By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          There will be no eighth Macon Touchdown Club Middle Georgia Kickoff Classic.

          Club executive director Bryant Longshore made the announcement Saturday afternoon in an email to club members and sponsors, and social media postings.

          The series started in 2016 at Mercer’s Five Star Stadium, with FPD facing Howard and Central playing Mount de Sales. There have been seven games, with COVID-19 wiping out the plans for 2020.

          It became a big fund-raiser for the club’s educational foundation, with scholarship money every year going to Bibb County public and private high school players.

          Schools were able to retain all revenue from tickets they sold, and eventually, the club and schools then split game-day walk-up revenue.

          Longshore noted that the rental cost of using the stadium grew from $7,000 the first year to $11,000 the past two years. An increase in sponsorship helped cover the expense increase without affecting revenue for the schools and club.

          Talks for 2024 began in October between the club and Mercer officials, and eventually broke down.

          Longshore wrote that Mercer cited several obstacles to renewing the two-year contract:

          - heat in August;

          - traffic from two games in one day, at 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.;

          - limitations of parking for two games;

          - safety of crowds coming from four schools;

          - conflicts the past two years with move-in day for Mercer students;

          - coordination with Mercer football games

          The only year where Five Star was anywhere near full, around 7,500 or so, was in 2018 for Peach County’s 27-24 win over Northside, a capacity crowd. Otherwise, actual attendance has been up to about half of capacity (Five Star’s numbered stadium seating is around 7,500, and the school lists capacity as 10,200).

Mercer released a statement to some local broadcast outlets: “Mercer University Athletics has enjoyed a long-standing partnership with the Touchdown Club and the Middle Georgia High School football community. We had every intention to continue these football games and were just as surprised as everyone else to read this announcement.”

          The club has tried to focus on Bibb County teams and nearby programs. Of the 18 teams that have participated, the only one outside of Central Georgia to play was Valdosta, a 48-20 loser to Warner Robins in 2021.

          Dublin, Baldwin, Washington County, Northside, Warner Robins, Jones County, and Mary Persons, also participated, along with every Bibb County public school and private schools Tattnall, Mount de Sales, and FPD.

          Longshore said Lee County head coach Dean Fabrizio had contacted the club and was very eager to participate. The club hadn’t started fully inquiring of potential participants yet, in part because the GHSA and GIAA are going through reclassification, so schedules are still unfinished.

          FPD and Howard actually got the movement going to play at Mercer, the teams renting out the facility to open the 2015 season. Then-head coaches Greg Moore and Barney Hester communicated with the Touchdown Club about some sort of scenario, and the Classic was born.

          “They gave us the idea, and we proposed it to Mercer,” Longshore said. “And Mercer said, ‘yeah.’”

          In 2016-17, Mercer played host to a doubleheader as part of a temporary expansion of the Atlanta-based Corky Kell Classic. Houston County played Mary Persons and Jones County faced Lee County.

          The games were nine days apart both years, Corky Kell pulling out of Macon after the 2017 games.

There was also a catered luncheon for team coaches and select players the week of the games at Mercer.

          As for the possibility of playing at another local venue – the Ed DeFore Sports Complex at Westside is the natural option to consider – Longshore said that it wasn’t discussed much among the club’s decision-makers.

          “Different people asked that question,” Longshore said. “The majority thought process is if you’re playing at Mercer, it’s a really good facility, it’s a college facility, we don’t have to worry about parking, concessions, those things.”

          At Ed DeFore, the club would be responsible for parking, concessions, security, and other items covered in the Mercer rental agreement. Longshore said about 40 volunteers from the club work the doubleheader each year, in conjunction with Mercer staffers.

          Playing elsewhere would put the club in charge of all those things, and staffing/manning that many more positions as well as additional expenses.

          If this is the end, the classic went out well. Longshore said the pairing of Northside-Jones County and Mary Persons-Northeast led to the largest game-day walk-up crowd in the event’s history.

          “We had two really good games,” Longshore said of Northside’s 33-21 win over Jones County and Mary Persons edging Northeast 20-14. “And we had a lot of people come. It was good.”