Friday's Report: HS softball, football, Warner Robins' Dinkins; UGA, Tech/King, Falcons; World Series, college football, NFL, MLB, college hoops, WNBA, NASCAR, golf
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High Schools
Softball
GHSA championship tournament
Class 5A
Jackson County 8, Houston County 3; Houston County vs. Lassiter, Friday, 9 a.m.
Houston County thought it was in a tight one after its 3-run top of the sixth tied it, but Jackson County rebuffed that comeback with 5 in the bottom of the sixth, then retiring theBears in order in the seventh. The first six Jackson County batters reached in the bottom of the sixth, on a hit batter, error, and four straight singles. Alanah McKenzie had 2 of Houston County’s 6 hits.
Veterans 6, Loganville 4; Creekview 12, Veterans 4; Next: Veterans vs. Houston County/Lassiter winner, Friday, 1 p.m.
The Warhawks scored 4 in the first and then held on for the opening win. Katelyn Haines’ 2-run homer sparked that third inning en route to a 5-0 lead after 3. Loganville answered with 2 in the fourth and sixth, with Veterans adding a run in the seventh and then stranded two runners in the bottom of the seventh. Maddy Kinkade, Rizzy White, Mia Ward, and Braylin Horton each had 2 hits for Veterans. Creekview turned a tight game, a 4-3 Veterans lead after 5, into a bit of a runaway with 9 runs in the final 2 innings. Veterans was outhit 13-8.
Class 3A
West Laurens 6, Monroe Area 2; Heritage-Catoosa 3, West Laurens 1; Next: West Laurens vs. Pickens/North Hall winner, Friday 1 p.m.
Class A/Division II
Taylor County 2, Trion 1; Lanier County 7, Taylor County 6; Next: Taylor County vs. Baconton/Wilcox County winner, Friday, 3 p.m.
Victoria Cooper was on point in a big way for Taylor County with a dazzling 15-strikeout, complete-game no-hitter in the Vikings’ first trip to Columbus. She did walk 7 batters in a 121-pitch effort, but it didn’t matter much, thanks also to an error-free defensive game by Taylor County, which led 2-0 after 2. Trion got a two-out run in the in the sixth, but Cooper left the bases loaded with the third out. All the scoring in the nightcap came in the first half, Lanier County going up with the lead run in the top of the fourth on a pair of doubles. Taylor County was retired in order the next two innings, wasted getting its first two batters on in the sixth and a leadoff double in the seventh.
🏈🏈🏈Football🏈🏈🏈
Bleckley County 49, Central 0
The Royals were in control early, taking a 28-0 first quarter lead en route to sending Central to the end of a second straight winless season. QB Brody Fleming hits Kelvin Sneed Jr. for a 49-yarder barely two minutes into the game to get the 8-2 Royals going. Fleming connected with Gage Harris for an even longer pass about four minutes later, and then with Octavius Tate for a 19-yard score with about four minutes left in the first. Tug Pasby closed out the early scoring with a short run.
Chattahoochee County 28, Crawford County 21
The hosts ended Crawford County’s season, leading 8-0 at halftime and holding on. The Eagles finish 4-6 and 2-4 (6-A/II). Crawford County missed the playoffs for a second straight year after three straight trips.
LaGrange 26, Upson-Lee 14
The ranked Grangers got in control early with 14 points in the first quarter, Upson-Lee getting some momentum with a score on Niko Wells’ physical 6-yard run in the final minute of the first half to pull within 17-7 only to give up a half-ending field goal for a 20-7 deficit after two quarters. Upson-Lee dropped to No. 40 Thursday night in the GHSA Postseason Rankings, pretty much eliminating the Knights from playoff possibilities.
West Laurens 27, Westside-Augusta 3
The Raiders never trailed and rolled to their first perfect regular season in program history and fourth region title, pulling away in the second half for the 4-AAA trophy. Ty Cummings ran for 253 yards and two touchdowns, cruising past the 2,000-yard mark for the season. It’s West Laurens’ fourth 10-win season since the first year in 1972, first since 11-2 in 2019. The Raiders held their sixth opponent to single digits and went 2-0 against ranked teams. It was the 9-1 Patriots’ lowest total since a 24-0 shutout last year by Harlem
As as been the case pretty much all year, Cummings got West Laurens going with a 75-yard touchdown in the first three minutes, Westside answering shortly after that with a field goal. The Raiders unleashed the passing game for a 58-yard TD pass from Cason Pollack to Juvon Hill with about three minutes left in the first quarter and a 13-3 lead. It stayed that way until West Laurens ground it out with a scoring drive that ate up about half of the third quarter, Cummings taking the third-and-12 snap and going 38 yards for a 20-3 lead. Shannon Adkins slammed the door shut with a short burst about three minutes into the fourth quarter.
🏫🏫🏫College🏫🏫🏫
⚽ ⚽ ⚽Soccer ⚽ ⚽ ⚽
M-Clayton State 1, Middle Georgia State 0
🏐 🏐 🏐 Volleyball 🏐 🏐 🏐
Mercer 3, The Citadel 0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-22)
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Alumni Update
Freshman Dinkins of Warner Robins ‘coming along great’ as Georgia secondary searches for answers
Around/About Georgia
Freshman Dinkins of Warner Robins ‘coming along great’ as Georgia secondary searches for answers
'Toughest player I've ever seen': The Legend of Haynes King
No. 8 Georgia Tech not playing ACC’s other T25 teams, part of unbalanced schedules in expanded P4s
Bulldogs reflect on first experiences with famed Florida rivalry
Smart: SEC ‘even stronger’ when Gators are winning
Georgia shares defensive focal points vs. Gators
Across the Ball: Three key matchups for Georgia-Florida
Sugiura: It's early, but Falcons are at risk of squandering Bijan Robinson's brilliance
Falcons committed to reigniting run-game lifeline
MLB/World Series
6 questions for Game 6: Dodgers need a hero, can it be Yamamoto?
Foot note in the outfield: Toronto’s Davis Schneider skips shoes a day before playing for title
Roberts issues challenge to slumping Dodgers batters: 'Compete and fight'
Take it from the top: Toronto’s Trey Yesavage uses unusually high arm angle to his advantage
Ohtani could be used as an opener or even as an outfielder in Game 7
Injured Springer on track to play in Game 6 for Blue Jays
College Football/Coaching carousel
Louisiana governor goes on MacAfee, because, well …
Hours later and 4 days after the firing, Woodward out as LSU’s AD
Louisiana guv: 'Emphatically, I am not picking the coach'
Woodward's $113M LSU football mistake, what it cost to hire and fire Brian Kelly
Just like old times? Orgeron talks LSU return
College Football/SEC
Grubb and Simpson forging a special bond as No. 4 Alabama keeps winning with creativity
Manning is ‘making good progress’ but uncertain to play for No. 20 Texas vs. No. 9 Vanderbilt
Heupel says Tennessee defense is fixable. Do we believe him?
College Football/ACC
SMU’s 1st ACC meeting vs. No. 10 Miami comes after end of Mustangs’ 20-game conference win streak
Castellanos injury update, FSU football QB still on track to play
College Football/Thursday night
Jackson gets the better of Vick as rookie HBCU coaches, former Eagles meet in Philly
Collier throws for 2 TDs and runs for 2 scores to lead Coastal Carolina past Marshall
McCown completes 31 passes for 370 yards and 4 touchdowns to give UTSA win over Tulane
College Football
Ranking 10 worst officiating calls of 2025 college football season (Auburn, look away)
Locksley implies 5-star Maryland commit Zion Elee was paid to visit South Carolina
Playing catch-up: Ohio State’s wealth of talent at WR has its Big Ten rivals trying to follow suit
Nebraska extends Rhule’s contract through 2032, adds bonuses for CFP appearances
Williams: What'll it take for casual fans, nation to buzz about Cincinnati Bearcats?
NFL/Thursday night
Jackson torches Miami with 4 TD passes in return from injury and Ravens rout Dolphins
NFL/NFC
Saints QB Shough must face the surging Rams’ vaunted pass rush in his first NFL start
Murray has never lost at the home of the Cowboys, where his Cardinals visit on a 5-game skid
NFL/AFC
Bills coach McDermott says he and coordinator Brady are on same page on team’s passing struggles
Raiders’ Bowers (UGA) returns to full speed, ready to produce against Jaguars
Broncos defense faces a shake-up. Surtain II is out, Greenlaw is back
Jaguars’ Hunter has a knee injury after presumably getting hurt in practice
NFL/USFL/UFL/Football
What NFL fans think about the league’s efforts to reduce injuries, according to a new poll
From rugby and soccer to the NFL: How the league is finding talent in unexpected places
Baseball/MLB
Vitello takes daunting step from college ranks to MLB dugout as Giants manager
Nationals finalizing hire of 33-year-old Blake Butera as manager
Interim manager Cairo not considered
College Basketball/Men (more preseason coverage on Wednesday)
No. 3 Florida opens as SEC favorite after NCAA-title run from league that had 14 March Madness bids
No. 6 Duke keeps its frequent perch as favorite in ACC race featuring No. 11 Louisville, No. 25 UNC
No. 1 Purdue has national championship hopes but Big Ten has plenty of challengers
Sons-in-waiting: Pearls, Sampsons part of trend of college coaches passing programs onto their sons
Yale’s Nick Townsend is one of several players from traditional one-bid leagues who bear watching
NBA/Basketball
Wembanyama leads Spurs to their first 5-0 start with 27 points and 18 rebounds in win over the Heat
Engel: Even with Cooper Flagg, Luka Doncic trade still shadows Mavericks
WNBA/Women’s basketball
Sources: WNBA, players extend CBA for 30 days
Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne, Cheryl Reeve headline 2026 Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame class
Auto Racing
Hamlin races for his dying father’s last chance to see him win a NASCAR championship
Marco Andretti retires from racing, ending an era for the Andretti family at the Indy 500
Golf
Golf’s ability to create stars is imperative no matter what a new PGA Tour looks like
US-based Scottish golfer Gemma Dryburgh is a stroke out of the lead at LPGA Malaysia
Scoreboards