Moving On Up
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It’s a rare occasion when you can say a college football team that has never won more than seven games in a season, and in fact has only two winning seasons throughout their program’s history, is considered a successful football program.
Those accolades are normally reserved for an eight-year-old in the form of a participation trophy. However, when it comes to Georgia State football, they are that exception.
Moving from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) is an adjustment for any team; some programs do acclimate themselves a little quicker than others. Regardless of whether you are an established program, or one just starting out, the transition can be unpredictable.
In Georgia State’s case, there was little reason to believe they would see any modicum of success after making the transition from FCS to FBS.
The football program didn’t even exist until 2010 and during the three years they spent on the FCS level, Georgia State has a combined record of 10-23. (The final two years their record was only 4-18).
Expecting them to be able to compete at all would be like giving me a guitar and waiting for me to tear into “All Along the Watchtower”, Jimi Hendrix style.
Yet, while Georgia State may not be at Jimi Hendrix level, so to speak, they have performed much better than anticipated.
After their initial first two years in the Sun Belt, which resulted in zero conference wins and only a single victory overall, they have become a legitimate competitive force within the conference.
I realize we live in an age where there are almost as many bowl games as there are football teams, but still it’s pretty remarkable that Georgia State has played in a bowl game in two of the past three years; they won their first ever bowl game last year against Western Kentucky in the Cure Bowl.
I’m not saying Georgia State is running unencumbered through their schedule, but considering they only won eleven games total during their first five years, making two bowls games in three years is something to be proud of.
Just for comparison, Georgia Southern has only been to one bowl game since arriving to the Sun Belt. (Yes, it’s a little misleading since the Eagles weren’t eligible for a bowl game during their first year in the conference due to a ridiculous NCAA rule. But even if they had been allowed to play in a bowl game, the bowl appearances between both schools would be equal.)
Regardless of what division level of athletics you play at in college, moving up in competition is never a guaranteed thing. A small college close to me just announced the other day that after transitioning from Division III to Division II a few years ago, they are transitioning back following this season. They just couldn’t compete at that level.
That easily could’ve been the Georgia State football program. Would anyone have been surprised to see them struggle and ultimately move back down to the FCS level?
Instead, they have shown the decision to join the Sun Belt was the correct one, and not just for financial reasons; they can compete.
Ten years ago, who would have predicted that?
A Tale Of 2 GM’s
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
With an NL East Division Championship on their mantle (and in fact being the only team in the National League to wrap up their division prior to the last day of the season), the Braves have put together an unexpected and incredible run in 2018.
Lots of people will get credit, primarily and obviously the players, but also the coaching staff and front office, and deservedly so.
Braves General Manager Alex Anthopoulos came aboard during the last offseason and made an impression quickly with a financially clever trade, sending Matt Kamp to the Dodgers for Brandon McCarthy and Charlie Culberson (also Adrian Gonzalez and Scott Kazmir, neither of whom made an appearance for Atlanta).
Anthopoulos continued to put manager Brian Snitker in position to succeed throughout the year, taking gambles when necessary but also not dragging out mistakes out of pride (Jose Bautista, for example). He has been an asset to the team since he arrived, and he’ll get heaps of deserved praise for the season the Braves have completed.
But there’s also someone else who deserves praise and will get very little of it.
Part of a general manager’s job is to add pieces as needed, like Anthopoulos has done. But arguably a much larger part of the job, especially in the current era of MLB, a GM must build a team for sustained success. Alex Anthopoulos just got here, so he can’t claim to have done that for Atlanta.
Instead, erstwhile and disgraced former general manager John Coppolella gets credit for a lot of the Braves’ 2018 success.
He was fired (and banned from baseball for life) for shady dealings, but prior to that, Coppy – along with John Hart – tore down a Braves team that was heading for a tailspin and began crafting the young team we know today.
The formation of the 2018 NL East Division Champions is a tale of two GMs.
Who traded Evan Gattis to the Astros for a young, flame throwing pitcher named Mike Foltynewicz? Coppy did.
Who saw the talent in Kevin Gausman being squandered on a last place team and traded for him, installing the pitcher who would eventually take a spot in the postseason rotation? Double A gets the credit there.
Who moved the Braves’ only All-Star from 2015, Shelby Miller, in a blockbuster trade that brought Dansby Swanson AND Ender Inciarte to Atlanta? That was Coppollela.
Which GM took advantage of service time loopholes to make sure that the Braves get six years of Ronald Acuna, Jr., though it also turned out that Acuna struggled to start the season so maybe the notion that he needed more seasoning was right all along? Anthopoulos.
Who signed 2019 All-Star Nick Markakis to lead the young Braves on and off the field? Coppy again.
Who decided after an abysmal-yet-brief run by Bautista that the Braves didn’t need to hunt for a new third baseman and that Johan Camargo was going to produce at the hot corner? Anthopoulos made that call.
Who signed Acuna and Ozzie Albies as teenagers? Well, Frank Wren, actually. I suppose he deserves a little credit too.
Alex Anthopoulos has already made himself a lot of fans in Atlanta during his brief tenure as Braves GM. After the season they had, he’s very likely going to be a strong candidate for Executive of the Year.
That’s not unfair, he’s done a lot to make sure the Braves stayed in contention long after they were expected to drop out.
But let’s not forget the impact that John Coppelella had on the team that is heading to the playoffs this week.
He may not have turned out to be much of a model citizen, but it might be worth to raise a glass to him. You’re enjoying the fruits of his labor this season.
P.S. It’s probably also worth noting that one of the very last things that John Schuerholz did before ending his legendary run as Braves GM was draft a kid from California named Fredrick Charles Freeman.
Frederica Blast Patriots
By: Rich Bontrager
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Frederica Academy Knights kicked off the second half of the season with a bang as they entered region play.
Friday night the Knights traveled to Bellville, GA to play the Pinewood Christian Patriots.
For the first time all season, the Knights would receive the opening kickoff and start on offense.
Jaylin Simpson (Sr) would start at QB for the first time since his injury in the second game of the season.
Denver Anthony (QB) reportedly had a minor injury to his throwing arm and was used primarily as a running back and receiver throughout the game.
With the Knights coming off a bye week, the team was back at full strength with several other injured players back in the line up as well.
Frederica’s offense would go “no-huddle” and uptempo most of the night and frustrated Pinewood to no end.
The Knights would score twice in the first quarter, three times in the second and lead 32-0 at halftime.
Scoring highlights in the first-half included an impressive 33-yard rushing touchdown by Isaiah Jackson (RB), and Denver Anthony running in both a 7 yard and 22 yard TD.
“I think our offense really ran things well most of the night,” said Coach Brandon Derrick. “I was very pleased that we kept our pace all night.”
By half-time, the Patriots had only gained close to 50-yards in total offense, as the Knights defense swarmed to the ball and made it tough for Mic Wasson (Fr, QB) to have any time to set up well in the pocket and throw the ball.
It was a rough Homecoming game for the Patriot fans to watch as the offense fumbled the ball, threw an interception and had no offense until the second half.
The second half was on a running clock and saw many line up changes for the Frederica Knights.
JT Elliot and Thomas Veal both saw action at QB before Simpson was put back in to seal the victory.
With the change in lineup, the Knights defense gave up two TD’s to Pinewood and to two 2-point conversions to avoid a shutout.
The Knights would tack on one more score when Avery Cobb rushed down the near side of the field and scored on a 52-yard rushing play.
The score was made possible by a big surge of the Knight’s offensive line. A line produced big holes and great passing protection all night long.
“The kids played extremely well, and yet we gave two scores that cost us the shutout,” commented Coach Derrick. “Right now, it’s just the small details that we need to focus in on and tighten up on. But overall we are looking great for a big finish.”
The Knights now stand at 4-2 after getting the 39-16 win and spoiling another team’s Homecoming celebration.
Next week, Frederica will celebrate their Homecoming and host Westfield School on Saint Simons Island.
Sailing Pirates
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
One a hot muggy night at Glynn County Stadium the Brunswick High Pirates beat Monroe 42-6 on Homecoming.
Taylor Zachry was crowned the 2018 Homecoming Queen and KJ Lee passed for 3 TD’s and close to 300 yards.
Jaylen Trimmings rushed for two TD’s as the Pirate offense clicked on all cylinders and the Pirate defense continued to improve.
The Pirates now enter region play with a 3-3 record on the season as Richmond Hill comes to Glynn County Stadium for the region opener next Friday.
Pirate Report Card:
Offense: A+. The offense clicked all night long.
KJ Lee had another great game for the second week in a row. Lee tossed 3 TD’s to three different receivers.
Che Foy had another solid game with a TD catch. Amarrion Whitfield had a nice TD catch in traffic. Xavier “The Touchdown Machine” Bean caught his fifth touchdown on the season.
Jaylen Trimmings had TD runs of 49 and 2 yards and finished the game with right at 100 yards rushing.
The Pirate offensive line dominated the front seven of Monroe all night long. This was the best offensive performance of the year just in time for region play. This unit gets better week by week.
Defense: B+. The unit gave up some yards in the first half, but it set the tone after the half with a key sack by Octavius Butler on Monroe’s first possession and AJ Wilson added a 33- yard scoop and score to put the Pirates up 35-6.
Butler also recovered a fumble in the third quarter. Freddy Towns is the best defensive back in the region with another solid performance. The Pirate defense has only given up 12 points in the last 7 quarters and continues to improve.
Special Teams: A. Demetrius Hardee set up a TD late in the first half with a nice punt return and the Pirates made all 6- PAT’s. Kick coverage was pretty good most of the night. Best special teams’ effort of the season by BHS.
Coaching: A. BHS was well prepared in this contest. The offensive game-plan was excellent.
The up-tempo style kept Monroe off balance all night long. Adjustments were made at the half on defense and pressure was dialed up in the second half and forced Monroe into some turnovers.
The coaching staff has done a good job getting these kids ready for region play next week.
The Pirates were dealing with some injuries to key defensive starters in the contest, but the coaches plugged the holes and had the team ready to play at a high level.
Overall: A. The Homecoming win was the most complete effort of the year by this football team.
The team clicked on offense, the defense scored a TD and a special teams punt return set up a TD to put Brunswick up 21-6 right before the half.
The team is starting to peak as region play starts next Friday.
Next up Is Richmond Hill. The Wildcats travel to Brunswick next for the region opener. Brunswick has never lost to Richmond Hill in football.
The Pirates now stand 3-3 on the season. The next 4 games will determine the fate of the 2018 Brunswick High Pirates.
Get ready for a fun ride Pirate fans in the month of October.
New Heights For Eagles?
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Georgia Southern spent an entire offseason working towards the goal of erasing the memories of a disastrous 2017 campaign.
A pair of wins and some high points in a game at Clemson have shown that the Eagles are definitely on more solid ground this season, but this Saturday provides Southern with a chance to show that it is not only on the mend but a force to be reckoned with in the Sun Belt.
Every preseason poll made it clear that the prognosticators thought that Arkansas State, Troy and Appalachian State were the three teams with a chance to take home the Sun Belt title.
Georgia Southern can’t complain about the lack of attention after last season’s showing, but a defense that is taking to a new 3-4 scheme quicker than expected and an offense that is under the control of a much more confident looking Shai Werts leaves the Eagles looking much less vulnerable than they were for most of 2017.
The Eagles’ search for a revived option offense has shown signs of success, but is still a work in progress.
Head coach Chad Lunsford and offensive coordinator Bob DeBesse have been consistent in saying that the envisioned offense is much more dynamic than what has been seen so far, but that they want to see all of the building blocks of the scheme executed well before opening things up.
That leaves a lot on the Eagle defense, which has shifted seamlessly into a new 3-4 scheme.
Georgia Southern hopes that the third time will be the charm against Arkansas State. The Eagles have forced five turnovers from the Red Wolves in each of the last two meetings, but don’t have a win to show for it.
A loss on Saturday will be a bump in the road for the building momentum in Statesboro, while a win could put the Eagles’ rebuild a year ahead of schedule.
If history holds true, this week is the best chance for the Eagles to prove that they can compete in the Sun Belt.
Arkansas State has had sporadic overall records over the last decade, but the Red Wolves have been the most consistent power in Sun Belt play over that span.
The defending conference champs are riding high after notching their first back-to-back non-conference wins since moving up to FBS in 1992, giving the Wolves all the confidence in the world that another big conference run is around the corner.
Another stellar ASU defense is complemented by preseason Player of the Year Justice Hanson at quarterback for the Wolves, who is in turn surrounded by a bevy of talented skill position players.
Similarly talented Red Wolves teams have struggled to get through GS defenses over the last two years, but they still have a pair of wins to show for the effort.
For the Eagles, even a hard-fought loss would be a positive, but that’s not how they’ll be looking at Saturday’s game.
With well over 20,000 expected to pack into Paulson Stadium on Saturday night, the Eagles are riding a wave of momentum that wasn’t felt during the previous coaching administration.
If that leads to a win over Arkansas State, the thinking around Statesboro will quickly shift from wondering if the team is actually good to wondering just how good it can be.
The Wrong Kind Of Buzz
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
At what point does Georgia Tech (1-3) move on from Paul Johnson? Why do they believe in rewarding mediocrity? These are questions asked by every Tech fan after another loss.
The Yellow Jackets got beat down by Clemson 49-28. The Tigers primarily played true freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence and he tossed 4 touchdown passes.
Tech fumbled 8 times, recovering 7. Clemson’s first touchdown came when Clelin Ferrell recovered a fumble in the end zone.
“Well, we got our tails kicked. We got outplayed, outcoached and we got beat by a really good football team. And we’re not good enough to fumble the ball seven or eight times and jump offsides and take ourselves out of field-goal range to start the game with two sacks in a row. All those things,” Johnson said.
Let’s take a look at Johnson to see what’s going on. On the surface, he seems like he is doing a great job since taking over as head coach in Atlanta back in 2008. His record is 77-56 so he as a 0.579 winning percentage.
He did his best work when he first took over and inherited Chan Gailey’s players. CPJ is notoriously known for his poor recruiting and that is catching up. In 2015, they finished 3-9 with one conference win.
Last season they were 5-6 and had the UCF game cancelled. They would have lost to Central Florida if the game were played. Johnson also led Tech to a losing 6-7 record in 2010 but at least that came from a bowl loss. He had two seven-win seasons in 2012 and 2013.
Since winning the Orange Bowl and finishing No. 8 nationally during the 2014 season, the Yellow Jackets are 18-22 overall and 9-17 in the ACC.
Following last year’s sub-par campaign, his contract was extended for some reason. It was a move as bizarre as Johnson’s play calling. He already had three years remaining on his contract before the extension, now he is signed to remain on The Flats until 2022.
Athletic Director Todd Stansbury had to explain this head-scratching move.
“Aside from Bobby Dodd, no head coach in Georgia Tech football history has won more games in his first 10 seasons than Paul Johnson,” Stansbury said. “By extending Coach Johnson’s contract through 2022, we not only keep one of the most successful coaches in our illustrious history right here on The Flats, but we also ensure continued stability within our coaching staff. Stability is a vital piece in recruiting and student-athlete development, which are key components to any successful college program. I’m excited that Coach Johnson’s extension is officially complete and I’m looking forward to achieving even more success under his leadership in future years.”
The fan base is tired of these results but nobody at Tech seems to care. I thought Johnson should have been fired in 2012 after they lost to Middle Tennessee at home by 21 points. It seems like he will not be going anywhere but it’s time to reevaluate that.
On the bright side, the next game is at home against Bowling Green. This will be an easy win. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if they will win any more games after that. The conference games that looked like easy wins now seem difficult.
Virginia is 3-1. North Carolina started 0-2 but they just beat Pitt. Duke has won three of the last four meetings.
I think the best case scenario this season is 5 wins.
The Tour Championship
By: Rich Styles
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta is history.
Also making history is the amazing comeback of Tiger Woods. From 2008 to 2013, Tiger has dealt with family issues, injuries, surgeries….a fall from the top.
Now he is back. He has proved to his doubters that he can win, he can still play and he is ready for a full schedule for 2018-2019 season.
He is a changed Tiger. He has enabled the purses in all PGA Tour events to grow to what some would call unbelievable amounts of money, he is helped TV ratings increase and he has helped ticket sales.
Look at the crowd at East Lake on the 18th hole, I have not seen anything like that in a long time. I said Tiger has changed. He has in the following ways….he is a Dad, he is humble and he is grateful to be playing the game his Mom and Dad raised him to be playing from an early age. He is a champion again.
The Tour Championship could not have written a better script for a Sunday afternoon.
Tiger and Rory in the final group. Allison Fillmore, Tournament Director for the Tour Championship text me on Sunday when I said, “it could not be any better, Tiger and Rory, final group.” She texted right back…”I know, right!”
Half of the final pairing lived up to the hype. Tiger played well. Rory did not. Finishing ahead of Tiger was Justin Rose, who calmly and methodically, worked his way around the course to win the FedEx Cup and $10M. The story most will remember this year, will be that Tiger won the Tour Championship and oh yeah, another guy won the FedEx Cup.
Next year, the Tour Championship will be held in August and will have a different format.
Over the years, the average winning score was -11. Now the leader of the FedEx Cup going into the Tour Championship will be at -10 under. Others will also begin under par based on their ranking of FedEx points.
I have talked with many golf writers, who say they do not fully understand the new format but by the time the Tour Championship rolls along to next August, it will be written about, talked about enough that it will be more clear.
Fans, writers, etc are excited for the next season of the PGA Tour which begins in California and then the first half ends at the RSM Classic at Sea Island Resort. The Top 25 of the web.com tour get to play all five of these tournaments.
Then the Tour does a reshuffle based on their performance in these five tournaments and then they can begin to schedule for 2019.
Plus several tournaments will have date changes. The Players will move to March; the Masters in April; PGA Championship moves to May at Beth Page; U.S. Open in May at Pebble Beach; The Open in July at Royal Portrush Golf Club and the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in August.
This should help with TV ratings since college and NFL will not have regular season games until September. That is the main reason for the changes. We will see.
Many say that the PGA Tour starts and ends in Georgia. Next year it will begin in FL and end in GA. It will be another exciting year and there are 156 tour pros who would like to win the FexEx Cup and the new prize to the winner of the Tour Championship of $15M. Not a bad way to end the Tour schedule. Not bad at all.
Rebuilding The Nest
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Even though we are in the thick of the football season, for basketball junkies, like myself, there is added excitement since the start of the basketball season is just around the corner.
For fans of the Atlanta Hawks there may not be much to cheer about this upcoming season when it comes to their overall record. However, there will be plenty of identifiers that will give them an idea of where their team is headed.
The first person I’m watching is new head coach, Lloyd Pierce. When whatever soap opera revolving around Mike Budenholzer came to end and the Hawks decided to rebuild from the ground floor up, it made sense to bring in a coach with a reputation for working with young players.
Not only did Atlanta get that with Pierce, but he also knows what it’s like to work through those “growing pains” having been in Philadelphia the past five years.
Much like when Brad Stevens was hired in Boston a few years ago, Pierce won’t be judged on his win/loss record right away, or at least he shouldn’t be.
What Travis Schlenk, Atlanta’s general manager will be focusing on are the “how’s” of Pierce’s coaching:
How does Pierce relate to his players?
How does he use his rotation?
How does the first year coach react to particular end of game situations?
The way Pierce handles himself in these instances among, I don’t know, a hundred others he’ll encounter during the season, will speak louder than their final record.
Obviously, no matter how good Pierce may be leading the Hawks from the sideline, ultimately his fate rests with the players in the floor (come for my pop culture references, stay for my obvious analysis). In Atlanta’s case, most of those players are still acclimating themselves to the league.
Atlanta has a nice core of young players, starting with the trio of Taurean Prince, John Collins, and Trae Young.
Prince may never be an All-Star caliber player, but he’s solid on both ends of the floor and seems like the type of player who will fit in well with what Pierce wants to do.
Collins tends to remind me of a more athletic Al Horford, back at the start of Horford’s career.
Collins doesn’t have the array of offensive moves his elder does, but he does have the potential to get there. I really liked his game when he was at Wake Forest and look forward to seeing what he can over the next few years.
I’m not quite sure how I feel about Trae Young. While I understand the Stephen Curry comparisons to when Steph was coming into the league, Young is still a big gamble.
You could argue the player the Hawks traded away Luka Doncic for Young. Luka Doncic- has the highest floor, while Young has the greatest potential to be a bust.
Personally, I can see him averaging a double double in points and turnovers, just as easily as points and assists.
It would be easy to chalk this season up to a learning experience and spend time doing other things besides following a team that may not win 20 games. The reality though is this season is extremely important.
The Hawks are starting to put together the pieces they hope will bring them back to prominence over the next couple of years. This year will go a long way in determining if they’re starting with a solid foundation, or if they’re going to have to go back to the drawing board.
Brave October
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It’s been half a decade, but the Braves are going to the playoffs again.
It is an exciting and frankly unexpected development in the Braves franchise in 2018, coming at least one but probably two years before the earliest anyone could have expected a division title.
Let’s take a quick look back at how they managed to end up on the top of the heap and briefly look ahead to the playoffs.
So, the Braves weren’t expected to make the playoffs in 2018. They weren’t really expected to compete for a spot.
So, does that mean that they lucked into a division title? Is their spot on top a fluke? Not at all.
Players like Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuna, Jr. took steps as players, Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis stayed consistent and stayed healthy and the starting rotation, anchored by Mike Foltynewicz and Anibal Sanchez of all people, put in enough quality innings to help out a fairly poor bullpen.
This team is talented enough to belong where they are, make no mistake. To give credit where it’s due, it certainly didn’t hurt that both the New York Mets and the Washington Nationals, the two teams people actually thought would be at the top of the heap in 2018, were busts from nearly Opening Day.
The Mets in particular were lost causes early on but people kept expecting the favorite Nationals to wake up and make a run, at which point the Braves and Phillies would fall back to their natural places in the middle of the pack.
But that never happened and the NL East has been all about Atlanta and Philadelphia throughout the year.
So yes, Atlanta took advantage of a top spot that was vacated by the Nats, but the team they fielded still deserves to pop champagne, at least once.
On that note, let’s look ahead to what the playoffs might look like for Atlanta.
At this point it’s pretty clear that Chicago will have the best record in the NL, which means that they’ll take on the winner of the Wild Card Game, leaving the NL West Champs to face the Braves.
That’s clearly going to be either the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Colorado Rockies. Both teams offer big challenges and the Braves played neither particularly well, going 2-5 against each club in 2018, including an ugly four game sweep at Suntrust Park at the hands of Colorado in August.
There may be a psychological benefit to playing a smaller market team like the Rockies to start off the playoffs but there would also be a measure of sweet revenge if the Braves could face Los Angeles, the team that knocked them out in the first round in 2013 (though only Freeman and Julio Teheran remain on the roster from that season).
Either way, it will be a huge challenge for the Braves to win their first playoff series since 2001. Whatever happens, Atlanta should be proud of what they accomplished this season – not just that they won the NL East, but that they DESERVED to win the NL East.
They hit, pitched, caught and had the kind of no-quit, gritty attitude that hasn’t been seen in Atlanta since the scrappy and resilient team that led Bobby Cox back to the playoffs one last time in 2010.
They’ve been incredibly fun to watch play and now we’ll get to watch them play just a little bit longer.
Statesboro Blues
By: Josh Aubrey
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
For the third straight week the Statesboro Blue Devils had three or more turnovers and once again it proved costly. Despite trailing by only seven in the fourth quarter the Blue Devils were unable to convert when they had to and dropped a 22-6 decision at West Laurens.
“For whatever reason in some areas we are not being very coachable,” said Statesboro coach Jeff Kaiser. “We work on ball security daily. We get into the heat of the battle and panic. We need to get mentally tougher.”
The Blue Devils had the lead cut to seven and were driving early in the fourth quarter.
The offense was able to get inside the Raiders eight-yard line, but a sack on third and eight pushed them back to the 12. Kaiser elected to go for a 29-yard field goal but Cody Parker’s attempt sailed wide left and the Raiders took over.
The Blue Devil defense forced a punt but the Raiders pinned the Blue Devils at their own 10-yard line. A holding penalty moved the ball back to the five-yard line and then Statesboro quarterback Drake Horton was called for intentional grounding in the end zone, resulting in a safety and a 15-6 West Laurens lead.
The Raiders then took the free kick and marched 60 yards for their final points of the game. Dorian Edmond capped off the drive with a three-yard touchdown for a final score of 22-6.
“I thought once again our defense played well,” Kaiser said. “We just kept putting them on the field a lot and in bad situations.”
After Statesboro went three and out the Raiders took their opening drive and got down to the Statesboro five-yard line. Consecutive holding calls moved them back and they had to settle for a 46-yard Cam Coup field goal for a 3-0 lead.
West Laurens converted on a fake punt on their next offensive series. That was followed by a 35-yard pass from R.J. Mathis to Brent Carr. Capping the scoring Mathis rolled left and found E.J. Holmes for a five-yard score and a 10-0 Raider lead.
Late in the first Statesboro’s offense looked like it was finally getting on track. Jaylen Roberson (174 yards rushing) busted free on a 55-yard run to the West Laurens 19. Two plays later the Blue Devils fumbled and the Raiders took over.
In the second the Statesboro defense came through with a big play. Corey McCullough stripped the ball right out of the hands of Dorian Edmonds and Statesboro took over at the West Laurens 12-yard line. Two plays later McCullough got rewarded as he busted free up the middle for an 8-yard touchdown. The extra point failed, leaving the score 10-6.
Statesboro outgained West Laurens in total offense 243 to 228, marking the second straight game the Blue Devils have outgained their opponent in a loss.
The three turnover brings the Blue Devil total to 10 turnovers in their last three losses.
“I’m proud of our kids, they are playing hard,” Kaiser said. “Our goal is to get to game 11. Our goal is still attainable. We still have some good teams left on our schedule, but I feel we are a pretty good team ourselves. The trick now is to keep our kids spirits up and not let them get dragged down by some of the poison that can come from some people in this community.”
