Saturday's News 'n Notes: Scoreboard; Dublin, West Laurens win; Braves, Falcons, Tech's Bosh, NFL, colleges, US Open, NASCAR, 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 30, Wheeler County 22
The Irish had a battle on the road in early afternoon action, trailing for only about two minutes in the first half but unable to pull away from scrappy Wheeler County. Dublin led 7-0, 7-6, and 10-6, then trailed 14-10 with 2:30 left in the first half. That changed for good when Jerimah Green went in from 17 yards out with 44 seconds left. The lead grew on JT Wright’s 35-yard touchdown catch from Ja’Quarius Evans three minutes into the third quarter. Wheeler County pulled within two at the 11:49 mark of the fourth quarter on a short run and conversion pass, but the Irish got a little cushion on Wright’s 17-yard run with 3:09 left. They outgained the Bulldogs 288-179 on the ground, picked off two passes, and survived twice as many penalties, although for only 15 more yards. Wright went for 104 yards on 10 carries and Green 92 on nine.
West Laurens 35, Beach 0
The Raiders picked up this game early in the week, and were fine at home, marching out to a 21-0 halftime lead en route to their first win of the season. The Raiders avoided their first 0-3 start since 2003 with their 10th shutout since 2016.
Softball
ACE 6, Stratford 0; ACE 3, ELCA 1
The hosts got two-hit games from Laney Bridges, Regan Foster, Lizzy Mitchell, Destiny Lucas, and Karsyn Yates, Yates with two RBI. Dixiana Sims struck out 10 with a walk and three hits in the complete-game win. ACE got two in the first against ELCA in a pitchers duel with only seven total hits. Sims battled, with six strikeouts and five walks. Lizzy Mitchell’s one-out two run double in the first scored Bridges and Sims, and that was enough.
Briarwood 5, Westfield 2; Westfield 4, Briarwood
The Hornets were handcuffed at the plate with only four hits while striking out 14 times. Sydney Langdon whiffed 11 with two walks and eight hits in the loss. They opened the night cap with two runs in the first, and that was enough for Lauren Davidson, who struck out eight with no walks. Carleigh Knowles drove in three runs on two hits, and Emmy Dehem had two hits and two runs.
College
Volleyball
Newberry 3, Georgia College 0; New Berry 3, Georgia College 0
NC A&T 3, Mercer 1; Elon 3, Mercer 0
Pro
MLB
Around/about Central Georgia
MSOC: Mercer welcomes No. 22 Davidson
Around/About Georgia/Southeast
Morton sharp, but late bombs sink Braves
Inside the mind of Terry Fontenot
A debate: Can the Falcons start the season hot?
Delving into the Dean Pees pass rush
Tech’s Bosh among large group entering hoops Hall of Fame
Baseball
Mets, Yankees lead tributes on 9/11
NFL
Browns’ new D gets a nice opening test: KC
Displaced Saints open Winston era
Obit: Minnesota legendary center Mick Tingelhoff
College Football
Florida CB avoids prosecution on theft charges
Column: Yes, the money games have a place
College Sports
Column: So much work at UCF paying off
NBA/WNBA
Large headline-making group enters Hall of Fame
Auto Racing
Truex Jr. leads good Gibbs Racing finish at Richmond
Gragson gets emotional Xfinity win at Richmond
Golf/Tennis
Qualifer to champion in dazzling US Open women’s final
Runner-up got strength from New York crowd on 9/11
Around the nation/world