Today’s games
Faulkner at Reinhardt, noon
North Ga. Sports Academy at Point, noon
Rhodes at Berry, 1 p.m.
Middle Ga. at Ga. Military, 1 p.m.
LaGrange at Greensboro, 1 p.m.
Shorter vs. West Texas A&M (AT&T Field), 2 p.m.
J.C. Smith at West Georgia, 2 p.m.
Morehouse vs. Central State (Soldier Field), 3 p.m.
Lane at Paine, 4 p.m.
Ave Maria at Mercer, 6 p.m.
Clark Atlanta at Fort Valley State, 6 p.m.
Delta State at Valdosta State, 7 p.m.
Georgia Southern at South Alabama, 7:30 p.m.
Matt Mumme has tweaked his father’s Air Raid offense here and there, but for the most part, it’s nearly identical to what Hal Mumme originated and has run at his many coaching stops.
Matt Mumme installed the wide-open system at LaGrange when he arrived as offensive coordinator in 2013 and is still calling the plays, even though he replaced Todd Mooney as coach midway through last season.
“I learned everything from him,” Matt said of his dad, who has been the coach at several schools, including Kentucky and Valdosta State, and is in his first season at Belhaven, in Jackson, Miss.
LaGrange’s offense isn’t clicking yet, even though the Panthers are 2-0. They’ve needed two overtimes to win each of their first two games, leading Mumme to say that the defense had kept them in games.
Still, the Panthers have averaged 370.5 yards passing and 31 points per game behind quarterback Graham Craig, who set several school and USA South Conference records last season, including passing yards (3,576) and touchdowns (32).
He has thrown for 741 yards and eight touchdowns this season.
“At the end of the day, he makes you look good,” Mumme said. “He’s a bright young man, and he does a good job with our offense. If the play I’ve called doesn’t look good, he has the ability to shift some things around and take us from a bad place into a good one.”
Mumme has turned LaGrange’s defense over to Earl Chambers, a former Georgia defensive back who was a defensive assistant at Valdosta State for several season and coached at James Madison in 2013.
“That’s another thing I learned from my dad,” Mumme said. “You’ve got to find someone you trust wholeheartedly and let them take care of the defense so you can put your time and effort into the offensive side.”
Tee up in Texas: Shorter coach Phil Jones hopes his players won't be in awe of AT&T Stadium when the Hawks step onto the Dallas Cowboys' home field.
Shorter (2-0) took three buses of players to face West Texas A&M on Saturday in the Lone Star Football Festival.
“They have to understand the field is still 100 yards long and is same size of the fields they play on everywhere,” Jones said. “We need to focus on the game, not on where we’re playing. This is a great thing for our kids.”
Shorter plays the second of four games Saturday at the 80,000-seat stadium.
Rare honor: Valdosta State's Jake Medlock is a threat with his arm and his leg.
Medlock threw for 3,425 yards and 18 touchdowns in three seasons at Florida International, but transferred to Valdosta State this year. He not only won the QB job, but also punts for the Blazers (2-0).
He is the Gulf South Conference’s player of the week for both offense and special teams after Valdosta State’s 22-17 upset of No. 12 Winston-Salem State.
Medlock threw for 162 yards, rushed for 68 more and a score and averaged 47.9 yards on seven punts.
Around the state: Berry (0-2) plays the fifth toughest schedule in Division III, according to D3Football.com. The Vikings' opponents won 60.9 percent of their games in 2013. … Paine QB Loranzo Hammonds, another Florida International transfer, threw for 338 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 96 yards in a loss to Livingstone. … Shorter safety Jordan Shaw (Pickens County) is D2Football.com national defensive player of the week after setting a school record with three interceptions, returning one for a score, in a win over Mars Hill. He also is the Gulf South's defensive player of the week. … Savannah State has lost 12 consecutive games, the second longest streak in the FCS, behind Austin Peay's 14 consecutive. … Clark Atlanta linebacker Bre'nard Williams (Tift County) is tied for fifth in Division II with six tackles for loss.
