The Stephens County eight and under football team is a champion.

Stephens County defeated Franklin County 38-0 Thursday night in the championship game at the Rose Lane football fields at the Recreation Center in Toccoa.

Stephens County will have one team in tonight’s all-star football finals.

Stephens County’s 8 and under team will play Franklin County in the championship game tonight for that age bracket.

The game will be at the Rose Lane football fields at the Recreation Department beginning at 6 p.m.

Stephens County is also hosting the 10 and under and 12 and under championships. Stephens County does not have teams in those two championship games.

The preseason gasports.com boys’ and girls’ basketball polls have multiple Region 8-AAA teams in the top 10 in the state.

First, looking at the girls’ poll, Franklin County has been ranked fourth in AAA in Georgia. Kendrick from Region 2 is ranked first. Other northeast Georgia teams in the top 10 in AAA include East Hall and Gainesville.

Moving to the boys’ poll, Hart County is ranked seventh, while Franklin County is ranked eighth in the poll. South Atlanta from Region Four is ranked first in the state, while East Hall, Flowery Branch, and Gainesville also represent northeast Georgia.

Stephens County opens the 2008-2009 basketball season on Tuesday, December 2 at home against East Jackson. The Indians and Lady Indians open region play on Friday, December 12 against Hart County at home.

Of course, you can keep up with Stephens County high school basketball all season long right here on AM 630 WNEG and wnegradio.com.

A Stephens County Indian baseball player will continue his career at the collegiate level.

Cody Martin made it official Friday afternoon when he signed on the dotted line to play baseball at Auburn University.

Martin said Auburn just made him feel comfortable.

“I was just comfortable with everything,” said Martin. “I liked the campus and I really like the coaches. They made me feel like I could be a part of them and family.”

Martin went on to say that he knows he will have to put a lot of work in to step onto the plains and contribute.

“Obviously, I am going to have to work hard to go down there and start, but they are looking at me on the infield, at third base mostly,” he added.

Cody also played football for the Indians. Football Coach Travis Noland is also the athletic director at Stephens County High School. He has been there for the past few years and said he is excited for Cody.

“Anytime you have a young man go to a Division I school and get an education, it is exciting,” said Noland. “It has been fun to watch him mature and grow. He has been through a lot of good times and a lot of bad times to get where he is and there is no doubt in my mind he will be very successful at Auburn.”

Cody, a senior this year, played on last year’s Indians’ squad that finished as the runner-up in the AAA state baseball tournament.

Stephens County ends its season in the first round of the AAA state playoffs.

The Indians fell Friday night at home to Flowery Branch 42-21.

The Falcons jumped on top early through the air, with Connor Shaw throwing four first-half touchdown passes to lead Flowery Branch to a 28-7 lead.

The lone Indians’ score in the first-half came on a 61-yard touchdown pass from Dacen Cash to Bryan Whitfield in the second quarter.

In the second half, Shaw added another running and throwing touchdown, while Stephens County got touchdowns from Dre Cunningham and Ren Teasley on the ground.

For Flowery Branch, Shaw had over 300 total yards and accounted for all six touchdowns. Ren Teasley had over 100 yards rushing for the Indians. Dacen Cash threw for 188 yards and Cody Martin had three catches. Whitfield added two catches.

The Indians finish the season 8-3. The Falcons move to 9-2 and advance to the second round of the state playoffs.

They will face Ridgeland, who beat Carver of Atlanta 33-21. In other action involving Region 8-AAA teams, East Side beat Creekview, while Hart County and Oconee County both lost in the first round.

It’s a football Friday in Toccoa.

The Stephens County Indians are getting ready for tonight’s first-round AAA state playoff game with the Flowery Branch Falcons at the Reservation.

The two teams have identical 8-2 records coming into the game. Stephens County finished as the second seed in Region 8-AAA. While Flowery Branch had the second best region record, they are seeded third out of 7-AAA due to the sub-region format.

The Indians and Falcons met back in week one, with Stephens County pulling out a close victory.

Defensive Coordinator Ronnie Royston said both teams are better, and Flowery Branch poses a lot of threats offensively, especially with their option attack.

“You have to make sure you get lined up correctly,” said Royston. “Regardless of what they are in, you have got to take the dive with the fullback, the quarterback, and the pitch on every formation they line up in. We have to do a great job of getting lined up and we have to get to the bal and get there in a bad, bad attitude.”

Last night, the community came out for a pre-game pep rally. The pep rally celebrated not just the football team, but the softball and cross country teams as well. All three teams made the state playoffs in their respective sports. Band and auxiliary, along with cheerleaders were also recognized.

Do not forget. If you cannot make it to the game between the Stephens County Indians and Flowery Branch at the Reservation tonight, you can catch the action live on AM 630 WNEG. We get it started with the Indian Tailgate Show at 5:30 p.m. Coach’s Corner picks things up at 7 p.m. The pre-game show starts at 7:15 p.m. Kick-off between the Indians and Falcons is set for 7:30 p.m.

The night before the Indian football team begins another state playoff run, the school looks to get the community fired up.

Stephens County High School will host a community-wide pep rally tonight at 7 p.m. at the high school gym to get ready for tomorrow’s first-round state playoff game between the Indians and Flowery Branch.

Head Coach Travis Noland said the event will serve as a great way to not only get everyone excited for the football game Friday, but to honor other fall sports as well.

“I think there will be a video slide presentation during the pep rally highlighting some of the other accomplishments we have had this fall with our softball, cross country, band, and auxiliary, and everybody that has a part and a role in fall sports,” said Noland. “We have had some great wins this year that a lot of people have not seen, that they have listened to on the radio. We are trying to generate some enthusiasm going into the playoffs because our young men have worked hard to have a home playoff game.”

Cheerleaders Kesley Pritchett and Mollie Thornton said they want everyone there to support the teams.

“Everybody needs to be at the high school at 7 p.m. in the gym,” said Pritchett.

“At the pep rally, we are hoping to just be really spirited and we are going to show some of our stunts and we are going to have the auxiliary there as well,” said Thornton. “We are just really going to try to get the crowd involved and really have you all pumped for the game because we really want to have a big show at the game Friday night because our Indians need all the support they can get.”

Softball and cross country both had successful seasons this year, with both making it to their respective state tournaments.

The pep rally begins at 7 p.m. tonight in the gym of the Stephens County High School.

Friday’s first-round AAA state football playoff game between the Indians and Flowery Branch kicks off at 7:30 p.m. at the Reservation. Air time on AM 630 WNEG is set for 5:30 p.m. with the Indian Tailgate Show starting everything off.

Nine Stephens County Indians and Coach Travis Noland all receive region honors this season.

The 2008 All Region 8-AAA Team was announced Tuesday. Indians’ Head Coach Travis Noland was named Coach of the Year for the second straight season.

Noland said he is humbled by the honor.

“I think anytime a coach gets an award like that, it is a testament to the type of staff that he has and I know that because of the assistant coaches and all their hard work is the reason our program has continued to have success and I am very appreciative for all of their work and their commitment,” said Noland. “I am very honored that our coaches and peers within our region have selected me for that honor for the second straight year.”

In addition, nine Indians were named to the offensive and defensive all-region teams.

Noland said that is a direct result of the effort they put forth on the field.

“It is a testament to the caliber of kids that we have, not necessarily the caliber of talent they have, but how hard they play and for those coaches to select them from our team is a big honor for them as well,” he added.

Chan Cash, Cody Martin, Ren Teasley, Quan Trammel, Tra Burtch, Corey Cleveland, Jai Holland, Dustin Royston, and Bryan Whitfield were all named to the All-Region Team.

The Region 8-AAA Player of the Year was East Side Quarterback Justin Wray.

Ticket prices for this week’s first-round state playoff game between the Stephens County Indians and Flowery Branch Falcons are set.

Stephens County High School has announced that admission is $8 this Friday night. That price is set by the Georgia High School Association. That agency sets prices for all playoff games.

There will not be any discount tickets and only Georgia High School Association passes will be honored.

Beginning today, the high school will pre-sell tickets at the price of $8.

For more information, call Stephens County High School at 706-886-6825.

Meanwhile, a community wide pep rally will be held Thursday night at the high school gym at 7 p.m. The football team, along with other fall sports, will be honored.

Stephens County wraps up a home playoff game.

The Indians will host Flowery Branch on Friday in the first round of the playoffs.

That is after Stephens County finished as the second seed out of Region 8-AAA following a 35-0 win over Jackson County Friday night in the regular season finale.

Dacen Cash and Cody Martin hooked up twice for long touchdown passes and Ren Teasley scored three times on the ground for Stephens County.

Martin was named lineman of the game and Chandler Fisher was named player of the game for the Indians.

Stephens County is now 8-2 on the season and 6-1 in Region 8-AAA.

Stephens County plays for at least a share of the Region 8-AAA football championship tonight.

The Indians will travel to take on Jackson County to wrap up the regular season.

Stephens County sits 5-1 in Region 8-AAA. That puts the Indians in a three-way tie for first place with East Side and Hart County. Jackson County comes into the game winless in the region.

If Stephens County wins, they will wrap up a first-round home playoff game and at least a share of the region title. An East Side loss coupled with an Indians win would give Stephens County the region title outright and the top seed in the region. If the Indians and East Side end up tied, East Side gets the top seed based on the tiebreak criteria.

That said, Defensive Line Coach Brad Whitfield said they cannot take Jackson County lightly.

“We were a little disappointed last week,” said Whitfield. “We felt like going down to Elberton, take care of things a little early. However, it did not work out like we wanted all the way through the game. So, tomorrow night, we hope that we can go down and take care of business early and start thinking about next week.”

You can catch all the action between Stephens County and Jackson County tonight right here on AM 630 WNEG. “Coach’s Corner” kicks things off at 7 p.m. The pre-game show starts at 7:15 p.m. Kick-off from Jackson County is set for 7:30 p.m.

You can also listen to Indian football online at wnegradio.com.

In other Region 8-AAA action, East Side hosts Franklin County, Hart County hosts Elbert County, and Oconee County hosts Morgan County.

Stephens County clinches a spot in the state playoffs.

The Indians’ football team wrapped up one of the four spots of Region 8-AAA Friday night with a 35-9 win over Elbert County.

It was a game with many penalties, with the Indians picking up over 100 yards in penalties for the game. They overcame that, however, with a strong performance on both sides of the ball that pleased Head Coach Travis Noland.

“We will go back to work Monday and try and fix those things,” said Noland. “I am proud of our kids. I know we played hard. I thought we overcame a lot of penalties and adversity. It was a big night for us, offensively and defensively.”

Ren Teasley went over the 1,000 yard mark for the season for the Indians, and also had more than 100 yards against the Blue Devils and two touchdowns. Dacen Cash threw touchdown passes to Cody Martin and Bryan Whitfield to help the Indian cause.

Even the Indian special teams helped out, with Whitfield returning the opening kickoff about 90 yards.

The player of the game was Patrick Mata and the lineman of the game was Jake Thornton.

The Indians are now 5-1 in Region 8-AAA, remaining tied for first place with East Side and Hart County. Stephens County can finish no lower than third in the region and a win this week, or a loss by Hart County, would clinch a top two spot for the Indians.

The Indians will go for that win at Jackson County this Friday night.

Stephens County clinches a spot in the state AAA football playoffs.

The Indians defeated Elbert County at the Granite Bowl Friday night 35-9 to sew up one of the four spots into states out of Region 8-AAA.

Ren Teasley went over the 1,000 yard mark for the season for the Indians, and also had more than 100 yards against the Blue Devils and two touchdowns. Dacen Cash threw touchdown passes to Cody Martin and Bryan Whitfield to help the Indian cause.

Even the Indian special teams helped out, with Whitfield returning the opening kickoff about 90 yards for a score to make it 7-0.

The player of the game was Patrick Mata and the lineman of the game was Jake Thornton.

The Indians move to 5-1 in Region 8-AAA and 7-2 overall. They wrap up the regular season at Jackson County on Friday.