Varsity Wildcat Football

Cats Finish Season

Senior Kyle Murray	Senior Hunter Adkins	Senior Ryan Williamson

By: Gary Moore

On a crisp clear Friday night made for football, the Flint River Wildcats ended the season of “what might have been” on the short end of a 43-18 score.
Valwood from Valdosta came to Woodbury and left with a region championship and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Wildcats on the other hand,
finished a disappointing 2-8 season. “Our kids never quit. There was never a time when I thought our players had given up. They played hard each week and I still
think our best football is ahead of us,” FRA head coach J.R. Ragan said of his young team after the game.

After an unsuccessful onside kickoff to begin the game by the Wildcats, Valwood was in business at midfield. Seconds later they sprinted around the right end for
39 yards and a touchdown. A two point conversion gave the Valiants an 8-0 lead. The Wildcats came storming back with their own touchdown drive paced by senior
Ryan Williamson. Valwood then proceeded to score on four of its next five possessions and the rout was on. Williamson paced the Wildcats with 181 yards rushing.
Valwood entertains Gatewood next week in the opening round of the GISA state playoffs.

Wildcats Fall Short

By: Gary Moore

The Flint River Wildcats played powerhouse Southwest Georgia Friday night and almost pulled
off an upset, but fell just short by a score of 35-28. Southwest got on the board first when they
returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. After a failed extra point the Warriors were
on top 6-0. Flint River quickly answered by putting together a 60 yard drive capped off by a two yard
Ryan Williamson touchdown and a Patrick McGinn extra point. Southwest stormed back to take a
13-7 lead before FRA answered with another scoring drive that ended when Wildcat sophomore Will
Couch outran the defense for a touchdown. McGinn’s second extra point gave the Wildcats a 14-13
advantage. As the first quarter ended the Wildcats set themselves up for another score when junior defensive tackle Skyler Young blocked a Southwest punt.
FRA was unable to convert and Southwest again took the lead with an 80 yard drive and a two point conversion.

Not to be denied, FRA scored on a Williamson romp to pull even at 21 all. After a three and out, FRA went 79 yards on seven plays to score its fourth
touchdown of the night. A 10 yard pass from Seth Short to Caleb Harker gave Flint River a 28-21 intermission advantage. Southwest pulled even in the
third quarter and with six minutes remaining in the game they scored the game’s final points.

Flint River returns home Friday night to take on Valwood for Senior Night. Valwood is led by several major college prospects including junior offensive
linemen Griffin Clyatt and Aulden Bynum. Both are being recruited by Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee and several other top programs.

Almost for Wildcats

By: Gary Moore

Flint River Academy “almost” scored the tying touchdown in the final seconds of the game Friday night against Arlington and the Wildcats “almost” won. Tragically,
the Cats weren’t able to pull the game out and lost 27-20.

Flint River scored first on a spectacular play by sophomore defensive end Davis Cotney when he recovered an Arlington fumble in the end zone. After a failed extra point
attempt, the Wildcats led 6-0 with 5:43 remaining in the first quarter. Just over a minute later Arlington answered with a 27 yard pass for a touchdown and when they
missed their extra point the game was knotted at 6 each.

The second quarter was highlighted by another stellar defensive stand by the Wildcats and a punt return for a touchdown by Arlington. Flint River’s defense stopped
Arlington just short of the goal line with 3 minutes to go in the half but after the Cats couldn’t move the ball Arlington returned a punt for a score followed by a two point
conversion giving the visitors a 14-6 halftime lead.

The Wildcats began the second half with a successful on side kick that was recovered by Ryan Williamson. He later scored a touchdown on a pass from quarterback
Seth Short and then the tying two point conversion. Both teams scored again before the end of the quarter with Arlington converting the extra point to lead 21-20.
Arlington scored early in the fourth quarter and then Flint River mounted one final drive in the closing seconds that ended at the Arlington one yard line. The Wildcats are
off this Friday night.

44: Davis Cotney of Thomaston	74: Skyler Young of Peachtree City

Cats Lose to Brookwood

By: Gary Moore

Flint River scored at least one touchdown in each quarter Friday night taking on region foe Brookwood. That’s about where the positive stops. The Wildcats gave up
over 500 yards of total offense as the Warriors routed Flint River 56-30. Before the Wildcat fans had settled into their seats Friday night in Thomasville the home team
had put two touchdowns on the board. Before the first quarter ended they had added another. Flint River’s lone glimmer of excitement came when senior Ryan Williamson
returned a Brookwood kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown and sophomore quarterback Seth Short scored on a two point conversion. Williamson added another score early
in the second quarter but the Wildcats gave up three more touchdowns before halftime to trail 43-14 at intermission.
Junior Jim Law scored on a 19 yard reception and sophomore Will Couch added a two point conversion in the third quarter but it was too little too late. Williamson scored
his third touchdown of the game in the final minutes on another 80 yard run.
The Wildcats return home this Friday to take on Arlington of Fairburn. Arlington is coached by former UGA and New England Patriots great Robert Edwards. Flint River
will observe a “Pink Out” at the game to honor Karen King. Ms. King, a Flint River parent is battling Sarcoma Cancer.

Will Couch	Teams Line Up for Next Play

Cats Lose Homecoming Battle

By: Gary Moore
Not even a loss in the final seconds of the game could dampen the spirit of the crowd at Flint River
Academy Friday night. With a hint of fall in the air and the moon shining on the playing field as if it
were a large stage, the Wildcats took mighty Heritage to the final play of the game before
losing 21-13.

Flint River scored first as Ryan Williamson rumbled four yards over the Hawk’s right tackle.
With the extra point by Patrick McGinn the home team was on top with just over five minutes to
play in the first quarter. Heritage answered with a 53 yard scoring drive that took most of the remainder of the first quarter. After a two point
conversion, Heritage led 8-7. Both teams failed to move the ball and after an exchange of punts Stewart Gregg recovered a Heritage fumble on one
of the most outstanding defensive plays of the season. On the next play Williamson scored again to give the Wildcats a 13-8 lead. Not to be denied
Heritage drove the ball 64 yards to take a 14-13 halftime lead

With nobody able to score in the third quarter, Flint River drove down to the Heritage 4 yard line before fumbling the ball away. Heritage put together
a 99 yard drive and scored with 3:35 remaining in the game. Flint River stormed right back but the hopes of victory ended as time ran out with the
Wildcats on the Heritage two yard line.

But this night belonged to the 2011 Homecoming Queen and her court. Gayla Bell of Woodbury was named queen and Ayla Welch of Pine
Mountain was first runner up. Miss Bell is the daughter of Tracye and Chuck Bell. Gayla is a stand out on the Varsity Softball and Tennis teams,
and she is also a member of the Girls’ Trio and the All-Select Chorus. After graduation she plans to attend North Georgia College. Other members
of the court were second runner-up Kaitlyn Roberson of Woodbury, third runner-up Jordan Nash of Greenville, and fourth runner-up Kristin Brown
of Woodbury.

Cats Stumble Again

By: Gary Moore

Flint River Academy gave up touchdown drives of 60, 71 and 42 yards in the first quarter Friday night and never recovered as the
home team fell to Westwood Academy of Camilla by a final score of 47-13. “You can’t allow a team like that to control the ball
and drive it up and down the field,” said Head Coach J.R. Ragan after the game. Westwood is the defending state champion in
Class A and appears to be on course to repeat as title holders.

The bright spot in the game for Flint River was the two touchdowns scored by sophomore quarterback Seth Short.
The offense continues to make strides and defensively the Wildcats play well in spurts but continue to be inconsistent. “We really need this break coming up.
We need to get back to basics and practice fundamentals,” Ragan added. Flint River is off this week and will be back in Woodbury for homecoming on September 30th.

Stuart Gregg of Hollonville	Will Couch of Gay	Ryan Williamson of Woodbury

Cats Lose in Macon

By: Gary Moore

Going into Friday night’s game head coach J.R. Ragan knew that he was taking his young Flint River Wildcats
into a lions’ den. Facing arguably the best team in GISA, FRA struggled against Mount De Sales but they never
gave up in a 42-21 loss. “Mount De Sales has an excellent football team. They have plenty of weapons and they
used all of them tonight. We had some turnovers and you just can’t turn the ball over and expect to beat a team
like that,” Ragan said after the game.

Even in a losing effort, there were a few bright spots. “Our kids didn’t quit. We got down early but we kept playing and managed to put some points on the
board,” Ragan added.

After Flint River turned the ball over on their own 12 on the first play of the game Mount De Sales punched it in with less than a minute gone in the game.
From there things didn’t get much better for the Cats until the second half when FRA scored all 21 of its points. Ryan Williamson electrified the crowd with
a 79 yard run to set up the first score with Patrick McGinn adding the extra point. Allen Faulkner scored next and then Seth Short connected with Caleb
Harker for a 65 yard touchdown pass play to end the scoring. Flint River returns to The Den in Woodbury Friday night to take on defending Class A champion
Westwood.

Caleb Harker of Griffin	Ryan Williamson of Woodbury	Seth Short of Thomaston

Young Wildcats Fall Hard

By: Gary Moore

You’ve heard the old saying that “if a cat falls he will always land on his feet.” Well, Flint River’s young Wildcats landed flat on
their collective backs Friday night when they fell off of Mount Vernon. The final score was 55-13.
The Mustangs returned the opening kickoff 89 yards to open the scoring and never looked back. After a three and out by FRA,
Mount Vernon scored again on a 28 yard pass to make the score 14-0 before four minutes had ticked off the clock. The Mustangs
scored two more times before the Wildcats found the end zone. A couple of Thomaston players connected on a 23 yard pass to
put the Cats on the board. Seth Short hit Jay Adams in stride with just over five minutes to play in the first half. Mount Vernon
scored again just before intermission to make the score 35 -7 at the half. Flint River’s only other score came after Short hit Dalton Johnson of Milner on a 48 yard play to
set up an Allen Faulkner run as the third quarter ended. Short, Adams, Johnson and Faulkner are all sophomores. “It’s time for us to go back to work and get ready for
next week. It sure doesn’t get any easier. We’ve got to regroup and get ready to go play Mount de Sales,” said head coach J.R. Ragan after the game. Flint River travels
to Macon next Friday to take on Mount de Sales which is currently ranked number 1 in Class AAA.

QB Seth Short of Thomaston	Allen Faulkner of Woodbury	Jay Adams of Thomaston

Wildcats Cruise

By: Gary Moore

For the second week in a row the Flint River Wildcats took on an opponent from a higher classification and for the second
week in a row Flint River totally dominated the game. This week’s victim was Griffin Christian and the score was 44-0.
The popcorn was barely ready when Thomaston’s Chris Duncan made a spectacular defensive play in the Crusaders’ end zone
resulting in a safety and the first points of the game. Just over a minute later Ryan Williamson of Woodbury knocked one in from
two yards out to put the Cats up 9-0.


After the Wildcat defense stuffed Griffin’s offense again the Wildcats put together another scoring drive as the first quarter came to a close.
The second quarter was more of the same as Caleb Harker scored from two yards out and Williamson added two more scores to give Flint River a
commanding 37-0 halftime lead. That also ended Williamson’s night having scored four touchdowns and rushing for 157 yards on 18 carries.
With a 37 point lead the coaches decided to allow a continuous clock in the second half. Will Couch ended the scoring by breaking two tackles and
sprinting 15 yards midway through the third quarter. Patrick McGinn also added 6 extra points. “I thought we played really well. We had a chance to
give some of our players a break and let some others get some very good experience. I’m happy with our effort tonight,” Head Coach J.R. Ragan added
after the game. Flint River travels to Atlanta this week to take on another Class AAA team Mount Vernon.

62 Chris Duncan of Thomaston	15 Will Couch of Gay

Cats Impressive in Opener

By Gary Moore

Flint River Academy opened the 2011 regular season Friday night with an impressive win over Trinity Christian of Sharpsburg by a score of 28-6.
Both teams showed first game jitters in the first quarter and most of the second, but sophomore quarterback Seth Short put the Cats on the board
with just under six minutes remaining in the first half. After a two point conversion FRA was on top 8-0; but not for long. On the ensuing kickoff,
Trinity’s Jonathan Bonner sprinted 72 yards for a touchdown. A two point attempt failed and with 5:41 remaining in the first half Flint River was up 8-6.
It didn’t take the Cats long to increase their lead as senior running back Ryan Williamson splintered Trinity’s defense and Short scored his second
touchdown to put FRA on top 15-8 as the first half ended.
Flint River continued to pound the tired Lions’ defense in the second half and with 6:39 remaining in the third quarter Williamson powered his way into
the end zone. After the Patrick McGinn’s second PAT of the night the Wildcats led 22-6. Flint River’s defense totally dominated the second half of the
game and as the fourth quarter began Short hit Dalton Johnson streaking down the sideline with a 28 yard scoring strike to put the game out of reach.
“This was a big win for us. Our young guys really needed a win over a quality opponent and we got one tonight. We are still a long way from where we
want to be but we’ll take this one,” said Ragan after the game. Flint River entertains Griffin Christian this Friday in Woodbury. Kickoff is slated for 7:30.

QB Seth Short of Thomaston	74 Skyler Young of Peachtree City,11 Seth Short of Thomaston
12 Ryan Williamson of Woodbury	85 Dalton Johnson of Milner

Young Wildcats Impress

By Gary Moore

Flint River Academy opened the 2011 football season by hosting a four team jamboree Friday against some of the top teams in the area.
The Wildcats began the night taking on Alabama powerhouse Lee-Scott Academy who dressed out approximately 50 players. In a controlled
scrimmage format both teams scored twice. A pair of sophomores put the Cats on the board early when Seth Short hit Allen Faulkner on a
40 yard touchdown strike four plays into the scrimmage. On the Wildcats’ next possession Ryan Williamson scampered 39 yards around
right end for the other score. Williamson had 50 yards rushing on six carries against Lee-Scott.

The Cats then faced Class AAA Southland Academy from Americus. Again FRA held its own against a larger school. Rushing for 83 yards
on 12 plays Flint River controlled the second portion of the scrimmage.

In the third and final session FRA took on Windsor Academy of Macon and totally dominated the fatigued Knights. Williamson gained 92 yards
and scored three touchdowns against Windsor who won a region title in 2008. On the night Williamson rushed for 144 yards on 16 carries and
scored four touchdowns. “I saw some good things and I saw several areas where we need work. We are a very young team and we need to grow
up fast. We made mistakes that a veteran group probably wouldn’t make especially on third and long a couple of times but overall I was pleased
with our effort and how well some of our young guys played. It was a good test against very good competition,” said Wildcat head coach J. R. Ragan.
Flint River begins regular season play this Friday on the road against Trinity of Sharpsburg.

Ryan Williamson of Woodbury	QB Seth Short of Thomaston	Allen Faulkner of Woodbury

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