Marty Kirkland: Region 7-3A has state’s attention

Published 11:43 pm Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Save making it to the postseason, the 12 football teams that currently form Region 7-3A didn’t have any real success in the state playoffs in 2009, when most were in another region if not another classification. Only three teams on the current 7-3A roster etched their name in a bracket last year, and Dalton (in 4A), Ringgold and Ridgeland (in 3A) were all done after the first round.

But when it comes to individual talent and preseason honors for this year, it looks like 7-3A is doing OK.

With five selections, that region led the way among leagues on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Georgia High School Football Daily’s Preseason Class 3A All-State Team — and a pair of Dalton Catamounts were among the picks.

Then again, it probably shouldn’t surprise most folks around here to see others taking notice of running back Tre Beck or offensive lineman Watts Dantzler. In 2009, Beck had an outstanding sophomore season that included three single-game efforts of more than 200 yards. Dantzler, a 6-foot-8, 330-pound tackle, was among the South’s hottest recruits before he cooled the race this summer by committing to the University of Georgia, his late father Danny’s alma mater.

Both Beck and Dantzler were easy picks for The Daily Citizen’s All-Area Football Team last year; both were and will be crucial parts of Dalton’s offense.

While Northwest Georgia hasn’t kept up with other parts of the Peach State in the pursuit of football championships over the years, this neck of the woods obviously isn’t vacant of talent, either.

Ridgeland — which might be a good early pick to battle it out with Dalton for a sub-region crown — landed two players on the preseason list as well, with linebacker Mason Harris and defensive back Devin Bowman, both seniors, getting the nod.

(The Bowman family alone, not to mention Ridgeland, has produced some of this sector of the state’s better athletes in recent years.)

Region 7-3A’s other selection was Collin Barber of Cartersville, which had been one of the more successful playoff teams from Northwest Georgia for much of the past two decades until missing the postseason two of the past three years.

The Class 3A team was announced on Wednesday and the Class 2A team is to be released today. Class 4A came out Tuesday, but Region 7-4A, Northwest Whitfield’s new old league — the Bruins are one of the few Northwest Georgia squads still standing in Class 4A — had just one selection.

However, as GHSF Daily noted, he’s a standout not only in his region, class and state, but the nation. Chattahoochee kicker Ammon Lakip is the No. 1 in the nation at his position, according to ProKicker.com.

If you don’t subscribe to GHSF Daily, a free e-mail that covers high school around the state, you should. You can do so by writing to GHSFdaily@bellsouth.net.

• Murray County High cross country and track and field coach Sam Young was glad to have Ryan Osborn’s talent at his disposal in recent seasons. In fact, he probably wouldn’t have minded having access a little sooner — or a little longer.

Although Osborn was a four-year participant in cross country, because he was also busy earning three letters in baseball, he didn’t find time for track and field until his final spring in Chatsworth.

“He was kind of a latecomer and kind of developed late in his high school career,” Young said. “He was part of that good boys (cross country) team I had that was second in the region and 10th in the state, which was the best any Murray County boys team ever had done, and he was part of that scoring.”

Once Osborn got going, he got going good. He was among the top 20 as a junior at the 2009 Region 7-4A cross country meet, and was just outside the top quarter of finishers at the Class 4A state meet that season. His greater athletic honors as a senior came on the track, where he competed in the 400-meter run — he flirted with a school record in that event — and helped set the Indians’ mark in the 4×400 relay.

Now Osborn’s lacing his running shoes up at the college level, having recently signed with Reinhardt University’s cross country program. (He also plans to try out for the Eagles’ baseball team in the spring, according to a release from the Waleska school, which competes in the NAIA.)

“I think the campus is beautiful and I just want to go on to the next level in running,” Osborn said in the release. “I love having the opportunity to run for Reinhardt. On my tour, everyone was nice around the campus, and I liked it and thought it was really nice.”

Distance runners peak later in life than many athletes, so who knows what’s in store for Osborn down the road? Young is just glad to see Osborn — as well as former Murray County standout Josh Stanley, who will be a freshman at Truett-McConnell — keeping up a pursuit of the sport.

“I’m thrilled that he’s going to be running down at Reinhardt,” Young said.

• This area produces lots of good golfers, from those who compete for club titles to those who win amateur state titles to those good enough to make money with a club in their hands.

But it also produces a lot of good people who work to make the area’s golf scene great. The area’s clubs and courses are well-stocked with professionals and other staff members who care about growing the sport and do so by making the experience — from a casual round to 18 holes of tournament play — enjoyable for golfers.

Well, Ethan Goode is reaping the rewards some of that work in golf via the Georgia State Golf Foundation’s Yates Scholarship Program, which provides college funds to Georgia State Golf Association member club employees and their dependents. Goode, whose club connection is Cohutta’s Nob North Golf Course, is a renewing scholar and a member of the Class of 2012 at the University of Georgia.

According to a release from the GSGA, the program granted $135,000 in scholarship money to 21 new scholars and 38 renewing scholars this summer. In the more than 30 years the scholarship program has existed, nearly $1.5 million has been granted.

That’s a lot of greens.

Marty Kirkland is Sports Editor of The Daily Citizen. You can write to him at martykirkland@daltoncitizen.com.