Score Vol. 12 Is. 22

Time to look

VOLUME 12 ISSUE 22 | September 21 - September 27, 2016

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YOUR SOURCE FOR SPORTS IN GEORGIA

Everybody's Something | Pg. 9 Playoff aspirations linger statewide as first region games get underway.

All We Got | Pg. 4 Premier programs hoard transfers as GHSA basketball approaches.

HOW GREAT A look at how Atlanta's youngest playmakers plan to lift the defense. | Pg. 7

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Vol. 12 Iss. 22 | September 21 - September 27, 2016

STARTING LINEUP PUBLISHER/EDITOR: I.J. Rosenberg

ART DIRECTOR: Rhonda Rawls

MANAGING EDITOR: Craig Sager II

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COLUMNISTS

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09

ON THE COVER

PREP COVER

ASST. MANAGING EDITOR: Kyle Sandy

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Copyright 2016 Score Atlanta Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Score Atlanta is digitally published every week on ScoreAtl.com. 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.

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COVER PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ATLANTA FALCONS, AP IMAGES, AND NAKIA BULLARD

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Vol. 12 Iss. 22 | September 21 - September 27, 2016 GHSA TRANSFER CORNER

REGION 2-AAAAAAA BECOMES STRONGEST REGION EVER

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

JOIN THE PARTY

Last season Region 3-AAAAAA ruled supreme as Westlake defeated Pebblebrook in the state championship game. Westlake transformed itself from a 13-15 team into a 27-4 powerhouse thanks to the transfer circuit. This season, Region 2-AAAAAAA is loaded as the arms race has begun between Pebblebrook and Wheeler.

Pebblebrook and Wheeler have been among the busiest teams this offseason trying to catch up to Westlake. Pebblebrook has landed consensus High Major D-I talents in Drue Drinnon, Jared Jones and Elias Harden (Xavier) to surround superstar Collin Sexton.

Drinnon is as experienced of a junior as they come, posting big numbers since his freshman year at East Jackson. The point guard will now be asked to distribute the ball to the

weapons around him. Drinnon was named Sandy’s Spiel Class AAA Best Scorer and was a First Team All-State selection after averaging 21.3 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists.

Jones comes from Potter’s House, Fla. and is a handful inside. Jones can score with his back to the basket and rebounds well in traffic. He has the ability to step out to the threepoint land and can help stretch the defense to allow Pebblebrook’s guards slashing lanes.

Add Harden from Sandy Creek, and the Falcons have another long wing at 6-foot-6 that can stroke it from deep and also attack the basket. Harden was a Sandy’s Spiel Class AAAA All-State Second Teamer after averaging 20.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game.

RICH GET RICHER

Wheeler counters with hot prospects as well in EJ Montgomery and Jordan Usher.

FALCONS RESPOND IN OAKLAND

SAGER SAYS

BRAVES, FALCONS FIND WIN

BY CRAIG SAGER II | CSAGER@SCOREATL.COM

F

reddie Freeman continued his hotstreak on Monday, powering the Braves to a 7-3 win over the 80-win Mets Monday night. Freeman finished with four hits, including a home run, and three RBIs. Freeman has a 23-game hitting streak and has reached base in 39 consecutive games. With nearly two weeks left in the season, the two-time All-Star has hit a career-high 31 home runs and is batting .302 with 83 RBIs. On the hill, rookie Aaron Blair earned his first MLB win against Mets ace Noah Syndergaard. Blair (1-6) didn’t allow a hit hit until there were two outs in the fourth inning and pitched six innings, allowing just four hits and two runs.

"All the hard work that he's put in and making changes and sticking to it, not reverting back in stressful situations, it's nice to see him rewarded for it," Braves manager Brian Snit-

Montgomery is heralded as a five-star power forward by 247Sports. He fills the role left behind by Romello White, who is now at Arizona State after decommitting from Georgia Tech. In a further effort to revamp the frontcourt, Usher joins from Sequoyah where he will see a massive step up in competition night in and night out, but brings an undeniable athleticism to the wing and can attack the basket, especially in the open floor. At Sequoyah, Usher averaged 18.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.3 blocks his junior season.

The Wildcats didn’t stop there. Though they struck out in landing Zion Williamson (for now), Wheeler did add Terry Armstrong and Brandon Younger. Armstrong comes over as the No. 1 ranked player in Michigan in the Class of 2019. The long and athletic wing should thrive with the amount of talent surrounding him. Younger is young and lean like Armstrong.

He averaged over 11 points per game as a sophomore at Mt. Pisgah but much like Usher, sees a major increase in competition during the regular season.

Austin Johnson moves in as the most unheard of out of the group, but the long-armed big man can block shots and also score with both hands around the hoop. He played with 16U Game Elite Orange and could be a solid rotational piece with some upside moving forward. Isaac Martin also joins the party as

ker said. "He got a good downhill plane going, I thought, and obviously some of those changeups they were swinging over had some late action."

Blair credited the defense for support in his first win. "I was able to make pitches when I needed to, and if they hit the ball, they just hit it right at guys," said Blair. "So some of the line drives I was on the luckier side."

The Braves won their fourth consecutive game at Citi Field, pulling to nearly even (8-9) in the season series against the NL wild-card leaders and snapping the Mets’ five-game home winning streak snapped.

“It’s hard because we’re not playing for anything,” Snitker said, “but we’re playing to win, putting it out there and leaving it all out there every day.”

After a disappointing home opening loss to Tampa Bay, the Falcons scored a 35-28 victory in Oakland on Sunday to move to 1-1. Within the victory were several memorable individual performances.

The Atlanta Falcons offense recorded 528 total yards, which is the fifth highest yardage total in franchise history. The last time the Falcons recorded 500+ total yards, was against the New Orleans Saints in Week 1 in 2014 (568 yards). The offense also recorded 139 yards on the ground. This is the first time the team has rushed for over 100 yards in a game since Week 12 of 2015 versus the Minnesota Vikings (116 yards).

Quarterback Matt Ryan went 26-of-34 for 396 yards with three touchdowns and a 131.5 passer rating. That’s the highest passing yardage total Ryan has had against a team in the AFC West in his career, and the second highest passing total he’s had on the road in his career – highest versus New Orleans (411 yards). He also extended his streak of games with 200+ passing yards to 41 straight games.

ALL-PRO FORM

Wide receiver Julio Jones eclipsed the 100yard mark for the first time this season. He finished the game with five catches for 106 yards

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Wheeler’s embarrassment of riches continues to pile up. The 6-foot-5 guard played a big role with McEachern last season as a freshman.

He is a good distance shooter which will help spread the floor.

On August 24, Jordan Tucker became lucky No. 7 in the Wheeler recruiting class as he took to Twitter to announce his commitment. Tucker can score inside and outside and does everything you want from an aggressive wing. He averaged 17.8 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks as a junior. He sank 51 threes at a 35% clip and got to the line 214 times where he converted 72%. Earlier in the day, Tucker was ranked No. 39 in ESPN’s Top 100.

LIONS ROAR

No new faces move into Westlake but the reigning Class AAAAAA state champions do lose 6-foot-9 center Michael Durr to Oldsmar Christian, Fla. Blue-chip seniors Chuma Okeke (Auburn) and Danny Lewis (Central Florida) along with burgeoning star junior point guard Jamie Lewis will be asked to defend their crown against incredible competition.

The most in-depth GHSA basketball coverage ever can be found on sandysspiel.com.

Here is what you missed over the summer with big name transfers.

Photo courtesy of Nakia Bullard - westlakelionsfootball.org and one touchdown. This was Jones’ 29th time in his career passing the 100-yard receiving mark.

Running back Devonta Freeman had 17 carries for 93 yards. Freeman and running back Tevin Coleman combined for 164 yards total yards and one touchdown. This is the second straight game the running back duo has combined for 150+ total yards.

ROOKIE PRODUCTION

Rookie tight end Austin Hooper recorded three catches for 84 yards. It’s the most receiving yards a rookie has recorded since 2011. Jacob Tamme pulled in five catches for 75 yards and his first touchdown of the season.

Vic Beasley Jr. recorded his first sack of the season. That sack was the team’s first of the season and Beasley Jr.’s fifth career sack.

Last season, he led the team with 4.0 sacks. S Kemal Ishmael recorded a career-high 15 total tackles. On special teams, Eric Weems recorded a career-long 73-yard punt return to end the first half. He finished the game with a 37.0 punt return average. Wide receiver Justin Hardy recorded his first touchdown catch of his career in the fourth quarter to put the Falcons ahead 2821 off a tipped pass.

Photo courtesy of AP Images

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Jacob Eason

Falcons

Mill Creek

It hasn’t always been pretty, but Jacob Eason and the Bulldogs have found a way to start 3-0 and earn the No. 12 ranking in the country. The reins are slowly being let go and Eason has seen his pass attempts increase each week going from 12 to 20 to 55, including the gamewinning 20-yard touchdown pass on fourth down with 1:31 left to stun Missouri.

Backs up against the wall facing a potential 0-2 start to the season, the birds bowed their necks and came away with an important 3528 win in the Black Hole at Oakland. Matt Ryan finished 26-of-34 for 396 yards and three touchdowns while Devonta Freeman racked up 93 rushing yards to propel Atlanta to victory.

The Hawks avenged a 2015 season-ending loss to Colquitt County by beating the Packers 34-27 at the Corky Kell Classic in Week 1. Since then, Mill Creek has continued to fly high, locking down Stephenson, Dacula and Archer en route to the No. 1 spot in Class AAAAAAA. Coach Shannon Jarvis won Atlanta Falcons Coach of the Week on August 29.

SCORE LIST

By Craig Sager II SOUTH SHOWDOWN

Atlanta visits the winless Saints Monday for an NFC South showdown. The Falcons have struggled against the Saints in recent years, but on Monday night matchups, the Saints have especially possessed all the magic. Atlanta has lost its last five Monday Night Football games against the Saints, including the infamous return to the Superdome in 2006 that New Orleans took 23-3.

A HEISMAN SLEEPER

When the preseason Heisman candidates came out Louisville’s Lamar Jackson was not on the list. Now, three games into the season, 18 touchdowns, 913 passing yards and 464 rushing yards later, Lamar Jackson is now the Heisman favorite.

Last week Jackson recorded 362 yards of offense and five touchdowns against Florida State Seminoles and boosted the Cardinals to No. 3.

TEBOW TIME

Tim Tebow’s professional baseball career began Monday morning as he reported to the Mets instructional league team in Port St. Lucie. Although it is well-known that Tebow is an elite athlete, it’s worth noting that he has not played competitive baseball since playing at Nease High School in Ponte Verdra Beach. Tebow will wear 15 with hopes to bring some magic to the baseball diamond.

NO CHUBB, NO PROBLEM

After splitting time with Greyson Lambert for the first two games of the season, Jacob Eason has locked up the starting quarterback position for UGA. Eason got his first start against Mizzou and showed the nation how clutch he is with a game winning touchdown pass on a 4th down and 10 snap. Eason and the Bulldogs are headed to the Grove this weekend with hopes to spoil Ole Miss' season.

BIG PAPI’S FAREWELL

For most 40-year-old Major League baseball players, their final season winds down in regressing fashion, but that is not the case for David Ortiz. Ortiz is having arguably the greatest farewell season ever for a slugger. The Dominican legend has 35 home runs with 118 RBI’s this season and has the Red Sox sitting at the top of the AL East.

WENTZ THE REAL DEAL

Carson Wentz got his second consecutive start for the Eagles in his Monday Night Football debut and his second consecutive win. After leading the Eagles to a 24-19 win against the Bears, North Dakota St. alum is now the first rookie quarterback to start and win his first two games since 1970. Wentz has been spectacular for two games, but it is a long season and he still has a lot to prove.

WHO’S NOT

By Kyle Sandy

WHO’S HOT

SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com The Del Rio Family

Ra’Shede Hageman

SEC

Father Jack and son Luke both had rough weekends.

Jack, head coach of the Oakland Raiders and Luke, quarterback of the Florida Gators, took loses in different fashions. Jack’s wheeling and dealing style of coaching fell flat against the Falcons while Luke injured his knee in a win over North Texas. Luke’s knee sprain will cost him two-tothree weeks.

It might be time to label the 2014 second round pick a bust. Hageman hasn’t just been a ghost on the field over his first three seasons in the League, but he also was charged with battery and domestic violence. With poor performance on the field and worse behavior off, things don’t look good for the Minnesota Gopher.

t’s now gotten to the point of beating a dead horse, but the Southeastern Conference, frankly, just isn’t that good in football anymore outside of Alabama. LSU laid a season opening egg against Wisconsin, Tennessee has been brutal, Georgia almost got beat by Nicholls State and Mississippi State couldn’t sneak past the buzz-saw known as South Alabama. Yikes.

NUMBERS

OUR TWO CENTS

By Kyle Sandy

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.

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TRIVIA QUESTION

HOW MANY STRAIGHT MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL GAMES HAVE THE FALCONS LOST TO NEW ORLEANS? ANSWER ON PAGE 14

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SANITY AT LAST

"I thought we did a great job offensively getting in to a rhythm. We didn’t do a whole lot in the first quarter, but once we kind of found our stride, we kept going and played really well."

- Matt Ryan on Week 2 victory

355.5

Passing yards per game by Matt Ryan through Week 2 (2nd in NFL behind Andy Dalton)

72.6

Completion percentage by Matt Ryan through Week 2 (2nd in NFL behind Eli Manning 73.9)

412.8

Yards per game allowed by the Falcons defense through Week 2 (28th in NFL)

121.4

Matt Ryan's QBR through Week 2 (1st in NFL)

5

Undefeated teams left in the AFC (NE, BAL, PIT, HOU, DEN)

3

Undefeated teams left in the NFC (NYG, PHI, MIN)

2

Weeks until the NBA Season

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Braves games left at Turner Field.

Vol. 12 Iss. 22 | September 21 - September 27, 2016

ON THE COVER

Jones didn’t make a splash until his senior season, learning behind current Tampa Bay Buccaneer Kwon Alexander and making just one start over his first three seasons.

Once 2015 rolled around, Jones didn’t waste any time proving he was a next level talent, recording 100 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, five sacks, two interceptions and one forced fumble.

Jones told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “It was really locking in and being patient.

When I got my time, I made the best of it.”

To no surprise, Jones has made the best of his new found opportunity in Atlanta, earning a starting spot and recording 10 tackles in the Falcons Week 2 victory in Oakland.

BEASLEY’S TIME ATLANTA FALCONS

ATHLETICISM HEIGHTENS EXPECTATIONS AROUND JONES, BEASLEY

BY CRAIG SAGER II | CSAGER@SCOREATL.COM & KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

"N

ot a lot of linebackers in history will run like that. That guy may be the fastest linebacker that I personally have been around that had any size to him at all. He's absolutely the first. That fits into the NFL game as a guy that can move and make plays and has ball skills. He's going to fit right into the NFL game."

These words were spoken by LSU Head Coach Les Miles at the Tigers Pro Day about rookie linebacker Deion Jones.

Jones’ rare blend of speed and strength made him 52nd pick in the 2016 NFL Draft and the perfect run-and-hit type linebacker that Coach Dan Quinn craves in his defensive scheme.

"For Deion Jones, first off, the run-andhit factor is totally alive," said Quinn after drafting the former LSU Defensive MVP. "He's an all-downs linebacker for us. Matchup, running backs, tight ends. Now, the threedeep (zone) that we play, the ability to close

and tackle in space is critical to playing inside 'backer in this spot."

THE WAITING GAME

Jones began his football journey at Jesuit High School in New Orleans where he recorded 179 tackles, eight sacks and three interceptions as a senior which earned him a three-star rating from Rivals.com. At first Jones committed to leave the state and play at Nebraska but had a change of heart and decided he was destined to take the short hour and a half trip to play college ball in Baton Rouge.

Patience is a virtue and Jones exemplified the idiom to be true. He didn’t have to wait long during the NFL Draft, being selected in the second round, but it took forbearance for Jones to finally see his patience pay off.

Known for his incredible athleticism, standing 6-foot-1, weighing 222 pounds and running a 4.38 40-yard dash at his Pro Day,

In order to thrive week-to-week in a League with 32 strategically-built offenses, defenses must be versatile. This versatility starts with the individual pieces and Atlanta used the eighth overall pick of the 2015 Draft to welcome multi-talented Vic Beasley Jr. into head coach Dan Quinn’s fast and physical defense. With extraordinary first-step quickness, power and rushing ability, Beasley has the tools that allow him to take on whatever an offense may run, reverse, pitch or throw his way. His record-setting career at Clemson, All-America accolades and freakish athleticism were fostered with time as Beasley gained experience at a variety of positions. Quinn has challenged Beasley in similar ways and the 24-year-old continues a transition into a role tailor made for versatility this season. He recorded the team’s first sack of the season in the win against Oakland, although his climb is far from over.

Beasley’s burst off the line was what caught Quinn’s attention first and his rookie season with the Falcons was spent grooming his pass rushing ability at the LEO position.

Beasley started all 16 games and led the team with four sacks, to go with his 27 tackles (20 solo) and two forced fumbles. In the 20-13 win over the then-undefeated Panthers in the 15th game of the season, Beasley recorded his second career strip-sack to clinch the victory in front of the deafening home crowd.

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This season, the plan is to use Beasley as more of a hybrid player. He will still rush the passer from defensive end in the nickel defense, but his new position will be at strong side linebacker. The move to strong side linebacker (SAM) is designed to get him more favorable matchups while the Falcons are lined up in their base defense. Beasley will also be able to disrupt passing lanes in coverage from this position. During the Falcons trip to San Francisco last season, Beasley previewed his qualifications for this role as he dropped back in coverage, read the quarterback and recorded his first career interception.

“I’ve been working with a number of coaches so far this year,” said Beasley. “Coach (Richard) Smith, (linebackers) coach (Jeff) Ulbrich since I’ve been playing (strong side) now, and (defensive line) coach (Bryan) Cox. They have been helping me a whole lot and just having all of their different opinion and strategies is helping me a lot.”

The coaches also believe strong side linebacker will allow Beasley to play as fast as possible in his relentless attack of opposing offenses.

“He [Beasley] has a really strong learning curve,” said Ulbrich. “Our (strong side) backer, fortunately, the job doesn’t require a whole lot of thinking. There are not a ton of responsibilities. It’s not easy, but it’s fairly simple.”

Typically, strong side linebackers provide run support by shedding blocks and forcefully filling the gap, but as previously mentioned, dropping into short zones to defend the pass is one of many ways that versatility serves this role.

While we have plenty of season left to watch Beasley grow into this role, his speed and versatility provides just one aspect of a bigger defensive rotation. This defense is designed to be a revolving door of speed with Beasley and Dwight Freeney coming off the edge and Derrick Shelby, Adrian Clayborn and Grady Jarrett leading the interior. It takes versatility to be able to consistently adapt as a defense and Beasley has embodied that path to his 20th game with the Falcons.

Photos courtesy of The Atlanta Falcons

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SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

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Vol. 12 Iss. 22 | September 21 - September 27, 2016

PREP FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT

CLASS AAAA COLUMBUS SHOCKS SHAW IN REGION OPENER

BY CRAIG SAGER | CSAGER@SCOREATL.COM

T

here were four region matchups out of Region 1-AAAA last Friday. AmericusSumter ended a four-game losing streak to Westover with a cozy 21-6 victory in its region opener. Carver-Columbus moved to 7-0 alltime against Northside-Columbus by scoring a 37-17 victory over the Patriots. Cairo followed up last Friday’s 17-14 road victory over Bainbridge with a dominant 46-13 performance against Hardaway to tab its first region victory.

The most significant victory, however came with Columbus finally finding the win column against Shaw for the first time since 1994.

Columbus snapped its 19-game losing streak to rival Shaw with a 46-26 victory Friday night.

Shaw led 18-16 at the half, before Columbus outscored the Raiders 30-8 in the second half.

Terrance Dixon helped spark the comeback and runaway win with a 100-yard rushing performance in the second half. The explosive 5-foot-7 senior finished the game with 109 yards off of seven touches to go with his 77yard touchdown run that sparked the second half scoring.

A dominant Week 5 performance came with Woodward Academy’s 32-0 blowout over Marist. Woodward Academy stormed to an

18-0 lead in the first quarter after three failed PAT tries and added touchdowns in the second and third quarter. Quarterback Ryan Glover threw touchdown passes to four different receivers and Jalen Polk ran in a first quarter touchdown from the 1-yard line.

Cartersville, Burke County, Oconee County, Madison County, Ridgeland and Thomson remain undefeated. Oconee County topped Cedar Shoals 28-10, and No. 1 Cartersville cruised past Hapeville Charter 38-7 As for last Friday’s concerning results, St. Pius had no answers for Greater Atlanta Christian and fell 37-7, while dropping to 0-4 in the process. This is the Golden Lions’ first 0-4 start since 1990.

A LOOK AHEAD

Region 1 enters its second weekend of region games and three other regions open up conference play this week while the other half of the classification waits one last Friday. In total, 12 region games highlight the Week 6 slate.

In Region 1’s four Week 6 matchups, every matchup features a team that won its region debut against a team that will look to avoid an 0-2 region start. On Thursday,

Americus-Sumter (2-2, 1-0) faces NorthsideColumbus (2-2, 0-1), Cairo (3-1, 1-0) squares off with Shaw (1-3, 0-1) and Carver-Columbus (2-2, 1-0) faces Westover (2-2, 0-1). Finally, Columbus (2-2, 1-0) will take on Hardaway (2-1, 0-1) on Friday, fresh off its first win over rival Shaw in 22 years.

In Region 4, Henry County and Luella are on a bye. Eastside opened the season with a 23-0 win over Luella that marked the first region game in the state. As a result of its region opener, the Eagles will face undefeated Oconee County out of Region 8 in one last non-region matchup while the rest of the region gets underway with a pair of games. Druid Hills (22) faces North Clayton (2-2) and Salem (3-1) visits No. 2 Woodward Academy (3-1), which comes off a 32-0 blowout over Marist.

In Region 5, Sandy Creek is off this week, which will stage three total games in this seven-team region. No. 1 Cartersville (4-0) will visit 3-1 Cedartown, LaGrange (1-3) travels to Central-Carroll (0-4) and Chapel Hill (2-1-1) clashes with Troup (3-1). This will mark the first meeting in school history for Troup and Chapel Hill. Central-Carroll is 0-6 all-time against LaGrange, and after winning 30 combined games over the last three seasons, the Lions are still looking for their first win of 2016 under firstyear head coach Larry Kesler. Cartersville trails Cedartown 16-24-2 in their all-time series and this will be the Purple Hurricanes' first meeting with Cedartown since an 18-10 loss in 2011.

Like Sandy Creek in Region 5, Pickens will watch as the rest of seven-team Region 6 gets underway. Winless Gilmer (0-4) faces host Heritage-Catoosa (3-1), Southeast Whitfield

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(3-1) visits LaFayette (2-2) and Northwest Whitfield (2-2) goes to undefeated Ridgeland (3-0) to face the red-hot Panthers. Northwest Whitfield has won seven of its last eight meetings with Ridgeland and 14 of the 17 alltime meetings. This year’s Ridgeland team, however, is off to 3-0 start for the first time since 2007 and is averaging more than 45 points per game, while allowing just 14 points per game defensively.

Photos courtesy of Sonny Kennedy

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Vol. 12 Iss. 22 | September 21 - September 27, 2016 UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

EASON PROVES CLUTCH IN COLUMBIA WIN

BY ZACH SABATINI | INFO@SCOREATL.COM

ast weekend Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs LBarry traveled to Columbia, Missouri to take on in Odom and Mizzou and UGA most cer-

tainly had their hands full. Mizzou opened up an early 10-0 lead, but Jacob Eason and company would storm back to take their first lead of the game (21-20) heading into halftime. The Tigers scored early in the third quarter putting them up 27-21 and they sustained their lead until two minutes left in the game. Eason drove the Bulldog offense 60 yards down the field and capped off the drive with a 20-yard gamewinning touchdown pass to Isaiah Mackenzie on fourth down with a minute and a half left in the game.

GROUNDED GAME

Nick Chubb is normally the Bulldogs primary source of offense, but since week one teams have been loading the box making Chubb’s life much more difficult. In the last two weeks Chubb has had 39 carries for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Teams will continue to put the pressure on UGA’s young quarterback, but last Saturday Eason showed the nation

GEORGIA STATE

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

isconsin held the ball for 37:28 while W Georgia State had possession for 22:32.

The Panthers committed five turnovers for 45

yards while the Badgers played a clean game.

Georgia State managed just 33 yards rushing to Wisconsin’s 187. With all these important statistical categories heavily leaning in the Badgers’ favor, the upset-minded Panthers still held a 17-13 lead with 11:36 to play in the fourth quarter on the road against the No. 9 ranked team in the nation with a chance to shock the world. In the end, it wasn’t to be as the Badgers escaped 23-17, Georgia State dropping to a hard luck 0-3 in the process.

The Panthers defense was opportunistic, forcing a fumble and an interception but only cashed in seven points coming in the fourth quarter when Chandon Sullivan picked off Alex Hornibrook and three plays later Kyler Neal punched in a 9-yard score following a 60-yard pass from Conner Manning to Glenn Smith.

"I'm very proud of our kids and the way they competed," head coach Trent Miles said.

he does not shy away from the spotlight. Although Eason was not perfect and at times he looked shaky it did not stop him from getting the Bulldogs a major third down conversion to set up the perfectly-placed game-winning touchdown pass.

WINNING CONNECTION

Eason and Mackenzie provided the offensive spark against Mizzou. Eason went 29-55 for 308 yards and three touchdowns Mackenzie totaled 10 receptions for 122 yards and two touchdowns. He also carried the ball twice and rushed for 19 yards.

This weekend the Bulldogs travel to Oxford, Mississippi to take on the Ole Miss Rebels (1-2) in a monumental conference matchup. The Rebels are coming off a devastating loss to Alabama similar to their week one loss to FSU only this time they blew a 21-point lead. Quarterback Chad Kelly and company have been outstanding in the first half, but the wheels are constantly falling off in the second half. Ole Miss has two early losses and they are well aware what is at stake so expect to see some fire in the Rebels.

On the other hand, expect to see a breakout game from Chubb and the rest of the Bulldog offense. A confidence exuding Eason is making his second consecutive start with hopes to spoil Ole Miss’s season and lead UGA to a huge victory.

"We had some missed opportunities, but our kids fought every down. But there are no moral victories. We're very disappointed because we had an opportunity to win the game in the fourth quarter and we didn't get it done. My hats off to Wisconsin and Paul Chryst and his staff and the job they did.”

Manning did everything he could to carry the offensive burden, completing 20-of-29 passes for 269 yards and one touchdown.

Smith and Robert Davis torched the Wisconsin defense, totaling 131 yards and 93 respectively on a combined 13 receptions.

TURNING THE PAGE

Georgia State sets its sights towards Appalachian State on October 1. The Mountaineers enter as a preseason Sun Belt Conference favorite and presents a difficult challenge for Miles and the Panthers to avoid starting the season 0-4.

"We know we are better than our record, and we're getting closer to where we want to be, but again, our expectation is to win," Miles continued. "No one plays a perfect game, but knew we had to play hard and well and make plays when we had the opportunity. We knew that going in. This is a great environment to play in and that's a great football team we just played."

The Panthers return home on October 8 against the Texas State Bobcats.

GEORGIA TECH

JACKETS DOMINANCE CONTINUES WITH VANDY

BY ZACH SABATINI | INFO@SCOREATL.COM

T

he Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets hosted the Vanderbilt Commodores at Bobby Dodd Stadium this past Saturday and the Tech gold clearly outshined the Vandy gold.

Head coach Paul Johnson and company wasted no time getting on the scoreboard as Justin Thomas connected with Marcus Marshall for an 81-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game. The Commodores answered with a touchdown in their following drive recording their first and final points for the game. The rest of the game was all Jackets. The Tech offense continued to dominate and the defense completely shut the door on the Commodores as Georgia Tech breezed their way to a 38-7 victory over Vanderbilt.

Thomas performed as the catalyst of the Georgia Tech offense. He finished an efficient 6-of-13 passing for 136 yards and one touchdown pass. He also added 11 carries for 84 yards. Norcross, GA native, Clinton Lynch had a great day as well recording three car-

KENNESAW STATE

OWLS SEARCH FOR ROAD SUCCESS IN PITTSBURGH

BY CRAIG SAGER II | CSAGER@SCOREATL.COM

K

ennesaw State visits the Duquesne Dukes on Saturday on ESPN3 in Pittsburgh. The Owls are fresh off their open week, and last played Sept. 10 - a 49-3 rout of Point University. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. and can be heard in Atlanta on ESPN Radio 1230 The Fan 2. Saturday's game is the first road test of the 2016 slate for Kennesaw State, along with the program’s first meeting in series history. Duquesne's football program has been in existence since 1969.

YOUTH OF THE NATION

Of the 50 Owls on the two-deep roster, 33 are redshirt-sophomores or younger. The depth also includes just seven seniors and 10 are juniors for head coach Brian Bohannon’ Owls, which are the youngest team in the Big South Conference. Sophomore quarterback Chandler made his first collegiate start versus Point, totaling 220 yards of offense including a career-high 138 rushing

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ries for 77 yards and two receptions for 87 yards. Johnson’s offense combined for 511 total yards (222 passing and 289 rushing).

Prior to this game, the Commodores were allowing 108.5 rushing yards against.

DEFENSIVE DOMINATION

Although the Yellow Jacket offense put on a clinic on Saturday, their domination on the defensive side of the ball most certainly deserves high praise. In three consecutive games, Tech has held their opponent to 14 points or less. Vanderbilt was able to convert a mere 4-of-13 times on third down. In addition, the Rambling Wreck held the Commodores to 85 rushing yards and they were averaging 200 per game before last Saturday.

Tech hosts No. 5 Clemson at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Thursday in a clash of the ACC unbeaten. Clemson is coming off a shutout win over South Carolina State where quarterback Deshaun Watson and the Tiger offense recorded 555 total yards and 27 first downs. Through three games this season, Watson has 58 completions for 692 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions.

Clemson has lost their last five games at Georgia Tech. The last time the Tigers beat the Yellow Jackets at Bobby Dodd was in 2003. Although Tech has recently been dominant against Clemson at home, the Tigers still lead the overall series 17-16.

yards on just nine carries – an average of 15.3 yards per rush.

On the ground, senior Micah Reed, sophomore Jonah Huff and redshirt-freshman and former Mill Creek quarterback Daniel David all scored their first touchdowns wearing the Black and Gold on Sept.

10 versus Point.

Defensively, the Owls held Point to 94 rushing yards on 36 carries, who became the third victim in program history to fall short of 100 rushing yards in a single game.

The Owls have held their opponents to 23 points through two home games, an average of 11.5 points per game.

A win on Sunday would give the Owls their first road victory since Sept. 3, 2015 at ETSU, snapping a four-game losing skid.

Duquesne is the reigning Northeast Conference Champions are were picked to repeat as conference champs in 2016. The Dukes fell in the 2015 NCAA FCS Playoffs to William & Mary, 52-49. The Dukes entered the season with seven offensive starting returning and six defensive players returning from an 8-4 overall campaign in 2015.

Head Coach Jerry Schmitt is in his 12th season at the helm of the Dukes and 17th overall. He currently owns a 69-52 overall record at Duquesne and a 97-73 overall coaching record. Running back Rafiq Douglas returns after rushing for 977 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2015.

12

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