Sunday's Central Georgia Daily News 'n Notes
Sunday’s Central Georgia - and of interest to Central Georgia - news and notes, compiled from staff reports, email reports, the web, and social media.
The Daily Scoreboard is here today. The state high school softball pairings are updated in The Latest Coverage.
SUNDAY
Scores
College
Soccer
M-GMC 3, Montgomery 0
W-Furman 2, Mercer 1
Falcons hold off Bucs, barely
Atlanta scored on on four first-half possessions, but had to sweat out things until the final play for a 34-29 win over Tampa Bay.
Matt Ryan passed for 354 yards and three touchdowns, while Jameis Winston nearly engineered a huge road comeback in his first game back since suspension.
Kicker Matt Bryant suffered a high leg injury while drilling a 57-yard field goal with 1:10 left. The game ended with Tampa Bay inside the 10, trying to lateral its way for the game-winner only for a pitchout to go out of bounds as the clock ran out.
Winston outdid Ryan, except for interceptions, going 30 of 41 for 395 yards and four touchdowns and two interceptions. Ryan went 31 of 41, with three scores and no picks.
Atlanta ran 22 times for 70 yards, Tampa Bay 20 times for 123.
Near fights put the fight in Falcons
Three football games on tap tonight
Hurricane Michael forced some postponements in southern Central Georgia from Friday night to Monday night, two in Region 3-AA.
It’s a battle of top-10 teams in Eastman at 6 p.m. when one-loss Dodge County hosts undefeated Washington County. The Indians lost to Dublin last week, and the Golden Hawks rolled past Bleckley County.
Bleckley County entertains East Laurens at 6 p.m. Monday, and Crawford County is at Dooly County in Class A action.
Macon TD Club honors pair
Players from Tattnall and Central are the Macon Touchdown Club players of the week.
Jamal Marshall, a senior running back, defensive back, and kick returner, is the back of the week after leading Tattnall past Mount de Sales with 108 yards rushing – including a 77-yard TD run – plus 64 yards receiving, 61 on one catch for a score. He also had 112 yards in kickoff returns, 95 on a TD return, and had 12 tackles at DB.
Central’s Walter Nesbitt is the lineman of the week after helping the Chargers play Pike County to within two on the road, with 14 tackles.
There were no special teams nominations.
Georgia Tech’s Johnson the Macon Touchdown Club speaker
Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson is Monday night’s speaker at the Macon Touchdown Club.
ACE is the featured high school. Chris Hatcher is next week’s speaker.
Johnson’s visit is on the heels of a 28-14 loss at home to Duke to drop Tech to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the ACC.
The Western Carolina grad is 78-58 in his 11th season with the Yellow Jackets, who are off this week and visit Virginia Tech next Thursday.
Johnson led Georgia Southern to two FCS national championships en route to a 62-10 record, and then he went 45-29 at Navy. He also coached at Hawaii and Lees-McRae. He is 185-97 in his 22nd season as a head coach, only four of which are losing seasons.
Tech has several Central Georgians on the roster: quarterback Tobias Oliver of Northside, A-back Qua Searcy of Lamar County, linebacker Quez Jackson of Peach County, defensive lineman Dijmon Brooks of Washington County, and wideout Stephen Dolphus of Westside.
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, who needn't be accompanied by a member.
Hawks’ Young getting used to the offense
Granted, he still may think there are normal Trae Young 30-footers in there …
(High school teams: Send schedules and results – with game details, first and last names, and records – to centralgasports@gmail.com)
Football updates
Georgia
Kirby and Hot Rod on that, well, playcall
Start No. 21 forgettable for Fromm
Georgia Tech
Georgia Southern
Reviewing that tight Texas State win