Monday's Report: Scoreboard; Mercer Tennis Classic, Russell Henley, Macon TD Club/Georgia Southern's Helton/POTW, Mercer; Falcons, UGA, Hawks; MLB playoffs, NFL, colleges, golf, NASCAR, NBA, more

October 24, 2022 Central Georgia Sports Report

Coming Up
Saturday
12 p.m., Georgia Tech at Florida State, ACCN
1 p.m., Charleston Southern at Kennesaw State, ESPN+
1:30 p.m., Mercer at VMI, ESPN+
3 p.m., Old Dominion at Georgia State, ESPN+
3:30 p.m., Georgia vs. Florida, CBS
6 p.m., Savannah State vs. Fort Valley State, Henderson Stadium

Sunday
1 p.m., Carolina at Atlanta, Fox

Coming Monday: Monday Morning Quarterback

📰S📰C📰O📰R📰E📰B📰O📰A📰R📰D

College

⚽ ⚽ ⚽Soccer ⚽ ⚽ ⚽

W-Mercer 1, UNC Greensboro 1

🏐🏐🏐Volleyball🏐🏐🏐

Fort Valley State 3, Benedict 2

Pro

NFL

Cincinnati 35, Atlanta 17

📰C📰O📰V📰E📰R📰A📰G📰E📰

Around/About Central Georgia

Momentum slows for Henley

After getting better each round, Russell Henley took a step back in the final round of the CJ Classic in South Carolina.

His 1-over 72 dropped him seven spots on the leaderboard into tie for 45th after a 1-under tournament.

The front nine did Henley in, with a double bogey and two bogeys countered by three pars. He had a bogey and birdie on the back nine.

He’s not in the field for this week’s Bermuda Championship.

Brengle defends Mercer Tennis Classic title

The top seed played like a top seed with the title on the line.

Madison Brengle repeated at Mercer Tennis Classic champion after a straight set win over No. 2 seed Panna Udvardy on Sunday at John Drew Smith Tennis Center.

Early Udvardy errors and a good start put Brengle up 3-1 en route to a 6-3 win in the first set. Her solid service continued, as did some Udvardy mistakes, and Brengle rolled to a 6-1 second-set win.

She improved to 16-4 in the tournament.

Brengle just missed a double dip, she and partner Maria Mateas falling to Anna Rogers and Christina Rosca in the doubles final.

Howard, CFCA, Rutland players tapped by Macon Touchdown Club

Two underclassmen and a senior are the latest Macon Touchdown Club players of the week.

Co-back: Rutland junior Neico Sandifer caught five passes for 179 yards and four touchdowns in the Hurricanes’ 44-30 loss to ACE.

Co-back: Senior Jaylun Goodrum of Central Fellowship had 12 tackles, a pick-6 covering 99 yards, a 50-yard fumble return, and two pass breakups on defense, and five carries for 98 yards in the Lancers’ 42-14 win over Terrell.

Lineman: Sophomore Zelin Pollard of Howard racked up 13 tackles, three for loss, with an interception and a touchdown in the Huskies’ 35-16 loss to Griffin.

Georgia Southern’s Helton to speak at Macon Touchdown Club

Georgia Southern head coach Clay Helton is Monday night’s speaker at the Macon Touchdown Club.

The club meets at the Methodist Home for Children and Youth, in the Rumford Center, at 304 Pierce Ave. It starts at 6:30 p.m. with dinner and the program to begin around 7. Admission for non-members is $30.

Mercer head coach Drew Cronic is next week’s speaker, followed by Roddy Jones of ESPN and Georgia Tech.

It will be Helton’s second visit to the club since he was named as the Eagles’ head coach last November, almost two months after being dismissed at Southern Cal. He spoke about two weeks after being hired in Statesboro, in his first public appearance.

The Eagles are 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the Sun Belt after Saturday’s 28-23 win at Old Dominion.

Helton was head coach at Southern California for six seasons, and a game as interim in 2013 and the first two games of 2021. He is 46-24.

He has a background in the South, as a Gainesville, Fla. native who played at Auburn and Houston. He was at Duke, Houston, and Memphis from 1995-2009, working with running backs, wideouts, and quarterbacks.

He joined the Southern Cal staff in 2010 under Lane Kiffin, then was interim head coach in 2013 when interim head coach Ed Orgeron – who took over when Kiffin was fired in late September of 2013 - quit following Steve Sarkisian’s appointment as head coach.

Helton stayed on and succeeded Sarkisian, who was fired, Helton again serving as interim before getting the permanent job. He was then let go early this season after Southern Cal beat San Jose and lost to then-No. 14 Stanford.

He is the son of well-traveled Kim Helton, who has been an assistant in college af Florida, Miami, UAB, and (currently) Western Kentucky, and head coach at Houston, as well as an NFL assistant with Tampa Bay, Houston, the Raiders, Washington, and assistant in the Canadian Football League with Toronto.

Helton’s brother is their father’s boss. Tyson Helton is head coach at Western Kentucky. Tyson coached under Clay at Southern Cal.

Mercer basketball hosting meet-and-greet festivities Monday

Around/About Georgia/Southeast

Cincinnati’s strong start too much for Atlanta

Atlanta misses chance to build momentum

Execution advantage: Cincinnati

Terrell departs from undermanned secondary

It’s World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party Week

Smart sees bright future for freshman DB Everette

UGA needs a better pass rush

Hawks have double-digit, lose by double digits

Baseball/MLB