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Forsyth grads earn collegiate gridiron honors
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Forsyth County News

Three college football players who hail from Forsyth County have earned honors for performance on the field and in the classroom.

Zach Morrison, senior center for NAIA Shorter College in Rome, and teammate Spenser Bettis, a sophomore offensive lineman, were both named to the Mid-South Conference’s All-Academic Conference Team, joining 20 other Shorter football players on the team.

Morrison and Bettis both played at Forsyth Central.

All-Academic honors are awarded to student-athletes in their sophomore year or higher who have maintained cumulative grade point averages of 3.25.

“Since the beginning of the program, we have maintained that academics in the classroom is just as important as the things that happen on the field,” said Shorter head coach Phil Jones in a release from the school.

“I’m proud of these guys for their accomplishments and the influence they bring to this team.”

This is Morrison’s third straight year making the team.

Morrison was also one of seven Shorter players named as a 2008 Daktronics-NAIA Football Scholar-Athlete. Among the requirements for the honor are that recipients be in their junior year or above, and have a GPA of at least 3.5.

Morrison was also one of nine Shorter players named to the All-Conference team for athletics, as the center helped lead the Hawks to a share of a Western Division title in the Mid-South Conference and their first ever trip to the playoffs.

Alex Sapp, a junior defensive end at Division III LaGrange College, earned All-Academic and first team All-Conference honors from the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Sapp, a North Forsyth grauate, currently holds a 3.61 GPA as a biology major.

On the field, he started in all 11 games for the Panthers, who went 9-2, winning a conference title and advancing to the playoffs for the first time.

Sapp led the conference with seven sacks. His 9.5 tackles for loss led the Panthers’ defensive linemen this past season.

He recorded 34 total tackles for the season and forced two fumbles.