H.S. Notes: Northeast opener now at home; summer catch-up (MdS, Stratford, Westfield); Alumni Update (Northside, Central/UGA, Veterans)

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          The latest new era of Northeast football got an early-season break.

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          The Raiders and first-year head coach - and alum - Jeremy Wiggins will open the season at home instead of traveling to Sharpsburg for Trinity Christian's GHSA debut.

          Trinity Christian is putting down a new turf field - amid other campus construction -that won't be ready in time for the opener.

          So, as Wiggins announced Monday night at the first Bibb County public schools media day, the Raiders will be at home.

          Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. Friday at Thompson Stadium.

          The Raiders should still expect a test. Trinity Christian beat Greenville 34-6 in its spring game as a GHSA member, after finishing second last year in GISA Class AAA.

          Last week, the Lions beat North Clayton 30-0 in a scrimmage.

          And they return GISA Class AAA starting quarterback Zach Seymour and safety Zack Jones, plus all-region picks back Cameron Hellgeth and wideout Kyle Riesselmann.

Summer catch-up

          Stratford's Samuel Barrow went 1-1 in the consolation round of the USTA Boys 18 and 16 national championship in Michigan that ended Sunday.

          He beat Sujay Sharma 6-7 (5), 6-2, 1-0 (7) in the first feed-in match, then loast to Gabriel Castillo-Sanchez 6-0, 6-4.

          Barrow and William Fullett of Cumming went 3-1 in doubles action, with two wins over seeded teams before falling 6-2, 6-0 to ninth seed Benjamin Koch and Joshua Raab. ...

Front row: (L-R) Jordan Bowie, Kaleigh Isgett, Rebecca Rubanov, Ethan Rimando Back Row: Coach Todd Smith, George Pearson, Matthew Smith, Benjamin Smith. Photo: Submitted

          Five Mount de Sales players were on the local team that won the 18-u advanced USTA Southern Junior Team Tennis Section championship.

          The team beat one from Birmingham, Ala. 54-34 in the final last month. Representing the Cavs: recent grad Jordan Bowie, junior Ethan Rimando, junior George Pearson, junior Matthew Smith, and junior Benjamin Smith

          Also, team member Kaleigh Isgett is a sophomore at Westfield, and Rebecca Rubanov is home-schooled in Macon.

Alumni Update

          Northside grad Robert Davis is done for the year with the Washington Redskins after suffering a leg injury Saturday in practice.

          The former Georgia State standout was carted off the practice field, and the diagnosis is a broken tibia and torn LCL.

          Davis spent most of last year on the practice squad, but was headed toward a spot on the 53-man active roster for the opener, but was placed on injured reserve. ...

          Tony Gilbert is beginning his first full season on the staff at UCF.

          The former Central and Georgia linebacking standout (@CoachTony_G) joined the Knights in February as a defensive quality control assistant, the same position he had at North Carolina for a few years.

          Former UGA defensive coordinator Willie Martinez is the Knights' secondary coach and assistant head coach. The Knights have nearly a dozen Georgians on the roster.

          It wasn't all that long ago Gilbert was in Milledgeville at GMC (2013) and John Milledge (2014). ...

          Former Veterans quarterback Logan Byrd has transferred from North Carolina to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.

          The former three/four-star recruit and top-20 pro-style quarterback made the announcement in December that he was leaving, and in January that he was heading to MGCC.

          He redshirted as a freshman and didn't play as a sophomore. He would have entered this preseason third on the depth chart.