Dublin — an impressive amount of area residents made the trek to Dublin over the week past to catch the Aug. 24 college football kickoff to the season with Florida State University taking on Georgia Tech at Aviva Stadium.
The stands were filled with Americans — mostly FSU supporters — and more American accents were overheard than Dublin accents.
Unfortunately for FSU fans, the No. 10 ranked Seminoles were upset by the unranked Yellow Jackets 24-21 behind a ball-control offense that limited FSU to seven possessions and a Georgia defense that pushed the ’Noles around.
FSU got on the scoreboard first on its opening possession with a seven-play, 75-yard drive culminated by a Lawrence Toafili touchdown, followed by a 2-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.
Georgia Tech responded with a six-play, 79-yard drive punctuated by a 1-yard Zach Pyron touchdown and the ensuing extra point from Aidan Birr to pull to within a point.
FSU extended its lead to four with a 52-yard field goal from Ryan Fitzgerald at 11:06 of the second quarter, but Georgia Tech answered right back with a 14-play, 75-yard drive culminated by Jamal Hayes’ 1-yard touchdown and the extra point for a 14-11 lead.
FSU tied the score at 14-14 on a 59-yard field goal from Fitzgerald to close out the first half.
After a scoreless third quarter, GT took a 21-14 lead on a 2-yard touchdown run by Hayes and the ensuing extra point to open the fourth quarter. The touchdown culminated an 11-play drive that consumed 6:22 of the clock.
FSU answered with a long touchdown drive of its own that required two fourth down and long yardage completions by quarterback DJ Uiagalelei to tie the score at 21-21.
Georgia Tech then chewed up the rest of the clock with a 12-play, 54-yard drive that resulted in a 44-yard, game-winning field goal by Birr.
Locals in attendance included this writer, my daughter Gillian Cassidy, sister Mo Cassidy and my neighbor Patrick Manning and his family. Other Manatee County residents include Caroline and Neil Halfacre along with son Charlie, Sofia Belsito, Cam Silk and John and Chris Willis. And although there were other island-area residents in attendance, we never ran into them.
Other than the game result, a great time was had by all!
Key Royale golf news
Heavy rains closed the course at the Key Royale Club in Holmes Beach Aug. 22, canceling the weekly scramble
However, the course was open Aug. 19 and Aug. 20 for regular golf action.
The men’s weekly modified-Stableford system match Aug. 19 saw Rob Ellis card a plus-4 to edge second-place finisher Mike Cusato by a point.
The women played a nine-hole individual-low-net match Aug. 20 that saw Helen Pollock fire a 2-under-par 30 to earn clubhouse bragging rights for the day.
Horseshoe news
Aug. 21 horseshoe action at the Anna Maria City Hall pits saw three teams emerge from pool play and a champion was determined in the playoffs. The team of Bob Hawks and Tom Farrington drew the bye into the finals and watched as Bob Heiger and Gary Howcroft cruised past Steve Kreibel and Tim Sofran by a 24-1 score. The final match was a little closer, but Heiger and Farrington earned an easy 23-7 victory to claim the day’s bragging rights.
The games Aug. 24 saw Hawks back in the mix, this time partnered with Howcroft. They outscored Tim Sofran and Steve Kreibel 25-16.
The action gets started at 9 a.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays at the Anna Maria pits. Warm ups begin at 8:45 a.m., followed by random team selection.
There is no charge to play.