Saturday’s games
South Carolina State at Savannah State, 1 p.m.
Kennesaw State at Presbyterian, 2 p.m.
Samford at Mercer, 3 p.m.
Georgia Southern at Georgia, 7 p.m.
Division II playoffs
Carson-Newman at Valdosta State, noon
NAIA playoffs
Reinhardt at Saint Francis (Ind.), noon
Point at Baker (Kan.), 1 p.m.
Charles Fortis and Point’s other seniors had seen enough.
They entered this season determined to change the direction of the program, which they’ve done, thanks in part to first-year coach Mike McCarty.
Point, a NAIA program in West Point, won six games combined in its first three seasons. The Skyhawks equaled that total by mid-October.
They went on to to win the Sun Conference and are 9-2 heading into their first playoff game. Point, ranked 17th in the NAIA, plays at No. 2 Baker (Kan.) University (10-1) on Saturday.
“The seniors here had been through all the struggles,” said Fortis, who’s thrown for 2,611 yards and 30 touchdowns this season. “Building a program is hard. We knew we wanted to finish strong. We wanted a championship going out our senior year. This is pretty amazing.”
Fortis said the team bought into McCarty, who was hired in the spring after spending his career as an assistant at West Alabama, where he worked for Will Hall, who is now at West Georgia.
He quickly assembled a staff and spent several months recruiting to fill out the roster. Despite Fortis’ impressive passing numbers, McCarty has a run-first philosophy.
The Skyhawks rush for an average of 178.6 yards per game. They rank 14th in the NAIA in total offense (450.1 yards), 11th in passing (271.5) and eighth in scoring (41.6 points).
Point’s only losses are to Reinhardt, another NAIA playoff team, and Kennesaw State, an FCS program.
“When we came here this spring, we met with every player, and the seniors were all in agreement when we asked them if they were capable of winning the conference,” McCarty said. “They all said, ‘Yes.’ So that was the goal from the get-go. We wanted to send them out with a conference championship. (The playoffs) are the cherry on top.”
Etc.: West Georgia received a top seed and one of four byes for the Division II playoffs, which begin Saturday. … Reinhardt defensive end Javier Dyer (Brookwood) is the Mid-South Conference West Division Co-Defensive Player of the Year. … Valdosta State linebacker Malcolm McClenton (Thomas County Central) is the Gulf South Conference's defensive freshman of the year. … West Georgia led the GSC with 17 players on the all-conference teams. … J. Lin Dawson, who played for the New England Patriots from 1981-90, is the new athletic director at Clark Atlanta. He had been the interim AD at Elizabeth City State since 2013. … Morehouse receiver Devon Mann (Newton) and kick returner Amyr Smith (Grady), and Clark Atlanta defensive back Joshua Tate are All-SIAC first-team selections. … Reinhardt running back Niagel Curtis (Gordon Central) has scored 14 touchdowns in the past three games and leads the NAIA with 26.
