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WE HAVE IT COVERED IF IT'S PLAYED
tReporter
1C
August 24, 2022
SPORTS
CALENDAR
Fri., Aug 26
7:30 pm
Varsity Football vs.
Spalding High School
Sat., Aug 27
8:00 am
Girls and Boys varsity
and JV Cross Coun
try host the Bulldog
Distance Classic @ the
Monroe County Recre
ation Department
Tue., Aug 30
4:00 pm
Girls Freshman
Volleyball @ Jones
County High School
5:00 pm
Junior Varsity
Volleyball
@ Jones County High
School
5:00 pm
Varsity Softball vs.
Peach County High
School
Dogs host
improved
Spalding
Mary Persons will host
a familiar foe in its home
opener Friday in the
Spalding Jaguars, a long
time region rival until
2020.
The Class AAAA
Jaguars are coming off
an 8-3 season where they
advanced to Round 2
of the playoffs. And on
Friday they beat Eagles
Landing 36-18 at home.
Coach Brian Nelson
said the Spalding coach
complained when they
swapped film this week
because MP only had
one half to send. “That’s
all we got!” was Nelsons
response, he told the
Forsyth Kiwanis Club on
Tuesday. “I’ll send you the
rest in October’
Saturday’s MP game
was postponed by storms.
When the teams last
met in 2019 in Griffin,
the Bulldogs handled the
Jags 38-13. MP leads the
all-time series 9-1. But
Spalding is on an upswing
after winning just one
game in both 2019 and
2020. Nelson said they
have a strong quarterback
and run a spread offense
where they throw the ball
60 percent of the time.
Kickoff is at Dan Pitts Sta
dium at 7:30 p.m. There is
a 53% chance of rain.
478.994.2358
a pass for 26 more yards.
The Dogs advanced to the
Northeast 11 yard line. But
MP failed to convert on 4th
and 3 from the Raider 11
and Northeast took over on
downs. The Raiders would
make MP pay, driving 89
yards and scoring the game’s
first points with 9:48 left
in the second quarter. The
Bulldogs’ Champ Brantley
blocked the extra point and
MP trailed 6-0.
The Dogs quickly re
sponded. Senior quarter
back Logan Hickman con
nected with receiver Nemo
Jones for 9 yards. Then
Watson ran for 13 yards.
After a false start, facing 1st
and 15 from their own 45
yard line, Hickman found
senior receiver Kham Little
breaking open for a 55-yard
www.mynncr.net
touchdown on his first
varsity reception. Little is a
star basketball player trying
football for the first time.
“He’s gonna be useful,”
said Nelson. Ryan Bankston
added the PAT and the Bull
dogs had their first lead 7-6
with 4:12 left in the half.
On their ensuing drive, the
Raiders marched mostly on
the ground the length of the
field. Northeast fumbled 3
times on the drive, including
two caused by sophomore
defensive back Nic Arnold,
but the Raiders recovered all
of them. And with 1:25 left
in the half Northeast retook
the lead on their first pass
of the 12-play drive. Having
had the first PAT blocked,
Northeast went for two but
See DOGS Page 2C
rules, MP would have been
declared the winner in a
contest of schools from
different classifications.
But under the new rules,
the schools must finish the
game. That will be tough,
however, as the two teams
don’t have any open dates
in common. Nelson said he
thinks the GHSA should
consider revisiting the rule.
Northeast doesn’t have a
game this week, and wanted
to finish it on Monday. But
Nelson wanted to focus on
Spalding.
Before the storms rolled
in, Mary Persons was able to
flex its potent passing attack,
scoring both touchdowns
through the air. MP also
learned that it has a ways
to go to improve its rim
defense, which has been a
weakness in recent seasons.
But overall Nelson felt much
better than he did after the
Houston County scrim
mage.
“We played better,” said
Nelson, adding that his
boys handled the delay well.
“We were better all the way
around. We were better
defensively. Offensively, we
got into a rhythm.”
Playing in the nightcap
of the Macon Touchdown
Club’s Kickoff Classic, the
teams traded punts to start
the game. On their second
drive, the Bulldogs were the
first to threaten to score as
junior running back Duke
Waston ripped off rims of 13
and 15 yards, while catching
Storm
O
By Will Davis
publisher&mymcnnet
MP coach Brian Nelson
said he has no idea when his
Bulldogs will complete their
lightning-shortened game
against Northeast, and with
Spalding looming on Friday
doesn’t really care.
“Were moving on to the
next week,” said Nelson. “We
have no time to think about
what happened last week.”
MP led the game 14-12
in the third quarter when
the second thunderstorm of
the night rocked Five Star
Stadium at Mercer Univer
sity. The game had already
been delayed for 90 minutes
in the first half for a storm.
Nelson knew that under
relatively new GHSA rules
it would have to be finished,
so he was adamant they
were staying as long as they
could to try to finish. Finally,
after midnight, they agreed
it would have to be finished
later.
“We tried everything to
get it in,” said Nelson. “The
game started at 7:40. At
midnight, were still in the
locker room with 9 minutes
left in the third quarter wait
ing to see.”
Under the old GHSA
Spalding @ Mary Persons
7:30 p.m.
Dan Pitts Stadium
MP leads series 9-1
Prediction: MP 35 Spalding 28
Tickets: $10 GoFan app
NORTHEAST VS. MP
(PARTIAL & UNOFFICIAL)
TEAM STATS
First Downs
MP
5
NE
8
Rushing yds.
47
133
Passing yds.
169
49
Total yards
216
182
Comp-Att-Int
9-11-1
3-5-0
Fumbles-Lost
0-0
3-0
Penalties
3-30
3-15
1
2
3 4
T
CRISP O
12
-
-
MP O
14
-
-
BULLDOG SCORING
Second Quarter
• Kham Little 55 yard TD catch (Bankston kick)
• Ty Dumas 47 yard TD catch (Bankston kick)
INDIVIDUAL MP STATS
OFFENSE
RUSHING
Player Carries Yards TDs
Duke Watson 10 60 O
PASSING
Comp.
Att. Yards TDs INTs
Logan Hickman 9
11 169 2 O
RECEIVING
Rec.
Yards TDs
Duke Watson 4
39
Nemo Jones 3
29
Kham Little 1
55 1
Ty Dumas 1
46 1
PUNTING
Ryan Bankston
Punts Average Long
1 45 45
Duke Watson runs for extra yards against Northeast on Saturday night. Inset, rain and storms delayed and then post
poned the game until the teams can find a time to finish it. (Photos/Russ Campbell)
GAME Dwcw
Griffin writer predicts Spalding win on Friday
The Reporter talked to
Dom Joseph, sports editor
of the Griffin Daily News,
about this Fridays Mary
Persons-Spald-
inggame. Joseph
covers the Spald
ing Jaguars for
the newspaper.
Q. Dom,
Spalding seems
to have righted
the ship last
year after two
straight 1-win
seasons in 2019
and 2020. What
were the keys to
the turnaround and how has
it affected the attitude in the
community about Spalding
football?
A. The Spalding Jaguars
have turned a corner in re
cent years. With head coach
Carl Kearney at the helm,
Spalding is a no-nonsense,
very disciplined
team with lots of
talent. The team is
united, and brings
an infectious en
ergy to the field.
Q. What Spalding
players should MP
be most concerned
about on Friday
and why?
A. Quarterback
Curtavian Clark and
wide receiver Cedric
Evans took over in the
season opener against
Eagle’s Landing. They each
ended the game with over
100 all-purpose yards and
JOSEPH
a touchdown apiece. On
defense, Tyqua Holland led
the Jaguars with eight tack
les and a fumble recovery.
Q. Not sure you saw Spald
ings win on Friday night, but
do you get the sense that the
Jaguars have any weaknesses
which Mary Persons can
exploit?
A. If Spalding can limit
their penalties, they will be
very hard to stop.
Q. Spalding won all of its
road games in the regular
season last year. Does this
team play better on the road?
A. What I’ve noticed from
this team is that they just
want to play ball. They don’t
care where they are or who
they’re playing, they just
want to play.
Q. Mary Persons and
Spalding had developed a
nice rivalry in several sports
when they shared the same
region, but haven’t played
since 2019. How do you
think Spalding views the MP
game? Is it a special contest
Nic Arnold
Caused two fumbles
Interception overturned
among its non-region foes?
A. Spalding will treat
this game as they do every
game: the most important
of the season. They won’t
leave a stone unturned as
they go through the week
prepping for Mary Persons.
Q. What do you think will
happen on Friday night?
A. The best version of
Spalding can’t be beat. With
that said, Mary Persons
has had their number. I do
genuinely believe this game
will be very close, but the
Jaguars will come out on
top.
MARY PERSONS BULLDOGS
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
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