ADEL — The Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets (22-7-2) went back and fourth on the road against Cook, but took Game 3 in the second round of the GHSA Class AA state playoffs with a 7-5 win Thursday.
    The Jackets advance to the Elite Eight in Columbus, where they will face the winner between Buford and North Murray Thursday.
    It is the first time SEB has advanced to the Elite Eight since the 2008 season when it finished No. 3 in the state.
    Southeast got off to a slow start, falling behind 3-1, but took the lead in the third to pull ahead 4-3.
    Nira Byrd (2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI) drove the eventual game-winning runs in the fourth with a two-run hit that drove in Ciera Clark and Dallas McClellan to give SEB a 6-4 advantage.
    Lindsey Crosby (2-for-3) scored twice, Effie Manahan (2-for-3) and Sierra Peebles (1-for-3) each drove in two and Leah McCarthy drove in a run.
Peebles pitched a complete game and struck out two.

Lady Eagles set for road trip
    Georgia Southern women’s soccer opens a run of three-straight road matches on tonight at Chattanooga.
    The weekend comes to a close against Samford on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.            Georgia Southern has won three of its last four matches including an emotional 2-1 victory over Appalachian State on Sunday on Alex Murphy’s.
    The Eagles are 5-8-2 overall with a 3-4-1 mark in league play. Junior Courtney Collins has seven goals to lead the Georgia Southern offense which is averaging 1.3 goals per match. She ranks fourth in the Southern Conference at 0.47 goals per match. Murphy’s total of five goals ranks second on the team, while senior Sara Oland netted a goal in the Eagles’ last outing to raise her total to three. Oland also has six assists this season.

PMS advances to championship
    PORTAL — The Portal Middle School Panthers defeated Claxton 30-22 Thursday to advance to the playoff championship game, which will take place next Thursday in Reidsville.
    The Panthers will face Tattnall County Middle School in the championship.
    Against Claxton Thursday, quarterback Tyler Budgett passed for 200 yards and a pair of touchdown passes.
    Darius Huff rushed for 125 yards and a pair of scores, and Terrell Torrence caught a touchdown pass in the win.

GSU heads to Elon
    Georgia Southern men’s soccer travels to Elon for the first of two trips to the Piedmont Triad to close the 2011 regular season.
    The Eagles face the Phoenix on Friday night, at 7 p.m. Georgia Southern closes the 2011 regular season with a trip to UNCG on Tuesday, October 25th.
    Georgia Southern can virtually assure itself a home playoff match with at least one victory from its final two league matches. The Eagles are second in the Southern Conference on nine points (3-2) and trail Appalachian State by just one point (3-0-1). The Mountaineers play on Saturday, so with a win over the Phoenix, Georgia Southern would again go top of the Southern Conference.
    Senior forward Luigi Clendening was held scoreless last week in two matches and looks to return to scoring form. The SoCon Player of the Year candidate has 11 goals to rank 11th in the nation, while his total of 27 points places him seventh in Division I.
Garrido, Maffett to compete in regional
    Georgia Southern tennis standouts sophomore Paola Garrido and junior Natalie Maffett will compete in the singles and doubles draws this weekend at the 2011 ITA Southeast Regional Championships in Gainesville, Fla.
    The four-day singles and doubles individual event is hosted by the University of Florida at the Ring Tennis Complex today through Monday, Oct. 24 and will feature the top players from 19 Division I schools in Georgia and Florida.