2017 Fall Alumni Update
Latest Alumni Updates
11-15-17
Anna Maddox closed out her stellar soccer career at Samford with second-team All-Southern Conference, helping the Bulldogs to the conference semifinals, a 2-1 double-overtime loss to UNC Greensboro.
The Northside grad is the league's current active career leader with 47 wins and 22 shutouts, second in goals against.
Maddox was the conference player of the week in mid-September en route to player of the month.
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Former Northside standout Isaiah Johnson is converting those skills into college honors.
Johnson was named to the Southwest Junior College Football Conference all-conference first team at defensive tackle.
He was one of eight players from Northeastern Oklahoma to make the first team.
Johnson finished the regular season with 48 tackles, 3 sacks, 4.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup.
NEO beat No. 6 Trinity Valley Community College 26-10 last week to win the SJCFC title. Johnson had nine tackles and a tackle for loss.
NEO hosts Independence (Kansas) on Dec. 3 in the Midwest Classic Bowl
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Speaking of junior college all-conference teams, one of Johnson's former teammates and three other Central Georgians were honored by the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference from Highland Community College:
Running back Willie Jordan (Northside) and safety Darius Johnson (Jones County) were second-team selections, while OL Tez Raybon (Warner Robins) and DB Isaiah Gray (Veterans) were honorable mention selections.
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Three Central Georgians had quality seasons, enough to make the All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams.
Fort Valley State's Cameron Young, a sophomore from Dodge County, made the first team on defense, one of three Wildcats to make the first team.
Young led the Wildcats with 72 tackles and four interceptions, to go with a sack.
Albany State linebacker Marquez Thomas, a senior from Perry, earned second-team honors, as did Benedict punter Tory Mimbs, a senior from Brentwood in Sandersville.
The team was announced Saturday, the day of the conference title game at Fort Valley, won 13-6 by Tuskegee.
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Former Houston County lineman Kor'Darius Melton is the latest North Coast Athletic Conference player of the week.
The freshman defensive end for Ohio Wesleyan (Division III) took conference defensive honors with 14 tackles in a 24-3 win over Hiram, tying the program's No. 3 mark with four sacks in a game, five tackles for loss and two forced fumbles.
He took part in two of a four-sack flurry by the Bishops' defense in one stretch.
Melton finished the season 14th for the Bishops (5-5) with 25 tackles, and 5.5 tackles for loss.
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11-8-17
Things were going so well for Quintez Cephus in is second season as a wideout at Wisconsin.
For one, the Badgers have been no worse than 12th in either the AP or coaches poll all season, and have progressed to being in the College Football Playoff hunt.
For another, Cephus has been a huge reason, leading the Badgers with 501 yards and six touchdowns and shares the team lead with 30 catches.
Then came the third quarter of last week's win over Indiana when a Wisconsin offensive lineman rolled up on the back of Cephus's right leg.
"I know he played last year, but this was kind of his first year of really having a significant role,” head coach Paul Chryist told reporters Monday. "Quintez brought a ton of energy to the group. It doesn’t matter whether it was a run or a pass. We’re going to miss Quintez for whatever amount of time it will be."
Wisconsin didn't specify the injury and said Cephus was to be examined further on Monday or Tuesday. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported that Cephus could be back for a bowl game if it was only a fibula injury but would be done for the year it if was a tibia.
The 9-0 Badgers play Iowa Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on ABC.
Update, Thursday: Cephus underwent surgery on Tuesday for the injury, and Wisconsin announced he is done for the season.
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Derrick Evans Jr. has joined the Carson-Newman record book.
The former Central standout matched a program record with five rushing touchdowns in the 42-28 win over Lenoir-Rhyne, on runs of 76, 5, 2, 1 and 1. He was also 12 of 16 for 149 yards.
Evans credited his offensive coaches and offensive line.
Evans was named the Tennessee Sports Writers Association offensive player of the week for the entire state.
Evans and C-N face UNC Pembroke on Saturday with playoff hopes still alive. The Eagles are No. 8 in the NCAA Division II Super Region II poll, just ahead of Tuskegee of the SIAC and four spots behind West Georgia of the Gulf South.
The top six teams in each region make the playoffs. The Eagles went 4-7 last year, a season after making the postseason.
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11-3-17
Who is the nation's No. 1 quarterback in Division I football in yards per completion? Is fifth in passing efficiency?
That would be Houston County alum Jake Fromm, who also throws a touchdown pass every 9.8 pass attempts. By comparison, Alabama's Jalen Hurts does that every 16.7 attempts.
Fromm is a hair behind Missouri's Drew Lock, who throws a TD every 9.6 attempts.
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Three Northside alums will be among those in Saturday's Battle of The GSUs.
Caleb Kelly is a freshman offensive lineman at Georgia Southern, while Glenn Smith and Trey Payne are a pair of seniors at Georgia State.
Smith leads the Panthers with 257 rushing yards on 83 attempts, and he's caught 21 passes for 184 yards. Smith is averaging 30.9 yards on kickoff returns.
Linebacker Payne is second on the team with five tackles a game and third with two sacks.
Other Central Georgians in the game: Westfield's Ryan Fitzpatrick, Peach County's Sean Freeman, GMC's Parker Williams, Houston County's Darion Anderson, Veterans' Josh Lee and Washington County's Logan Hunt for Georgia Southern, and Dublin kicker Barry Brown for Georgia State.
Hunt leads the Eagles with eight tackles for loss and three sacks, plus four QB hurries. Freeman is ninth with 19 tackles.
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Northside alum Willie Jordan is averaging 77.4 yards a game for Highlands, good for 28th nationally in the National Junior College Athletic Assocation.
The stunning stat for Jordan? No touchdowns on 138 carries.
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Peach County's Demarcus Robinson is starting for Kansas City in the NFL, but is seventh with 10 catches for 115 yards, just behind former Georgia standout Chris Conley. Robinson is awaiting his first TD catch of the season.
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A pair of Central Georgians will be on the field when Cincinnati visits Jacksonville on Sunday.
Darqueze Dennard of Twiggs County is third in tackles for Cincinnati with 41, and he has two sacks.
Abry Jones of Northside is ninth in tackles for Jacksonville with 16, and he has a sack.
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Oct. 3, 2017
Northside keeps making Georgia State football happy.
Robert Davis went from Atlanta to the NFL with Washington, and Glenn Smith is dazzling the Panthers.
Saturday, he helped them get off to the best start possible against Coastal Carolina by returning the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown en route to a 27-21 road win.
He added 74 rushing yards on 23 carries, and three catches for 13 yards.
Former high school teammate Trey Payne had four tackles from his linebacker spot, and Barry Brown (Dublin) averaged 63.8 yards on five kickoffs.
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Former Perry standout Marquez Thomas is having a quality senior season at Albany State.
The linebacker is third on the team with 26 tackles and shares the lead with 5.5 tackles for loss.
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Willie Jordan (Northside) leads Highland (Kansas) Community College with 282 yards on 83 carries.
Veterans alum Isaiah Gray is ninth with 17 tackles, and has 2.5 tackles for loss and four pass breakups. Jones County’s Darius Johnson leads the team with three interceptions to go with 10 tackles.
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A pair of Central Georgians have helped Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College to a 5-1 start.
Sophomore Quen Head (Mary Persons) is fifth on the team with 25 tackles, first with 4.5 tackles for loss, and has an interception. Freshman linebacker Kam Burnett (Northside) is 11th with 12 tackles, along with 4 tackles for loss and a forced fumble.
Part of that 5-win start was a 13-10 win over aforementioned Highland. Jordan has 46 yards on 14 carries and two catches for 18 yards, while Gray had four tackles. Head had two tackles for Hutchinson.
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Oct. 3, 2017
That Georgia defense that has people traveling down Memory Lane to the era of Erk?
As it did back then with the likes of Ben Zambiasi (Mount de Sales) and Steve Dennis (Central) and Johnny Henderson (Mount de Sales), among others, this year’s defense has a serious Central Georgia impact.
Macon County’s Roquan Smith leads the way – and in fairly old-school fashion – with 38 tackles, plus five quarterback pressure and uncounted teeth-rattlers.
Tyrique McGhee of Peach County is 10th on the team with 12 tackles and first with five pass breakups. Upson-Lee’s David Marshall, also a sophomore like McGhee, has played in five games and has six tackles, while Malik Herring of Mary Persons, a freshman, has played in every game and has three tackles.
With injuries to defensive tackle Trenton Thompson and linebacker Reggie Carter, Marshall and Herring are likely to see a little more time, especially with games against Vanderbilt and Missouri – a combined 4-4 and on losing streaks – coming up before a week off prior to the Florida game.
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Former Stratford multi-sport standout Quintez Cephus is second in receiving for Wisconsin, with 14 catches for 233 yards, sharing the team high with three touchdown catches.
He is one catch and three yards behind Troy Fumagalli.
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Ivan Corbin is 71 for 140 for 892 yards with nine touchdowns and seven interceptions for Limestone, of Division II Carolinas Conference.
The former Warner Robins quarterback, who graduated with Tennessee receiver Marquez Callway and shared signing day ceremonies, is on pace to cruise past last year’s numbers: 108-224-11, 12 TDs and 1,264 yards. He has carried 85 times for 178 yards and five touchdowns, already basically matching and passing last year’s numbers.
He is in the top 50 nationally in Division II in passing touchdowns, points responsible for and rushing touchdowns.
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Georgia Southern’s defense is struggling, but Logan Hunt isn’t.
The Washington County alum leads the Eagles with two sacks, which ranked fourth in the Sun Belt. He’s first in the conference in tackles for loss.
Darion Anderson, a Houston County grad, redshirted last year and has played in two games this year but has yet to record any stats.
Peach County’s Sean Freeman is tied for seventh on the team with 11 tackles in three games, sharing that spot with Hunt.
Northside grad Caleb Kelly, a true freshman, is listed as the No. 2 center, while Parker Williams, son of GMC college head coach Bert, is the No. 2 left tackle.
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Watching: Macon County’s K’Hari Lane is redshirting at quarterback for Arizona.
Marquies Price of Peach County was dismissed in February from Duke “for failing to live up to team standards” after starting 11 games at defensive end in 2016. He has transferred to No. 18 South Florida, but will sit out this season.
Sitting: Offensive lineman Brandon Sandifer (Northside) left Florida in March. His brother Jaylan is not on Yale’s roster this season.
Wideout Jaylen Searcy (Houston County) isn’t on Georgia Southern’s roster.
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Akebren Ralls, who signed with Kennesaw State out of Mary Persons in 2014 but was dismissed and didn’t play until 2016, is fifth in tackles for the Owls with 17.
Justin Marcus, a defensive lineman from Northeast, is 14th with six tackles, and has two for loss.
Myles White, a senior from Houston County, splits time as a No. 2 running back. Tattnall’s Sean Brown is a freshman offensive lineman.
Houston County’s Zach Taisler signed with the Owls in 2015, but is not on this year’s roster.
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Fort Valley State is off to a sluggish start at 1-3. And Wildcat head coach Kevin Porter – a Central Georgia grad, from Warner Robins – will rely on Central Georgians to get FVSU rolling again toward an SIAC title.
Cam Young, who had a superb career at Dodge County, leads the Wildcats with 34 tackles. Octavius Hall, a sophomore from Peach County, has nine tackles in four games, with 2.5 tackles for loss.
Wideout Bodarius Johnson (Taylor County) has four catches for 94 yards while tight end Jaylen Lowder (Veterans) has one 18-yard catch.
Delvonsh’a Wright, by way of Warner Robins and Middle Georgia State, has four kickoff returns for 74 yards.
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Shannon Smith has found a home after signing in 2013 with Middle Tennessee out of Westside.
He was dismissed in 2014 after redshirting in 2014, and went to Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (which had Northside trio Yacht Williams, Isaiah Johnson and Willie Jordan on the roster) and had a solid year.
He committed to Southern Miss after the 2015 season andwent through spring practice in 2016, but soon enough was in Carrollton at West Georgia.
After sitting out last year because of the two-transfer rule, he has 10 catches for 98 yards a touchdown, which came in the season opener against Fort Valley State.
Of the other area players who signed with West Georgia in early 2016, only defenders LJ Smith of Lamar County and Rontravious Byron of Houston County have stats, Smith with six tackles and Byron with two. Both are true freshmen.