About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 2018)
SPORTS Bill Murphy Sports Editor | 770-718-3415 | sports@gainesvilletimes.com Sftncs gainesvilletimes.com ^ Sunday, November 25, 2018 MLS JOHN BAZEMORE I Associated Press Atlanta United’s Josef Martinez (7), left, Miguel Almiron (10), and Julian Gressel (24) celebrate after Martinez scored during a match against New York City Nov. 11 in Atlanta. Five Stripes to meet Red Bulls in Eastern final BY PAUL NEWBERRY Associated Press ATLANTA — This has all the makings of an MLS Cup final. The New York Red Bulls and Atlanta United are the two best teams in Major League Soccer. Their battle for the Supporters’ Shield went down to the final day of the regular sea son . The Red Bulls totaled the most points in league history, with Atlanta right behind. “I think this is exactly what MLS wanted in the play offs,” New York goalkeeper Luis Robles said. Even if it does fall one step ahead of the champion ship game. These two pow erhouses will meet in a two-leg Eastern Confer ence final, which begins tonight before another expected crowd of more than 70,000 at Mercedes- Benz Stadium. The second game will be Thursday night in Harrison, New Jersey. “The approach is what it’s been all along,” said Red Bulls coach Chris Armas, who took over the job at midseason when Jesse Marsch left for a job in Europe . “The last 10 games of the season felt like playoff games. We felt like we couldn’t slip up. That’s what it feels like now.” The Red Bulls were a charter member of MLS when the league was founded in 1996 Atlanta United vs. New York Red Bulls When: Today, 5 p.m. TV: ESPN (known originally as the MetroStars), and they’ve been one of MLS’ most suc cessful clubs. But they’ve never won an MLS Cup, coming clos est to a title in 2008 when they lost to Columbus Crew in the final. Despite winning the Sup porters’ Shield for the third time in six years with 71 points, this team knows that any thing less than a championship will be viewed as a failure. “Yeah, it’s been an amazing sea son,” Armas said. “But we’re 23 years going, and there’s a cup out there we want really bad.” In just two seasons, United has quickly emerged as a league’s mar quee franchise, featuring two of the league’s most dazzling players (Golden Boot winner Josef Marti nez and Miquel Almiron, both MVP finalists) and boasting some of the best fan support of any club in the world. Atlanta broke its own attendance record this season, averaging more than 53,000 per game at its dazzling, retractable- roof home. But even with all that success, there’s something missing. ■ Please see STRIPES, 2B Robles COLLEGE FOOTBALL Georgia Southern wins big against Georgia State ATLANTA — Shai Werts threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third and Wesley Fields ran for 151 yards and a score as Georgia Southern beat Georgia State for just the second time, 35-14 in a Sun Belt regular season finale on Saturday. Georgia Southern rolled to a 28-0 lead through three quarters to snap a streak of three-straight losses to the Panthers. Tyler Bass hit first-quarter field goals from 39- and 49-yards out and Darion Anderson pulled in a 38-yard touchdown pass from Werts to take a 13-0 lead after a quarter. Werts ran 18 yards for a score and Bass threw to Deshon Cooper for a two-point conversion in the third quarter and Werts hit Colby Ransom with a 58-yard touch down pass. Fields came into the game needing 141 rushing yards to move into 10th place all-time for rushing yards by a Georgia Southern senior. The Eagles did not turn the ball over against Georgia State and set an FBS single-season record with just five turnovers this season. The previous record of eight was held by six teams, most recently tied byLSU in 2017. Georgia Southern (9-3,6-2) came into the game already bowl eligible and picked up its ninth win in 12 starts under first-year coach Chad Lunsford. Associated Press COLLEGE FOOTBALL I Georgia 45, Georgia Tech 21 Bulldogs keep rolling JOHN BAZEMORE I Associated Press Georgia center Lamont Gaillard (53) reacts as he carries the Governor’s Cup off the field after defeating Georgia Tech 45-21 Saturday in Athens. Georgia takes out Georgia Tech for second straight year BY PAUL NEWBERRY Associated Press ATHENS — Bring on Alabama. Jake Fromm threw a career-best four touchdown passes, D’Andre Swift ran for 105 yards and No. 5 Georgia romped into the Southeast ern Conference championship game with a 45-21 rout of Georgia Tech on Saturday. The Bulldogs (11-1, No. 5 CFP) couldn’t afford a slip-up, not with a rematch against the top-ranked Crimson Tide looming next week in Atlanta. No worries. “I was hoping we’d have another chance to play them,” said line backer D’Andre Walker, quickly turning his attention to the team that defeated Geor gia in last season’s national championship game. “I knew we had a good team to get back to this point and play them again. Now we’ve got to prepare like no other and take on the challenge.” The rivalry game known as “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate” was over by halftime. Georgia went to the locker room with a 38-7 lead — which, in an inter esting twist, was the score of last year’s dominating victory over the Yellow Jackets. The Bulldogs held a 343-66 edge in total yards, piling up 18 first downs to just four by Georgia Tech (7-5). Fromm threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Riley Ridley, a 12-yarder to Jeremiah Holloman and a 44-yarder to Mercole Hardman. Swift chipped in with a 1-yard scoring run, Elijah Holyfield had an 8-yard TD and Rodrigo Blankenship completed the onslaught with a 25-yard field goal on the final play of the half. Fromm wasn’t done yet. On Georgia’s first series of the second half, he hooked up with Ridley again on a 4-yard scoring pass that prompted many in the crowd of more than 92,000 to head for the exits on a cold, damp day in Athens. “We liked our matchups,” said Fromm, who went 13 of 16 for 175 yards before giving way to Justin Fields late in the third quarter. “When they were kind of playing the off coverage, we hit some underneath stuff and let guys break tackles. Our athletes, our guys, are really good with the ball in their hands, so let’s get it to them quick and let those guys make plays.” Georgia came into the game deter mined to avoid a repeat of Georgia Tech’s last two visits to Sanford Sta dium. In 2014, the Yellow Jackets prevailed 30-24 in overtime. Two years ago, they scored with less than a minute remaining for a 28-27 upset. Both times, they shredded the famed hedges surrounding the field during the celebration. The greenery looked just fine after Saturday’s final home game of the year. Now, it’s on to Atlanta to face Alabama for the SEC title and an expected spot in the College Football Playoff. Juanyeh Thomas provided Georgia Tech’s only points of the first half on a 100-yard kickoff return. The triple option offense, which came into the game leading the nation in rushing yards, finally reached the end zone on Qua Searcy’s 3-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter. Georgia Tech finished with 128 yards rushing — not even close to its 354-yard season average. “Nothing was really consistent, so we couldn’t really get anything going” said quarterback TaQuon Marshall, who was held to 39 yards on 20 carries. THE TAKEAWAY Georgia Tech: The growing talent gap between the schools was on dis play for the second year in a row. The Yellow Jackets lost those games by a combined margin of 83-28, which is simply unacceptable for coach Paul Johnson and athletic director Todd Stansbury. “We missed a ton of ■ Please see GEORGIA, 3B Walker Fromm HIGH SCHOOL SCOREBOARD North Hall wrestling wins at Archer The defending Class 3A state champion North Hall wres tling team won the Archer Invitational on Saturday at Archer High School. The Trojans topped the 15-team pool by scoring 241 points to beat out defending Class 5A state champion Buford (193 points) and Class 6A runner up South Paulding (144.5 points). North Hall got first-place finishes from Jacob Pedraza at 126 pounds, Mathew Glenn at 132 pounds and Logan Haw thorne at 195 pounds. Second-place finishers included Daw son Thompson at 106 pounds, Jack Whitmire at 138 pounds, and Seth Carlton at 220 pounds. Dalton Battle and Bowie Eisenberg finished third at 170 pounds and 285 pounds, respectively, while Cody Smith fin ished fourth at 152 pounds. Hunter Adams managed a fifth- place finish at 160 pounds, and Noah Hopkins, Hayden Cook and Logan West finished seventh at 120,145 and 182 pounds. Basketball FLOWERY BRANCH GIRLS 62, DOUGLASS 53: The Lady Falcons got 21 points from Ashley Locke as they moved past Douglass on Saturday. Caroline Wysocki contributed 17 points for Flowery Branch, while Ashlee Scott scored 11 and Ashley Woodroffe added 10. The Lady Falcons will be back in action Thursday when they take on Dawson County at home at 6 p.m. BANKS COUNTY BOYS 83, STEPHENS COUNTY 78: The Leopards rode a huge performance from junior Carl Cleveland, who scored 45 points — eclipsing 1,000 points in his high school career — to go along with 18 rebounds, five assists and a block in the Banks County win. Wes Ledford added 16 points and five rebounds, while Clay Gosnell also reached double-digit scoring, putting in 11 points with four rebounds and three assists. Garrett Presley scored seven and grabbed three boards, and Pierce Morgan contributed three points with one rebound and two steals. Dakota Orr scored one point and had seven rebounds for the Leopards. Banks County will play next on Friday at East Hall. Compiled by Nathan Berg
