Jackets still undecided on a starting quarterback
THORSBY, Ala. — It’s mostly quiet in the Alabama farming community of Thorsby aside from trucks and trains that rumble through bound for someplace larger. Remembering directions to the town’s football stadium isn’t hard; there aren’t that many roads to take or turns to miss along the way.
It’s there, on Susan Bentley Field, that the Thorsby Rebels take on rival Jemison High School on Thursday night in their first game of the season. Prep football is returning in a high-stakes test of whether players can crash into each other, fans can scream and bands can play without worsening the coronavirus pandemic.
The mayor, who volunteers as a sideline official, is leery yet trying to remain hopeful the town can avoid a virus
then took the victim’s grocery bag and threw it in a lake. Not to mention a long list of traffic violations.
The Falcons have seen a different side of Fowler since he joined the team during free agency, signing a threeyear contract worth up to $48 million.
“Dante is a great player and a great teammate,” cornerback Isaiah Oliver said. “He’s helped a lot of the defensive linemen so far — the younger guys especially — with their techniques. I think it’s a big boost for our team to have someone who can get the quarterback off his spot, hurry throws and get sacks. I’m excited to play with him.”
Coming off two straight losing seasons, outbreak. School officials acknowledged the risk by honoring seniors on the field before the first game rather than at the last since know one knows when the season could end.
While school and athletics officials said they were taking multiple precautions as dozens of games kick off across Alabama on Thursday night and Friday, some teams already have canceled games after players or coaches were infected during summer practice.
Steve Savarese, the executive director of the Alabama High School Athletic Association, said the road to the first game was a challenge.
“I’m just excited to watch our students, our coaches and administrators, spectators ... take an escape from the health challenges we all are facing and just enjoying life again and themselves,” he told a news conference this week.
But the coronavirus has
the Falcons must get more pressure on the quarterback to have any hope of turning things around.
In 2019, even with a late-season surge by the defense that helped save coach Dan Quinn’s job, they ranked next-tolast in the league with just 28 sacks.
The team cut ties with Vic Beasley, who had led the league in sacks during Atlanta’s 2016 run to the Super Bowl but never came close to duplicating his All-Pro season.
Enter Fowler, who is eager to realize his enormous potential.
“I still have some more work to do,” he said. “I’ve just got to sharpen my tools every day.” infected more than 106,000 people in Alabama and killed at least 1,876, and reminders of the toll will be everywhere. Tape will cover seats at some stadiums to keep fans spread apart; and bands and cheerleaders may not travel to away games.
While schools in Utah already have staged games, 16 states including California and Illinois are not playing prep football at all this fall, according to the National Federations of State High School Associations. Others are playing with altered schedules or new rules for the pandemic.
In rural Chilton County at Thorsby, fans will be required to wear a mask to enter and stay at least 6 feet apart once inside the gate. Thorsby only has five police and schools staffs are small, so personal responsibility will be the main enforcer.
“Once people come inside they’re adults and we expect them to act like adults,” said Principal Corey Clements.
The schools are in neighboring farming towns that lie along U.S. 31 about 50 miles south of Birmingham, and Clements expects paid attendance of at least 1,000 people, the equivalent of about half of Thorsby’s population. Extra bleachers are being brought in for the anticipated crowd.
Thorsby coach Daryl Davis said the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 has yet to show up among his players, and he hopes it stays that way. “We’ve been fortunate,” he said.
But firefighters, police and other city workers already have been sickened by the virus, and a pharmacy in Jemison temporarily shut down after a worker was infected. Thorsby Mayor Robert Hight fears a fresh outbreak if people don’t take the threat seriously.
Associated Press
ATLANTA — Georgia Tech is taking its time deciding on a starting quarterback.
Coming off a tumultuous year on offense, the Yellow Jackets are still young and uncertain as they consider sophomore incumbent James Graham and three others for the job.
Maybe it’s wise to avoid making an early declaration amid the coronavirus pandemic. With the scheduled season opener over three weeks away at Florida State and after the team’s first padded practice Wednesday, Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins is in no hurry to finalize the depth chart coming off a 3-9 debut season.
“They’ve got a good relationship with each other, but you know they’re really fighting and really trying to position themselves in a spot where they can lead this program,” Collins said. “Been really proud of all of them and excited to see in the next week and a half this thing unfold.”
Redshirt freshman Jordan Yates and true freshmen Tucker Gleason and Jeff Sims are Graham’s competition, but Graham, who started the final eight games last year, has the edge in experience as the team prepares for its first scrimmage later this week.
Regardless who starts at quarterback, Georgia Tech’s offense has nowhere to go but up.
Among 130 FBS schools, the Yellow Jackets ranked worst in the red zone, fourthworst in average total yards, sixth-worst in third-down percentage and seventhworst in passing. They had two playmakers — running back Jordan Mason and slot receiver Ahmarean Brown — who made a difference, but Graham otherwise had limited options.
Graham completed just 45.1% of his passes, last in the Atlantic Coast Conference for QBs with at least 40 attempts. He still has plenty to work on.