Saturday's Daily News 'n Notes: Scoreboard (SB and FB); Henley leads in Vegas; UGA, Tech, Ga.Southern games; CFB, COVID, Falcons, and more
Saturday’s Central Georgia - and of interest to Central Georgia - news and notes, compiled from staff reports, email reports, the web, and social media.
Scoreboard
High School
Football
Dublin 56, Hawkinsville 0
The Irish’s lead at halftime was the final score. Jaquarion Mundie went more than 50 yards to get the Irish going, with scores from Josh Isaac and Elijah Kates making it 21-0 after one. Dublin improved to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in region play.
Softball
GISA semifinals
John Milledge 6, Trinity Christian 3; John Milledge 10, Trinity Christian 0
The Trojans advance to the state final against Westfield. Cadence Bandows and Emily Walker had two hits each and Olivia Rhodes two RBI in the opener, JMA getting nine strikeouts from Braden Latimer in the complete-game win. The Trojans put six up in the first two innings of the nightcap to cruise. Rhodes had four hits, four runs, and an RBI, while Avery Barton added three hits and two runs. Kortnie Moore, Ashley Tyson, and Latimer had two hits each, Tyson and Latimer adding two RBI, along with Taylor Prestridge. Latimer went five with five strikeouts and a walk.
Piedmont 3, Brentwood 2; Piedmont 5, Brentwood 4
Thomas Jefferson 23, Twiggs 6; Thomas Jefferson 8, Twiggs 6
Westfield 4, Bulloch 0; Westfield 19, Bulloch 1
The defending champs advanced to the final. The Hornets got enough with two in the third, and Sydney Langdon cruised to a nine-strikeout, three-walk six-hitter. Ellie Williams, Emma Williams, and Carliegh Knowles had two hit each, Ellie Williams with two RBI and Sadie Hayes two runs. The nightcap didn’t last long, thanks to a 14-run first. Marena Knowles had 3s across her line: ABs, runs, hits, and RBI. Hayes and both Williams had two hits each, as did Knowles, Emma Williams with five RBI.
College
Soccer
W-UAB 2, Mercer 1
Peach State College Football
Clemson 73, Georgia Tech 7
Clemson piled up 52 points in the first half behind five touchdown passes from quarterback Trevor Lawrence in the top-ranked Tigers’ 73-7 win over Georgia Tech (2-3, 1-3 ACC) on Saturday. Clemson (5-0, 4-0 ACC) upped its school-best road winning streak to 14 games and its ACC-record regular season winning streak to 34 games.
Clemson’s 52 points were its most in a first half against an ACC opponent, breaking its previous record of 49 against Wake Forest in 1981. Lawrence was 22-27 passing for 391 yards and five touchdowns in the first half alone. Lawrence finished with a career-best 405 yards through the air.
Tech gave up three turnovers and four sacks.
It was actually tied at 7, Tech pulling even on a 59-yard pass from Jeff Sims to Jalen Camp less than 90 seconds after the Tigers’ score.
And it became 52-7 at halftime.
The Tiger held Tech to seven first downs and 204 yards total offense. (- Clemson)
Peach County grad Quez Jackson had four tackles and a sack, while Washington County’s Djimon Brooks had two tackles and Dooly County’s Antonneous Clayton one.
Northside’s Tobias Oliver didn’t play.
Taylor County’s Lyn-J Dixon had 32 yards on five carries for Clemson, while Peach County’s Sergio Allen played but recorded no stats.
Georgia Southern 41, Massachusetts
Shai Werts completed 11 of 16 for 128 yards and three scores while adding 106 yards and TD on the ground as the Eagles rolled over the FBS independent.
It was 28-0 at halftime as the Eagles went on to outgain the Minutemen 436-191.
Georgia Southern’s last shutout was in 2017.
Veterans grad Java’n Singletary did not play.
Darion Anderson (Houston County) had a catch for four yards. Northside alum Caleb Kelly started on the offensive line, and Peach County’s Justin Harris played but recorded no stats.
Alabama 41, Georgia 24
After trailing 24-20 at the half, the Crimson Tide blanked the Bulldogs in the second half, scoring 21 unanswered points to give head coach Nick Saban to his third win in the past four games over a former assistant coach and moved him to 22-0 against his protégés during his time as the Crimson Tide's head coach.
Mac Jones had his third consecutive game with 400-plus yards passing, going 24-for-32 for 417 yards on the night, tallying four touchdowns through the air and one interception. Jones connected with DeVonta Smith for a pair of scores and Jaylen Waddle and John Metchie Jr. III for one each. Smith had 11 catches for 167, while Waddle had six catches for a career-best 161 yards.
Stetson Bennett threw three interceptions, two tipped and all three converted into touchdowns, and had several passes deflected at the line of scrimmage and dropped. He was 18 of 40 for 269 yards with two touchdowns.
James Burton caught four passes for 58 yards, James Cook four for 101, including an 82-yard scoring reception.
Georgia was outrushed by two yards on 13 more carries. Smith and Waddle had 167 and 161 yards receiving.
After Georgia missed a field goal, Alabama ran out the final 6:05, on 10 plays covering 43 yards.
Alabama put up 564 yards in total offense, to 414 to Georgia. The Tide average 7.4 yards a play, the Bulldogs 5.9
Peach County’s Kearis Jackson went from the Dogs’ leading receiver to shut out. Mary Persons’ Malik Herring stayed busy, with four tackles, one for a loss. Upson-Lee’s Travon Walker had two stops.
Houston County’s Trey Hill started at center.
Minus Saban a few days, Tide lost nothing
Column: Get the lead, lose the lead, again
Saban was emotional upon return
Column: Georgia still isn’t there yet
Around/About Central Georgia
Henley has the lead at Shadow Creek
Russell Henley started Saturday as a contender.
He ended it as the leader.
A good start on the back nine set him up for a 5-under 67 and a three-shot lead at the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek in North Las Vegas.
Lanto Griffin, Talor Gooch, Jason Kokrak, and Xander Schauffele are all three back. Shauffele took a three-shot lead into Saturday’s action, with Henley in second.
Jason Day and Justin Thomas are five back, and Rory McIlroy seven.
Henley has his putter working well lately after taking a family break of about five weeks to give his wife Teil a break with their children, 2 and 1.
He spent the time working on his putting, and tied for 27th last week at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
“I definitely lost confidence,” Henley said of his putting. “I lost confidence in everything.
Now, he’s on the verge of his fourth PGA title, first since the Shell Houston Open in 2017.
Henley was bogey free on Saturday, with one on Thursday and one on Friday. He also knocked in an Eagle on 18 Friday. He birdied both of those holes a day later.
Henley is on a roll of consistency. His last seven rounds: 67-67-66-70-66-68-67.
Henley tees off at 2:27 p.m. The Golf Channel picks up live coverage at 5 p.m.
Dodgers 3, Braves 1
Good start enough to tame Fried, Braves
Fried mad about the first inning
Jansen tough at the end for LA
Column: All that mojo is about gone
Around/About Georgia
Vikings expect emotional Atlanta
Sports and COVID-19/Georgia
Falcons take two planes to Minnesota, COVID issues
Sports and COVID-19
Mississippi gets a COVID fine of $100,000
Irony of the week: Mullen tests positive
Jacksonville shuts down facility
College football
South Carolina last beat Auburn when?
Kentucky hammers Tennessee at Rocky Top
And it was, for the Vols, quite a kick in the, um, well …
Florida State almost gags away upset of North Carolina
Whose players have a disagreement
Around the nation/world
Pushed to seven, the Rays win the ALCS
Can Busch be the surprise Sunday?
Briscoe wins Xfinity at Kansas
Getting basketball games still an issue