MOULTRIE —
The Lowndes Vikings are officially under investigation.
Lowndes High School officially received a letter from the Georgia High School Association, the state’s governing body for high school athletics, that the school is under investigation for its actions in last Friday’s game against the Colquitt County Packers.
“There was a letter sent to Lowndes,” GHSA Executive Director Ralph Swearngin said. “We don’t make comments on ongoing investigations.”
Swearngin also said the length of the investigation is undetermined, and a decision will be made “as soon as I get back all my data.”
The Vikings are accused of stealing Colquitt County’s signals during their 17-14 win over the Packers last Friday night at Mack Tharpe Stadium in Moultrie.
The complaint toward Lowndes was filed by Packers head coach Rush Propst, who spoke exclusively with the Valdosta Daily Times on Thursday. Propst described the complaint filed with the GHSA as a “complaint of violation of ethics.”
The Vikings are accused of using Buzz Payne, a Thomas County Central middle school coach, and a former varsity coach at Colquitt County, of sitting in the stands with binoculars and relaying the Packers’ signals to Lowndes coaches in the coaches’ box, who thus relayed the message down to the field.
“It was a planned act between Lowndes, Buzz Payne and Thomas County Central,” Propst said. “(TCC’s) head coach (Bill Shaver) and athletic director (Mike Singletary) had knowledge of it.
“Anywhere, anytime, I will put my hand on a Bible, I know Lowndes and Randy McPherson and I know Thomas County Central and their administration knew what Buzz Payne was doing.”
When asked Monday about the allegations cast by Propst, Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said his school didn’t do anything wrong and that he doesn’t even know Buzz Payne, nor has he had any contact with him.
Propst said that is not true.
“What they have said is a blatant lie,” Propst said. “Randy (McPherson) said that he didn’t know Buzz Payne. He knows Buzz Payne as well as he knows me. That is a blatant lie.
“Randy McPherson knows Buzz Payne,” Propst said. “It had to be planned for the signals to mean anything to Lowndes coaches. Randy can lie all he wants to. Call Rance Gillespie and ask him.”
Gillespie, the head coach at Valdosta, was unavailable for comment Thursday afternoon. Payne served under Gillespie last year at Valdosta before moving back to the Thomas County Central school system, where he once coached before moving to Moultrie.
Although the Vikings are under investigation by the GHSA, they will not be stripped of the win, according to Swearngin’s comments on Tuesday to the Thomasville Times Enterprise’s Clint Thompson. That is fine with Propst.
“We don’t want the win,” Propst said. “I’m not asking for the win. I’m not asking for an overturn of the outcome of the game. I do believe, it actually helped Lowndes knowing what we were doing, whether we were going to run or pass. That is the reason the signals were given.”
When asked what punishment would suit Lowndes and McPherson, Propst said that is for Swearngin to decide.
Since Propst made the accusations last Friday night, just minutes after the conclusion of the game, many have criticized Colquitt County for not changing signals in over two years.
“I would not think there would be something that unethical going on,” Propst said. “I would not think someone would stoop that low to do something like that. Taking blame for not changing signals, yes, I should have.”
Regardless of the signs being changed or not, Propst said the Vikings knew what Payne was doing in front of the window and that the coaches knew what signals he was giving.
“If someone throws their hands up in front of the window once or twice and you look, I understand, but to continue to look down there the whole game, you’d have to be under a rock to not think that what they did was ethically wrong,” Propst said. “We all know the Lowndes coaches knew what he was giving to them.”
Propst said Friday’s game is not the first time he has known Payne to be in attendance to aid a Packer opponent. Propst said he was made aware of Payne’s attendance at last year’s state semifinal matchup with the Grayson Rams. He said he received a call this week from a head coach that confirmed his presence in Grayson.
“I also found out that Buzz Payne was at Grayson and that happened during the semifinal game last year,” Propst said. “I heard that it happened at halftime last year.
“I’ve lost a lot of respect for (Grayson head coach) Mickey (Conn), if that happened,” Propst said. “Now that is alleged.
“There is a code of ethics that we as coaches have to abide by,” Propst continued. “Not only do we have to be right, but we have to appear right, too. There is no room in the coaching profession for this.”
Propst said no action has been taking by Colquitt County toward Grayson.
“At this point of time, no,” said Propst when asked. “We gathered information that he stood on the sideline and watched this transpire.”
Grayson’s Mickey Conn could not be reached via telephone late Thursday afternoon.
Prior to joining Colquitt County, Propst was fired from his position as head coach at Hoover High School in Alabama. In his nine seasons, Propst won 110 games and five Class 6A state championships with the Buccaneers. Propst’s firing came after an investigation by Birmingham-based reporter John Soloman, who alleged Propst changed players’ grades to make them eligible for college.
“I’ve made mistakes in my life, but I have had to pay for them,” Propst said. “These people, that are standing at those places, at Thomas County Central and at Lowndes, with authority and cannot sweep this under the rug. It made me understand that you are never in a position of power where you are not held accountable,” said Propst of his action at Hoover. “You are always held accountable for your actions. If you know something is going wrong, then you need to address it, be truthful. That is the number one thing I learned at Hoover. I learned it the hard way. I just feel like it has been done to me now. Our program has been done wrong and our kids have been done wrong.”
Local Sports
Lowndes being investigated over signal stealing allegations
- Local Sports
-
-
Quality Employment, Liberty Tax win tournament titles
Quality Employment added the Midget League tournament championship to its regular-season title on Thursday, defeating Davis Insurance 10-0 in five innings at the Magnolia Sports Complex.
And Liberty Tax scored seven runs in its final two at bats to take the Farm League tournament championship with an 8-4 win over Ameris. -
Packers lose LB Key to knee injury
What Colquitt County coach Rush Propst called a better than average spring ended on a disappointing note on Thursday when senior starting linebacker Brandon Key suffered what could be a season-ending knee injury in the last of the 10 spring practices sessions.
-
Rec tournament championship games set for Thursday
Ameris dealt Davis Insurance its first loss of the season on Tuesday and will advance to the Farm League tournament championship game.
-
Colquitt County soccer banquet
The Colquitt County soccer teams recently held their annual banquet. Winning individual awards for the Lady Packers were Flor Ciniceros, Offensive Player of the Year; Madison Turner, Defensive Player of the Year; Diana Durham, Most Improved Player; and Natalie Griffin, Coach’s Award. Winning top awards for the Packers were Alejandro Cardenas, Offensive Player of the Year; Adan Jimenez, Defensive Player of the Year; Jay Tolbert, Most Improved Player; and Jorge Villalobos, Coach’s Award. Shown at the banquet are, front, from left, Austin Hunnicutt, Richard Garcia, Luis Padilla, Alex Cardenas, Fernando Miranda, Ryan Littleton, Garrett Moore, Garrett May, Elias Moreno, Jorge Villalobos, Adan Jimenez, Hudson May, Josh Smith, Jay Tolbert, Mathew Moody and Eric Gould; back, Kali Summerlin, Diana Durham, Karli Horne, Flor Ciniceros, Elizabeth Charles, Madison Turner, Macie Chitty, Taylor Hoes, Natalie Griffin, Jaycee Lott, Ferrell Tyndall, Kailey Middlebrooks, Kristina Scott, Katie Croft and Bert Vega.
-
11 Colquitt County players named All-Region in soccer
Six members of the Colquitt County boys soccer team and five from the girls team have been included on the All-Region 1-AAAAAA team selected by the league’s coaches.
-
YMCA flag football champions
R.B. Wright Team 2 defeated Odom in championship game to win the Moultrie YMCA’s Elementary School Sports League flag football title. The team includes, front, from left, Evan Hiers, Gabe Horne, Will Zember, Jackson Avera, Matthew Coop and Chloe Sumner; and, back, Sara Strickland, Ben Howard, coach Greg Coop, Nyquann Washington, Tahj Sanders and Jamad Willis. The Elementary School Sports League, hosted by the YMCA, allows children in fourth and fifth grades to play sports for their schools during the school year.
-
Bull Durham takes second in Junior league
urham Insurance scored four runs in the bottom of the final inning to defeat BJ’s Plantation 7-5 on Monday to claim second place in the Junior girls softball league.
-
Georgia Hawks heading to Orlando
The Georgia Hawks seventh- and eighth-grade basketball teams will play this weekend in Orlando and are coming off strong recent performances.
-
Soccer banquet
The Colquitt County soccer teams recently held their annual banquet. Winning individual awards for the Lady Packers were Flor Ciniceros, Offensive Player of the Year; Madison Turner, Defensive Player of the Year; Diana Durham, Most Improved Player; and Natalie Griffin, Coach’s Award. Winning top awards for the Packers were Alejandro Cardenas, Offensive Player of the Year; Adan Jimenez, Defensive Player of the Year; Jay Tolbert, Most Improved Player; and Jorge Villalobos, Coach’s Award. Shown at the banquet are, front, from left, Austin Hunnicutt, Richard Garcia, Luis Padilla, Alex Cardenas, Fernando Miranda, Ryan Littleton, Garrett Moore, Garrett May, Elias Moreno, Jorge Villalobos, Adan Jimenez, Hudson May, Josh Smith, Jay Tolbert, Mathew Moody and Eric Gould; back, Kali Summerlin, Diana Durham, Karli Horne, Flor Ciniceros, Elizabeth Charles, Madison Turner, Macie Chitty, Taylor Hoes, Natalie Griffin, Jaycee Lott, Ferrell Tyndall, Kailey Middlebrooks, Kristina Scott, Katie Croft and Bert Vega.
-
State champion flag football team
Colquitt County won the gold medal in the Senior/Master Traditional Flag Football competition at the recent 2013 Special Olympics Georgia State Summer Games last weekend. Colquitt County defeated Gwinnett County 26-0 in the opening round and defeated Gwinnett again in the championship game 24-0. The team includes, front, from left, Quan Ballard, Joseph Bentley, Wayne Cooley, Jonathon Barnett and James Moxley; back, assistant coach Nick Edge, Shane Jacobs, James Palmore, Jack Hipps, Local Coordinator Grant Hammack, Donta Merritt, Kelvin Holmes and head coach Dennis Eubanks.
- More Local Sports Headlines
-
American Held in Grisly Czech Murders
Raw: Jersey Shore Reopens for Summer
UK-bound Pakistan Plane Diverted, 2 Men Arrested
Officials: Tsarnaev Friend Linked to Slaying
Obama:Sexual Assault Threatens Trust in Military
Bridge Collapse Survivor: 'Rough Day'
Jersey Shore Open for Business
Raw: Memorial Day Flags Placed at Arlington
New Wheelchair Lift Promises More Access
First Person: Mom Discusses Famous Tornado Photo
Raw Video: Washington State Bridge Collapse
Boy Scouts Approve Plan to Accept Gay Boys
Officials: Truck Hit Bridge Before Collapse
Sheriff: No Sign Killing of 2 Kids Was Planned
Obama Defends Drone Strikes, With Limits
Raw: Jurors Deadlock on Jodi Arias Penalty
Boy Scouts Decision "First Step" Say Activists
Raw: Utah Teen Arrested in Death of His Brothers
Closer Look at Okla. School Where Children Died
Two Suspects in Murder Known to London Police
