When the 2006 high school football schedules were announced last spring, one season finale caught the public's eye. Gwinnett could be in for the most-anticipated regular-season matchup in years, folks were saying. Those folks were right. But they had it all wrong. It's No. 1-ranked North Gwinnett vs. No. 3 Norcross —- not No. 5 Brookwood vs. unranked Parkview —- that pairs the county's most successful and celebrated teams in a high-stakes matchup to close out the regular season. It matches two 9-0 Gwinnett teams deciding a region championship. "You can say that the region secretary set it up like that," joked Region 7-AAAAA secretary Dolford Layson. Actually, the scheduling was a random draw. "Everybody thought Brookwood-Parkview could be the finale of all finales," Layson said. "But I'd say this one is up there with any of the Parkview-Brookwood games of the past." Maybe bigger, in its own way. County teams have met with more on the line several times in the playoffs, where a loss ends the season. In 2002, Gwinnett schools battled for the ultimate prize when Parkview beat Brookwood in the Class AAAAA final, and Buford beat Greater Atlanta Christian for the AA championship. Nobody's season ends Friday. Whether North wins its first region championship or Norcross its second, both will open the playoffs at home. But that's looking ahead. For now, we've got two unblemished seasons colliding at the finish line. And that's perfect.

 

Special Feature!

Spend 6 Days with the North Gwinnett Bulldogs.
Read the Gwinnett Daily Post's Corey Clark's inside look at the work,
preparation and the folks who make it happen every Friday Night on the field:

6 Days 'Til Friday

A behind-the-scenes look at the North Gwinnett football program

Link to the Gwinnett Daily Post or read below.

Saturday, Oct. 21 — ‘Nightmares about kettlebells’

8:15 a.m.
Most of their classmates won’t be waking up for hours, but one by one the North Gwinnett football players arrive in the parking lot to get started on a new week. Some are still bleary eyed, and almost all are moving a little slowly, but they’re here at the fieldhouse just 10 hours after leaving South Forsyth High School with a 42-0 win.
It’s 8:32 a.m. when head coach Bob Sphire addresses his players in the team’s locker room.
He praises their performance from the night before saying: “All right, let’s go to work.”
The players and coaches make their way outside to the stadium track to do warm-up drills and agility exercises. The temperature is right at 50 degrees when the players take off on a two-lap jog around the track. “I just feel like coming in on Saturdays gives us a head start on the week,” Sphire said.
It also gives the team another chance to work with a medival-looking device known as a kettlebell, basically a weighted ball with a handle on the end. The devices look more like something that belong in a dungeon than a modern fieldhouse, but Sphire and his staff swear by them. After 15 minutes warming up on the track, the team returns to the fieldhouse. The offensive players stay in the weight room to work kettlebells, while the defensive guys go into the locker room to work on non-traditional exercises as well — like bear crawling around a five-foot hoop and doing situps on a balance ball.
After 15 minutes the two units switch, with the defense going into the weight room to work with the kettlebells, “It looks like it’s just working your arms, but it’s a full-body athletic type of movement,” Sphire said. “Chin to the sky,” yells assistant coach Charles Allen to the players struggling to lift the contraption over their heads. In the middle of the exercise a Bulldog player on the other side of the room says: “Coach, Mike’s been having nightmares about kettlebells.”
9:30 a.m.
After doing sprints and “speed work” on the school track, the players make their way back into the fieldhouse. It’s review time.
If games are the reward for all the hard work players put into practice, then the Saturday morning film review is like waiting to receive a score on an exam. The team breaks off into two groups to watch game tape of the 42-0 win over South Forsyth. The offense, with Sphire, goes into the locker room, while the defense, led by defensive coordinator Maurice Dixon, sets up in the weight room.
It’s evident quite early that despite the Bulldogs winning the previous night by six touchdowns, the coaches are by no means satisfied. “Come on Mikey, we’ve got to tighten that huddle up this week,” Sphire says when he finds out his talented sophomore QB Michael Tamburo either misspoke or wasn’t loud enough on a particular play call. But during the play, Tamburo avoided trouble and scrambled for a first down on third-and-long. “Well I can’t hardly yell at you when you do that,” Sphire said.
As each play is watched on tape, assistant coach Traye Moore says what the call was. Then Sphire rewinds the tape five or six times, on each play, so the coaches can look at each position.
“Tilly, you sprung him on that, great job,” Alen says to lineman Matt Tillery on a play that running back Evan Gilles picked up big yardage on. The vibe is a bit different 40 feet down the hall, where Dixon and his defensive staff are watching the film with the Bulldog defenders. “I don’t coach a lot of Deions,” secondary coach Phillip Hale says, invoking the name of former NFL star Deion Sanders after watching a running play in which a North corner didn’t attack the ball carrier.
The team watches in silence as the coaches rewind the tape continually, pointing out mistakes here and good plays there. The most uncomfortable silence comes on a second-half kickoff that South Forsyth almost returns for a touchdown. “This is freakin’ sorry,” Hale says. “In two weeks that’s to the house, I promise you. If we were playing Norcross last night, that would’ve been three straight kick returns for touchdowns.” After the film is over, Dixon addresses his players.
“It turns into wars from here on out,” he says. “Let’s make sure we come out on Monday ready to go to work.” With that the defense is dismissed to go eat pizza, courtesy of the booster club, and then heads on out to enjoy the rest of the weekend. The coaches also get some free time on Saturdays — Sphire is leaving the fieldhouse around noon to take his 11-year-old son Hayden to his final regular season youth game.

Sunday, Oct. 22 — ‘Thank you mom’

1 p.m.
The staff meeting is set to begin. For the next four to five hours the Bulldog coaches will break down game tape of the upcoming opponent, North Forsyth, and prepare a scouting report and practice plan for the week. But before any of that, there’s another matter to discuss.
“Byron, what are we getting into on Senior Night?” Sphire asks defensive line coach Byron Shells, the only holdover from the previous North varsity coaching staff.
If there is anything that every single football coach in America can agree on, it’s that they don’t want their routines being altered. And Sphire and the rest of his staff want to make sure the Bulldogs’ Senior Night isn’t like the lengthy — and wordy — one they had to endure at South Forsyth on Friday.
“Oh my God, that was a nightmare,” Dixon said. “They were saying things like, ‘And thank you mom for making me the woman I am today.’ It was unbelievable.”
Sphire mainly wants to know how long the ceremony will take and when the football players will be introduced. He also wants to make sure it doesn’t foul up his pregame routine.
1:45 p.m.
It’s evident right away from watching North Forsyth on tape that the Bulldogs can probably name their score on Friday night.
While trying to get a read on the defensive scheme the Raiders are going to play against a particular offensive set, there are more questions than answers from North’s offensive staff.
Said Allen of one alignment: “That free safety is so far off No. 2 it’s unbelievable.”
Said Moore: “They’re just giving up anything underneath.”
While the tape rolls and it becomes more apparent that North Forsyth is not athletically capable of defending the Bulldogs, Sphire has a word of advice for the other three offensive coaches in the room.
“We might not want to get too caught up scheme-wise this week,” he said. “Let’s just work on us and work on getting ready for the playoffs.”
The tape continues and Sphire sees the very first play of the Norcross-North Forsyth game. Blue Devil QB Bryce Dykes hits Brice Butler in stride on a slant route and the talented junior races untouched for a
70-yard score. “Norcross has got some weapons, boys,” Sphire says as Butler sprints past the goal line.
3:30 p.m.
Every week the offensive coaches script everything they are going to run the next four days in practice, from blocking schemes to routes to two-minute drills to blitz pickups.
Each of the three assistant coaches, Moore, Allen and tight ends coach Jonathan Wyman, then e-mail their scripts to Sphire, who puts them on a master list that is handed out to each coach.
During this time, Sphire also scripts the first 16 plays of the game.
“Philosophically I feel like they are a little bit better against the run than they are on the pass,” he says.
And then Sphire begins to rattle off play No. 1 to Wyman, who writes it on the dry erase board at the end of the room. When the coaches come to a play in the Ace formation, they aren’t quite sure what defense North Forsyth will be in. Grady York, who has just walked into the coaches’ office and works with the Bulldog freshman team, suggests pulling out the tape of the North Gwinnett-North Forsyth JV game from earlier in the year to see how the Raiders defend it. After all, it’s the same school so the JV and varsity will probably run similar schemes. When they see the Raiders’ JV defense, they immediately think
about utilizing stellar senior receiver Ryan McDaniel.
“Look right here,” Moore said. “You would have Ryan 1-on-1 out here.”
That’s usually good news for the Bulldogs. McDaniel is the county leader in receptions, yards and touchdowns and has made himself into a high-caliber Division I recruit.
After scripting the first 16 plays, the offensive coaches make copies of the script and game plan they will hand to their players before practice on Monday.
Sphire finally leaves the fieldhouse around 8 p.m. He has been here almost eight hours on a Sunday. Who needs a day off anyway?

Monday, Oct. 23 — ‘Cover up your bushes’

2:35 p.m.
The entire varsity team is gathered in the locker room. The players are preparing to watch the same film the coaches watched on Sunday in preparation for North Forsyth. Then there’s a two-hour practice, in the bitter cold and wind, awaiting them afterward. But first things first. It’s time to hand out The Big Stick.
Each week, the coaches award the player who made the best hit in the previous game with a large branch that looks like it was just plucked from the forest. That player keeps it in his locker the entire week before taking it on the field on Friday night. “All right guys, let’s take care of some business,” Sphire says. “D.J. (Troughton) gets The Big Stick for his tackle on the kickoff return Friday night.” The team cheers and claps for the senior defensive back. “And the Old Spice Player of the Week this week is Evan Gilles,” Sphire says. The room again erupts in applause. After the two announcements it’s time to break down North Forsyth.
2:55 p.m.
“I bet my house they’re going to blitz on the first play,” Sphire says in the darkened locker room, where he and the offensive players are watching North Forsyth’s previous game.
A few minutes later he tilts his head just slightly to address his sophomore QB.
“Mikey, I think the boot game can be really good to us this week,” he said. “They’ve struggled with that. And they’ve really struggled in covering crossing routes.”
Actually, North Forsyth, 1-7 entering the game, has struggled in covering pretty much everything. But Sphire isn’t just preparing for the Raiders. He’s trying to make his spread offense even more difficult to defend than it already is.
“If we can get this right,” he says, referring to a particular option play, “we’ll be pretty hard to defend. Running game, passing game, screens, options. Guys, nobody in high school football does all this.”
3:10 p.m.
Dixon is again addressing his defense in the weight room as it watches the North Forsyth offense. Like Saturday, it’s a different feel than the offensive film session.
“Most guys aren’t so tough when you punch them in the mouth three or four times,” he says.
A few minutes later he adds: “If they feel like they’re in the game, they’re going to keep coming at you.”
And then as a side note: “No. 7 will put the ball on the ground. If you hit him, he’ll put the ball on the ground.”
After the North Forsyth film ends, and before the team leaves the weight room, Dixon makes sure to put a few minutes of the Camden County-Valdosta state championship game from two years ago on.
North and Camden, which won the title in 2004, run the same 3-5-3 defense.
“That’s just about keeping our eye on what it’s supposed to be on,” Dixon said.
4:40 p.m.
The team has been on the practice field for more than an hour now. And it’s downright cold. To the point where Sphire has to send a student manager back to the fieldhouse to get another jacket.
“Somebody lied to me when I interviewed down here,” he says with a laugh.
But all football teams must deal with the elements. And that’s exactly what the Bulldogs are doing now.
After some individual workouts and drills, the No. 1 offense goes up against the No. 1 defense in the no-huddle drill, which Sphire calls “NASCAR.”
On this day, Dixon’s defense wins virtually every play.
Until that is, Sphire switches to “Indy,” which lets Tamburo call every play at the line.
The sophomore calls four straight positive plays for the Bulldogs, including two huge gainers.
“Thanks for bailing me out,” Sphire says as the two jog toward the middle of the field.
5:33 p.m.
“All right, helmets and pads off,” Sphire says to the players circling around him. He proceeds to tell them they did a real nice on the practice field and he likes their focus.
He then asks the other coaches if they have anything they’d like to say.
Trainer Shawn O’Connor raises his hand.
“Guys, there’s a frost warning tonight,” he says.
Sphire interrupts: “So cover up your bushes.”
The team breaks up in laughter before O’Connor continues.
“Guys, it’s supposed to be even colder tomorrow. So wear gloves and a hoody if you have to.
Just be smart.”

Tuesday, Oct. 24 — ‘What kind of music is this?’

1:45 p.m.
Back in the far corner of the North assistant coaches’ office, Dixon, the defensive coordinator,
is watching one of his 10 DVDs on the 3-5-3 defense in a room affectionately known as “The Cave.”
“Well, what would you call it?” he asks, pointing out the lifeless gray walls with no windows.
“It matches my mood.” Dixon, like many of the assistants on the staff, has a long history with Sphire.
He has worked with him two times in the past, first at Knott County Central (Ky.) and then at
Lexington Catholic (Ky.). He is one of two former head coaches on the staff — running backs coach
Traye Moore is the other, and is by all intents and purposes the head coach of the defense.
It’s in his hands. And that’s why he’s here, by himself, watching a wildly expensive ($40 for one disc),
incredibly specific DVD that deals solely with blitzes out of the 3-5-3 alignment that is
narrated by a college coach standing at a chalkboard. It’s not exactly Oscar-worthy stuff.
“We just look for any advantage we can get,” Dixon says.
2:30 p.m.
“Ryan, I talked with (receivers coach) Jason Nichols today from Kent State,” Sphire tells his
star senior receiver Ryan McDaniel in his office before practice. “He said he was going to call you tonight
and that he was getting ready to go to his head coach to recommend they offer you a scholarship.”
There’s more to a head coach’s day than just diagraming plays and watching game film. For Sphire,
there’s other tasks to be done as well, most notably trying to get his football players scholarship offers.
So each morning and afternoon he answers calls, sends out tapes, puts together highlight packages,
trying to ensure that his best players won’t stop playing football after Friday nights.
“There was some stuff from UConn that came, too,” Sphire tells McDaniel, who is starting to
receive heavy interest after his productive start to the 2006 season.
“Thanks, coach,” McDaniel says. “I appreciate it.”
4 p.m.
The team is in the middle of another hard-hitting practice, though this one isn’t nearly as cold as
Monday’s. Dixon is pacing back and forth, watching his defense go up against the scout-team offense.
“Get him off of you,” he screams at one his defenders. “Don’t do that tippy-tap crap.”
“Let’s go ‘O,’” he yells at the scout team offense. “Get in the huddle. Be fast.”
After another play, the scout players are again slow to get lined up.
“We’ve got a game on Friday,” middle linebacker Chris Knox screams at the underclassmen.
“Let’s go!” Dixon cringes just a bit when one of his linemen comes a little too close to the scout team quarterback.
“In Bob Sphire’s program, you don’t touch the quarterback,” he says.
“You’d be better off going home and punching your mom in the face.”
Then, before the No. 1 defense goes up against the No. 1 offense again in the no-huddle drill,
he pulls his massive junior defensive tackle Steve Buffington aside.
“There’s no reason anyone should be outplaying you,” Dixon says. “You are a good kid, you work hard.
You’re strong. But in the end the football gods don’t care about any of that. They just care if you make plays.”
5:15 p.m.
Sphire addresses his team again at the end of practice.
“This is an important week,” he tells them. “Pretenders would take two steps back this week because
they’re satisfied. We don’t want to be pretenders.”
He then dismisses the team back to the fieldhouse, where they will watch tape of that day’s practice.
One hour later, and some 11 hours after the kids arrived at school that day, they are sent home.
6:30 p.m.
“What kind of music is this?” asks Moore, the running backs coach, as a song by the Isley Brothers plays.
The coaching staff is sitting in Sphire’s office preparing to enjoy their weekly catered meal from Katie’s Cafe,
which is owned and operated by Kathy and Harry Jones, parents of North senior receiver Kevin Jones.
Tonight the menu consists of chicken Parmesan, green beans, salad and brownies.
The food is good. The music depends on your taste. “Coach Sphire is playing love-making music,”
says receivers coach Troy Hobbs, shaking his head. “What’s this about?”
All the other coaches in the room laugh and joke with their boss about his music choice.
It’s at this time when you get a feel for just how well these nine guys get along.
Despite being a diverse staff — five of the nine varsity coaches are married
(three are single, one is engaged), five are white and four are black, four have children and
five do not and four are in their 20s and five are not — they get along very well.
“It’s a nice mixture,” Sphire says. “It’s a nice mixture of quality experience with some youthful gusto ... and
I’m having as much fun this year as I’ve ever had coaching football. And I’ve had a lot of fun coaching
football over the years.”

Wednesday, Oct. 25 — ‘The Black Uni-bomber’

1:30 p.m.
It’s roughly an hour before his team begins the mid-week practice, and Sphire is sitting in an office
he has occupied for less than a year.
He has taken the Bulldogs to great heights in less than 12 months. North is ranked No. 3 in one poll,
No. 1 in another and is one win away from setting the school record for most victories in a season.
But Sphire wants more. That’s just how he is. He isn’t satisfied with being one of the county’s top programs,
or even one of the state’s best. He has bigger goals than that.
“If we do this thing right, the potential is unlimited,” said Sphire, as the book-on-DVD entitled
‘Execution: The discipline of getting things done’ plays on the stereo behind him.
“I always try to be running out ahead of the program, where the program has to catch up with the dream.”
So that might mean scheduling a nationally televised game in the next couple of years,
or perhaps taking the field against an out-of-state power like Hoover (Ala.) or De La Salle (Calif.).
“You’ve got to set goals and put dreams into place,” Sphire says.
3 p.m.
As Sphire makes his way to the practice field, junior cornerback Cameron Demps notices the coach is
wearing his Lexington Catholic sweatsuit, which looks just like the colors of the University of Kentucky.
“Coach, what’s with all that blue, man?” Demps asks. “We’ve got to get you some red and black.”
3:30 p.m.
A North practice is a study in organization. Everything is broken down into specific positions, specific drills.
Every single practice play of the entire week was scripted in the Sunday coaches’ meeting, so there is
absolutely no wasted time. No standing around. Every minute seems to serve a purpose.
And every coach on the field is definitely coaching.
“Give me a shoulder fake,” Wyman tells his tight ends during a drill. “If I see anyone give a stutter step,
it’s 20 push-ups.” About 50 yards to the left, Dixon is watching his defense.
“Use your hands, Buff, use your hands,” he says.
“Come on son, use them,” echoes defensive line coach Byron Shells.
Every day, every moment, there is coaching going on.
“Good block, Dovel.”
“Ahh, come on. Get something done.”
“Call the police, we’re getting assaulted.” It’s the type of stuff that’s heard all day, every day at
the North practice field. “I’m letting these guys work,” Sphire said.
“I don’t think anyone feels like they’re less important than anyone else.”
4:41 p.m.
Running backs coach Traye Moore is not happy. After watching one of his players miss an assignment
he had just gone over, he slams his clipboard down, rips the straw hat off his head and throws it to the turf.
“Get him out,” he screams. “Get him out.”
Unfortunately for Moore, in the process of voicing his displeasure he destroys his hat.
“You tore up your hat,” Sphire says moments later. “I knew it was just a matter of time ... if you want
we can have a ceremony for it and bury it.”
The kids around Sphire bust out laughing, diffusing what was an uncomfortable silence on the practice field.
Despite having a very disciplined, very organized practice regimen, there always seems to be one
constant on the North practice field and in the coaches’ meetings: Laughter.
Like when receivers coach Troy Hobbs came into the coaches’ office after Wednesday’s practice.
On Tuesday, Hobbs had suffered a scratched cornea and had to wear a big, white bandage over his left eye.
He also wore dark, round sunglasses to go with his gray-hooded sweatshirt.
“Look,” said offensive line coach Charles Allen. “It’s the black Uni-bomber.”
5:35 p.m.
The defense is again looking at a tape from that day’s practice. Unlike many high school teams,
North doesn’t just break down film of the upcoming opponent, it breaks down film of itself as well.
As defensive line coach Byron Shells watches his down lineman fail to put enough pressure
on the scout team QB, he has this warning: “Against Norcross, this has to get done. Or it’s a touchdown.
(The defensive backs) can’t cover those guys for four or five seconds waiting for you to get to the quarterback.”
As Dixon tells his players, QBs don’t enjoy getting hit.
“That’s why our quarterback is so good,” Dixon tells them, “he’ll sit there until the last possible second.
Our QB isn’t scared of (anything). Most QBs aren’t that way.”
7 p.m.
The entire offensive line, along with some other Bulldog players, have descended upon CiCi’s in Suwanee
to basically have a pizza-eating contest. Roughly 20 North football players stroll into the buffet-style restaurant
and put away an unbelievable amount of food. The average number of slices per player appears to be in the
neighborhood of 10, but some go higher, some lower, some order entire pizzas for themselves and some
order theirs with anchovies.
Allen, Shells and Wyman join the players.
So has linebackers coach Wes Cissell, who tight end Kenny Barnes notices standing in line.
“Coach Cissell, what up?” the sophomore yells across the crowded restaurant.
“Kenny, what did I tell you about that?” Wyman asks from the table next to his tight end.
Dropping his head slightly and lowering his decibel-level considerably, Barnes replies: “Inside voice,” and
gets back to eating his pizza.
Sometimes a coach’s work is never done.

Thursday, Oct. 26 — ‘He has a chance to be special’

2:28 p.m.
As the assistant coaches prepare for the week’s final day of practice, a walk-through in the stadium,
junior Sam Umberg strolls into Sphire’s office to make copies of that day’s script.
He isn’t a football player and he isn’t a manager. No, Umberg is the youngest member of the
North coaching staff. Umberg suffered a back injury last year that forced him to give up the sport,
but he decided he wanted to stay involved. So he asked Sphire if he could be a volunteer coach, and the
head coach, who served in the same capacity as a junior in high school when he suffered a severe eye injury,
gladly said yes. Now Umberg is a big part of the North coaching staff, running his classmates
through drills and barking out instructions during practice.
“I really enjoy it a lot,” he said. “I definitely want to be a coach one day.” And the coaches have given
him real responsibilities, too. “A lot more than I thought they would,” he says. “I’m liking it though. It’s been great.”
4:03 p.m.
The scout team offense is trying to give the North starting defense a look it will see tomorrow night,
but junior defensive end Eric Eberhardt, one of the county’s leading sackers, isn’t cooperating.
For what seems like the 10th play in a row, the junior blows up the play before it even has a chance to get started.
“Would you play dumb or dead for just one play?” pleads Wyman, who helps run the scout team offense.
“We can’t get anything done.” This is nothing new .
Eberhardt has been wreaking havoc on his own offense, as well as the opposition, for the entire year.
“Sometimes we wish he would just sit out for the day,” Sphire jokes.
Said Dixon: “He’s a really good one. He plays with a motor like I’ve never seen before.”
4:10 p.m.
It’s time for the weekly tradition of naming the starting lineup. With the players sitting in a circle,
each coach tosses out a link of a chain to the starting 22 members of Friday night’s game, calling out
each player one at a time. One by one, the coaches rattle off their starters to rousing applause.
There are two new starters this week for the Bulldogs. The first is tight end Kenny Barnes,
who is replacing the injured Brandon Rodd. The second is outside linebacker Ranfy Leonardo, a senior
getting a start on Senior Night. “You had a good week this week,” Dixon tells Leonardo as he tosses
him the chain link. “I’m going to give you the chance to get the first lick tomorrow night.”
5 p.m.
Every football team has plenty of traditions. North has The Big Stick and the 22 links on the chain.
On Thursdays there’s another one, a much tastier one: ice cream.
Every Thursday the varsity cheerleaders provide ice cream, chocolate sauce, brownies and whipped
cream for the varsity players after practice. It’s a very nice end to their practice week.
Though on this particular day, there is some saddening news circulating through the ice cream line.
Three students, two boys from North, have been killed just miles from the school in a horrific car accident.
Sphire didn’t know either one, but he knows Friday is going to be a very
emotional time for the entire North family.
“You’re kidding,” Dixon says when he hears the news. “Just now?
That’s terrible. Oh my God. That’s awful.”
It’s the type of sentiment echoed throughout the fieldhouse and the community. And Sphire knows
Friday was not going to be easy. “It’s going to be a tough, tough day for a lot of folks,” he said.
8:32 p.m.
There might be a new star in the making. His name is Cordero Dixon.
The Bulldog freshman team falls behind South Forsyth 21-0 in the first half and it looks like it’s
going to be a blowout. But behind the sensational
play of Dixon, who the coaches have been talking about all week, North rallies to make a game of it
before falling 35-28.
Dixon, a speedy wide receiver, catches three touchdown passes. Two are 70 yards or longer, the result of
crossing routes in which he outruns the entire defense.
Sphire, who has been watching his future players intently, raises his eyebrows after the last one,
clearly impressed with the ninth-grader. “He has a chance to be special,” Sphire says.
And this is how a program is built. It’s not just about the varsity. It’s not just about Friday nights.
Sphire isn’t involved with the day-to-day coaching of the freshmen team, but he’s clearly interested.
After all, these will be his players in the next few years. He addresses the team after the game and
tells them he’s proud of how they responded to the early deficit. And that they will be on the sideline
the following night for the varsity game.
“I want you guys paying attention,” he says. “I don’t want you looking in the stands or waving at people.
I want you invested in the game.” Because he knows two years from now, many of them will be in the game.

Friday, Oct. 27 — Game Day

6:40 a.m.
It’s amazing when you think about it.
Here Bob Sphire is walking into his office at 6:40 a.m. for the fifth day in a row. He won’t leave tonight until about 10:30 p.m., which means he will have worked roughly 80 hours this week — with zero days off.
All of his assistant coaches are working similar hours. And none are getting rich doing it. It’s not like these nine men are hourly wage employees who can put down 40 hours of overtime each week.
No, this is their job. Plain and simple. This kind of time is what is expected of them each week. Arrive before the sun comes up. Leave after it’s gone down.
“You’ve got to really truly enjoy it,” Sphire says.
And he most certainly does.
“This is a great game, man,” Sphire says. “It’s great to have all that interaction with the kids and with the staff.
“Sure, it’s got its down times, every job does, but I really do love it.”
Today is the reason they put in all the hours, the reason they type up extensive scouting reports for the offense, defense and special teams, the reason they break down all that film or watch those mundane DVDs on the 3-5-3 defense.
Today is Game Day.
1:04 p.m.
Sphire is walking out of Wal-Mart with bags full of recruiting supplies. He’s got envelopes, about 75 blank video tapes and some labels, the money for which was donated by the Bulldog booster club. For the next hour he will be packing the highlight tapes he made into envelopes and sending them to every single Division I-A and I-AA football program.
That’s 264 schools.
“I just go alphabetically,” he said.
Some high school coaches adhere to the philosophy that “if you’re good enough, they’ll find you.” Sphire takes a much more proactive role in the recruitment of his football players.
“I think some coaches might get a little bit of tunnel vision,” Sphire says, “in just trying to gameplan for the next week. I’m trying to market the kids and this program the best I can.”
2:32 p.m.
Most of the varsity football players are in the locker room, doing their after-school preparations for game night. In 15 minutes the coaches will put in the pregame inspirational movie. This week it’s “Glory Road.”
But before the movie can begin, the locker room needs to be swept up. Defensive line coach Byron Shells starts calling out names from the clean-up crew list for that week. Nobody answers until he gets to “Evan Gilles.”
“Yeah,” Gilles says when he hears his name called.
“Time to sweep,” Shells says and hands a broom and dustpan to the starting tailback.
Even though Gilles was the “Old Spice Player of the Week” last Friday, he doesn’t get out of clean-up duty.
“Are you just picking a random volunteer?” Gilles asks.
“I’m just going down the list,” Shells responds.
“This is foreshadowing for the rest of my life,” says Gilles as he begins to sweep the front of the locker room.
5 p.m.
After eating a pregame meal of chicken pasta, the varsity team returns to the locker room to finish watching the movie. After it ends, it’s time for another pregame ritual, the watching of the highlight tape from the week before.
Spliced together with music (compliments of fellow North students) the highlight reels have a very professional feel to them.
On this day, with the pleading of his players, the team gets to watch the highlights of all eight games it’s played so far.
One thing is apparent very early on. This team likes Mikey.
Tamburo is just a sophomore, but he’s already had one of best seasons of any quarterback in county history. He has thrown 15 TDs and just two interceptions heading into tonight’s game, but it’s not his passing that the players love to watch.
It’s his running.
When he makes a sick move on Brookwood linebacker Rennie Curran, one of the best defensive players in the state, the team starts howling wildly.
A few minutes later, he makes another ridiculous shake of a defender and again the response is overwhelming.
“It’s like Mikey runs toward guys just to make them look dumb,” says one North player.
Tamburo has been asked to handle a huge load this season, his first as a varsity quarterback.
Sphire’s offense features option, draws, screens, and plenty of passes.
There are play names that are so long they barely fit on a sheet of paper — like “Chaos to gun right flip 80 mesh switch X-post” for instance — that makes you wonder how he can keep up with it all.
“In the spring we had a real hard time picking it up,” Tamburo says, “but gradually we’ve been over it so much and we break it down on film. We watch it over and over again, and he just does a real good job of explaining everything to us.”
5:11 p.m.
When the highlight reel is over, it’s back to the business at hand. Each coach meets with his position players in a corner of the fieldhouse.
“Make plays man,” Hale tells his defensive backs. “Hit people.”
“Let’s keep our minds on what we’re doing,” Shells tells his defensive lineman.
“Forget all that motion and stuff they do,” Wes Cissell tells his linebackers, “we’ll just be better than them once they snap the ball.”
“I want them sky high,” Dixon tells his players, “Let’s get after it.”
5:27 p.m.
While the players are back in the locker room getting taped up and slowly putting on their uniforms, the assistant coaches are in their office. And they are dancing up a storm.
Shells, Troy Hobbs and Traye Moore look like they’re auditioning for American Bandstand or Soul Train to the sounds of the Godfather of Soul, James Brown.
“Oh, it gets crazy in here,” says Dixon as he watches the other members of the staff. “On game days, it can get pretty wild in the coaches’ office.”
6:01 p.m.
The entire varsity team walks into the cafeteria, where an hour and a half ago they were eating chicken pasta, to go through one final walk-through. The offense takes the actual cafeteria, while the defense goes into the school’s main lobby. They run through North Forsyth’s formations one last time, just to make sure the players are completely comfortable with the schemes they will be running.
6:30 p.m.
The players line up in the weight room to do warm-up exercises with offensive line coach Charles Allen. As the players do high-knee runs down the length of the room, some take a quick glance in the reflective windows to see if their uniform and headgear looks OK.
6:38 p.m.
Sphire walks to midfield to talk with North Forsyth head coach Jeff Hollis. They have never met before, so they introduce themselves.
“Is that 22 a D-I player?” asks Hollis of North receiver Ryan McDaniel.
“I think he is,” answers Sphire.
“I do, too,” says Hollis, who has no doubt seen McDaniel’s exploits when breaking down North’s film.
A few minutes later, Hollis mentions with a laugh, “I hope you don’t run the score up on us.”
“Oh, I don’t know that it will come to that,” Sphire counters, “but just know I’ve got to get my guys ready for the playoffs.”
“Oh, I know, I know,” Hollis says with a smile.
7 p.m.
The Senior Night ceremonies begin, while the North team continues its pregame work on the field. The pregame routine has not been altered, so Sphire is a happy man. Six minutes later, the varsity team makes its way back into the locker room for the pregame talk.
7:18 p.m.
Sphire addresses his players.
“Tonight is about us,” he says. “It’s about all you guys that have rode that roller coaster for the last three years ... You have a chance to be the No. 1 team in the state, the talk of Georgia. You have a chance to play for the region championship. This is our springboard to a region championship run. And you deserve it.
“But if you think these guys are just going to hand it to you, you’re badly mistaken.”
He continues: “The most physical team tonight will win. I want you to dominate tonight. It’s about who is most physical.”
He then looks at his best player, McDaniel: “Ryan, are you going to get better tonight?”
“Yes sir,” McDaniel replies.
“Every one of you needs to get better tonight,” Sphire says, his voice raising to almost a yell. “Let’s be a better team tonight.”
7:32 p.m.
It’s apparent early on who the better team is.
North stops the visitors on the first possession and takes over in North Forsyth territory.
Before the ball is snapped on one play, Sphire says, “look at the middle of the field boys.”
Sure enough, Tamburo hits tight end Jon Favaro for a 20-yard gain over the middle.
8:11 p.m.
North has the ball again deep in Raider territory, already ahead 13-0. Sphire sends in the play and then takes a look at the North Forsyth defense.
“This ought to be a touchdown right here,” he says.
Five seconds later, Tamburo hits McDaniel on a 6-yard slant pass for the first of four first-half TD hookups.
“Great job right there,” Sphire says to his QB as he comes off the field.
A few minutes later, Tamburo notices one-on-one coverage on McDaniel and lobs an 11-yard TD pass in which the senior just outleaps his defender.
“That ain’t fair,” says receivers coach Troy Hobbs.
The rest of the first half is all North Gwinnett as well, as the Bulldogs storm out to a 47-0 lead.
While the second quarter is winding down, Sphire is asking the officials when he will know if Hollis wants to use a running clock for the second half — it’s the head coach’s call for the third quarter no matter what the score is.
After a few minutes of wondering, the side judge tells Sphire: “Coach, we will have a running clock for the entire second half.”
Which means Sphire will play only JV players and backups in the final two quarters.
8:58 p.m.
“We’ve had a lot of seniors who’ve paid their dues, and I want to see them on the field before anyone else gets in,” Sphire tells his offense. “Cody, we’re going to get you in on a play or two.”
Cody is senior Cody Bowen, a 6-foot-5 tight end who hasn’t played a down this season because of severely broken jaw.
“Yeah, Cody,” the offense screams when it hears the news.
Bowen smiles, and for the moment, fights back tears.
9:02 p.m.
Dixon is addressing his backup defenders, many of whom have never played a down of varsity.
“This is Friday night, not Thursday,” he tells them. “This is for real. I expect you to outplay them in the second half.”
With that, the North players again depart the fieldhouse and head back toward the stadium. On the Bulldogs’ first drive of the half, Bulldog backup QB Patrick Thompson hits Kamren Heard on a 6-yard TD pass.
“He got a touchdown,” running backs coach Traye Moore says. “Come on superstar, get off the field.”
Next, tight ends coach Jonathan Wyman is meeting with Bowen.
“If you get the ball, don’t be a hero,” the first-year coach tells him. “Get out of bounds.”
He then adds: “You’re still ugly, but you’d be a whole lot uglier if you got hit in the face.”
The North offense runs a fade route for Bowen late in the third quarter, but it’s overthrown. Still, the cheers from Bowen’s teammates and classmates in the student section are some of the biggest ones of the night.
9:41 p.m.
“Good job, baby,” Dixon yells at his freshman and sophomore defenders, who just held the Raiders out of the end zone on the game’s final play in the 54-0 win. “That’s a goose egg, baby. Good job.”
The players high five each other and then get in line for the postgame hand-shake with the other team.
Afterwards, Sphire gathers his players for the final time of the week.
“I thought you guys came out and played well,” he says, “but we won’t be satisfied until Dec. 15.”
He continues: “We’re giving you the next two days off (because of the upcoming bye). We will treat next Monday like our Saturday. So get away from it. Don’t even think about football for two days. It’s off the shelf, understand?”
“Yes, sir,” screams the team in unison.
“And you will have Friday night off, so you can go watch Norcross, you can go watch whoever,” Sphire says, “but I thought you guys did a great job of staying focused tonight ... all right, now break it down.”
Then, the North players huddle together as tightly as possible.
“Let’s get a North on 3 ... 1, 2, 3, North.”
And just like that, the week is over.
And as everyone trudges off the field and back to the locker room, each player and coach walks with the knowledge that the whole thing will start over again on Monday.

 

Sphire took ‘leap of faith’ to arrive at North Gwinnett

By Corey Clark
Staff Writer
corey.clark@gwinnettdailypost.com
SUWANEE — It’s funny how one little moment, one tiny idea, can change your life forever.
It took a job interview that he might have subconsciously sabotaged for Bob Sphire to realize he might actually want another job.
He had already turned his football program, Lexington Catholic, into a Kentucky power that consistently challenged for the state championship when University of Kentucky head coach Rich Brooks asked if he would be interested in interviewing for the vacant QB coach position for the Wildcats.
Sphire said he was, but his heart wasn’t completely in it.
“That was my moment of revelation,” he said. “I wasn’t ready (for that interview). And when I walked out of there, I said, ‘Why don’t you get yourself ready?’
“I had already built the program at Lexington Catholic and I didn’t know what else I could do with it ... it really was a defining moment. I realized there was a whole, big world out there, so let’s see what’s out there.”
There was another high-profile head coach in the Kentucky prep world, Tony Franklin, that had gotten a job on the UK staff a few years prior. He was very familiar with Sphire.
Fast forward a year later.
Franklin has been hired as the offensive coordinator at Troy. Amazingly, on the exact day he is hired in his new position, Troy head coach Larry Blakeney announces his new offensive line coach is Matt Moore, who just happened to be the current head coach at North Gwinnett.
Well Franklin and Moore got to talking shortly after they both agreed to join the staff at Troy and Moore wondered aloud who the North administration would get to replace him.
“Well, there’s a guy in Lexington who might be interested,” replied Franklin, who knew about Sphire’s interview with Kentucky the year before.
So Franklin and Moore decided they should call North’s principal, Dr. John Green, and tell him about Sphire, who was just coming off a state championship with Lexington Catholic.
Green was immediately interested. Not only did Sphire have a history of winning, he had a history of running the popular spread offense. He decided to cold-call Sphire just to gauge his interest.
“Hi,” Green said when Sphire answered the phone. “You don’t know me, but my name is John Green. I’m the principal at North Gwinnett High School.”
Said Sphire: “Ten minutes after I got off the phone with Dr. Green, Tony (Franklin) called me and said, ‘You might be getting a call from the principal at North Gwinnett.’”
Sphire laughed and told Franklin that he had just hung up with Green and that he was definitely interested.
“Everybody knows about Georgia football,” Sphire said. “Class AAAAA in Georgia is about as good as it gets.”
Still, Sphire was going from a program he created from scratch and turned into a state power and that was located in his home state, to a Class AAAAA school in Georgia that had only just begun to enjoy any sustained success on the football field.
“It was definitely a leap of faith,” Sphire said. “There were so many unknowns. But we just had such a good feeling when we made the jump.”
He remembers his first weekend on the job.
He had a rented house in Suwanee while his wife stayed back in Lexington and put their house on the market.
“I drove down on Sunday and I started the next day,” he said. “I remember walking into (the rented house). And it had one kids’ twin bed and one night stand and one lamp. And that was it.
“And I just thought to myself, ‘Well, I just changed my life, didn’t I?’”
He’s certainly changed North Gwinnett.
The Bulldogs are currently ranked No. 3 in the state and their 9-0 start is already good for the most regular season wins in school history.

 

Collins Hill takes No. 1 Norcross to triple OT before falling

By Corey Clark
Staff Writer
corey.clark@gwinnettdailypost.com
NORCROSS — Next Friday was supposed to be the Game of the Year in Region 7-AAAAA.
But no matter what happens in the showdown between undefeated Norcross and North Gwinnett, it’s going to have a hard time living up to this one. The Collins Hill Eagles went toe-to-toe with the No. 1 Norcross Blue Devils for four quarters and three overtimes, but on the game’s final play Norcross senior Kendall Parks intercepted a two-point conversion pass to seal a remarkable 39-37 triple-overtime victory. “That was just a great high school football game,” said Norcross head coach Keith Maloof, whose team is now 9-0 on the year and 7-0 in Region 7-AAAAA. Collins Hill drops to 6-3 and 5-2. Asked if it was the best game he had ever been a part of, Norcross quarterback Bryce Dykes said: “It was definitely the closest game I’ve ever played in... it was a real good game. It was fun to be a part of.” What made the game so astounding is that with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the score was 3-2 Norcross. Through three quarters, neither team could do barely a thing against the other squad’s defense, though Collins Hill did squander a couple of scoring opportunities — James Lewis fumbled going into the end zone for a touchback in the second quarter and David Isbill had a 42-yard field goal blocked in the third quarter. “We felt like the ball didn’t bounce our way tonight,” Collins Hill head coach Larry Sherrill said, referring to the fumble through the end zone and two almost fumbles by Norcross in the fourth quarter — one on a punt return and one on a Dykes’ pass attempt. With 9:40 left in regulation, the scoring finally started. And it didn’t stop until three overtimes were played.
Craig Jackson capped a 16-play, 73-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard plunge and QB Brent McDonald hit Kurt Diel for the two-point conversion and a 10-3 Collins Hill lead. It lasted all of two plays. Dykes hit star receiver Darius Hanks on a 75-yard TD pass on the next possession for the Blue Devils, who up to that point had a grand total of 17 yards of offense, and the game was tied 10-10. Collins Hill answered right back. After a fumble by Norcross running back Demetrius Hill, McDonald hit Lewis on a third-down screen pass that resulted in a 69-yard TD and another seven-point lead for the Eagles. Again, it didn’t last. After the teams exchanged possessions, Norcross took over at its own 26-yard line with 2:18 left in the fourth. Dykes then led the Blue Devils on a nine-play march that was culminated with a 7-yard TD run by Hill with 45 seconds left. On the game-tying drive, Dykes was 5 of 6 for 44 yards. The senior QB, who had a 70-yard TD run called back in the fourth quarter, finished the night 12 of 23 for 165 yards and two scores after starting just 2 of 10 for 18 yards. “We started clicking,” Dykes said. “We got our stuff together and the O-line did a great job. They didn’t give up and we were just able to put it together.” As the game went into overtime it became apparent that neither one of these teams was going to give up. N