Warner Robins moves tournament doubleheader to Veterans

Warner Robins’ GHSA Class 5A playoff doubleheader for Thursday has been moved to Veterans.

The girls host Columbia at 5:30 p.m., and the boys welcome Southwest DeKalb afterward.

The boys game is a rematch of a year ago, when Southwest DeKalb surprised Warner Robins 65-60 in the Demons’ home gym. The Panthers are 17-12.

The girls were a third seed a year ago and lost to Sequoyah 47-40 in the second round. Columbia is 17-7 and did not make the Class 4A tournament last year.

It’s the second time in three seasons that the Demons’ boys have moved a tournament game to Veterans. They knocked off perennial finalist Miller Grove 63-57 in overtime before an overflow crowd of more than 2,000 in a 2015 quarterfinal game.

Houston County’s girls’ game at Douglas County was also moved to 7 p.m. on Thursday.

All-Americans

Former Houston County quarterback Jake Fromm earned an honorable mention selection to the Parade All-America team earlier this month.

The Georgia freshman was joined on honorable mention by Nate McBride of Vidalia and Solon Page III of Kell.

First-teamers from Georgia were place-kicker Cole Phillips of Cairo and Richard LeCounte of Liberty County.

More Signings

A number of Twiggs County football players signed with colleges recently.

Defensive lineman Nathaniel Freeney is headed to Fort Valley State, while Point is the destination for offensive lineman Levi Thompson, quarterback Calvin Stephens and wideout Tyrese Blackshear.

Place-kicker Baylor Butcher signed with Dakota College at Bottineau, a junior college in North Dakota.

Help Found, Help Wanted

Houston County, Northeast and Central are the open head coaching jobs for football programs in Middle Georgia.

But it has been a busy month around the state.

Former Washington County head coach Rick Tomberlin resigned last week at Calvary Day after one season, citing health reasons. He said in a Savannah Morning News story that he had a rapid heart beat nearly three years ago, and was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation.

After it happened again late last season, a visit to his cardiologist revealed high blood pressure and an irregular heartbeat.

The 59-year-old is 246-119, and led the Golden Hawks to state titles in 1994, 1996 and 1997.

So returning to Calvary Day one season after leaving for Swainsboro is Mark Stroud, who spent eight seasons at Calvary Day before going 4-7 in 2016 at Swainsboro, which now seeks its seventh head coach since 2000.

A headline-grabber comes from Strong Rock Christian, which fired Fernando Bryant 20 days after hiring him.

The firing of the former Alabama and NFL defensive back was sparked apparently by a three-year old social media picture of Coleman and his wife, a former TV personality on a Bravo network show, embracing with a bottle of alcohol.

Coleman said he was given no reason for the dismissal, nor was a specific social media post cited. He is considering legal action.

Alumni Update

▪ Former Washington County football standout Preston Smith played college football at Louisville and is continuing his high school coaching career in the area.

Smith, who graduated from Washington County in 2003, was recently named head coach at Seneca, a Class 6A team in Louisville that went 1-21 the past two seasons. He spent last season, ironically, at Calvary Day as an assistant under his former head coach. His wife and children remained in the Louisville area.

▪ The Middle Georgia contingent playing basketball at Florida State is doing well.

Senior Jarquez Smith (Jones County) is averaging 13.9 minutes, 4.6 points and 3.0 rebounds per game and is third with 29 blocks for the No. 19 Seminoles, who are 22-6 and visit Clemson on Saturday.

Senior Ivey Slaughter (Tattnall Square) leads the No. 8 Florida State women with 6.2 rebounds and is fourth with 10.1 point per game. She is second with 1.6 steals.

Freshman Nausia Woolfolk (Peach County) has played in 15 games and gets 2.8 points and 1.8 rebounds. She hasn’t played since Jan. 15, a span of nine games, and is battling a foot injury.

This story was originally published February 22, 2017 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Warner Robins moves tournament doubleheader to Veterans."