Tuesday's Daily News 'n Notes: Perry grad Smith - big backstory - takes top honor; All-Southern Conference football; UGA-Tech, and more
Tuesday's Central Georgia - and of interest to Central Georgia - news and notes, compiled from staff reports, email reports, the web, and social media.
Mercer, Central Georgians on Southern Conference football team
Seven players from Mercer earned some form of Southern Conference all-conference honors, either from the coaches or the media, and two Central Georgians made a team.
David Durden was first-team return specialist on both teams, making the coaches’ second team at receiver.
Offensive lineman Austin Sanders was a second-team pick on both offense, while defensive back Eric Jackson made the media’s first-team defense and the coaches’ second team.
Yahsyn McKee and Richie Coffee made the all-freshman teams on offense, with Bleckley County grad Zach Lassiter and Caleb Dowden the freshman special teams group.
Peach County grad Mitchell Fineran of Samford was the placekicker on the media’s second team.
Honor Roll/Alumni Update
Big South honors former Perry standout K.J. Smith
Health issues in high school put the football career of K.J. Smith on hold, and in jeopardy. But he emerged as a walk-on at Georgia before transferring to North Alabama, transitioning from Division II to Division I.
Now, his college football career ends with the honor of being the Division I Big South football scholar-athlete of the year.
Smith, also a basketball standout at Perry, is a 4.0 student majoring in interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis on health. He now is on the CoSIDA All-America ballot.
Smith missed his senior football season at Perry and didn’t quite have the same skills for his final basketball season in 2014-15 after being diagnosed with juvenile dermatomyositis, a blood disorder that began to afflict him as a junior and dropped him off of the recruiting radar.
He walked on at Georgia and was a scout-team member, but wanted to play on Saturday, and transferred to UNA, almost immediately entering the starting lineup.
Smith finished this season fifth on the team with 54 tackles, leading the defense with eight pass breakups and tying for the lead with two interceptions. UNA finished 4-7 in its first full Division I season.
Peach State CFB Report
UGA: Still no contact for Mathis
Tech: Collins wants the rivalry to matter again
Tech: Georgia has good players, says Collins
Savannah State: A quality season
Peach State College BKB Report
Edwards balls out in loss to Michigan State
A day earlier, he had Bill Walton almost speechless … almost
Falcons Report
Saints obviously haven’t forgotten
Around/About Georgia