Central Georgia Sports ReportNovember 25, 2024Comment

Monday’s Report: Mercer football, Macon TD Club POTW/speaker, Alumni: Jones County/Southwest; Upsets for Kennesaw State/UGA, Georgia/SEC, United, Carty/Braves; CFB, BKB, NFL, F1

Central Georgia Sports ReportNovember 25, 2024Comment

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📰S📰C📰O📰R📰E📰B📰O📰A📰R📰D

🏫🏫🏫College🏫🏫🏫

🏐 🏐 🏐 Volleyball 🏐 🏐 🏐

Wofford 3, Mercer 2, Southern Conference tournament championship

Pro

🏒🏒🏒 SPHL 🏒🏒🏒

Macon 4, Knoxville 0

O📰V📰E📰R📰A📰G📰E📰

Around/About Central Georgia

Boom: Mercer gets a seed, a bye, and then is at home

The conference’s automatic bid had been sealed, but Saturday’s home game was big for Mercer to make a statement and get a top-8 national seed and a bye in the FCS playoffs.

After a convincing 49-23 win, the statement was made, and the Bears earned a No. 7 national seed, and that first-round weekend off and a home game in the second round.

Watch the Bears’ reaction during the selection show

Mercer will have Thanksgiving Day off, with no Saturday game to prepare for, but the work doesn’t slow down all that much as the Bears prepare to host either Rhode Island or Central Connecticut State at 2 p.m. on Dec. 7.

Those two play on Saturday at noon at 10th-seed Rhode Island. In the other second round game paired with Mercer in the bracket is second-seeded North Dakota State hosting either Northern Arizona or 15th seed Abilene Christian, a pair of 8-4 teams.

Barring an upset, a Mercer win sends the Bears to the cold weather of Fargo, N.D. but the warmth of the 19,000-seat Fargodome. A year ago, Mercer was in that neighborhood and lost 41-0 to top seed and eventual national champ South Dakota State 41-0.

Montana State, seeded sixth last year and a 35-34 second-round loser to North Dakota State, is this year’s top seed and the only undefeated team in the field.

The Bobcats, in fact, are the only team among the 24 without at least two losses.

Mercer is one of seven 10-2 teams, and is the lone Southern Conference team still playing. It’s the fifth straight year – excluding the COVID season in 2020 - year the conference only put one team in the playoffs.,

Western Carolina, Chattanooga, and East Tennessee State all finished 7-5 and had no shot. Those three and Mercer were the only SoCon teams to finishe above .500 overall.

The Bears haven’t had a week off since Oct. 5, a stretch of seven straight games, including the Nov. 16 visit to Alabama. Ready for a break indeed.

“Mee, the coaches,” Mercer head coach Mike Jacobs said after Saturday night’s win about who was amped for the break. “Just all of us. I mean, 12 games and 12 hard-fought games, everybody can use a little bit.”

One key player the Bears are likely to have back in good shape is Tattnall grad Brayden Smith, who has missed the last three games with a hamstring injury.

D.J. Smith started the year at quarterback, but didn’t play in three games of a four-game stretch, barely playing in that one game, thanks to a lower leg injury.

Macon Touchdown Club picks a couple Raiders

A Northeast duo swept the club’s players of the week honors.

Back: Senior running back Nick Woodford of Northeast carried 16 times for 160 yards and two scores in the Raiders’ 21-10 second-round win over Lamar County.

Lineman: Junior linebacker Tailen Sampson racked up 18 tackles, 15 solos, and 3 for loss and a quarterback pressure in the win over Lamar County.

ESPN/SEC Network host Nowkhah at the Macon Touchdown Club

          Dari Nowkhah of ESPN and the SEC Network is Monday’s speaker at the Macon Touchdown Club in its final regular meeting of the year.
          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. Cost is $30 for non-members.
          Nowkhah grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma and graduated from Oklahoma. He worked at TV stations in Montana, Nebraska, and Oklahoma before joining ESPN in 2004, and then the SEC Network in 2014.
          Nowkhah and wife Jenn have had three biological children and an adopted child. They lost an infant son in 2011 to complications from an infection that compromised his heart, and started Hayden’s Hope, a foundation to help families with expenses due to children’s organ transplants. supporting organ donation, in his memory. They adopted Nahla two years before Hayden’s birth and passing.
          November is National Adoption Month.
          It’s the final meeting of the season. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart will again speak at the year-end jamboree, tentatively set for March.

VB: Mercer takes Wofford to the limit, falls in SoCon tournament championship

Alumni Update/Honor Roll

Ched Smith of Jones County takes defensive ROTY in USA South
From the conference: “Smith, a freshman linebacker from Macon, Georgia becomes the fourth member of the Panther program to earn USA South football defensive Rookie of the Year honors. During the regular season, Smith totaled 59 tackles, including 47 solo efforts, which ranked tied for third in the conference. Smith's 13.5 total tackles for loss ranked second in the USA South while his five sacks placed him fourth.
“Against conference foes, Smith led the league with 13.5 tackles for loss, which included five sacks, while is 43 solo tackles ranked third. He also added a fumble return for a touchdown against Methodist. Finally, Smith was named a second-team all-conference linebacker to go along with three USA South defensive rookie of the week honors.”

Southwest grad Warthen-Carr earns all-conference
          Wideout Jalon Warthen-Carr, a redshirt junior from Southwest, earned first-team USA South Mountain Division honors.
          He finished tied for eighth with 45 catches and ninth with 651 yards, grabbing five touchdowns. eighth in the conference with 45 catches.
          Warthen-Carr transferred from Stetson, after starting out at Assumption.
          Teammate Colton Smith is a defensive lineman from Washington County and Brentwood.
          Anderson finished 3-8 in its first season of football, and is led by former Mercer head coach Bobby Lamb.

Around/About Georgia

MBKB-Kennesaw State beats No. 24 Rutgers in program’s 1st home game against ranked team

MBKB-Georgia takes down No. 22 St. John’s

UGA in the SEC title game after all, but …

Georgia jumps in AP Top 25

Bulldogs a big betting favorite over Georgia Tech with SEC title game and CFP lurking

Georgia defense grapples with not playing to standard

Brett Thorson lifting Bulldogs on, off the field

Enrique, Gallese lead Orlando City past Atlanta United for trip to conference final

Rico Carty, who won the 1970 NL batting title with the Atlanta Braves, dies at 85

College Football/SEC/ACC/South

Ward breaks Bernie Kosar’s single-season Miami passing yards and completions records