Vic Beasley, Jr. of the Atlanta Falcons had seven tackles and one assist in a 23-16 win at the Denver Broncos Sunday afternoon. The Falcons defense was superb while handing the defending Super Bowl champion Broncos their first defeat of the 2016 season. Beasley, who played at Adairsville High School and was an All-American at Clemson, also finished with 3.5 sacks and forced two fumbles. Atlanta (4-1) took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and held a 13-3 advantage at halftime. After the Falcons pushed their lead to 23-6, Denver (4-1) added a touchdown and a field goal in the final three minutes of the game. The Falcons’ defense, which has been criticized for its lack of pressure on quarterbacks, sacked Denver's rookie quarterback, Paxton Lynch, six times Sunday for a total of -40 yards and generated even more pocket pressure throughout the game. Atlanta quarterback, Matt Ryan, was 15-of-28 for 267 yards and one touchdown. Running backs Devonta Freeman (23 att, 88 yds, 1 TD) and Tevin Coleman (6 att, 31 yds.) combined for 119 yards rushing. Coleman also caught four passes for 132 yards. Beasley increased his season totals to 14 tackles and 4.5 sacks on the year. The Falcons travel to Seattle next Sunday before hosting back-to-back home games against the Chargers and Packers October 23 and 30. Links to follow Beasley and other professional and collegiate athletes from Cartersville and Bartow County are available on the 'Athletes Beyond Bartow' page of this web site.

Former Cartersville High School TE Miller Forristall started the season opener for top-ranked Alabama and has seen action in every game this season, but has been utilized primarily as a blocker. Saturday night at Arkansas, the 6-5, 225 freshman made his first collegiate catch -- a 32-yarder -- against the Razorbacks. MILLER FORRISTALL — University of Alabama (Fr., TE, Cartersville HS) . . . although he has started one game and appeared in all six, Forristall made his first collegiate catch Saturday night for 32 yards in a 49-30 win at Arkansas. The top-ranked Crimson Tide (6-0, 3-0 SEC West) play Tennessee in Knoxville next Saturday.

The Adairsville volleyball team finished runner up to top seeded Sonoraville in the Area 1-AAA tournament Saturday, but the Lady Tigers’ win over Haralson County clinched an opening round home match in the state tournament that will begin Wednesday. Adairsville fell to Sonoraville 22-25, 25-21, 21-25 in the first match of the day, but responded with a victory over Haralson County to get back to Sonoraville in the finals. The Lady Tigers eliminated the Lady Rebels 25-23, 25-16 in straight sets. In the Area finals, Sonoraville swept the Lady Tigers 25-21, 25-19. Adairsville will host Ringgold on Wednesday in the first round of the state Class AAA playoffs. Ringgold is the third place team from Area 6. The winner will advance to face the survivor of Westminster and the fourth place team from Area 3 on October 18.

The Woodland girls cross country team continued its outstanding season Saturday morning, placing second of 24 teams in a very strong field at the Asics Alexander Invitational at Fox Hall Farms Sporting Club near Douglasville. The girls’ championship event drew 228 runners with several of the state’s top teams. The Lady Cats matched their best overall time of the year with a 19:35 team average in the championship division of the 5K event. Landmark Christian won the girls’ title with 61 points and five runners in the top 24. Woodland and Westminster were next with 138 points, but the Lady Cats took the runner up spot by virtue of Casey Bolan’s run to beat the sixth runner for Westminster by six seconds. North Gwinnett finished fourth and Blessed Trinity was fifth in the girls’ championship race. Nicole Fegans (17:59.95) of Landmark Christian won the individual title, eclipsing the 18-minute mark. Freshmen Carli Clymer (18:51) and Angela Cochran (19:00) led the Lady Cats. Cheyenne Spinks (19:53), McKenna Trapheagen (19:56), and Lindsay Scifers (20:15) completed Woodland’s top five scoring spots. Mackenzie Stephenson ran seventh for the Lady Cats in 22:25. On the boys’ side, Trinity (Louisville, KY) won the boys’ championship race with their No. 1 team, edging host Alexander 69-92 in a 30-team field. Trinity’s top five runners averaged 16:13.92 on the 5K course and placed in the top 25 of a 218 runner field. The Woodland boys ran in the 49-team Class 5A-7A race and placed 13th. The No. 2 team from Trinity (Louisville, KY) won the Class 5A-7A race with an average time of 17:19. Forsyth Central , McIntosh, Chattahoochee, and Providence Christian Academy rounded out the top five teams. Sophomore Zach Jaeger (16:22.15) of McIntosh won the 5A-7A boys race. For Woodland, Jonathan Holloway (17:31) placed 19th. Jacob Giltz (18:05), Dawson McClure (18:33), Noah Warren (18:35), Reece Mitchell (18:50.23), Levi Brandenburg (18:50.96), and Kevin Miller (19:28) posted times for the Wildcats. Woodland is scheduled to run next at the Nike/Fleet Feet Coach Wood Invitational October 15 at Gainesville College in Gainesville, GA. The Lady Cats and Wildcats will also host the Region 7-AAAAA Championship Meet October 26.

Cartersville 52, LaGrange 7 Canes’ junior quarterback, Trevor Lawrence ran for three touchdowns and passed for four scores as Cartersville cruised to its 22nd consecutive win, 52-7 over visiting LaGrange. Lawrence (18 for 27, 234 yards, one interception) had a pair of touchdown tosses to Avery Showell (16 and 4 yards), one to T.J. Horton (25 yards), and another to E.J. Turner. Turner finished with five catches for 78 yards. The three rushing scores by Lawrence included a nice 42-yard jaunt plus runs of 4 and 7 yards. Trey Creamer, who carried eight times for 95 yards and had eight catches for 123 yards, added the other Canes touchdown on a 49-yard screen pass. Jonathan Cruz kicked a 27-yard field goal that put Cartersville ahead 45-7 at the time. LaGrange posted their only score of the night on an 80-yard drive in the first quarter to cut the Canes' lead to 14-7. A roughing the passer penalty and a pass interference call that went against Cartersville aided the Grangers' drive. The Grangers fall to 2-5 overall and 1-2 in region play with the loss. Cartersville (7-0, 3-0 in 5-AAAA) travels to Sandy Creek (4-2, 1-1) next Friday at 7:30pm. Calhoun 29, Adairsville 3 Calhoun’s Baylon Spector scored on a 59-yard touchdown run in the opening minutes and the Yellow Jackets did not look back on their way to a Region 6-AAA South win. Calhoun has now defeated Adairsville 12 straight times to take an 18-9 advantage in the all-time series between the two rivals. Calhoun added a 42-yard field goal and another Spector touchdown run of nine yards to grab a 16-0 lead before Adairsville’s Josh Honea got the Tigers on the board with a 47-yard field goal. The Adairsville field goal was set up by a blocked Calhoun punt. The Tigers started that drive at the Jackets' 36 yard line. The Jackets expanded their lead to 22-3 at the intermission with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Gavin Gray to Bryson Davis. Gray finished the night 14-for-19 for 158 yards and at one point connected on nine consecutive throws. Spector, in Calhoun's two-quarterback system, finished with 142 yards on 12 carries and two TDs. Adairsville senior quarterback, Roger Redd (photo), was 16-for-28 for 154 yards as Adairsville rolled up 249 total yards. Calhoun's defense came up with some big stops, however, once the Tigers pushed the ball into plus territory. Tigers' running back Christian Steele was the Tigers’ leading ground gainer with 51 yards on 11 carries. Calhoun (6-2, 2-0) closed out the scoring on a 14-yard run by Zach Fuller in the third period. Adairsville (2-4, 0-1) will entertain Sonoraville (5-2, 2-0) in another Region 6-AAA South sub-region matchup next Friday at 7:30pm. East Paulding 24, Cass 9 Costly miscues by the Colonels’ offense and big plays against their defense doomed Cass at East Paulding. A botched opening kickoff return forced the Colonels to punt from the back line of their own end zone and set up the Raiders first scoring drive that covered 41 yards in six plays. Raiders’ quarterback, Dylan Prater connected with Jet Trout on a fourth-and-ten play for a 30-yard throw, catch, and run that gave East Paulding an early 7-0 lead. Devlin Dolph added an East Paulding 30-yard field goal early in the second quarter that gave the Raiders a 10-0 lead they took to the intermission. A muffed long snap by the Raiders on a punt led to a forced fumble by Chance Scrutchins and a 25-yard scoop and score by the Colonels’ Dominic Outten with 8:12 remaining in the third quarter. A personal foul on Cass after the score, however, caused the ensuing PAT to be kicked from almost 35 yards. Anthony Robledo missed wide left leaving the Cass deficit at 10-6. Less than a minute later, Tyrell Robinson broke free for an 84-yard touchdown scamper that put East Paulding up 17-6. Cass then drove inside the red zone early in the fourth quarter, but a Brett Gaddy pass was picked off by Orion Weems of the Raiders just outside the goal line to thwart a Colonels’ scoring opportunity. Robledo was true on a 40-yard field goal with 6:00 remaining in the game to make it a one-score game at 17-9, but Prater out ran the Colonels’ defense less than three minutes later on an 83-yard gallop to seal the 24-9 win for the Raiders. The win was the first of the year for East Paulding after dropping their first five games. They improved to 1-3 in Region 7-AAAAA. Cass (3-3, 2-2) will host Rome (4-2, 3-1) next Friday at Cochran Stadium in a 7:30pm kickoff. Paulding County 35, Woodland 21 A blocked punt set up Paulding County’s first scoring opportunity. It led to a 5-yard touchdown pass from Brantley Mauldin to Tyron Summerour and a 7-0 advantage. Bryson Kellett of Woodland scored on a 35-yard pass play from Brody Williams and Titus Jones scored on a two-point conversion run to give Woodland an 8-7 lead. Paulding scored in the waining seconds of the first quarter to regain the lead 14-8, however, on a bit of a trick play. They faked a wide receiver pass and then lateraled the ball to Marquis Tre’von Lewis. He took it 45 yards for the Paulding County score. Woodland answered with a lengthy, 14-play drive that included a pair of fourth down conversions. Chris Mills finished off the drive by punching in a two-yard run that put the Wildcats ahead again, 15-14. The Patriots scored two more times before the half including a two-yard run that made the score at the break, 28-15. Woodland quarterback, Brody Williams, found Titus Jones for a 40-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter to narrow the margin to 28-21 after a failed PAT. The Patriots managed to close out the game in latter stages of the fourth quarter with a lengthy drive and a score on a five-yard run, for their 14-point victory. Woodland (0-7, 0-5 in Region 7-AAAAA) hosts East Paulding (1-5, 1-3) next Friday at 7:30pm.

The Cartersville High School volleyball team won the Area 5-AAAA championship Thursday night with a pair of wins over Troup County and Sandy Creek. The Lady Canes took a three-set, straight sets win over Troup 27-25, 25-19, 25-15 in the semifinals, before battling from behind to win in five sets in the area championship match against Sandy Creek. Cartersville lost 25-19 and 25-15 in the first two sets of the finals, but rallied to win 25-22 and 25-21 to send the match to a fifth set. Cartersville captured the area title with a 15-8 win in the fifth. Athletic Director, Darrell Demastus, said he could not be more proud of this team for their efforts. “These young ladies went through a lot this year. They had great support and a plan and were able to pull off what I believe is the first Area Championship for our volleyball program,” noted Demastus. The Lady Canes improved to 28-16 with the two area tournament wins. They will advance to the Class AAAA state playoffs to host the fourth-seed from Area 3-AAAA October 13 at The Storm Center. Opponent and match time to be determined.

Cartersville Parks & Recreation Department Youth Football Results Thursday, October 6 10U CANES GOLD 20, CANES PURPLE 0 Trevor Harris scored on runs of 45 and 7 yards and added a pair of extra points for Canes Gold. Teammate, Stephen Rowser, scored on a 51-yard gallop. 10U CANES BLACK 44, CANES SILVER 21 Lee Camp and Kyilen Sims ran for a pair of touchdowns each to help lead Canes Black in a high-scoring affair. Camp scored on a 42-yard run and a 25-yard run. Sims reached paydirt from 60 and 42 yards and added one extra point run. Andrew Moore (40 yard run and extra point), Isaac Cunningham (7 yard run), and Turner Abernathy (45 yard run) scored the other touchdowns for Canes Black. Canes Silver got a pick-six by Maverick Madonna and an extra point run for the first of their three scores. Christian Wood scored on a three-yard run and added an extra point, while Jake Johnson scored on a 45 yard jaunt and added the extra point run. Youth football reports on BartowSportsZone.com are provided by CPRD and BCRD. The reports are sponsored by CiCi's Pizza of Cartersville.

Cartersville pitcher, Hannah Todd, has been the backbone of the Lady Canes success all year. The strong pitching performances and timely hitting of the University of North Carolina signee have kept Cartersville in games or won games for them throughout the year. Thursday night, in a game to determine the third and fourth seeds for next week’s Class AAAA state tournament from Region 5-AAAA, Todd delivered yet another stellar pitching performance. Colbi Ballard of Cartersville singled home the game tying run in the top of the sixth inning and Hope Short doubled home Tara Mathis with the eventual game-winning run in the top of the seventh inning as the Lady Canes edged rival Cedartown 2-1 to claim the No. 3 seed. Cartersville and Cedartown were scoreless until the home Bulldogs scratched out a run in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 1-0 lead. A single to centerfield, a bunt single to third, and a two-out error enabled the lone Cedartown unearned run off Todd. Todd allowed only three hits and two walks in the contest while striking out 15 Bulldogs. Paris Poston and Molly Wilson both had two hits for the Lady Canes. Todd, Mathis, Madison McKinney, Ballard and Short had the other Cartersville hits. McKinney also contributed with a pair of sacrifices. Cio Seigler also added a sacrifice. Ole Miss commit, Ava Tillman, was tagged with the pitching loss for Cedartown. She did not walk a batter and struck out eight. Tillman, Tia Covington, and Allie Dodd had the only Cedartown hits. Cartersville (18-11) will travel to the No. 2 seed from Region 7-AAAA for a best-of-three series that begins next Wednesday with a doubleheader. If a third game is needed, it will be played on Thursday. Cedartown will now travel to face the No. 1 seed from Region 7-AAAA in their opening round series, also on October 12-13.

The Adairsville volleyball team came from behind Thursday to outlast Bremen, advance in the Area 6-AAA tournament, and qualify for the state tournament. Adairsville has advanced to the area semifinals Saturday at 9am where the Lady Tigers will play top-seeded Sonoraville. The winner of that match will advance to the area championship match, while the loser will drop to the loser’s bracket and be forced to win an additional match to reach the finals. For a complete story, please see Andrew Houghton’s story in The Daily Tribune News at http://daily-tribune.com/sports/item/6405-3-set-win-qualifies-adairsville-for-state

Elite Stone Supply, in conjunction with WBHF and Bartow Sports Zone, presents the ELITE ATHLETES OF THE WEEK. Each week, all five local schools will name an Elite Athlete of the Week and present the information on their honoree through Bartow Sports Zone and on 100.3FM and AM1450, WBHF in Cartersville. Recipients for the week ending October 1, 2016: Sarah Baynard -- Woodland High School Landry McCollum -- Excel Christian Academy Paris Poston -- Cartersville High School Chloe Powell -- Adairsville High School Blaire Waters -- Cass High School Sarah Baynard is the Elite Athlete of the Week for Woodland High School. The Lady Cats’ sophomore pitcher is the daughter of Jeff and Debby Baynard. Baynard was 4-2 over Woodland’s six Region 7-AAAAA playoff games and helped lead her team to a third place finish. Woodland defeated Paulding County in a three game series and Kell in the top four seeding playoffs, but fell twice to Villa Rica. Her top performance in the region playoffs came in a crucial Game 3 of the best-of-three play-in series with Paulding County. Baynard tossed a seven inning shutout, scattering five hits and two walks in a 4-0 win. Landry McCollum is the Elite Athlete of the Week representing Excel Christian Academy. The daughter of Brian and Suzanne McCollum, Landry is a sophomore outfielder for the Lady Eagles’ softball team and has attended Excel since kindergarten. In her first year of playing varsity softball, McCollum has developed into an outstanding player. She uses her speed to beat out base hits and is one of the region leaders in stolen bases. She currently carries a a batting average over .400. Coach Adcock nominated Landry because she has continued to improve throughout the season and for the positive attitude that she bring to the field every day. McCollum is a multi-sport athlete. She plays guard on the basketball team and runs middle distant on the track team. She is an excellent student that has been an honor roll student throughout her high school career. She has also received several awards recognizing her outstanding performances in the classroom. Her teachers praise her for her work ethic and for consistently performing at a high level in the classroom. Landry attends the Church at Liberty Square where she is an active participant in the youth ministries. She enjoys giving back to the community as a participant in Splash Bartow for the last three years. McCollum’s future plans include attending college to major in English. The Cartersville High School Elite Athlete of the Week is Paris Poston. The Lady Canes’ starting right fielder and three-hole hitter is a junior and the daughter of Pete and Melanie Poston. Poston was 6-for-14 at the plate last week for a .429 batting average and a .643 slugging percentage in playoff games last week. She scored four runs with four singles, a double, a triple, and two RBIs. Chloe Powell is the Elite Athlete of the Week for Adairsville High School. A senior setter and right side hitter for the Lady Tigers’ volleyball team, she is also a member of the Adairsville basketball team. She is the daughter of Doug and Amy Powell. Powell’s coaches identify Powell as a true leader for the volleyball team. She encourages the younger players, helps correct their form, and assists her teammates’ positioning on the floor. She has been the most consistent player on the floor this season and reliable for her teammates and coaches. Blaire Waters is the Elite Athlete of the Week representing Cass High School. Only a sophomore, Waters has made great strides as a middle hitter on the Lady Colonels’ volleyball team. Developing as a leader on and off the court, she has shown herself to be very adaptable to instruction and has improved dramatically throughout the season. The daughter of West and Stephanie Waters, Blaire is a friend to her teammates and according to her coaching staff is a “joy to coach.” Editors Note: Photos and bios are supplied to Bartow Sports Zone and WBHF by the respective schools and their athletic departments.

Local high school volleyball teams begin their area tournaments Thursday at three different locations. Adairsville will host the Area 6-AAA playoffs starting Thursday at 5pm, while Cartersville travels to Troup County for Area 5-AAAA. Woodland and Cass will compete in the Area 7-AAAAA playoffs hosted by Rome also opening play at 5pm. All four local teams were in action Monday and/or Tuesday in their final tune-up matches prior to the beginning of their respective area playoffs. Adairsville won a three-set match over Pickens County Tuesday, 12-25, 25-15, 25-17 before falling to Murray County in three sets 25-20, 23-25, 23-25. Cass lost a pair of matches Tuesday, falling to Carrollton 18-25, 19-25 and to Hiram 18-25, 15-25. The Lady Colonels did sweep two matches on Monday, however, with a three-set win over Pickens, 25-17, 19-25, and 25-22 followed by a tough three-setter over North Murray, 26-24, 15-25, and 25-22. Woodland lost in straight sets Tuesday at Kell, 25-8 and 25-16. The Lady Cats results with Paulding County were not made available. Cartersville defeated Darlington Monday night in straight sets, 25-13, 25-14, and 25-19, and dispatched Central-Carroll in three sets Tuesday, 25-15, 25-14, and 25-10.

The Woodland softball team split games Tuesday at the Region 7-AAAAA playoffs to secure a No. 3 seed in the upcoming Class AAAAA state playoffs. The Lady Cats defeated Kell in the opener Tuesday 13-2. The loss eliminated Kell from the region playoffs and landed the Lady Longhorns as the No. 4 seed. Woodland then fell to Villa Rica in the nightcap, 7-4. The loss to Villa Rica landed Woodland as the region’s No. 3 seed. Villa Rica and Carrollton will play for the region title and will hold the top two seeds in the state playoffs. The Lady Cats rolled up 13 unanswered runs in their first four offensive frames against Kell. The Longhorns managed only a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth. Sarah Baynard was once again the winning pitcher for Woodland. She allowed only four hits and a walk in five innings in the circle. Only one run was earned and she recorded one strikeout. Skylar Chappell was 3-for-4 with a double and four RBIs in the win. Jordan Duck also doubled in a 2-for-3 performance that included two RBIs. Caroline Higdon, Brittney Cox, and Emma Jordan all drove in two Woodland runs and had a hit apiece. Madgie Robinson and Audrey Morris also contributed base hits. In the nightcap, Villa Rica posted seven runs over the first four innings. Woodland rallied for four runs in the top of the sixth, but would get no closer. Reagan Gunter, Baylee Walls, Izzy Rohr, and Marley Couch combined for eight of Villa Rica’s 12 hits and totaled four of the team’s RBIs. Bella Carnes (two singles) and Jamison Kilgo (homerun, single) had two hits each to lead Woodland in the loss. Higdon (RBI) and Jordan (RBI) had the other hits for the locals. Woodland (13-19) will open the state playoffs on the road Wednesday, October 12 with a doubleheader against the No. 2 seed from Region 5-AAAAA. If a third game is needed in the best-of-three series, it would also be played at the Region 5-AAAAA runner-up site on Thursday, October 13.