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Published Wednesday, November 04, 2009 in Sports

Cougars aren't overlooking Indians despite region title

By Tommy Camp

The Times-Herald

Don't get the idea that since Newnan has already clinched the Region 4-AAAAA championship and will host the first round of the state playoffs in couple of weeks that Friday's regular season finale with East Coweta doesn't mean all that much.

Don't get that idea at all.

"It's huge for us," said Newnan coach Mike McDonald. "I think the series is as big as Parkview-Brookwood, Lowndes-Valdosta, Warner Robins and Northside, it just doesn't get the statewide attention those games get.

"But it doesn't get any bigger for us. It's big for our communities and for the whole county."

Newnan and East Coweta will play for the 18th time Friday in Drake Stadium.

The Indians lead the series 10-7, but Newnan has won the last six in a row.

The Cougars are 9-0 overall and 8-0 in Region 4-AAAAA while East Coweta is 7-2 and 6-2.

"But we could be 0-9 and they could be 9-0 and you could throw all that out the window in a game like this," McDonald said.

"We know they're going to get after us and hopefully we can get after them."

McDonald thinks that even ECHS's 7-2 record is misleading.

"They're a couple of bounces away from being 9-0," he said. "They lost to Creekside and Westlake and I'm sure they're shaking their heads about those games.

"But with a break or two they could have won both and be undefeated coming in here and we'd be playing for the region championship again."

Newnan clinched its fourth straight region title last week while East Coweta will finish third in 4-AAAAA regardless of the outcome of Friday's game.

Both are headed for the playoffs, Newnan for the seventh straight time and EC for the 13th.

In addition, Newnan will be going for its second consecutive undefeated regular season and attempting to stretch its regular season winning streak to 28 which would tie the county record set by EC between 1999-01.

Both teams boast strong running games and stout defenses.

The Indians are paced by their outstanding running back Tay Willis who is coming off a career high five-touchdown performance against Riverdale last week that upped his season's TD total to 25.

"I've been seeing him in my sleep all week," McDonald said. "He is without doubt the top offensive player in the region."

Defensively, the Indians are their usual stingy selves.

"They are very good on defense," McDonald said. "They don't stay blocked long. They're able to put a lot of purple shirts around the ball and they're usually in a bad mood when they get there.

"We're expecting an extremely tough game. East Coweta is always tough to beat and that's a credit to their coaches and their kids.

"They're always ready to play a physical game and if you're not prepared you can be in for a long night."

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