Saturday's Daily News 'n Notes: Jones County=state champs; Georgia, Tech, Mercer, Georgia State; Darquez Dennard; 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.
ICYMI: Central Georgia’s best Friday night high school football coverage, with the who and how and why.
Jones County rolls to GHSA Class 5A softball championship
The second time Jones County played Starr’s Mill in the GHSA Class 5A state softball tournament was a whole lot easier than the first.
And tastier.
About 26 hours after winning 2-0, Jones County pulled away to beat Starr’s Mill 10-0 to take its first state championship in a decade.
Destin Howard gave Jones County a 2-0 lead with a first-inning homer. Molly Keenum topped that with a three-run shot in the third for a 5-0 lead.
Mount de Sales lost a 5-4 walkoff to Strong Rock in a Class A/Private elimination game. Strong Rock lost 7-1 to Mt. Paran in the final.
Strong Rock led 4-0 after two, only for the Cavs to tie it with four in the fifth. They sent 10 batters to the plate, and got four on four straight singles, a wild pitch, and two errors.
Strong Rock got a one-out walk, stolen base, and two-out single to center to win it.
Emma Carter had two of the Cavs’ eight hits. They stranded eight runners. Chloe Nepveux went the distance and struck out 13 with two walks, three runs coming unearned.
West Laurens lost 7-3 to Heritage-Catoosa in a 4A elimination game. Heritage went on to beat Central-Carrollton twice to win the title
Peach State College Football
Georgia 14, Kentucky 3
Despite only producing two scoring drives, the fifth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs (4-1, 4-1 SEC) rode their outstanding defense to a 14-3 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats (2-4, 2-4 SEC) Saturday afternoon in front of 12,000 spectators at Kroger Field and an SEC Network television audience.
Redshirt sophomore Zamir White led the Georgia offense with a career-high 136 yards rushing on 26 carries and a touchdown. Redshirt junior quarterback Stetson Bennett finished 9-of-13, passing for 131 yards and rushing for a touchdown. Junior tailback James Cook led in receiving for the second-consecutive game, hauling in four catches for 62 yards.
Overall, the Georgia offense amassed 346 yards despite possessing the ball for 10 fewer minutes than Kentucky.
In a superb effort, the Georgia defense only allowed 229 yards of offense and 15 first downs, along with causing four sacks and a fumble.
- Georgia Sports Information
The winning streak vs. UK continues
Defense shorthanded, but solid
LeCounte hurt in accident upon return
Abilene Christian 20 , Mercer 17
Blair Zepeda's 38-yard field goal as time expired spoiled a Halloween Homecoming for Mercer University and gave Abilene Christian University a 20-17 victory Saturday afternoon at Five Star Stadium.
ACU (1-3 overall, 0-1 in the Southland Conference) had only four second-half possessions in a tight game, but turned them into 13 points and its first win of the year. Mercer closed its abbreviated fall season 0-3 but has an eight-game schedule planned for next spring.
Lance Wise led the Bears defense with 20 tackles. This is only the second time a Bear has recorded 20 or more tackles in a contest, as Sidney Otiwu set the school record with 21 last season against Samford on Nov. 2.
Iowa transfer quarterback Peyton Mansell was sacked three times in the first half but rebounded in the second to complete 23 of 35 passes for 236 yards and one touchdown to lead the Wildcats to a win a week after a heartbreaking 35-32 overtime loss to Stephen F. Austin.
Mercer led 10-7 at the half.
The Wildcats opened the second half by moving the ball 76 yards over a four-minute drive. After the ball got to the Bears' 31, Mercer locked down and held Abilene Christian to a 41-yard field goal to tie the game.
With the ball on the ACU 30-yard line, Harrison Frost found Zacch Davis on a post route over the middle to put Mercer on top once again, 17-10. This was Davis' first touchdown as a Bear.
After a three and out for the Bears, the Wildcats went down the field on a seven-and-a-half-minute drive to tie the game. Peyton Mansell hooked up with Kobe Clark on a fourth-and-nine for the 10-yard touchdown. The very next drive for the Wildcats, they ran the clock out and kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired.
Mary Persons grad Caleb Etheridge got the start at center on the offensive line. Wilkinson County’s Brandon Mays ran 10 times for 47 yards and a score. lost five yards on one rush and caught two passes for two yards. Rutland’s Landon Miller and Bleckley County’s Zach Lassiter played but recorded no stats.
Notre Dame 31, Georgia Tech 13
True freshman Jahmyr Gibbs totaled 110 yards from scrimmage and junior Zamari Walton scored on the longest fumble return in Georgia Tech history, the Yellow Jackets could not hold off No. 4 Notre Dame in a 31-13 to the Fighting Irish on Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
With Notre Dame (6-0, 5-0 ACC) up 7-0 early in the second quarter and driving to take a two-score lead, Georgia Tech defensive backJuanyeh Thomas stripped ND running back Kyren Williams to force a fumble that was picked up by Walton and returned 93 yards for a touchdown to knot the score at, 7-7.
Wearing Tech’s throwback uniforms commemorating the Yellow Jackets’ “Black Watch” defense of the mid-1980s, Walton’s 93-yard fumble return broke the previous school record of 90 yards, set by Kofi Smith against Wake Forest in 1998.
Georgia Tech (2-5, 2-4 ACC) trailed 17-7 at halftime, but the Jackets came out firing with a big play, a 39-yard pass from Jeff Sims to Jalen Camp that moved the Jackets within striking distance of pulling within one score. However, one play later, Tech fumbled and the Irish recovered to squelch the Yellow Jackets’ scoring opportunity.
ND went on to score on each of its next two possessions to take a commanding 31-7 lead.
Column: Collins stick with the narrative
LB Quez Jackson (Peach County) led Tech with 11 tackles, one for loss.
Tobias Oliver (Northside) had three tackles. Djimon Brooks (Washington County) started and had four tackles, two for loss, and a sack.
Coastal Carolina 51, Georgia State 0
Georgia State fell to No. 20 Coastal Carolina, which improved to 6-0 with a 51-0 victory Saturday at Centre Parc Stadium.
Georgia State (2-3, 1-3 Sun Belt) struggled in all three phases. GSU entered the game as one of the nation's top scoring teams but was shut out for the first time since a 2017 loss at No. 5 Penn State. Georgia State managed just 106 yards of offense as the Panthers hurt themselves by committing two turnovers, allowing three sacks and misplaying three kickoff returns.
Quarterback Cornelious Brown IV completed just six of 10 passes for 30 yards with one interception. Destin Coates managed 56 yards rushing on 11 carries.
Coastal Carolina (6-0, 4-0 Sun Belt) quarterback Grayson McCall passed for 254 yards and four touchdown passes. C.J. Marable led a balanced rushing attack that gained 250 yards.
Around/About Georgia
Twiggs County’s Dennard almost back
Sports and social/racial awareness
Browns donate $350k for digital improvements in local schools
College football
Boston College makes Clemson sweat, really sweat
Lawrence is out for Notre Dame
Brawl the talk of Florida win over Missouri
And Mullen in costume postgame aaas …
WR Smith goes wild in Bama romp
Three-TD favorite Michigan upset by Michigan State
Virginia shocks North Carolina
Ehlinger leads Texas past OSU in OT
AAC acknowledges an officiating oops
NFL
Week 8: Best rivalry, Cam’s heat, Tua time
Around the nation/world
Warrant out for ex-Kentucky BKB star McCarty
Playoff set as Burton breaks dad’s Martinsville record