Before getting into the routine of high school, college, and pro football, let’s take a break for some enjoyment.

          Southern in Baton Rouge, an FCS HBCU, had Senior Day on Saturday.

          A Jags defensive lineman overwhelmed his blocker, pushing him into the quarterback, who fumbled.

          Snagging the ball like a garlic-buttered crawfish stroboli was Southern defensive lineman Willie Miles, No. 93 on the roster and soon to be No. 1 in your hearts.

Listed at 5-9, 350 pounds – repeating, five feet, nine inches tall and w, no, three hundred and fifty pounds – Miles grabbed and took off. Belly peeking out from under a t-shirt, he got slowed near the end zone and spun, kept his balance – oh, it’s glorious – turned and scored and kept running joyously to the bench.

          It’s right here, in big Willie glory.

          Amid the greed and selfishness and egos and arrogance of big-boy football, people forget how many play for the joy.

          Willie brought us joy.

          Talk about eatin’. The big Jag ate.

An interesting high school playoff weekend

          Didn’t see FPD hammering Bethlehem Christian like that, putting up those points and getting a shutout in a semifinal.

          Didn’t see a 69-48 game by anybody, but if somebody’s keeping the foot on the gas, oh yeah, it’s Houston County.

* Nov. 11 MMQB: Kennesaw State’s colossal screw up; CFP sermon; Loughdmouthings-UGA’s slump, Beck’s slump, Tech’s Canes pain, ripping a backup? …
* Nov. 4 MMQB: Safe to hop on Falcons bandwagon; CFP sermon; Westside's Iverson & Northeast's Woodford; Northside news; Loughdmouthings-Cowboys/TV tiff, GHSA playoffs ...

* Oct. 28 MMQB: Georgia-Florida week? Really?; CFP sermon; area HS stat stuff; Loughdmouthings: Good games, Falcons, hotseats, HS players, new coaches/old coaches …
* Oct. 21 MMQB: A really good - not epic - win in Austin, with silliness; weekly CFB playoff sermon; Loughdmouthings: Dumb Ho orn (this week) fans, really good HS 🏈slate, Falcons are fine, but …
* Oct. 14, MMQB: Monday Morning QB: Which Nation is the most absurd this week?; HS stat stuff, playoffs sermon; Loughdmouthings galore: stats, QB shoving, tackling, Falcons,and Jerry’s happy-for-us birthday
* Oct. 7 MMQB:  Saturday like most others (really); the new Falcons? They still need O; Loughdmouthings galore (the wit, the wisdom, the sarcasm …)
* Oct. 1, MMQB: Missing the point - and tackles - on UGA-Bama; Falcons getting there, but about the O …; Loughdmouthings galore (the wit, the wisdom, the sarcasm …)
* Sept 23, MMQB: Two good weeks of football for Atlanta?; Loughdmouthings galore (the wit, the wisdom, the sarcasm)
* Sept 16: MMQB: Another black-n-blue battle in Lexington; Loughdmouthings: Falcons, silly second-guessing (UGA, county records
* Sept. 9: MMQB: Suddenly, we saw Ridder and Smith in Falcons black again; notable numbers, on campus, and Loughdmouthings galore
* Sept.8 Column-Not just yet, but brace yourself to think good thoughts about the Falcons in 2024
* Sept. 2: MMQB: Notes, reviews, Loughdmouthings
* Aug. 28: MMQB: What we know and what we’re not sure about; Loughdmouthings galore
* Aug. 16: Sit down, get comfy, and let’s just babble high school football for a bit

          Not surprised that Jones County beat East Forsyth – wasn’t sure why the Hounds were underdogs – but didn’t see a 30-point thumping.

          Baldwin-West Laurens lived up to being a coin flip, the Braves surviving – agaaaain – so many mistakes that really good teams don’t keep making.

          Not surprised that Bleckley County beat Social Circle, because Bleckley County went into that game as a 7-3 team with a 4-6 record, having lost by 3, 1, 4, 3, and 1, only one blowout.

          No, people, you are not necessarily what your record says. Stop listening to broadcast bozos and website wankers.

          Note that Region 2-5A went 4-0, Region 1-4A went 3-1.

          In the three classes involved in the power rankings, the AAA region with Upson-Lee and Mary Persons had six teams make the playoffs, most in AAA, and went 3-3.

          Yes, woulda had one more team had Mary Persons not been flagged for an ineligible player.

          Region 2-AA went 3-2, and the monster that is Region 2-A/Division I had the most teams in the class, and went 4-3.

          Upsets? In the three power-ranking classes, teams seeded in the 20s came up with a number of wins, but none on the level of a 28 over a 5, as with Bleckley County.

          In the other classes, Houston County was joined by Peachtree Ridge and Archer as No. 4s beating No. 1s.

          Of the first-round GHSA games, how many margins were of 14 points or less? Nine in 6A, 5A, and 4A, eight in 3A, seven in Class A, and five of seven in the private-school class.

          Conversely, the number of 40-point games was big, 19, 18 teams scored at least 50, and there were eight shutouts.

Mercer is happy to welcome you, and entertain

          Speaking of walking the support walk instead of talking it – which is coming - there’s no reason Five Star Stadium shouldn’t actually be close to as full as what attendance is fictionally listed as – severely - each week.

          Instead of about 3,800 people in the stands for what’s posted as 8,300, this week’s game with Furman should actually have about 75 percent of the 7,500 actually listed seats full.

          News flash: you can’t trust attendance figures outside of power-4 programs, for the most part. How people come up with some numbers – Division II’s SIAC is hysterical - with a straight face is astounding.

          Is Mercer a national championship team? No. Is Mercer a team that has a shot to play for a national championship? Yes. Is Mercer a team that can make the FCS Final Four. No doubt about it.

          The Bears are well-coached, they’re fundamental, they can win in different ways, and they’re loaded with Central Georgians: Brayden Smith from Tattnall, Travion Solomon from Northeast, Tucker Mix from Jones County, Justin Brett from Washington County, and Michael Horton and Scooter Risper from Westside.

          Mercer is No. 129 in the Sagarin Ratings, which has all Division I – folks, do you knowww about the divisions in college sports? – teams in one ranking. The Bears – Football Championship Division, aka I-AA - are ahead of FBS/I-A teams Buffalo, UAB, Georgia State, Temple, UTEP, and Southern Miss, among others.

          Note: Mercer needs to play some of those mid-level FCS teams and get a win that actually gets more attention than being boat-raced by a top-25 team.

          “But we need the money because …” Don’t finish that sentence, which is a whole ‘nother conversation. Yeah, but if you want attention, do something attention-getting.

          Saturday’s game against Furman is big. The Paladins upset No. 21 East Tennessee State last week, and are a very capable spoiler.

          Plus  Furman is 6-4 against Mercer (modern era, and that is the only era sports info people should ever write about) and 3-2 in Macon.

          Granted, this is a market and fan base that doesn’t really get a lot of the college football world, but still, tailgating and then watching a top-10- national team play is a pretty nice way to pass four or five hours on a Saturday every now and then.

          Georgia plays UMass at 12:45 p.m. and Georgia Tech is off, and the national 3:30 p.m. TV window is about as sexy as an offensive lineman bathing suit competition.

          Again, give actually doing something rather than talking about it a shot. Not a bad thing, really.

Loughdmouthings

          Anywhere you live in Central Georgia, you’re within 30 minutes of playoff football. Give it a shot.

          Defending 4A champ Perry is at home, and against somebody just as good, Eastside.

CENTRAL GEORGIA’S BEST HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL COVERAGE

Last week
* Roundup: FPD, Brentwood head to GIAA title games; big nights for Houston County, Jones County; Bleckley County surprises, Jasper County ends drought, Baldwin survives penalties
* Scouting Reports: This week’s GHSA and GIAA games
* Maxwell Predictions
* Who’s going to win this week’s games
* Central Georgia state composite rankings
* Central Georgia rankings
* Monday Morning QB: Kennesaw State colossal screw up; CFP sermon; Loughdmouthings-UGA’s slump, Beck’s slump, Tech’s Canes pain, ripping a backup? …
* Macon Touchdown Club players of the week
* GHSA playoffs are set: Who’s at home? What Central Georgia teams play each other? Who’s seeded where?

Last Week
* Roundup: FPD lone Macon GIAA survivor, road heartbreakers for Tattnall, Stratford; Milestone win for Gatewood’s Ratliff; Southwest stays in playoff hunt; Jasper County, Brentwood roll
* Scouting Reports: This week’s GHSA and GIAA games, coming Friday
* Maxwell Predictions
* Who’s going to win this week’s games
* Central Georgia state composite rankings
* Tuesday’s Roundup
* Central Georgia rankings
* Monday Morning Quarterback Safe to hop on Falcons bandwagon; CFP sermon; Westside's Iverson & Northeast's Woodford; Northside news; Loughdmouthings-Cowboys/TV tiff, GHSA playoffs ...
* GIAA playoffs are set, GHSA picture much clearer but still has some fuzzy going on
* The schedule

Two weeks ago
* Roundup, Warner Robins wins thriller; Upson-Lee dumps No. 5; Dublin finishes perfect regular season; Spoon Risper gets milestone win; Washington County edges ACE
* Scouting Reports: This week’s GHSA and GIAA games
* Maxwell Predictions
* Who’s going to win this week’s games
* Central Georgia rankings
* The GHSA and GIAA football playoffs are here, and almost here. Breaking things down, it's complicated
* Monday Morning Quarterback: Georgia-Florida week? Really?; CFP sermon; area HS stat stuff; Loughdmouthings: Good games, Falcons, hotseats, HS players, new coaches/old coaches …
* Macon Touchdown Club players of the week

          Peach County hosts Baldwin, Lamar County is at Northeast in what will be a to-the-final-minutes, game, Jasper County is the latest to try and at least dent Dublin at the Shamrock Bowl (where, stunningly, many good seats are always available), and Macon County hosts a ranked Jenkins County team.

          Stop talking about “supporting high school football” and actually – here’s a though – go watch a game and in fact support high school football.

          You’ll be happy you did. …

          So we went from calling a player an idiot to whining about an irrelevant college football playoff ranking after its second week.

          A ranking that, yes, made a lot of sense, and yes, was rendered irrelevant before the show last Tuesday was over, let alone after Saturday’s play was done.

          Dear God, make people smart and less paranoid and whiny and uninformed.

          For that specific week, yeah, Georgia was fine at No. 12, which with the formula left it out of the playoff.

          News flash: THERE ARE BIG GAMES LEFT TO BE PLAYED, SO PEOPLE, GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF …

          Sorry. *Deep breath*.

          Georgia deserved to drop after being manhandled by Mississippi, and it was a temporary drop if it beat Tennessee.

          It beat Tennessee, and is right back in the playoff field. Be aware, however, that the UGA-Georgia Tech game is substantially more interesting right now than we expected, because Georgia still isn’t anywhere near a consistently top-5 team.

          Thus, the Bulldogs aren’t a top-5 team. If they’re in the playoff field on the Black Friday kickoff, they may not quite have the juice needed against Georgia Tech, which, yes, can knock Georgia out of the playoff field.

          Oh yeah, that’s the reality. Sorry for bringing up reality. So many have an allergy. …

          The GHSA clearly makes a chunk of money by forcing GoFan on high schools, but I really wonder how much money is lost by not accepting cash at the gate. Not everybody is obsessed with their phones, and not everybody wants to put financial information on phones. …

          A reminder: AMERICA HAS A CRAPPY-TACKLING EPIDEMIC. All levels. It’s worth about two touchdowns a game, made or saved. …

          Nope, didn’t see Atlanta going to Denver and turning into Carolina for a day. I thought weather might be help Denver if it was Colorado weather, but it was a very pleasant Sunday, no reason for the Falcons to play like they had snowshoes on instead of cleats.

          Denver’s a nice team, similar to Atlanta in niceness, but to hold the Falcons to less than three dozen yards rushing?

          Dear Raheem, time to start chewing some tookus a little bit and cease talking in coachspeak a little. That’s kind of unacceptable, and I’m not one to throw out “that’s unacceptable” very often.

          I’ve been iffy on the defense for awhile, and coughing up a 28-of-33 day for 307 yards to a rookie -  granted, I love Bo Nix, but come on, man – is another sign.

          Players gotta play. Nobody coached them to give up those numbers. …

          From David Hale of ESPN.com: “Meanwhile at Auburn, boosters have scheduled a meeting at their secret hideout behind the Jimmy John's, and are just going type in Bobby Petrino's cell number but won't press send until at least halftime of the Iron Bowl.”