Moultrie’s Adam Giles set the fastest qualifying time in Group 6 in the National Late Model Series14th annual Showdown on the Coast race at Golden Isles Speedway in Brunswick on Oct. 18.

Giles held on to second place behind Brandon Cameron in the final heat and qualified for the Saturday night feature.

Giles finished 16th in the race in his No. 10 car in just his second race in the National Late Model Series.

The feature race was won by Rambo Franklin, who led the entire way.

Also competing in the heat race with Giles were fellow Colquitt countians Charles Sealy and Kyle Bridges. Jay Johnson of Moultrie had car trouble and was unable to qualify for the race.

The next race in the series will be on Saturday at East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, Fla.

Of this and that:

• Valdosta State scored 31 unanswered points as the Blazers defeated Southern Arkansas 38-16 in a Gulf South Conference football game on Monday at Wilkins Stadium.

The game had been scheduled to be played on Sept. 13, but was postponed by Hurricane Ike.

With the win, Valdosta State (8-2 overall and 6-2 in the Gulf South Conference) awaits word on its playoffs future. The official announcement will be made at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

• Colquitt County’s J.Todd Tucker finished 24th in last weekend’s 2008 Bassmaster Central Open on Lake Texoma with a three-day total of 24 pounds, 12 ounces, winning $1,305.

Terry Butcher of Talala, Okla., won the event with a three-day total of 46 pounds, 8 ounces, taking home $45,000.

• Moultrie’s Hannah Moore turned in first- and second-place finishes when the University of Georgia swimming and diving team split with Florida in Gainesville last week.

Moore was first on the 3-meter board with a 297.23 and was second on 1-meter with a 268.35.

She finished less than a point behind 1-meter winner Jeanna Bartell of Florida, who had a 268.88.

The Georgia women, ranked No. 2 in the nation, won 169-126.

Georgia freshman Owen Blank, also from Moultrie, was third on 3-meter with a 301.80 and was fifth on 1-meter with a 270.67.

The Georgia men’s team lost to the Gators 152-148.

Georgia’s meet with Georgia Tech which was scheduled for today was canceled.

• Tennessee freshman Ryan Helms was first on both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards when the Volunteers defeated Kentucky last Friday.

Helms scored a 312.90 on 1-meter and a 363.98 on 3-meter.

Tennessee will play host to Virginia on Thursday.

• Former Packer B.J. Baker started a guard for the Charleston Southern football team that defeaed VMI 31-21 on Saturday.

The victory raised the Bucs’ record to 4-5 overall and 2-2 in the conference.

Charleston Southern will play Presbyterian at home on Saturday.

• Georgia Southern, where former Packer Carter Jones is the snapper, defeated The Citadel 44-41 in triple overtime on Saturday.

The Eagles, now 5-4 overall and 3-3 in the Southern Conference, will play Samford at home on Saturday.

• Colquitt County’s David Platter will be in charge of the rescue operation at the second annual Roar ‘n’ Soar at the Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Fla.

One of the attractions of the event will be a regatta of classic boats that will be held on on a 1 1/2-mile oval on Lake Agnes.

As of Tuesday, 78 boats have registered.

“Hopefully, I’ll just be sitting around twiddling my thumbs and watching good racing,” Platter said.

The Roar ‘n’ Soar also will feature a car race on a sanctioned slalom course, a car corral and vintage air craft roaring into the skies.

The event will be held Saturday and Sunday.

• The Drake University men’s basketball team, which includes senior former Packer John Michael Hall, plays its first game of the 2008-2009 season on Saturday, Nov. 11, at home against Butler.

The defending Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tourament champions defeated Truman State 77-61 on Saturday in an exhibition.

Hall did not score, but had three rebounds.

• Ashley Stafford has started her junior season at Columbus State.

The Lady Cougars won one of the three games they played last weekend in the Disney Tip-off Classic.

In a 53-39 loss to Alaska-Anchorage, the former Lady Packer had two points and seven rebounds.

She had six points and five rebounds in a 69-67 loss to Lake Superior State.

On Sunday, Columbus State defeated Bentley 66-61 with Stafford scoring six points and pulling down eight rebounds.

The Lady Cougars will meet Emory in and exhibition game on Saturday.

• Tiffany Troupe is playing for the Darton College women’s basketball team that defeated Enterprise 119-67 on Friday and lost to Southern Union 68-53 on Saturday in the Cavalier Basketball Classic.

The Lady Cavaliers will play Chattahoochee Valley today.

• Middle Georgia College, where former Lady Packer Taquella Coates is a freshman, will play the Brewton-Parker junior varsity in its opener today and will travel to Chattanooga State Tech on Friday.

• Two former Colquitt County High and Moultrie Shark swimmers are competing for Darton.

Ashlee Paramore is on the women’s team and Austin Dorminey is on the men’s team. Both are freshmen.

Darton will open its season on Friday in the University of the South Invitational in Sewanee, Tenn.

• Beau Holden played on the Darton soccer team that was recently eliminatd in the first round of the NJCAA REgion XVII tournament.

• Sophomore Morgan Jones is a member of the Darton women’s softball team.

• Mike Tierney has written an interesting feature story on Colquitt County football coach Rush Propst that appeared in the Tuesday edition of the New York Times.