Central Georgia Sports ReportComment

Monday Morning Quarterback: A good Saturday on campus for Peach State teams; Stat stuff, surprises; Loughdmouthings galore

Central Georgia Sports ReportComment
Monday Morning Quarterback: A good Saturday on campus for Peach State teams; Stat stuff, surprises; Loughdmouthings galore

          It was quite a day Saturday.

          Not that too many realized it for awhile.

          Georgia Tech fans were too dazed after their rousing win and too hopeful that Tennessee could deliver a dream to notice.

By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com

          Georgia fans went from being disappointed with one orange team (Clemson) to focused on disappointing another orange team (Tennessee).

          Along the way, the state’s Division I – and please grasp what Division I is in the NCAA – teams went undefeated: Tech, Georgia, Mercer, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Kennesaw State, and new-to-Division I West Georgia.

          And as notable and more wacky, of the seven games, five were nailbiters: Georgia Southern by seven, West Georgia by four, Georgia Tech and Georgia by three, and Mercer by one.

          Kennesaw State had to battle to beat FCS Merrimack, while Georgia State had the least stress, figuratively, in a 16-point win.

          Around here, you can throw in GMC JC and Central Georgia Tech picking up a pair of junior college wins.

          And if you want to expand it to Division II, well, it wasn’t perfect.

          Benedict and Valdosta State won.

          But Fort Valley State lost a tight one by five to Clark Atlanta, which, of course, can’t count in this little game (except for Central Georgia, which went 3-1). Morehouse and Albany State lost to FCS teams by 28 and eight.

          Shorter also lost.

          So, 7-0 plus 2-0 plus 2-3 equals 11-3.

          That’ll work.

Surprises

          Those wise enough to keep up with Central Georgia’s only running scoreboard – you know, right here, even with the lone Sports Reporter at a game – on Friday night no doubt made the same Bugs-Bunny-is-stunned sound when they looked in and saw this:

          East Laurens 13, Dublin 0, halftime.

          I kept that sound effect to myself (wish more people on, never mind).

          The world – within the Dublin city limits – was right again soon enough, with 37 straight points from the Irish.

          There was a little surprise here that ACE ended up sort of  manhandling Wilkinson County and standout quarterback Quenterrion Stanford, only because one could expect a little dropoff after beating Dodge County.

          Such big wins for young programs can have a little hangover effect, but the Gryphons taking care of such business is a sign of further rising in the ranks. Just in time to face Northeast, which has little-brothered ACE 47-21, 52-26, and 46-0 in the last three meetings.

          It was unexpected to see Baldwin and Howard go down so hard against Harlem and Richmond Academy, by 23 and 24 points when Baldwin was a Maxwell 4-point favorite and Howard a 1-point underdog.

          And somebody went and picked both to win (expletive deleted).

Stat stuff

          We’re halfway and almost halfway through the season, which this being Sept. 15 is absolutely stupid.

          Neverthless, let’s look at some stats races (while remembering that the offensive lines are the reason for every single yard).

          Remember, always please remember: MaxPreps info is based solely – the only way – on what coaches type in. Coaches are responsible for what’s on MaxPreps. Period. Accurate or not, updated or not.

          They’re also responsible for what’s not on MaxPreps, so feel free to inquire about nobody knowing of accomplishments (and don’t buy the “strategy” argument).

          That said, what Central Georgia quarterbacks have cracked 1,000 yards (as of Monday morning, meaning some haven’t been updated, more than two days after game night)? Houston County’s Ryan Maxwell has 1,194 yards. Stanford of Wilkinson County had 917 yards entering last Friday’s game with ACE Charter.

          1,000-yard rushers? None. Leading the area is Stratford’s Tyler Stephens, with 691 yards in four games, with Houston County’s Colin Anderson next at 624 (both updated).

          M.J Mathis of Houston County leads area receivers with 493 yards, Westfield’s Win Hoots next with 396.

          Windsor’s Hunter McGreggor tops the state with 72 tackles, 14.4 a game, Northside’s Markel Johnson next with 63 (15.8). Jones County’s Watts Jacobs has four field goals (getting special teams info is like hearing the quarterback in Neyland or a dome).

          There’s an interception battle going on with Bleckley County’s Josha Stanley, Nortehast’s Kortnei Williams, and Johntavious Carswell of Perry, each with four, tying them atop the state list.

Loughdmouthings

          The Atlanta of Sunday night is the Atlanta I’ve been expecting to see the past few years, the Atlanta that has shown up like that about half the time the past few years.

          Despite last week’s result, the Falcons looked better. They certainly cleaned some things up, and good grief, the most un-Falcon thing in the world is bringing in a kicker a day before the plane leaves and having him drill five field goals.

          That doesn’t happen with this group.

          And all of a sudden, here’s a huge defensive line night with five sacks. Five.

          It’s early, it’s still early, but there was a step forward in all phases. …

          Gut feeling: Northside has a solid chance to go 0-10 (words these fingers never expected to type), and yet we may see that the Eagles will be better this year than the last two years when they scraped out two wins each.

          It takes some insight and objectivity to see that, so no, won’t have to worry about such optimism among the keyboarders. …

          A fan base dogging a fan base for being fill-in-the-blank is like the left tackle calling the right tackle fat. …

          The Friday night travel is limited these days, but watching Howard-West Laurens two games ago offered a reminder that when a band is awesome and strong and has horns, it’s just flippin’ awesome.

          West Laurens has just such a band. I remember in 2016 a good while ago, at halftime of a more-mesmerizing-than-you-can-imagine 14-2  loss to Mary Persons, just stopping and watching and listening.

          When a high school band gives you goose bumps, it’s pretty dang cool. …

          Speaking of cool, Atlanta defensive end Leonard Floyd introduced himself Sunday night on the TV lineup as Eastman, Georgia. …

          From former Macon Telegrapher David Hale of ESPN.com in his weekly “Best of” (a good read every time out):

“A sizable portion of the field at Wake Forest was covered in smoke during the first half Thursday night after a BBQ food truck caught fire just outside the stadium because, we assume, someone finally realized vinegar-based sauce is trash, and it all needed to go.”