Score Atlanta Vol. 11 Issue 33

Time to look great!

VOLUME 11 ISSUE 33 | OCTOBER 8-14, 2015

I Want It All | Pg. 4 Dan Mathews recaps Atlanta’s dominance over the Texans.

Under Pressure | Pg. 9 Rivalries new and old set up a critical Week 7 slate.

|

YOUR SOURCE FOR SPORTS IN GEORGIA

ONE VISION New look offense and defense share success during Atlanta’s undefeated start. | Pg. 6

STAND TALL. STAND PROUD. STAND ARMY STRONG.

There’s strong. Then there’s Army Strong. As a Soldier in the U.S. Army, you’ll develop the physical, mental and emotional strength to meet the challenges you may face today and in the future. You’ll gain unmatched leadership skills and on-the-job training—the kind that’s highly desired in both the military and civilian world. Plus, recruiter, goarmy.com or call 1-800-USA-ARMY.

Earn a salary and money for your education while you gain the strength to stand out. Visit your local Army Career Counselor today or visit us online at goarmy.com/bs02

©2009. Paid for by the United States Army. All rights reserved.

Vol. 11 Iss. 33 | October 8-14, 2015

STARTING LINEUP PUBLISHER/EDITOR I.J. Rosenberg

04

COLUMNISTS

06

ON THE COVER

09

PREP COVER

ART/CREATIVE DIRECTOR DJ Galbiati Blalock

MANAGING EDITOR Craig Sager II

ASST. MANAGING EDITOR Kyle Sandy MARKETING/ Lauren Goldstein PARTNERSHIP DIRECTOR JUNIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Rhonda Rawls

BUSINESS MANAGER Marvin Botnick

BEAT WRITERS: Colin Hubbard (GA Tech) Dan Mathews (UGA) Craig Sager II (Falcons)

Kyle Sandy (Transfer Corner, GSU, Hawks)

Ned Kaish (Kennesaw, Braves)

STAFF WRITERS Tyler Andrews

TO ADVERTISE IN SCORE ATLANTA:

404.256.1572

Copyright 2015 Score Atlanta Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Score Atlanta is published in print every other week on Fridays and a digital version is posted to ScoreAtl.com in-between print issues. Views expressed in Score Atlanta are not necessarily the opinion of Score Atlanta, its staff or advertisers. Score Atlanta does not knowingly accept false or misleading editorial content or advertising nor is Score Atlanta responsible for the content or claims of any advertising or editorial in this publication. No content (articles, photographs, graphics) in Score Atlanta may be used for reproduction without written permission from the publisher.

TEAM SCOOP AND VOICES

07 10 11

SCORE LIST | NUMBERS GEORGIA STATE | KENNESAW STATE GEORGIA | GEORGIA TECH BRAVES | FALCONS HAWKS | THE TRANSFER CORNER

COVER PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ATLANTA FALCONS AND KEN YOUNG .

ON THE INSIDE AT SCORE

STAY CONNECTED!

Score Atlanta is looking for interns.

Please visit www.scoreatl.com/ internships for more information on our program.

Visit our website, ScoreAtl.com for the our weekly fall sports rankings.

Download the free Georgia High School Scoring App www.scoreatl. com/mobile-app/ or in the app store for live scores all year long.

/SCOREATLANTASPORTS @SCOREATLANTA WWW.SCOREATL.COM WWW.GAPREPNEWS.COM

The Best or Nothing

Be The #NextFanUp

MercedesBenzStadium.com/NextFanUp 678-686-4400

FACEBOOK.COM/MBSTADIUM

@MBSTADIUM | #NEXTFANUP

3

4

SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

SANDY’S SPIEL

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM KENNESAW STATE BASKETBALL

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

ell the simple answer to what to expect W from Kennesaw State basketball this year is: I don’t know.

The men and women’s programs have made waves since the end of last season and mostly for the wrong reasons, but that is a can of worms that has been opened and hopefully shut by now. The bright side of things has to lie with the men’s team landing former National Coach of the Year, Al Skinner, to lead to downtrodden program.

Kennesaw State’s roster — coaching staff as well — has been a revolving door since Tony Ingle left the school. This year will be no different with a new staff in place and five newcomers joining just six players from last year’s team. Official practice began last Friday and back is senior point guard Yonel Brown who

exploded onto the scene after two pedestrian years. Brown finished third in the A-Sun and led the Owls in scoring with 15.2 points per game. Six-foot-seven forward Nigel Pruitt also blossomed into a reliable player and returns for his senior year as well after scoring 12.2 points a night, good for second-best on the team.

NEW FACES

Metro Atlanta hasn’t exactly been pounded for recruiting yet, but Skinner did land a potential gem in Tracy Hector. The 6-foot-4, 212-pound swingman won back-to-back state championships at Jonesboro High School. As a senior, Hector averaged over 12 points and six rebounds a game, but he made a name for himself with his tenacious defense.

He is a strong athlete that can lock down

DAN’S DOCKETT

FALCONS HAVE THEIR WAY WITH TEXANS

BY DAN MATHEWS | INFO@SCOREATL.COM

n almost every single way, the Atlanta FalIafternoon cons dominated the Houston Texans Sunday inside the Georgia Dome. They ran,

tackled, and held onto the football better than Houston.

This is just to name a few things that they did well on Sunday.

For example, quarterback Matt Ryan was only sacked twice in the entire game. Standout defensive end JJ Watt only got to Ryan on a sack once and racked up just four tackles on the day.

He wasn’t impressed with his day on the field. He says the Falcons just beat them.

“They’re a good football team,” Watt said.

“So don’t take any credit away from them, they deserve credit. Anybody that tells you that we played our best game, is lying. We played absolutely pitiful football today. It’s the national

football league, you’re facing a very good team.

You’re not going to get anything done that way.”

RUNNING WILD For the second straight week, running back Devonta Freeman ran the ball into the end zone three times for the second straight week.

It had been since 2005, when then San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson that a player had run for three or more touchdowns in two straight games.

Freeman is also the first player since the merger to do this in his first two career starts.

This back-to-back performance was enough to catch the eye of Texans inside linebacker Brian Cushing.

“He’s a good running back,” Cushing said.

“He found some holes and had a bunch of touchdown runs. You look at the overall yards

ball handlers with his ‘in-your-face’ defense while offensively; he attacks the bucket and goes after every loose ball.

Kyle Clarke is another new addition to the backcourt, standing 6-foot-5 as a combo guard. Clarke hails from Florida and has shown a knack for getting into the lane on offense.

Skinner went overseas to land Josh Burnett, another guard that can play forward, from Hawaii. Kosta Jankovic and Aubrey Williams round out the new faces on the roster while Quinnipiac transfer Kendrick Ray is finally eligible to play after having to sit out a season.

BETTER TIMES ON THE HORIZON?

So with a new coaching staff and turned over roster, can we expect KSU to take the next step in becoming a respectable program and not just another cupcake on everyone’s schedule? We will know right away. After a home tilt with Middle Georgia, Kennesaw hits the road to play Alabama, LSU and Arizona State. West Virginia, Louisville and Indiana all loom on the schedule as well. The Owls will definitely take some lumps, but coach Skinner needs to see what kind of mettle his team has when facing adversity to be able to find out if his group improves from game to game or if they take beatings and not learn anything from them like they haven’t in the past.

The one positive for KSU is that the A-Sun wasn’t too bad, but that’s not what matters at the end of the day. What matters is how many times he scores and what’s the final score. So, obviously we got beat and beat by a lot.”

In this game, quarterback Matt Ryan threw for 256 yards on 19 completions in 27 attempts for one touchdown. His favorite target is usually wide receiver Julio Jones, who finished with four catches for 38 yards.

Even with Jones not having the same day that he had in the first three games of the season, Texans cornerback Johnathan Joseph says they needed to do more than just stop him.

“You just can’t go out and say we’re going to stop Julio to win the ball game for us,” Joseph said. “Of course we slowed him down, but we still didn’t win the game. That doesn’t really say much because we lost. Our ultimate goal is to win.”

In this game, offseason acquisition wide receiver Leonard Hankerson was the leading receiver with eight catches for 103 yards.

Matt Ryan completed a pass in this game to seven different receivers.

The Falcons are back home Sunday for the Washington Redskins. The Texans have a quick turnaround for a Thursday night matchup with the Indianapolis Colts.

ROSTER MOVES The Falcons announced more roster moves on Tuesday, signing safety Charles God-

continues to get weaker and weaker each season with the top programs getting plucked by bigger conferences seemingly every year. This time it is Northern Kentucky, who has only been a D-1 program for three seasons going on four now, that was added to the Horizon League. Meanwhile, Kennesaw State has sat and stewed in the A-Sun since 2005-06 and has yet to make it out of the annual cellar.

NJIT joins the conference, coming off its best record in school history since joining D-1 the same year as KSU, winning 21 games in 2014.

Under coach Skinner, Kennesaw should at least be a competitive team. Losses to conference foes by 36 points should be a thing of the past by now. When watching the Owls play these power conference teams early in the season, losses to annual juggernauts Indiana and Louisville are acceptable. But if KSU lays an egg against an average power conference team like Alabama like they did against Syracuse (89-42), Cal (93-59) and Illinois (93-45) last year, then there is reason to be concerned.

Is there reason to be optimistic this year?

Yes there is, but if the team can’t stay competitive with the big schools early on (L by < 30), don’t expect much come conference play.

Photos courtesy of KSU. frey, tight end Tony Moeaki, and releasing tight end Mickey Shuler. Also, wide receiver Devin Hester was placed on injured reserve-designated to return.

“We have decided to place Devin on short-term IR,” said Head Coach Dan Quinn.

“We have been trying to treat his toe injury the best we could, and he has been doing everything in his power to get back on the field, but at this point we think this is the best plan of action. We are confident this time will let Devin get healthy and be a big contributor to this team once he is back on the field.”

According to NFL rules, Hester will not be eligible to practice until six weeks has passed from the date the he was placed on designated to return. Hester will also not be eligible to return to the active/inactive list until eight weeks after the date he was placed on the designated to return list [Week 13 at Tampa Bay].

Godfrey was originally selected by the Carolina Panthers in the third round (67th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft out of Iowa.

He played in five games with the Falcons and seven games with the Panthers last season.

Moeaki has played in 38 games with 31 starts and totaled 88 receptions for 1,143 yards with five touchdowns during his career.

Photo courtesy of Atlanta Falcons.

Vol. 11 Iss. 33 | October 8-14, 2015

EAA_10.125x9.321_Corky_Kell.indd 1

5

8/18/15 12:36 PM

6

SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

ON THE COVER

game with 119.5.

The emergence of Leonard Hankerson as the primary No. 2 option in the passing game has frustrated veteran and all-time Falcons receiving leader Roddy White (6 catches, 92 yards in 2015), but has helped keep defenses off balance. Hankerson used to play under Shanahan in Washington and the two’s connection has carried over to Atlanta with the five-year veteran catching 17 balls for 241 yards and two touchdowns.

Matt Ryan is second in the NFL in passing yards with 1,202 and has a much maligned offensive line to thank. Head Coach Dan Quinn and General Manager Thomas Dimitroff “scrambled” to put together the line, adding late pieces the week before the regular season, but the quintet of Jake Matthews, Andy Levitre, Mike Person, Chris Chester and Ryan Schraeder have allowed only six sacks of Ryan this year.

COVER STORY

DYNAMIC DEFENSE

While the rushing offense has been one of the biggest surprises of the undefeated Falcons this season, the rushing defense has exceeded expectations as well. Credit the ball hawking secondary for taking away the threat of the deep ball and a much more aggressive defensive line that is opening gaps for the linebackers to produce more downhill tackles.

Atlanta’s rush defense has allowed just 85.3 yards per game, good enough for fifthbest in the NFL. Atlanta held DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews to a combined 13 yards off 11 carries Week 1 and held the Giants backfield without a rushing score the following week. Dallas found the most success against the Atlanta defense Week 3, but all 28 Cowboys points game in the first half. In the second half, Dallas was locked down and had no answers in the running or passing game. The Texans managed just 54 yards on the ground off of 17 carries Week 4 as the defense locked down Houston until they found the end zone in fourth quarter garbage time.

“Well I think we’ve got something good going on here,” said defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux following the 48-21 rout over the Texans. “I talked to the guys today and I told them that you know, let’s see what we can put back together. The previous three games we start off good or we start off slow and we end up finishing the way we wanted to. But I just want us to go out there and play four quarters the way we’re supposed to and that’s what we did today.”

UNDEFEATED FALCONS SHINE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL

BY KYLE SANDY AND CRAIG SAGER II

F

our games into the season and the Atlanta Falcons rank third in offense with 34.2 points per game. Not bad for a brand new offensive scheme and coaching staff. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan has successfully implemented his zone-blocking scheme to the run game and the result has been better than anyone could have imagined.

After rushing for 11 touchdowns as a team last year, the Falcons already have punched in nine scores on the ground this season and in effect, have diversified the offense to the point where opposing defenses now don’t know whether to focus on Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, who are having career years thus far, or Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, who have exploded onto the national stage. Coleman, a rookie third-round selection, had a nice start to the season rushing for 80 yards in a Week 1 win over Philadelphia, but suffered a fracture rib in Week 2.

In stepped second-year running back Devonta Freeman and the rest has been history. The former national champion at Florida State carried the ball 30 times for 141 yards and three touchdowns in a come from behind

victory over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3.

He then proceeded to follow that performance with another three scores via the ground against the Texans last week. With the two back-to-back three touchdown performances, he became the first running back to achieve the feat since LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006 and just the eighth running back since 1960.

With his 342 yards of total offense in his first two starts, Freeman might have successfully ‘Wally Pipped’ Coleman out of a feature back role.

AERIAL ASSAULT

The outstanding start of the rushing game has to in part be thanked by Julio Jones. The former Alabama Crimson Tide has the most receptions (34) by any player in the first three games of a season in NFL history. The 26-yearold also became the first player in NFL history with 135-plus receiving yards in each of the first three games of the season. Julio finally slowed down in a Week 4 rout of Houston, but he is still tied for the NFL lead in receiving yards (478), first in receptions (38), second in touchdowns (4) and tied for first in yards per

BIG PLAY ABILITY

Quinn values going after the ball more

than anything and after four weeks has been pleased with what he has seen.

“The thing that we thought about defensively going into the game was the football,” explained Quinn after the Texans game. “For us, to end up plus four today, in terms of turnovers was exactly like we like playing. It was a great job by the offense, and then the defense I believe scoring twice was just terrific.”

Atlanta’s defense has produced four fumbles and four interceptions through the first four games. Their two fumble returns touchdowns lead the League.

Turnovers, however, have not been the only big plays made by the defense as the secondary continues to deliver bone-jarring hits and well-timed pass breakups. Robert Alford and Desmond Trufant have each notched five pass breakups this season, while William Moore has four. Moore has two of the team’s interceptions and Ricardo Allen and Babineaux have the other two. Babineaux and O’Brien Schofield lead the team with three tackles for loss apiece and rookie Vic Beasley Jr. leads the team with a pair of sacks.

“It’ a great start, it’s a great feeling,” said Trufant. “We worked so hard throughout the week with the preparations, the coaches give us a great game plan and we go out and execute it. We believe in each other and it’s really starting to show.”

Photos courtesy of the Atlanta Falcons.

Matt Ryan

UGA Linebackers in the NFL

Quarterback Quintarius Neely threw for five first half touchdowns as the Hornets knocked off previously unbeaten Walton 48-14 Friday night. Neely finished 22-33 for 361 yards and receivers Kendrick Jackson and Jayden Comma combined for over 225 yards receiving and three touchdowns.

With the win Roswell takes over sole possession of first place in Region 5-AAAAAA. Roswell is 5-0 on the season and averaging 47.2 points per game.

The Falcons quarterback is currently second in the league in passing yards at 1,202 yards. He has also thrown for six touchdowns and has a completion percentage of over 67. Ryan has helped to make the Falcons offense one of the top passing attacks averaging just over 300 yards per game.

Former University of Georgia linebackers Alec Ogletree and Thomas Davis are among the leagues top 10 tacklers through the first four weeks. Ogletree, a third year pro, has also tacked on two sacks for the Rams.

Davis, the 11th year veteran, has added two interceptions to his stat line this season for the Panthers.

By Ned Kaish

WHO’S HOT

Roswell

SCORE LIST

By Ned Kaish

MILLER GETS WIN

It was a long season for the Braves and their fans, but the season may not have felt longer to anyone than Shelby Miller. Miller earned his sixth win of the year in the Braves 161st game, his first win in 24 starts. Miller’s last previous win came on May 17. Despite having an ERA just above three and being selected to the All-Star game Miller finished the season 6-17.

YELLOW JACKETS REELING

After looking like the most potent offense in the country through the first two weeks of the season Georgia Tech has not just cooled off, they have fallen off. Paul Johnson’s team has lost three straight games, including two in the ACC, after blowing a 21-0 lead to North Carolina on Saturday.

The Jackets will travel to face undefeated and sixth ranked Clemson this Saturday looking for a season changing win.

CHUBB TIES HERSCHEL

Despite the 38-10 loss the Bulldogs suffered at the hands of Alabama on Saturday there was one small bright spot.

Running back Nick Chubb tied UGA great Herschel Walker’s record of 13 consecutive games with 100 or more rushing yards. Chubb tied the record on an 83-yard touchdown run and would finish the game with 146 yards and a score. Chubb will look to break the record Saturday as the Dawgs travel to Knoxville to take on Tennessee.

TRAMMELL’S IMPACT FELT

Running back Taylor Trammell of Mount Paran Christian Academy had a monster game last week for the undefeated Eagles finishing the game with 346 yards and three touchdowns. On the season Trammell now has 1,110 yards and 17 touchdowns to go along with two interceptions on the defensive side of the ball. Trammell has drawn the eye of many college football coaches, but has chosen to play baseball at Georgia Tech.

FREEMAN STAYS HOT

Falcons running back Devonta Freeman has scored seven touchdowns through four games this season, last season he scored one in 16 games. The second year pro from Florida State had his second consecutive game with three rushing touchdowns on Sunday. A back-toback three rushing touchdown game had not been seen since 2006 when Ladainian Tomlinson accomplished the feat with the Chargers. Freeman and the Falcons host the Redskins Sunday looking to move to 5-0.

WHO’S NOT

Vol. 11 Iss. 33 | October 8-14, 2015

Jameis Winston

AFC South

NFL Kickers

The #1 overall selection and former Heisman trophy winner is not off to the start he imagined. Winston threw four interceptions on Sunday in a loss to the Carolina Panthers. That brought Winston’s interception total up to seven, which is tied for the most in the NFL. Winston’s 54.9 completion percentage is also among the worst in the league as the Buccaneers are off to rough start at 1-3.

Through four weeks of the season the AFC South has a combined record of 5-10.

They have one team with a record above .500, and that is the Colts who sit at 2-2.

The Titans are in second place at 1-2 and the Jaguars and Texans are in last at 1-3.

Only two other divisions in the NFL have more than one team with a losing record.

Week 4 saw some serious issues in the kicking game for NFL teams across the league. At least two teams lost this week due in part to the inability of their kicker to make a field goal. In Week 4, 14 field goals were missed and four extra points. On the season kickers are 192/238 on field goal attempts.

NUMBERS

OUR TWO CENTS

By Ned Kaish

Our email newsletter is something we take a lot of pride in at Score. If you aren’t familiar with it, it is a high school sportsheavy publication that we produce each day to fill in our readers on the latest happenings in Georgia prep sports. We send it out Monday through Friday throughout the year and Monday through Saturday during the fall.

Not only do we cover popular sports like football, basketball and baseball, we also cover every other varsity sport the GHSA fields. If you like Georgia high school sports at all, sign up for our email newsletter by visiting www.tinyurl.com/scorenewsletter and enter your email address(es) that you’d like added to the distribution list.

?

TRIVIA QUESTION

7

“

SANITY AT LAST

HOW MANY TURNOVERS HAVE THE FALCONS PRODUCED THROUGH THEIR FIRST FOUR GAMES?

“As a quarterback, there’s nothing better than to be able to hand that ball off on first and second down and be able to get into third-and-two, third-and-three or get first downs on first and second down running the football”

ANSWER ON PAGE 12

Matt Ryan on Atlanta’s success running the ball

34.2

Points per game the Falcons are averaging offensively this season (3rd in the NFL)

8

Undefeated teams remaining in Class AAAAAA, including 3 teams from Region 1.

181

Hits in 2015 for Braves outfielder Nick Markakis (10th in the MLB)

41.7

Completion percentage for UGA quarterback Greyson Lambert against Alabama before being pulled late in the second quarter.

5

4-0 starts in Falcons history, the latest coming in 2012 when they started 8-0.

2

100 loss seasons for the Braves in the last 50 years, after the 2015 Braves avoided becoming the third finishing the season 67-95.

2

Fumbles returned for touchdowns in Atlanta’s first four games (1st in NFL)

7

Rushing touchdowns by Devonta Freeman this season.

8

SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

Fearless athletes deserve nationally ranked sports medicine.

©2015 Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Inc. All rights reserved.

From repairing broken bones to rehabbing torn ligaments, Children’s Sports Medicine helps young athletes get back to full speed. For more information visit choa.org/sportsmed.

PREP SPORTS

RIVALRIES OLD AND NEW HIGHLIGHT WEEK 7 SLAT

BY CRAIG SAGER II & KYLE SANDY

L

ong-time rivals Marist and St. Pius square off in the Falcons High School Game of the Week on Friday for the 50th time. Marist leads the all-time series 30-16-3, but has lost three straight, including a 10-9 loss last season. This year’s Marist squad dropped its season opener 41-21 to out-of-state Coconut Creek (FL), but bounced back with five straight wins. After sinking Lovett 16-15, the War Eagles outscored Arabia Mountain (41-14), Stone Mountain (5813), Redan (62-18) and Lithonia (41-8) by a combined 159 points (39.45 points per game).

Jack Dinges tossed touchdown passes of 20 and 19 yards to Jack Uber and Will Toner respectively and added rushing touchdowns of 19 and 15 yards to lead the rout over Lithonia.

St. Pius has been much more battle-tested through its first five games. The Golden Lions

opened the season with a 17-6 loss to Class AAA No. 1 Blessed Trinity, before battling with Woodward Academy in a double-overtime 3629 loss. St. Pius rebounded with a 42-12 win over Lithonia and scored an impressive 28-8 victory over Grady. Last week saw St. Pius run past Columbia 30-15. Lawson Cooper carried the ball 22 times for 116 yards and two scores.

FRESH FOES

There is another big-time matchup this weekend between a rivalry that has only began to grow. Undefeated Lanier (5-0) visits Region 8-AAAAA foe Gainesville (4-1). Gainesville has been playing football for over a century, where Lanier is in just its fourth full season of participation. The Longhorns, however, lead the all-time series 1-0 over the Red Elephants

after a thrilling 26-23 victory last season in the school’s first-ever meeting. Lanier is one of the state’s fastest growing success stories and has increased its win total significantly each season from a 5-5 finish in 2012 to 9-3 in 2013 and a new school-record 10-1 finish a year ago.

The Red Elephants have rebounded nicely after a 34-0 loss against Class AAAAAA’s No. 2 Grayson to open the season. Dual-sport standout Messiah Dorsey runs the show from under center and can get the job done with his legs and his arm. The senior has thrown for 774 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions, while rushing for 301 yards and five scores. Coach Bruce Miller has a workhorse back that can break big plays in Chris Byrd.

Another senior, Byrd, has galloped to 391 yards and three touchdowns while leading the team with 17 catches out of the backfield. He also leads the team in tackles with 26 from his linebacker position. Roadarius Timmons and Martavious Davis are two juniors that also open the field with their pass catching. Defensively, Chris Lyles has four interceptions and Josh Harrison leads the Elephants with three sacks.

Gainesville will try to move the ball against one of the best defenses in AAAAA with No. 7 Lanier coming to town. The Longhorns are allowing only 6.6 points per game led by five-

star defensive tackle Derrick Brown, who has five sacks and 14 quarterback hurries. Brown has already recorded 20 tackles for loss this season, while warranting his status as the No. 1 ranked prospect in the state. The Longhorns have shutout two of its last three opponents and have held four of the five to seven points or less. Junior Michael Allen also supplies heat with four sacks on the year. Linebackers Tyler Taylor and Juwuan Jones lead the team in tackles with 55 and 51 respectively. Devin Miller is another linebacker who is known to make splash plays, with 43 tackles and 13 for loss.

Offensively, quarterback Tahj Tolbert has struggled after a solid junior season saw him throw 19 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

This year, the senior has completed just 43 percent of his passes for 347 yards, one touchdown and five interceptions. Brothers Marcella and Marcko Baity have powered the Longhorn offense with Marcella gaining 382 yards and scoring three touchdowns while Marcko has totaled 318 yards and found the end zone five times. Ashton Barnes also pitches in with 226 yards and two rushing touchdowns.

Photos courtesy of Ken Young, WSBTV.com and Terrance Johnson.

10

SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

DAWGS LOOK TO REBOUND IN KNOXVILLE

BY DAN MATHEWS | DMATHEWS@SCOREATL.COM

G

eorgia’s 38-10 loss to Alabama on Saturday questions the type of team this year’s Bulldogs will be, but there is a huge game waiting this Saturday against Tennessee that could provide the answer. Georgia was embarrassed last weekend as the Crimson Tide got touchdowns in all three phases of the game and beat up the Dawgs physically on their own turf.

After taking a 10-3 lead with a Derrick Henry touchdown run, Alabama got Georgia backed up in the red zone. Minkah Fitzpatrick came off the edge to block the Bulldogs’ punt and recover it for a touchdown that pushed the Tide ahead by two scores.

With Georgia on its heals, Alabama was not afraid to take some shots and Jake Coker hit Calvin Ridley for a beautiful 45-yard touchdown pass. On the other sideline, Georgia’s quarterback play was nothing short of disastrous. Greyson Lambert finished just 10-of-24 passing for 86 yards and an interception with a QBR of 2.0. Brice Ramsey came in late in the

GEORGIA STATE

PANTHERS CAN’T DOUSE FLAME IN HOMECOMING LOSS

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

G

eorgia State (1-3) had a sour homecoming on Saturday as the Panthers were defeated

by FCS Liberty, 41-33. The Flames entered as one of the best teams in the Football Championship Subdivision and played like it, taking a second quarter lead and never relinquishing it. After the first quarter, GSU held a 14-7 lead behind two long Nick Arbuckle touchdown passes. The senior hit Donovan Harden for a 76-yard score and later found Robert Davis for 61 yards as a part of Arbuckle’s 18-for-29, 394yard and three touchdown day. Arbuckle did however toss an interception.

Liberty took the lead into the half 21-14 after two 1-yard touchdown runs by Todd Macon and Desmond Rice.

EXPLOSIVE ACTION

The big plays kept coming for the Georgia State offense which produced 405 yards of total offense when Arbuckle connected with Penny Hart for a 58-yard touchdown early in

second quarter to provide a spark, and instead tossed one of his two interceptions that was housed by Eddie Jackson for a 50-yard return touchdown. Ramsey finished 1-of-6 passing for 20 yards with his pair of picks.

Georgia’s lone touchdown came on an 83-yard touchdown run by Nick Chubb in the third quarter. The run helped push Chubb to 146 yards off of 24 carries, but he was held in check for most of the game besides his third quarter gash.

NEXT UP

Tennessee has fallen on hard times, after dropping a 24-20 loss to Arkansas last week.

The conference loss followed the heartbreaking 28-27 defeat at Florida the previous week.

Tennessee has plenty of talent to throw at the Dawgs, and this is the game that they hope can keep their hopes alive in the wide-open SEC East.

Jalen Hurd leads Tennessee’s star-studded backfield and has carried the ball a teamhigh 105 times for 492 yards and seven touchdowns this season. Dual-threat quarterback Joshua Dobbs has rushed the ball 55 times this year for 250 yards and three touchdowns, while passing for 789 yards and five touchdowns with one pick. Alvin Kamara is another threat out of the backfield and the former Alabama running back is averaging a team-high 6.5 yards per carry this year to go with his three touchdowns.

the third to knot the game up at 21. Rice, who ran for 87 yards, answered with his third 1-yard touchdown plunge of the game to regain the lead before Wil Lutz would boot a 49-yard field goal to send the Panthers into the final frame trailing 28-24.

Macon added his second short touchdown run of the day early in the fourth to extend the lead to 35-24 with 14:41 to play. Lutz and Liberty kicker John Lunsford would exchange field goals to keep the score an 11-point deficit. Arbuckle scampered 8-yards with 2:51 remaining to cut the lead to 38-33, but a two-point conversion failed. Georgia State attempted an on-side kick but the Flames fell on it. The Panthers forced a three-and-out, but Lunsford’s 56-yarder was good to make it 4133 with still 2:27 left in regulation.

The Panthers had one last opportunity to tie the game, but the drive was thwarted after an Arbuckle run for no-gain, a 16-yard sack and a Chris Turner interception to seal the game for Liberty.

The difference maker between the two teams was the lack of a run game for GSU. Liberty ran 50 times for 263 yards and five touchdowns while the Panthers totaled 11 yards and one touchdown on 14 attempts.

Harden led the Panthers in receiving with five catches for 179 yards and one score.

Georgia State, still 1-0 in conference play, will host Appalachian State (3-1, 0-0) this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in the Georgia Dome.

GEORGIA TECH

TECH BLOWS THIRD STRAIGHT GAME

BY COLIN HUBBARD | INFO@SCOREATL.COM

T

he Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets’ season is taking a turn for the worse after the team suffered their third consecutive loss last Saturday vs the North Carolina Tar Heels. The Yellow Jackets blew a 21-point lead to lose 38-31 and have now lost the same amount of games in 2015 (3) that they did all of last year.

On what started as a season with a lot of promise, Georgia Tech (2-3, 0-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) finds themselves a long-shot at winning the ACC in 2015. Ranked as high as No. 14 in the nation, the Yellow Jackets have fallen out of the AP top 25 and sit in a tie for last in ACC conference play.

The Yellow Jackets have had their fair share of injuries in 2015 and are starting more and more underclassman as the weeks go by.

Nobody saw this coming, not even head coach Paul Johnson.

“I feel like I’ve been gut punched,” Johnson said. “We need contributions out of everybody. It’s got to be offense, defense and special teams. There’s no one group that’s good

KENNESAW STATE

KSU LOOKS TO RETURN TO WIN COLUMN

BY NED KAISH | INFO@SCOREATL.COM

K

ennesaw State is coming off a bye week with a bad taste in their mouth. The Owls suffered their first loss in program history two weeks ago at the hands of the Dayton Flyers.

Now KSU will look to get back to its winning ways against Point University Saturday at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.

“If we can continue to learn from good and bad, we can become a good football team,” said head coach Brian Bohannon, who is content with the first four games of the season. “At 3-1, I don’t think you could be disappointed.”

Quarterback Trey White has been leading an offense that is averaging nearly 40 points a game and rushing to the tune of 329.2 yards a game. On the season White has rushed for 400 yards and added five touchdowns on the ground as well as added 398 yards and two scores through the air. White has been aided by a plethora of running backs throughout the

enough to carry the other side.”

After not eclipsing the 200-yard mark in rushing against the Duke Blue Devils in Week 3, the Yellow Jackets rushed for 255 yards, 204 of which came in the first half. The Yellow Jackets converted just 5-of-13 on third down.

FAST START

Georgia Tech scored touchdowns on each of their first three possessions, but did not score another touchdown until the third quarter. Up 28-17 with 10:45 remaining in the third quarter, the Tar Heels scored 21 unanswered points to take a 38-28 lead with 4:52 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The turning point of the game was a thirdand-goal and fourth-and-goal from the 1-yardline for the Yellow Jackets’ offense, but failed to score when Thomas was stopped at the line on both tries.

Georgia Tech added a 37-yard field goal with 2:06 remaining in the game, but a failed onside kick put the game away for the Yellow Jackets.

Georgia Tech held the ball more than 17:00 minutes more than the Tar Heels in time of possession but only managed four yards more of total offense. The Yellow Jackets compiled 417 yards of total offense to the Tar Heels’ 413.

“I’m really disappointed,” Johnson said. “I thought we had plenty of chances. We kind of let it slip away from us.”

year. Chaston Bennett leads the group in rushing with 299 yards and a score while Micah Reed is closing in on 300 yards.

Damell Holland and Jae Bowen have chipped in three rushing scores each while Bowen has also been a factor in the pass game catching four balls for 78 yards. Wide receiver Justin Sumpter has been White’s favorite target catching eight passes for 272 yards and two scores.

DEFENSIVE STARS

On the defensive side of the ball it has been the secondary making the most impact.

Defensive backs Taylor Henkle, Derrick Farrow, and Shawn Reynolds are the team’s top three tacklers. Henkle has also added an interception while Farrow has added three forced fumbles to his stat line. Linebacker Izzy Sam leads the team in sacks with 3.5 and also has 4.5 tackles for loss. At 6.5 tackles for loss defensive lineman Mason Harris leads the team to go along with two forced fumbles. The Owls defense has been forcing turnovers all season, with seven through the first four games.

Kick off on Saturday is set for 1 pm against Point. This is the first of two home games in a row for the Owls as they look for their fourth and fifth wins in front of the home crowd.

Vol. 11 Iss. 33 | October 8-14, 2015 ATLANTA HAWKS

HAWKS READY FOR 2015-16 PRESEASON

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

A

tlanta opens up its 2015-16 preseason schedule this Wednesday in rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, home of the Xavier University Musketeers. But before the Hawks can hit the court for an actual game, Atlanta held an open practice this past Saturday to let fans catch a glimpse of the new look Hawks. Not only are there new faces on the roster, but the franchise itself has undergone a facelift with the vibrant new colors, most notably the volt green.

The new court which has seen rave reviews, was the stomping grounds for once injured Hawks, looking to take flight for the upcoming season. Both Kyle Korver and Thabo Sefolosha saw action in the intra-squad scrimmage and looked mobile while trying to regain their stroke.

Both Al Horford and Paul Millsap, the cornerstones of the frontcourt, played well with Horford shooting 6-of-12 for 15 points and seven rebounds while Millsap added 11 points and six

ATLANTA BRAVES

MILLER CAPITALIZES ON LAST CHANCE FOR A WIN

BY RICKY DIMON | RDIMON@SCOREATL.COM

T

he streak is over…and not a moment too soon. Making his last start of the season on the final day of the Atlanta Braves’ 2015 campaign, Shelby Miller picked up his first win since May 17 to end a brutal stretch of 16 consecutive lost decisions and 24 straight starts without a victory. Miller befuddled the St. Louis Cardinals through eight innings while allowing just three hits and zero runs. He walked three and struck out seven, earning his sixth win of the year in a 6-0 shutout of the Central Division champions.

“Obviously, I had some ups and downs,” Miller assured following the game. “I had some good games and some bad ones. I’m a guy who is trying to take all of the positives from the season and take those into the offseason. I’ll realize what didn’t go so right in some games and what wasn’t really going my way to try to get those things out of the way. I just want to continue to get better.”

boards. New additions Tim Hardaway Jr. and Justin Holiday both shot well, with Holiday canning all three of his three-point attempts.

AHEAD OF THE CURVE

A new injury prevention technology has been worn by Hawks players throughout camp in order to try and keep the team healthy moving forward. The device is part of a larger system designed by Catapult, an Australian company that specializes in using wearable technology to monitor biomechanical processes. The idea is that in studying the performance of athletes on a day-to-day basis and establishing a baseline level of performance, teams can work to improve those baselines. Perhaps more importantly, they can also use their records to spot signs of exhaustion, with the goal of reducing fatigue-based injuries.

Korver supports the use of the technology and understands that sports and the world are both evolving. “Everything is about numbers these days, right?” Korver asked rhetorically.

“Analytics are everything. Teams are trying to get the advantage over the other team by what kind of reads we can get, how can we measure guys if they’re tired – all these things.”

To no surprise, Ken Berger of CBS Sports reported that the San Antonio Spurs, coach Budenholzer’s old bunch, has been implementing the technology since the 2011 season and has been crucial in keeping the team’s aging veterans healthy.

The 24-year-old may not be able to get much better, himself. After all, he finished with an outstanding 3.02 ERA and worked 205.1 innings while mowing down 171 batters. Where he can certainly improve, of course, is in the run-support department. That will be up to the bats in 2016.

“He’s pitched some of the best baseball I’ve ever seen pitched and not get [credited with a win],” manager Fredi Gonzalez reflected. “We got the’ W’ today and he doesn’t have to worry about answering all those questions in spring training and all of that kind of stuff.”

The Braves, on the other hand, have plenty of questions to deal with heading into next season. They swept St. Louis to wrap up 2015 on a three-game winning streak and they won five of their last six and 10 of their last 15, but they still finished 67-95—third to last in all of Major League Baseball.

DIVISION UPDATE Nobody in the NL East disappointed more than the Washington Nationals. The highlytouted club went 83-79 to finish seven games back of the New York Mets. Manager Matt Williams was fired earlier this week. New York, meanwhile, is facing the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first round of the playoffs. The Mets are that city’s only hope now, as the New York Yankees lost the American League wild card game 3-0 to the Houston Astros on Tuesday.

ATLANTA FALCONS

PACES RACE FOR NFC SOUTH

BY CRAIG SAGER II | CSAGER@SCOREATL.COM

T

he first quarter of the 16-game NFL regular season is in the books and an assortment of playmakers have risen to the occasion around the NFC South. For Atlanta, it has been the game-changing ability of second-year pro Devonta Freeman that has grabbed center stage. Freeman has notched an NFL-best six rushing touchdowns in the Falcons last two victories. Throughout the division, there are other players that can take over games when their numbers are called and make the necessary adjustments to fit new roles.

Ted Ginn Jr. was once thought to be a first-round bust, but the 9-year pro out of Ohio State has turned into the big-play offensive threat Carolina hoped for when they signed the former No. 9 overall pick as a free agent this offseason. Ginn has gotten better each game this season and after catching a touchdown pass against Houston Week 2, he recorded a four-catch, 93-yard performance in the win over New Orleans Week 3. Last Sunday, Ginn

THE TRANSFER CORNER

SOUTH CAROLINA TRANSPLANT TO LEAD GENERALS

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

week I will highlight some GHSA basketETheach ball transfers across the Peach State here at Transfer Corner.

GENERALS LOOK TO STAY IN CHARGE WITH GUARD PLAY

Shiloh added some dynamic players to its backcourt in Darnell Rogers and Greg James.

Rogers averaged over 28 points per game in South Carolina and became a YouTube sensation for his acrobatic and jaw dropping play as the smallest player on the floor. He played with new teammate Josh Okogie on the AAU circuit on Team CP3 and decided to follow him to Georgia to play their senior season together.

James is strong outside shooter with nice size and is receiving looks from low to mid-major programs.

The Generals added another dynamic guard with Division-One talent in Khalil Richard. A strong guard who banged home 45% of his three-point attempts last season, Richard announced on Sept. 15 that he committed to Siena. At St. Frances Academy as a junior he

11

caught two passes, both going for touchdowns, in Carolina’s 37-23 victory at Tampa.

Mark Ingram is the centerpiece around the New Orleans rushing attack, but the former Alabama running back has added another skillset to his game this season. Ingram opened the year with a team-high 98 receiving yards against the Cardinals and tied Brandin Cooks after Week 3 for most receptions on the team with 16. The stocky 5-foot-9, 215-pound running back produced the longest play from scrimmage in the Saints 27-22 loss to Carolina Week 3 with a 23 yard reception and hauled in a season-high 59 yard reception Week 1, the Saints second-longest play from scrimmage this season.

Running back Charles Sims is in his second season with Tampa Bay after getting selected in the third round of the 2014 Draft. He has used his speed to be a dual threat out of the backfield this season. The former West Virginia Mountaineer has struggled running the football, but hast become a reliable target in the passing game for rookie quarterback Jameis Wintson. Sims has caught seven passes for 78 yards this season and has found the end zone in each of the last two games.

WEEK 5

Atlanta returns to the Dome this Sunday to take on Washington, before a quick turnaround to set up a Thursday Night Week 6 tilt in New Orleans.

averaged 12.9 points per game and 3.0 assists.

He joins Darnell Rogers and Greg James at Shiloh, a team that lost just one game in-state as they finished 28-4.

EAGLES ADD SIZE UPFRONT

Collins Hill picked up some great size inside to help add to a team that could use some toughness in the low post. Chris Parks and AJ Cheeseman will bring just that. Parks averaged 8.0 points and 5.2 rebounds as a freshman with Lanier. Cheeseman knows Collins Hill well, as his Duluth Wildcats split a pair with the Eagles during the Region 7 regular season. Cheeseman averaged 11.4 points and 7.1 rebounds as a junior.

The Eagles also nabbed Teshaun Hightower from AAA Towers High School. The combo guard has great athleticism and can become a big time scorer in the right system. Last season as a junior he averaged over 12 points per game and has yet to reach his ceiling. He has nice lift on his jumper and should start to rack up the scholarship offers with a productive senior season. Hightower broke out with a big summer circuit and was originally set to join Grayson High School before settling on Collins Hill.

LOADED LITHONIA

Jacara Cross’ move from Cedar Grove to Lithonia makes the Bulldogs one of the top dogs in AAAA. Couple him with Tyleen Patterson, Rodney Chatman and Tyheem Freeman and you have a dynamic team that already is coming off a 27-win season.

12

SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

STAY UP-TO-DATE We want to hear from you!

Find us on Facebook and Twitter. Give us feedback on your favorite articles, tell us what you’d like to see in upcoming issues and stay up-to-date on sporting news from Metro Atlanta!

/SCOREATLANTASPORTS

WWW.GAPREPNEWS.COM

@SCOREATLANTA

WWW.TINYURL.COM/ SCORENEWSLETTER

WWW.SCOREATL.COM

STAY CONNECTED!

?

TRIVIA ANSWER

THE FALCONS HAVE PRODUCED 8 TURNOVERS IN THEIR FIRST FOUR GAMES.

MAKE YOUR OCCASION A SUCCESS! Great rates! Book your date!

Vol. 11 Iss. 33 | October 8-14, 2015

13