Coming Monday: Monday Morning Quarterback

📰S📰C📰O📰R📰E📰B📰O📰A📰R📰D📰
College
⚽ ⚽ ⚽Soccer ⚽ ⚽ ⚽

W-Mercer 1, ETSU 0

🏐 🏐 🏐 Volleyball 🏐 🏐 🏐

The Citadel 3, Mercer 2 (25-21, 28-26, 25-19, 25-22, 15-11)

⚾ ⚾ ⚾ MLB ⚾ ⚾ ⚾

Washington 10, Atlanta 9

NFL

Jacksonville 23, Atlanta 7

📰C📰O📰V📰E📰R📰A📰G📰E📰

Around/About Central Georgia

Rutland, Tattnall, Southwest head Macon TD Club players of the week

Back: Senior Rutland quarterback Marquise Lattiner completed 18 of 34 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns, to go with 186 yards on 27 carries with three touchdowns in the Hurricanes’ 39-35 loss to Southwest.

Lineman: Junior linebacker/fullback Thomas Union of Tattnall racked up 18 tackles, one for loss, and forced a fumble in Tattnall’s 41-13 win over Frederica, along with 56 yards on four carries at fullback.

Lineman: Senior linebacker William Wimberly of Southwest accounted for 15 tackles, a sack, and a QB hurry while forcing a fumble in the Patriots’ 39-35 win over Rutland.

Georgia Southern’s Helton visiting Macon Touchdown Club

Second-year 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. Membership for the year is $250.

It will be Helton’s third visit to the club since he was named as the Eagles’ head coach last November of 2021, 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 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the Sun Belt after Saturday’s 38-28 win over Coastal Carolina before a record crowd at Paulson Stadium. He is 10-8 in his second season, 56-32 overall as a head coach.

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 56-24.

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 and now retired Kim Helton, who has been an assistant in college at Florida, Miami, UAB, and 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 Tyson Helton, head coach at Western Kentucky. Tyson coached under Clay at Southern Cal.

Central Georgia Tech’s women’s basketball schedule
Central Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball schedule

Around/About Georgia/Southeast

GHSA meeting has notable reclassification, NIL discussions on agenda

The latest major proposal for GHSA reclassification – and there’s a major proposal every two years – doesn’t have an impact on Central Georgia high schools, at least for the postseason.

It involves the private schools competing with public schools in regions, but puts the private schools in Classes A through AAA in one group for the postseason and state title competition.

The GHSA executive committee - a representative from every region in the state, as well association representatives and at-large choices - meets Monday morning at the Marriot City Center.

There are no private schools from Central Georgia in the GHSA. The only region containing a private school and Central Georgia school is Region 5-A/Division I, with Jasper County and Prince Avenue Christian.

At least a few Central Georgia schools are likely to be impacted when the new classifications come out after the GHSA gets official enrollment numbers this month.

The NIL debate has come to Georgia, and landed.

The group will vote on amending the by-laws: “Students may receive consideration for us of their own name, image and likeness”

A major point: “… providing there is no violation of by-laws prohibiting influencing of a student to attend or remain at a member school.”

Among the guidelines: compensation is contingent on specific performance or achievement, and can’t be provided by the school or a person acting as an agent for the school.

Athletes can’t show anything indicating their school, as in logos, mascots, etc., or any trademarked GHSA markings. School apparel can’t be worn, nor can a school facility be used.

A school’s principal or athletics director must be notified within seven days of a contract or agreement. And the GHSA advises the seeking of professional guidance.

Michael A. Lough

This week’s state college football schedule (All Saturday, all on ESPN+ unless noted)
3 p.m.: GMC vs. Louisburg, at Brookland-Cayce High, Cayce, SC; Tennessee State at Kennesaw State
3:30 p.m.: Mercer at ETSU
6 p.m.: Savannah State at Fort Valley State (no streaming)
7 p.m.: Kentucky at Georgia, ESPN
8 p.m.: Georgia Tech at Miami, ACCN

Lawrence, Ridley and defense lead Jaguars over struggling Falcons

Ridder vows to shake off rough day after INTs

Georgia Tech’s Key demotes Thacker as defensive coordinator following loss to Bowling Green

Still No. 1

Three things about Georgia’s win

Georgia resilient, competed

Bowers took over late

Beck kept his cool

Ozuna homers twice as Braves tie HR record with 307 in loss

Football/NFL/USFL/CFL/XFL

Mayfield has 3 TD passes, ailing Carr ineffective

Jefferson’s 2 TDs, Wonnum’s 51-yard fumble return lift winless Vikings over Panthers