Macon Touchdown Club Annual Award Winners For 2020

The Macon Touchdown Club will hold an Awards Ceremony on March 6th, at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, to recognize these local athletes and coaches for their achievements. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, attendance will be limited to Macon Touchdown Club members, and invited guests.  Face coverings will be required for entry into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.

Ortho Georgia Back of the Year

Travion Solomon  –  Northeast High School

Ortho Georgia/Bill Turner Lineman of the Year

Matt Adams  –  Jones County High School

Ortho Georgia Special Teams Player of the Year

Evan West  –  Jones County High School

Marvin Davis Coach of the Year

Jeremy Wiggins  –  Northeast High School

Bobby Pope State Coach of the Year

Marquis Westbrook  –  Warner Robins High School

Bobby Gene Sanders Memorial Scholarship Awards

Sean Langan  –  Mount De Sales Academy

Anders J. Stevenson  –  Stratford Academy

Andrew Correa  –  First Presbyterian Day School

Camden Ford  –  Tattnall Square Academy

Recognition of Appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point

Walter Hawthorne  –  Central High School

 

Merry Christmas, from the Macon Touchdown Club.

Brian Bohannon speaker for November 30

*Coach Bohannon was hired on March 24, 2013 and tasked with building a football program from scratch, Bohannon and embraced the challenge and quickly turned Kennesaw State into the best five-year start-up program in college football history in 2019 with a 48-15 overall record, two Big South Conference championships, three straight appearances in the FCS Playoffs and four playoff victories.

Bohannon is a three-time finalist for the Eddie Robinson award as the nation’s top FCS head coach, including a runner-up finish in 2018 and a third-place finish in 2017. He was named the AFCA National Coach of the Year in 2017 and is a two-time Big South Conference Coach of the Year.

He is second in Big South Conference history with 48 victories and he became the fastest coach to win 45 games when he reached the benchmark with a 38-35 win over Campbell on Nov. 9, 2019. In the first five years of the program, 72 national polls have been released with the Owls appearing in exactly 50-percent of the rankings. Of those 72 polls, Kennesaw State has been inside the top-10 41-percent of the time.

*From ksuowls.com/

Jeff Monken speaker for November 23

Jeff Monken heads into his seventh season at the helm of Army West Point football in 2020 after being named the 37th individual head coach in program history on Dec. 24, 2013.

Monken shows a 76-52 career record as a head coach and a 40-36 mark at Army. The Black Knights have enjoyed success over the past several seasons with a .654 winning percentage, including back-to-back wins over Air Force in 2017 and 2018, three-straight wins over Navy (2016, 2017, 2018) and three consecutive bowl-game victories (2016, 2017, 2018).

The 2019 season featured five wins for the Black Knights which was ranked amongst the best in the nation once again. Since the start of the 2016 season, Army is averaging a nation’s best 327.8 yards per game on the ground. The Blacks Knights own the best third down conversion rate dating back to the 2010 season, converting 813-of-1,711 third downs (47.5 percent).

Army averaged 297.2 rushing yards per game (3rd nationally) in 2019 and had 3,863 net rushing yards total (3rd). The Black Knights’ 45 rushing scores were tied for second in the nation, while their 5.2 yards per rush was 17th. The Cadets had three plays go for 80 or more yards (all touchdowns) in 2019, which finished tied for the nation’s lead.

Army had 19 rushes of 30 or more yards this season, good for a tie for sixth in the nation. It finished tied for 12th in 40-plus rushes (9), 13th in 10-plus yard rushes (93), and tied for 17th in 20-plus (28). The Black Knights were fifth nationally in passing defense (178.9), tied for 27th in fumble recoveries (10), 27th in first downs allowed (234) and 30th in total defense (342.3).

West Point was eighth nationally in fewest penalty yards per game (38.2) and 12th in fewest penalties per game (4.6). Army is now 17-2 in its last 19 games played at Michie Stadium dating back to the 2016 season. This 2019 season marked Army’s fourth consecutive winning season at home. The Cadets’ 3,863 yards on the ground this season is good for sixth in program history. Since taking over as head coach in 2014, Monken and his teams own four of the top six single season rushing marks in program history.

http://www.goarmywestpoint.com

Steve Dennis speaker for November 16

*Former Troy director of athletics Steve Dennis is in his second season as the director of football administration at Georgia Southern. Dennis spent seven full years running the Troy athletics department and saw his student-athletes flourish both on the field and in the classroom. The Trojan student-athletes regularly posted grade point averages of 3.0 or better, allowing Troy to enjoy the highest level of success possible under the NCAA’s Academic Progress Report for the 2008-09 and the 2009-10 school years as all 16 NCAA sports registered above the mandated 92.5 percent.

Dennis went to Troy from Auburn University, where he served in a variety of capacities beginning in 1985. His final assignment was as the Associate Director of Tigers Unlimited, the Athletics Department’s Development office. In that position, he was responsible for identifying, cultivating and soliciting support from individuals, private industry and corporations for the Athletics Department.

A native of Macon, Georgia, Dennis graduated from the University of Georgia, cum laude, in 1978.

While at Georgia, he was the Bulldogs’ defensive captain in 1978 and was an Academic All-Southeastern Conference selection that same season. During his playing career, he played in three bowl games for the Bulldogs.

Dennis started his professional career as a high school teacher, football coach and baseball coach in Windsor (Ga.). He started his collegiate coaching career at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga in 1981. In four-plus seasons, he coached outside linebackers, the defensive line and special teams for the Moccasins. Dennis went to work as the defensive backs and special teams coach at Auburn in 1985, and he remained on the Tigers’ staff for eight seasons. He was named the SEC Working Coach of the Year in 1986 by The Birmingham Touchdown Club.

Dennis returned to his alma mater in December of 1993, and worked as the defensive backs and special teams coach for the Bulldogs for two seasons.

From 1997 until 2002, Dennis was out of college athletics. He worked in sales, marketing and promotions for Georgia Southern Wood, Inc., serving in that role from 1997 until 2000. He then worked at Cleveland Brothers Construction from 2000 until 2002.

Dennis returned to Auburn to coach tight ends in 2002, before moving to fund-raising within the Auburn Athletics Department in 2003. During his college coaching career, he was part of seven bowl teams and one Division I-AA playoff team.

*From Georgia Southern Athletics

J. Scott Moore speaker for November 9

*Scott Moore is a nationally renowned sports talk radio personality, featured writer for Scout.com, and an in-demand guest speaker and entertainer. For the past six college football seasons, Scott has served as a guest analyst on XM Fox Sports Radio.

Scott is renowned for his college football acumen and uncanny ability to impersonate over seventy celebrities, sportscasters, and college football coaches. He is sure to keep audiences laughing with hilarious takes on Bobby Bowden, Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban, Pete Carroll, Bob Stoops, Ron Zook, Pat Dye, Lou Holtz, Keith Jackson, Bill Clinton, George Bush, and More!

Over the past five years, Scott has had the privilege of speaking at the National Quarterback Club in Washington, D.C. with General Colin Powell, the NFL MVP Award Ceremony and the Home Depot 2005 ESPN College Football Awards. In addition, Scott has served as the host of CSTV’s “Coast to Coach” and has been a featured guest speaker at five BCS Bowls, including the Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Sugar Bowl. Additionally, Auburn, Alabama, Clemson, Florida, California, Kansas State, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Florida State, Virginia Tech, and Ohio State have all hired Scott to entertain and motivate their players.

In 2016 Scott was a featured speaker with FSU head coach Jimbo Fisher at the Tallahassee Quarterback Club & in the spring of 2017 at The Wuerffel Trophy (All Sports Association) with Hall of Fame Coach Steve Spurrier.

 *From weresportsradio.com

 

Adrian Peterson speaker for November 2

*College Football Hall of Famer Adrian Peterson and Georgia Southern alum is in his first season as the director of student-athlete development for the Georgia Southern football program.

In his new role, Peterson will work closely with Student-Athlete Services to provide communication to the football staff on the academic progress of all 100-plus student-athletes on the team. He will also serve as a mentor for many players as they navigate their way through college with the end goal of every player earning his degree. He will also have a heavy hand in on-campus recruiting, APR other areas to be determined by head coach Chad Lunsford.

Perhaps the greatest player to ever suit up in Statesboro, Peterson’s No. 3 jersey is retired at Georgia Southern and he still stands as the NCAA’s Division I all-time leading rusher with 6,559 yards in regular-season contests. He is already a member of GS’s Athletics Hall of Fame and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in December. The Alachua, Florida, native was a four-time All-American and was the first sophomore to win the Walter Payton Award, given to the top player in the FCS. He rushed for 100 or more yards in 48 consecutive games and at the time of graduation, held 30 school and playoff records. He was a sixth-round draft choice of the Chicago Bears in 2002 and was a Super Bowl XLI participant.

Peterson was inducted as a member of the inaugural SoCon Hall of Fame class in 2009 and was a unanimous choice for induction into Georgia Southern Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2012 in his first year of eligibility. He is well known for his charity work and advocacy of the importance of education. He has dedicated his life to motivational speaking and working with multiple charities.

*From gseagles.com

Tashard Choice speaker for October 26

*Tashard Choice, a two-time Atlantic Coast Conference rushing champion at Georgia Tech and former National Football League running back, is in his second year as running backs coach at his alma mater. In his first season as the Yellow Jackets’ running backs coach, he coached an all-ACC honoree in Jordan Mason and, in his role as offensive recruiting coordinator, was instrumental in putting together the second-highest ranked recruiting class in Tech history.

A Jonesboro, Ga. native, Choice returned to Georgia Tech from North Texas, where he was named one of six finalists for FootballScoop’s 2018 Running Backs Coach of the Year award.

Before entering the coaching ranks, Choice enjoyed a six-year NFL career (2008-13), most notably spending four seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. As a running back at Georgia Tech (2005-07), he led the ACC in rushing in 2006 and 2007 and remains Tech’s only two-time ACC rushing champion.

*From ramblinwreck.com

Jeff Dantzler speaker for October 19

*Jeff Dantzler’s passion for the Georgia Bulldogs runs incredibly deep, as does his knowledge of all Georgia sports. Perhaps more than anyone, Dantzler, one of the radio voices of Georgia athletics and a regular video contributor on GeorgiaDogs.com, can talk intelligently about everything from Bulldog football to women’s basketball to golf and tennis.

*From georgiadogs.com

Chuck Oliver October 12th Speaker

*Chuck Oliver was born in Atlanta.  After graduating from Central Gwinnett in 1986, Chuck attended Auburn University, where he earned his degree in English and began teaching and coaching football.

Chuck was Comcast Sport Southeast’s ACC football expert for 10 seasons, as well as providing color commentary for seven years for the Conference USA “Game of the Week” televised across 11 states each Saturday during football season. He also spent four years as the SEC expert on the post-game show for CBS’ national game of the week, while also providing color analysis on the official radio broadcast for eight Chick-fil-A Peach Bowls. Additionally, Chuck logged 13 years on the selection committee for the bowl game and is also a voting member for the College Football Hall of Fame.

*From the Chuck Oliver Show (Big River Broadcasting)