Athletes Beyond Bartow: Howard wraps up 2020 campaign; Beasley debuts with Titans

Vic Beasley made his 2020 season debut with the Tennessee Titans Sunday in their Week 3 game while pitcher Sam Howard of the Pittsburgh Pirates wrapped up his annual campaign. In college football, local athletes Trey Creamer and Jonathan Cruz of Charlotte had their second straight game canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. The 49ers were scheduled to play North Carolina and Georgia State the past two Saturdays. Charlotte (0-1) will play Conference USA foe Florida Atlantic this week. Wake Forest, with Isaiah Chaney and JaCorey Johns, also had its game with Notre Dame canceled. That game has been pushed to December 12.

PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL

Sam Howard (Pittsburgh Pirates, Cartersville) — Howard tossed a scoreless inning against postseason-bound Cleveland Friday on the road in what ended up being his final outing of the season. The left-hander allowed one hit and one walk but countered with a pair of strikeouts. In his only other appearance of the week, Howard gave up one run on one hit in 1/3 of an inning. For the season, the former Colorado Rockies reliever went 2-3 over 22 appearances, finishing with a 3.86 ERA and 1.24 WHIP. Howard posted 27 strikeouts in 21 innings.

PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL

Vic Beasley Jr. (Tennessee Titans, Adairsville) — Beasley made his debut for the Titans during Sunday’s 31-30 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. The former Tiger — at Adairsville and Clemson — played just 16 snaps (25%) according to Pro Football Reference. Although Beasley wasn’t credited with any defensive stats, he did help finish off a sack during the game. The edge rusher will look to make a bigger impact next week, when Tennessee hosts Pittsburgh.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Jordan Ferguson (Middle Tennessee State R-Jr., Cartersville) — Ferguson compiled five tackles (two solo), with one of his assists coming on a tackle for loss last week. Middle Tennessee, though, dropped a 37-35 heartbreaker at Texas-San Antonio last Friday. The Blue Raiders will seek their first win of the year against Western Kentucky Saturday at home.

Avery Showell (Georgia Tech R-Jr., Cartersville) — Showell contributed two solo tackles to the cause, but the Yellow Jackets fell 37-20 Saturday at Syracuse. Georgia Tech is off this week before a Friday night matchup against Louisville on ESPN Oct. 9 in Atlanta.

-- contributed by Nicholas Sullivan, The Daily Tribune News