High School Sports
Best of the best
The graduating class of 2025 has been around for quite a few of Georgia Athletics’ proudest moments. Here is a look at some of the greatest moments from Georgia Bulldogs sports over the past four years. Football finally gets it done, twice Georgia Football head coach Kirby Smart kisses the College Football Playoff National Championship […]

The graduating class of 2025 has been around for quite a few of Georgia Athletics’ proudest moments. Here is a look at some of the greatest moments from Georgia Bulldogs sports over the past four years.
Football finally gets it done, twice
Georgia Football head coach Kirby Smart kisses the College Football Playoff National Championship trophy on Jan. 10, 2022 after the Bulldogs won the title. (Photo/ Kathryn Skeean, kskeean@randb.com)
Football has always reigned supreme at Georgia, and so the cries over Georgia’s 41-year-long championship drought only grew louder as it got further from 1980. Finally, the Bulldogs won the national championship after Kelee Ringo’s pick six sealed the deal over Alabama in Georgia’s 33-18 win to cap off the 2021 College Football Playoff. Kirby Smart had officially brought a national title home to his alma mater. The cathartic win only got sweeter the following season after Georgia returned to the mountaintop and demolished TCU 65-7 in 2022’s title game. For a town like Athens where football is king, back-to-back football championships are about as good as it gets.
Simone Biles in the Classic City
Olympian Simone Biles poses with the Georgia gymnastics team during the UGA vs. Boise State gymnastics meet at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia, on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. Georgia won 196.825-193.600. (Photo/Laney Martin: @LaneyMartinPhotography)
Simone Biles, one of the greatest athletes of all time, made an appearance in Athens in 2025 at Georgia’s Jan. 17 home-opening gymnastics meet against Boise State. Co-head coach Cécile Canqueteau-Landi is a longtime coach of Biles, and the 11-time Olympic medalist came to support her coach in her first home meet for the Bulldogs. Georgia defeated Boise State 196.825-193.600 with Biles in attendance.
Tennis picks up some hardware
Georgia tennis player Aysegul Mert, Georgia tennis player Guillermina Grant during Georgia’s match during the 2024 ITA Sectionals at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga., on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (Ethan Levine/UGAAA)
Georgia’s tennis program has long been one of the school’s most decorated. In May 2023, Georgia tennis player Ethan Quinn won the NCAA singles championship. He became just the third Bulldog in history to bring home the individual title and turned pro shortly after. Georgia’s women’s tennis team was also busy in the last four years, winning its seventh national championship at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship final in February 2025. The team is aiming to cap off its season with an NCAA championship in mid-May.
Basketball goes dancing
Scenes Georgia center Somtochukwu “Somto” Cyril (6) and Georgia guard Tyrin Lawrence (7) hug after a men’s NCAA basketball game against Florida at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia, on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. Georgia won 88-83. (Photo/Mady Mertens; @madymertensphotography)
A day some Georgia fans never thought would come happened this past March when the Georgia men’s basketball team qualified for its first NCAA tournament berth since 2015. Now, the game itself didn’t exactly go swimmingly for Georgia, as the team was swiftly crushed by Gonzaga 89-68 after a disastrous start to the game left them trailing 30-5. Nevertheless, it was a critical step forward for a program that has seen numerous rebuild attempts in recent years. Georgia’s 12-1 start to the season in 2024-25 was its best since 1930. Also, in 2022, Georgia’s women’s basketball team advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament before losing to the Caitlin Clark-led Iowa Hawkeyes.
Baseball advances to Super Regional
Georgia senior Corey Collins (6) celebrates home run with redshirt sophomore Charlie Condon (24) during game four of the NCAA Athens Regional between UNCW and Georgia at Foley Field in Athens, Georgia, on Saturday, June 1, 2024. Georgia won 11-2. (Photo/Mady Mertens; MadyMertensPhotography)
Georgia baseball had one of its best years in program history in 2024, finishing 43-17 in head coach Wes Johnson’s first year leading the team. Charlie Condon won the Dick Howser Trophy, awarded to the best player in college baseball, after hitting .410 and mashing 62 home runs in the season. Corey Collins was also an All-American. The team advanced to the Athens Super Regional for the first time since 2008 after losing the last five regionals that it played in. The Bulldogs nearly reached their first College World Series since 2008, but were eliminated by NC State. Though Condon and Collins have since moved on to the pros, Georgia reloaded with talent and is in pursuit of a deeper run this season.
Equestrian brings another title to Athens
Georgia rider Catalina Peralta during Georgia’s meet against South Carolina at the UGA Equestrian Complex in Bishop, Ga., on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (Courtesy/Sofia Yaker/UGAAA)
Football wasn’t Georgia’s only national champion. The equestrian team won the 2025 national title, the program’s first since 2021 and eighth overall. Kennedy Buchanan and Catalina Peralta both received dual discipline selections, headlining the 11 Bulldogs receiving honors after the victory. The win came on the heels of head coach Meghan Boenig’s induction into the National Collegiate Equestrian Association Hall of Fame.
High School Sports
The economic impact of high school sports
BY BRANDON UNVERFERTH CherryRoad Media Writer bunverferth@cherryroad.com High school sports have a significant economic impact that extends beyond the playing field. From generating revenue through… 0


High School Sports
Caden Harris highlights from the recent Georgia Bulldogs 4
Georgia landed its 15th commitment for the 2026 class earlier this month when Brownsville (Tenn.) Haywood cornerback Caden Harris announced that he had switched his commitment from Vanderbilt to the Bulldogs. The 6-foot, 160-pound prospect chose Georgia over 39 other offers, giving Georgia assistant and cornerbacks coach Donte Williams his second cornerback commitment for the 2026 cycle. A third could be coming on […]


Georgia landed its 15th commitment for the 2026 class earlier this month when Brownsville (Tenn.) Haywood cornerback Caden Harris announced that he had switched his commitment from Vanderbilt to the Bulldogs. The 6-foot, 160-pound prospect chose Georgia over 39 other offers, giving Georgia assistant and cornerbacks coach Donte Williams his second cornerback commitment for the 2026 cycle. A third could be coming on Friday.
Watch Harris’s junior highlights above. Harris is ranked as the No. 94 overall prospect, the No. 9 cornerback in the country, and the No. 4 overall recruit in Tennessee according to 247Sports. He ranks as the No. 85 overall recruit in the country in the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, as well as the nation’s No. 11 cornerback and No. 3 overall prospect in Tennessee. Harris joins Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas’ four-star Justice Fitzpatrick to give Williams a pair of Top 100 prospects at cornerback, with both being ranked among the top 10 cornerbacks in the country on 247Sports. Harris has visited Georgia for a spring practice and took his official visit on June 6.
“I’m a man of my word. Coach Donte and I had a conversation prior to my commitment, so I for sure had to at least come see what was offered to me,” Harris told Dawgs247’s Ben Wolk. “All of it was important. I retained a lot of information that was needed, so overall it’ll all tie in together. The message has been that I’m wanted, and they’ll continue to push for me.”
Below is the 247Sports Scouting Report for Harris from April 28, which comes with a player comparison of Ambry Thomas.
“Wiry cornerback with the reach, twitch and speed to mirror top weapons at the game’s highest levels. Turned heads in a combine setting spring before senior year not only acing footwork drills, but also holding his own out on the perimeter during 1-on-1s. Keeps his eyes on the hips of assignments as he fights to maintain phase and is quick to pivot. Owns valuable experience in both press-man and off-man coverage. However, needs to improve play strength if he’s going to be asked to jam every series on Saturdays, which should happen as he’s very young for the grade. Additional weight is also likely to make him much more effective in run support. Not one that has generated a ton of takeaways throughout his prep career, but reacts fast and gets to the football. Should be viewed as a high-upside outside corner that might need some time to get the body right, but one that has the athleticism to be a multi-year impact player for a Power Four program. Frame and testing numbers should be attractive to NFL evaluators one day, especially in a passing era.”
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High School Sports
JSBL
MANASQUAN — In Shore Conference high school basketball, when one side boasts one-sixth of the 18-man All-Shore Conference team, it’s a super-team. In the Jersey Shore Basketball League, it is a work-in-progress. Jaycen Santucci, Justin Fuerbacher and Colin Byrne were all members of the 2025 Shore Sports Insider All-Shore Team and the three local standouts […]

MANASQUAN — In Shore Conference high school basketball, when one side boasts one-sixth of the 18-man All-Shore Conference team, it’s a super-team.
In the Jersey Shore Basketball League, it is a work-in-progress.
Jaycen Santucci, Justin Fuerbacher and Colin Byrne were all members of the 2025 Shore Sports Insider All-Shore Team and the three local standouts from this past winter joined forces for the first time in JSBL play Thursday night for Ortho-NJ. The trio combined for 28 points in support of 51 points by teammate George Papas in a 125-106 loss to RKE Athletic.
It was a baptism-by-fire of sorts for three accomplished high-school players who are three of several who will be testing themselves right after graduation by competing in a league that houses mostly current college players with a sprinkling of current and former professionals — which includes the former Monmouth University star, Papas.
“It’s an important step for experience,” Fuerbacher said of his JSBL debut. “You have seen college guys before, you know what college guys look like and you see what real pros look like. I think it’s important to get that taste in your mouth, but there is also an aura around this league. It’s very well-known, so when people ask, ‘Hey, do you want to play in the JSBL?’ you jump at that opportunity.”

Justin Fuerbacher at CBA this past winter. (Photo: Tom Smith | tspimages.com)
As seniors at their respective high schools this past winter, Santucci, Fuerbacher and Byrne all starred as top scorers, rebounders, defenders and distributors. Santucci was a First-Team All-Shore guard at Central Regional, where he averaged 19.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists as a senior on the way to becoming the second-leading scorer in Golden Eagles history behind 2,000-point scorer Jermaine Clay.
Fuerbacher was a four-year contributor at Christian Brothers Academy, where few players make an impact as a freshman in any capacity, much less to the degree that Fuerbacher did four years ago. This past winter, he closed out his career with a Second-Team All-Shore selection after averaging 11.9 points and 5.1 rebounds as the CBA captain while playing through a sprained ankle for most of the season.
While both Santucci and Fuerbacher were returning All-Shore players from their junior seasons, Byrne made the leap between his junior and senior year to become a Third-Team All-Shore selection in leading a turnaround at Middletown North. The Lions went 0-10 in divisional play in 2023-24 and after moving out of a division with Rumson-Fair Haven, Red Bank Regional, Red Bank Catholic and Holmdel, they churned out an 18-9 season this past year and won the Class B Coastal division championship — Middletown North’s first division championship in 14 years. Byrne averaged 18.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and three assists in his final high school season.
“This gets us college-ready,” Byrne said. “These guys out here all have experience playing four years of college, so it gets us ready for what we’re going to see in the next couple of months.”
The credentials of each of the three players would have stood out in a Shore Conference All-Star Game, but on Thursday night, they were of little use against a veteran RKE Athletic team led by its own trio of Shore Conference alumni, only far more seasoned than the recent graduates on Ortho-NJ. Mater Dei Prep alums Peter Gorman (33 points, six rebounds, four assists) and Kyle Cardaci (25 points, six rebounds) helped lead the scoring effort while Manasquan alumnus and current Monmouth University wing Jack Collins chipped in 16 points, six rebounds and six assists.
“Everyone is skilled and more tuned,” Santucci said of his first experience in JSBL competition. “Everybody out here can shoot, everybody out here can dribble, so it’s kind of position-less.”

Central senior Jaycen Santucci during the WOBM Christmas Classic final vs. Manasquan. (Photo: Tom Smith | tspimages.com)
Cardaci played his college career at Bryant, Coppin State and Saint Peter’s, while Gorman is coming off an all-conference senior season at Ramapo in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) where he was also voted as the NJAC Player of the Year. Cardaci won a Shore Conference Tournament championship as a junior at Mater Dei Prep in 2017 and Gorman was a senior standout on the 2019-20 Seraphs team that upset No. 2 seed Middletown South as a 15 seed in the Shore Conference Tournament. Collins, meanwhile, was a starter on Manasquan’s 12-0 team during the COVID-shortened 2021 high school season.
Santucci, Fuerbacher and Byrne are all hoping to have similarly accomplished careers after high school, and playing in the JSBL before heading to campus is an early step they hope will prepare them for a college basketball atmosphere that demands newcomers — whether freshmen or transfers — to be able to contribute in year one.
“Everybody else is coming in ready, so you want to be able to keep up,” Fuerbacher said. “Playing in a league like (the JSBL), you want to get as many live reps as possible against guys like that.”
“It’s just like we’re freshmen in high school again,” Santucci said. “It’s a completely different level. It’s going to be the same kind of adjustment and it might take a little longer, maybe not as long, but you’ve just got to feel it out and see where you fit in.”

Peter Gorman during opening-night JSBL action. (Photo: Bob Badders | rpbphotography.com)
Santucci will be the most local of the Ortho-NJ All-Shore trio, as he is staying in Ocean County at Georgian Court University as a prized recruit for GCU head coach Dave Fedor.
Fuerbacher is headed to Division III Middlebury College in Vermont and Byrne will continue his career at Stonehill College in Massachusetts. Stonehill will be playing its first season in Division I in 2025-26.
Santucci and Fuerbacher each made their JSBL debuts on Thursday night and reached double-figures in scoring, with Santucci posting 16 points and eight rebounds, while Fuerbacher went for 11 and nine. Byrne was coming off a 15-point night in a season-opening loss to Sterns Trailer and finished with two on Thursday.
Former Matawan guard Mike Dunne went for 16 points and eight rebounds and former Raritan star Mike Aaman — the Shore Conference Player of the Year in both 2011 and 2012 — put up 11 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in the loss. Papas went off for 51 on 16-for-32 shooting, including 10-for-24 from three-point range.
“The games are competitive, it’s just that guys are so good that it’s tough to play defense against them,” Santucci said. “It becomes more like trading baskets than actually playing.”
Papas and Cardaci exchanged words in the final minute of the game and had to be separated during the postgame handshake line — a heated finish to a game RKE controlled from the end of the first quarter through the final whistle of the game, which came before the buzzer due to the rising tensions between the two players.
“These guys don’t become pros without having a little edge to them,” Fuerbacher said. “I don’t want to say I was surprised, but you don’t go into a basketball game thinking that something like that is going to happen. It adds to the experience.”
“These guys compete,” Byrne said. “You could see it coming.”

WCT Warriors guard Andre Wells defended by RKE Athletic’s Kyle Cardaci during opening-night action in the JSBL. (Photo: Bob Badders | rpbphotography.com)
Game 2 Recap: Larson Ford 97, WCT Warriors 88
Pepperdine transfer and former Montclair Immaculate star Zion Bethea scored 22 points and recent Red Bank Regional graduate Zayier Dean led a balanced supporting effort with 17 as Larson Ford bounced back from its season-opening loss Wednesday with a win over the WCT Warriors on Thursday.
Dean followed up his 23-point season debut on Wednesday with another double-digit scoring effort on 7-for-14 shooting from the field (3-for-4 from three-point range) that also included four rebounds and five assists. Bethea, meanwhile, did most of his damage from the free-throw line, where he shot 11-for-13. Bethea — who is currently in the transfer portal ahead of his red-shirt senior season — also added five rebounds and four assists.
Colts Neck alumnus Lloyd Daniels was one of four Larson players to chip in 14 points, with Daniels also grabbing five boards and shooting 3-for-4 from the three-point line. Larson and WCT each attempted 27 three-pointers and Larson’s strong shooting (11 makes; 41 percent) vs. WCT’s poor shooting (6 makes; 22 percent) proved to be the difference in the outcome.
St. John Vianney alum Alex Leiba — who also played at Pepperdine this past season — turned in an all-around effort with 14 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots. Je’lon Hornbeak (11 rebounds, five assists) and Gene Campbell (seven rebounds) also scored 14 points apiece in the win.
Former Seton Hall forward Jorge Mercado led the WCT Warriors with 22 points and nine rebounds. A pair of Shore Conference alumni packed up Mercado’s effort, with former Matawan point guard Andre Wells going for 18 points, five rebounds and nine assists while former Lakewood standout Ryan Savoy contributed 19 points and nine rebounds. Former Manasquan center Quinn Peters also reached double-figures with 11 points.
High School Sports
Spring milestones
The 2025 year has rolled into its summer months, meaning the latest school year has concluded. Lebanon County saw several local athletes find success in their respective sport and it brought us a year of new milestones and broken records.Following spring athletics from 2025, fans can now vote for the best achievements from individuals and […]

The 2025 year has rolled into its summer months, meaning the latest school year has concluded. Lebanon County saw several local athletes find success in their respective sport and it brought us a year of new milestones and broken records.Following spring athletics from 2025, fans can now vote for the best achievements from individuals and teams around the area. 12 team and personal accomplishments were nominated for marking significant achievements this past spring and it’s time to decide which were the best.Both polls are now open and will run from Friday to noon July 4.Want to nominate an athlete for weekly or seasonal polls? Email Zavier Gussett at zgussett@ldnews.com. Include the athlete’s name, sport and a little bit about their accomplishment.Softball superlatives: Lebanon County postseason awards following 2025 spring season
Can’t see the polls? Refresh your browser.
High School Sports
Marshall Manning (Peyton's son) has ridiculously impressive QB highlights
Yup, he’s a Manning. Marshall Manning, the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning, frequently attends games with his dad, and he has stolen the show at Pro Bowls in recent years. He’s been around football his whole life, and Marshall’s dad is quite the coach. So it’s no surprise that the […]


Yup, he’s a Manning.
Marshall Manning, the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning, frequently attends games with his dad, and he has stolen the show at Pro Bowls in recent years. He’s been around football his whole life, and Marshall’s dad is quite the coach. So it’s no surprise that the young quarterback already looks like a future star.
Marshall’s older cousin, Arch (the son of Cooper Manning), has looked promising with the Texas Longhorns, and Marshall is now turning heads at the middle school level. There are several highlight clips on Marshall’s Hudl page, and Zach Ragan of AtoZSports shared a sample on Twitter/X earlier this week:
Marshall played for Cherry Creek Football’s Bruins Red-Drobnitch squad that went 7-2 last season. Now 14 years old, Marshall is getting close to high school, and college football programs will no doubt monitor his development.
Archie Manning, the family’s football patriarch, played college football at Ole Miss before playing with three NFL teams, most notably with the New Orleans Saints. Peyton, Cooper and Eli played high school football at Isidore Newman in New Orleans. Peyton went on to play college football at Tennessee, and Eli played at Ole Miss. Cooper’s football journey was cut short by spinal stenosis before getting an opportunity to play at Ole Miss.
Peyton won Super Bowls with the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos, and Eli won two titles with the New York Giants.
Cooper’s son, Arch, played high school football at Newman and now plays football at Texas. Football fans across the country will be eager to see where Marshall ends up playing college ball in a few years.
Related: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
High School Sports
WATCH
Patrick Mahomes’ path to becoming the best quarterback in the world wasn’t always a straightforward one. The three-time Super Bowl MVP was only a three-star recruit coming out of high school, and despite the huge numbers he posted at Texas Tech in college, he fell to the Kansas City Chiefs at No. 10 in the […]


Patrick Mahomes’ path to becoming the best quarterback in the world wasn’t always a straightforward one. The three-time Super Bowl MVP was only a three-star recruit coming out of high school, and despite the huge numbers he posted at Texas Tech in college, he fell to the Kansas City Chiefs at No. 10 in the 2017 NFL draft.
And while Mahomes’ game became more polished and impressive at every level, the core of what made him great was always there. His ability to improvise, avoid pressure, and throw the ball all over the field even while he was on the run has always made him an electric gunslinger.
In an incredible throwback that all but the most ardent Mahomes haters will appreciate, that skillset was already on full display in his senior high school season. Just check out his original MaxPreps highlight reel, uploaded back in May 2014.
Patrick Mahomes’ High-School Football Highlight Reel
Not only is this a cool relic of Mahomes’ career history, getting to see the actual highlight reel he was using before he ever made it big, but it’s incredible to see how recognizable the core aspects of his game already were at this point.
The very first play, an improvised throw out of the grasp of a defender, is instantly familiar. Or how about 31 seconds in when he eludes pressure (more than once), extends the play rolling left, can’t find space to set his feet but still throws a 30-yard dart across his body to the corner of the end zone?
And of course, as Mahomes’ career has progressed, more highlights from his high school career have surfaced, and the work in building out his highlight tapes has become a little more polished. Check out this one if that first reel left you craving more:
It’s pretty special to be living in an era where early-career highlights like this are readily available, rather than just existing in rare glimpses of old home-video footage that the big networks can sometimes get access to.
Patrick Mahomes’ High School Stats
Football
Mahomes’ Junior and Senior year high school stats from Whitehouse High School in Texas, courtesy of MaxPreps:
- Games: 37
- Completions: 524
- Attempts: 913
- Completion Pct: 57.4%
- Yards: 8,458
- Yards per Attempt: 9.3
- Touchdowns: 96
- Interceptions: 15
- Rushing Yards: 1,198
- Rushing Touchdowns: 21
Baseball
Of course, we can’t forget Mahomes’ multi-sport potential. So what did his high school baseball stats and highlights look like? Unfortunately, his full stats aren’t available anywhere, but there are plenty of anecdotes about how great he looked. How about a 16-strikeout no-hitter? Or reports of a mid-90s fastball at 17 years old (even more impressive in 2014 than it is now).
And while they’re not nearly as jaw-dropping as his football highlights, take a look at Mahomes’ high school baseball highlight reel too:
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