Cedar Shoals, Clarke Central ready for annual battle

Posted 8:44AM on Thursday 10th October 2002 ( 22 years ago )

ATHENS, Ga. - While the members of Cedar Shoals and Clarke Central football teams regard last year's matchup between the two teams with conflicting emotions, they can all agree that one particular play changed the course of the contest. It happened on the fourth play from scrimmage as the Jaguars' Xavier Godard took a handoff from quarterback Renardo Faust and sprinted 41 yards for what would prove to be the only touchdown in the game. Cedar Shoals would hold on for a slim 10-2 win over its cross-town rivals. "Xavier had that long run and that was it," Clarke Central's Felipe Foster said. "After that, it became a pretty good defensive struggle." Godard has since moved on to play football for Western Carolina, but he was just the latest individual to add his name to the lengthy list of heroes in the series. "It felt so good to beat Clarke Central," Faust said. "To do it in front of our fans and bring the bragging rights back to the eastside, that was really special." The Gladiators will get their chance to reclaim those bragging rights as they host the Jaguars on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Billy Henderson Stadium in the 26th edition of the Classic City Championship. And for the first time since 1988 there are heavy championship implications surrounding the contest. Both teams are essentially tied for first place in Region 8-AAAA with the Gladiators holding a 4-1 record and Cedar Shoals sitting at 3-1. "If you look at how the region is shaping up, the winner is going to be in great shape," Clarke Central head coach William DeVane said. "It won't solidify (the region title) but you'll only have one loss and everyone else will have two losses. So the winner will definitely have the inside track. They would just have to win out and they can be the region champion." Both teams lost to Habersham Central earlier this year (technically making it the official Classic City Champions) which means the Raiders would hold a tiebreaker over the loser should they finish tied at the end of the season. That puts even more scrutiny on the contest. "This is a big rivalry game and a region championship all in one right here," Faust said. "A lot of teams have high expectation for us and with Clarke Central having a new head coach, there are a lot of high expectations for them too."

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/10/189077