Shorter University hoped to spoil Georgia State’s party last week in the Georgia Dome but among all the hype and hoopla of a new program starting, it was a familiar football theme which went a long way to deciding the outcome.
Turnovers plagued Shorter, coached by former Winder-Barrow High School coach Phil Jones, and as a result — at least partly — the Hawks fell to Georgia State 41-7 before a crowd of more than 30,000.
Barrow High School football coach Phil Jones watches a play between his Shorter University Hawks and the Georgia State Panthers last Thursday in the Georgia Dome. Jones was the Bulldogg coach from 1984-1996.
Photo by Jessica Brown
Jones, Shorter Hawks part of historic game
“We need to be more disciplined,” said Jones, whose team was penalized nine times for 115 yards against the Panthers. “We have to make sure that we don’t have the dumb penalties that we had. I think the excitement of playing in the Dome was part of it and a lot of them were effort penalties — but you have to control all of that.”
Shorter’s triple option offense had success moving the football but seemed to hurt themselves on several drives with costly penalties. In fact, the penalties were a factor on both sides of the football as a flag against the Hawks on fourth down of Georgia State’s initial possession of the game kept the drive alive. The Panthers would eventually reach the endzone.
The Hawks ended the game with an advantage in time of possession, keeping the ball for 32:29 – five minutes longer than the Panthers.
“We moved the ball better, there is no question,” said Jones, whose teams have led the NAIA in rushing in each of the last two seasons. “We stayed on blocks a little better and executed a little better, but obviously we struggled with penalties.”
During Jones’ tenure at WBHS, he guided the Bulldoggs to eight playoff appearances including a trip to the semifinals in 1993. Overall, he compiled an 81-58-2 record while also serving as athletic director of the school. He helped start the football program at Shorter in Rome after college coaching stops at the University of Georgia, SMU and Garnder-Webb.
Shorter’s triple option offense had success moving the football but seemed to hurt themselves on several drives with costly penalties. In fact, the penalties were a factor on both sides of the football as a flag against the Hawks on fourth down of Georgia State’s initial possession of the game kept the drive alive. The Panthers would eventually reach the endzone.
The Hawks ended the game with an advantage in time of possession, keeping the ball for 32:29 – five minutes longer than the Panthers.
“We moved the ball better, there is no question,” said Jones, whose teams have led the NAIA in rushing in each of the last two seasons. “We stayed on blocks a little better and executed a little better, but obviously we struggled with penalties.”
During Jones’ tenure at WBHS, he guided the Bulldoggs to eight playoff appearances including a trip to the semifinals in 1993. Overall, he compiled an 81-58-2 record while also serving as athletic director of the school. He helped start the football program at Shorter in Rome after college coaching stops at the University of Georgia, SMU and Garnder-Webb.
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