About Fayette County news. (Fayetteville, GA) 2009-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 2025)
0 FAYETTE COUNTY SPORTS Fayette County News B1 Wednesday, October 8, 2025 Fayette Stops Whitewater in Softball, 10-2 Takeaways from College Football 2025 - Week Six Scott Ludwig Now that Sam Pittman is gone from Arkansas, Bobby Petrino is the interim head coach. Petrino ne gotiated with the university for the opportunity to get the job on a permanent basis, which they agreed to - which says all you need to know about the University of Arkansas. Yes, that Bobby Petrino. You may remember him. After four years at Louisville, he signed a 10-year con tract to remain as their head coach - but less than six months later left for the Atlanta Falcons. He didn’t last one season in Atlanta, posting a Dear John letter in the locker room after 13 games to coach Arkansas. Yes, that Arkansas; the one and the same. He was fired after four seasons, the reasons for which I don’t have room to explain, but feel free to google “Petrino - motorcycle crash - coed - $20K in cash.” After a year at Western Kentucky, he tried his luck for a sec ond time at Louisville. Same result, only this time he was fired after five seasons instead of four. Now he’s lobbying to be Arkansas’ coach for the second time. Common sense tells you this is not a good idea. Time will tell, I guess. But I’m going to go ahead and say it now anyway: Arkansas, I told you so. Let’s move on to action in week six. Fun fact: although he had four tries while he was at Tennessee, Peyton Manning never defeated the Florida Gators. His brother Eli, however, beat the Gators both times he faced them as quarterback for Ole Miss. Their nephew, who plays quarterback for Texas, is now the third member of the Manning family to play against Florida. Arch Manning, grandson of Archie (who never played the Gators while he was at Ole Miss), is argu ably the most heralded quarterback the Gators faced since Johnny Manziel (Florida won 20-17 in College Station) in 2012. Which uncle would Arch take after? So far, Pey ton. Florida - 29, number nine Texas - 21. Gator freshman wide receiver Dallas Wilson had an impres sive debut, catching six passes for 111 yards and a pair of touchdowns, the second a 55-yard scamper down the sideline that included a ballet-worthy pirouette that had to be seen to be believed. As for Manning: 16 of 29 for 263 yards, two TDs, two interceptions, and enough long passes falling incomplete that it made me wonder if the Texas gameplan was simply to “go long.” Thanks to a 24-point second half, number six Texas A&M beat Mississippi State, 31-9. Next week the Gators travel to College Station to take on the Aggies and find out if they can complete the “Texas Two Step.” By the way - and this made me smile - Oklahoma State had the good sense to fire defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, the fat tub of goo, after just four games with the team. If you’re not familiar with my history with Todd Grantham, well, you’re just going to have to read about it in my book, Moving the Chains: 2019-2024, six years that changed the land scape of college football. You can find it on Amazon. Number 10 Alabama hosted number 16 Vander bilt in a game I thought would determine which team’s quarterback would be the leading candidate for the Heisman. The Crimson Tide prevailed, 30-14, in no small part because of Ty Simpson’s 23 comple tions in 31 attempts for 340 yards and two touch- downs (He also threw his first interception of the year). The Commodores’ counterpart, Diego Pavia, did n’t quite match up: 21 of 35 for 198 yards, one TD, and one interception (to go along with a fumble, both turnovers in the red zone). Alabama scored the last 23 points of the game after falling behind 14-7 in the first half. Kentucky vs. number 12 Georgia. Let’s start with the cost of Wildcats Coach Mark Stoops’ buyout. It’s $40.5 million. Now in his 13th season in Lexington, his record is 28-65 against SEC competition and 69- 76 overall. Until a year or so ago, announcers referred to him as a genius. I haven’t heard that recently - for obvious reasons, such as his horrific clock manage ment in the closing minutes of the second quarter when a touchdown could have cut Georgia’s 14-point lead in half. After that, the game went off the rails. Dogs - 35, Cats - 14. Bill Belichick’s North Carolina Tar Heels hosted Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers. Clemson was look ing for redemption after losing three of their first four games. North Carolina, on the short end of a 38-10 score, raises a question: Why on earth did Belichick agree to coach there in the first place? The man has won eight Super Bowls, 302 NFL games, and is 73 years old. After Tom Brady flew the coop, his record the last three seasons in the NFL was 22-29. Beli chick taking over a stagnant Tar Heel program makes about as much sense as logarithms. Incidentally, it was already UNC’s third loss of the season by 25 See Chains, B7 Special to FCN With softball regular sea son winding down, Fayette County picked up a huge re gion win over Whitewater, 1O- 2, on Sept. 30. “Beating Whitewater took a team effort, and these girls were all locked in and ready to win,” said Fayette County Coach Molly Tideback. “When they are on that level, they can beat anyone.” Fayette’s Elona Patton and Whitewater’s Kaydence Sowers were locked in a pitchers’ duel, and neither of fense scratched out a run for the first three innings. The Cats plated one run in the top of the fourth, but the Tigers pushed across two in the bot tom half. After Whitewater tied the game with a run in the top of the fifth, the Tigers exploded in the bottom half. Six runs put them in the driver’s seat, and a huge Taylor Lathem-Co- lyott, walk-off, two-run home run ended the game in the sixth inning. Tideback called the Tiger squad “NINE STRONG,” not ing everyone they have is on Zariah Harris tags out a would-be base stealer. the diamond giving their all. “This is a special group of girls. They are a once-in-a-life- time group,” said Tideback. “We do not have subs, we do not have (pinch) runners. It is just our nine. They are beating teams that have 15-20 players and proving a point that it takes a team that believes in each other and coaches who believe the same.” The Tigers finished the regular season with a 10-14 overall record and a 7-9 region record. The Wildcats were 14- 9 and 11-4 heading into their final regular season games. Elona Patton fires a pitch. Ariel Canady throws out a runner. Noah Reid scored a defensive touchdown for Sandy Creek. Chiefs and Patriots Win County Volleyball Matches Sandy Greek’s Win Highlights Week of Football Special to FCN Sandy Creek slammed Spalding, 39-6, to continue its perfect start. They did most of their work on the ground, running for 181 yards as a team. Amari Latimer led the way with 104 yards and four touchdowns. Omari Jack- son and Gavin Robinson both ran for 30 yards. Caleb Hill completed nine of 14 passes for 137 yards and one touchdown. Rylan White caught three passes for 46 yards. Noah Reid added a defensive touchdown on an interception. The Patriots are 6-0 with a 4-0 region mark. They host Fay ette County this week. Whitewater lost to La Grange, 45-20. It was a close game at the half, with the Grangers leading 21-17. They broke out after the break, outscoring the Cats, 24-3, in the second half. LaGrange opened scoring, but the Wildcats swung in front, 14-7, with a 38-yard TD pass from Case Roberts to Malcolm Marks and a two-yard Jacob Ross run. After a Granger score, Isaac Ross drilled a 38-yard field goal, but they fell behind at halftime on another score. Ross supplied their only points of the second half with a 22-yard kick in the third quarter. Before exiting with an injury, Case Roberts completed five of seven passes for 121 yards and one touchdown. Aiden Jackson led them on the ground with 38 yards rush ing on five carries. Jackson also notched an interception on de fense. The Wildcats drop to 3-3 overall with a 2-2 region record. They travel to Spalding this week. McIntosh lost at home to Langston Hughes, 68-13. Elijah Strader completed 20 of 28 passes for 308 yards with two touchdowns and one inter ception. Brandan Ridley caught four passes for 58 yards with a 39-yard TD. The loss drops the Chiefs to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in region. They travel to Banneker this week. Starr’s Mill lost to the Cen tral Lions, 49-7. The Panthers fall to 1-6 with a 1-2 region mark. They host Harris County this week. Fayette County was on bye. Special to FCN Regular season is wrapping up, and county volleyball teams are positioning themselves for the playoffs. In a non-region matchup of stellar local squads, McIn tosh scored a straight-sets win over Whitewater on Oct. 2. The Chiefs won a close first set, 25-19, then rolled in the second set, 25-8. They sealed the match with a 25-14 win in the third set. Claudia Meditz paced the Chiefs with 15 kills and nine digs. Mya Conley posted six kills, and Nana Horiuchi racked up six aces. Braelyn Ottolini put up 19 assists and eight digs. Baylee Tanton chipped in six digs and six assists. Lailah Brown led the Wildcats with eight kills, and Courtnie Thomas posted five. Rylee Vessell racked up 26 digs, and Matilde Kofoed tallied 10 assists. The Chiefs are 34-8 overall with a 7-0 region mark. The Wildcats are 20-6-1 with a 6-0 region record. Sandy Creek picked up a straight-sets region win over Fayette County on Sept. 30. The Patriots won the first set, 25-19, then held on to win a close second set, 25-22. In the loss, Fatima Ce- saire led the Tigers with six kills. Makenzie Foster posted five kills with nine digs. Makaila Foster added four kills. Brooke Walters tallied 10 digs, and Payton Gary posted 11 assists. The win bumps the Pa triots’ record to 8-16 overall and 4-2 in the re gion. The Tigers drop to 16-19 overall and 2-4 in the re gion. Claudia Meditz paced the Chiefs to victory. MHS Athlete of the Week: Madeline Kuehn Congratulations to McIntosh High School senior Chie- fettes cheerleader Madeline Kuehn, who has been named the school’s Athlete of the Week for the week of Oct. 6. "Mady leads our team with dedica tion, coming pre pared to practice daily to assist her teammates. She leads MHS by example in all areas and is a fabulous per former, " commented Coach Carmen Yarbrough. X • Ivine
