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It was a big weekend for homegrown football talent, as several former Crisp County Cougars were in the spotlight over the past several days at the higher levels of the sport.

Former Cougar Montre Hartage in Miami Dolphins organization 

Crisp County class of 2015 graduate Montre Hartage went undrafted in this past edition of the NFL Draft, but he got brought into camp for the Miami Dolphins shortly after, and he is a part of their organization following the recently completed NFL preseason.

Hartage spent his college career playing defensive back for the Northwestern Wildcats where he made a name for himself against tough competition in the Big Ten conference.

During his career at Northwestern, Hartage had 172 total tackles, 10 interceptions and two fumble recoveries. He was named as a member of the Big Ten’s all-conference first team following his senior season at Northwestern.

Hartage played defensive back and receiver during his time as a Crisp County Cougar (2012-2014), and was named as an all-region player all three seasons during that period.

Former Cougars star on respective college football squads 

Three more recent Crisp County graduates and former Cougar football players all got some playing time in their respective college team’s season opener this past weekend.

Defensive end Big Kat Bryant (CCHS C/O 2017) saw quite a bit of action on the Auburn Tigers’ defense in their game against the Oregon Ducks on Saturday night. The former Cougar star finished the game with two tackles, but more importantly he picked up an Oregon fumble during the second quarter and ran it all the way down inside the Duck five-yard line for an 83-yard return that set up a field goal, which got the Tigers back in the game at 14-6. Prior to the fumble and subsequent long run back by Bryant, it looked like the Ducks were going to score a touchdown and go up by 18 points. The Tigers ultimately came back to win the game in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter by a score of 27-21.

Additionally, CCHS class of 2018 graduate Quay Walker saw a good bit of playing time for the Georgia Bulldogs in their 30-6 win over Vanderbilt in Nashville on Saturday night. Walker was credited with four total tackles in the UGA win.

Jhi’Shawn Taylor (CCHS C/O 2017) also had a good weekend on the defensive side of the ball, as the former Crisp County Cougar helped lead Georgia State University to a big upset on the road at Tennessee by a score of 38-30. Taylor had six total tackles in the game and also recovered a fumble.

Followers of Crisp County athletics certainly have quite a few local rooting interests in the higher levels of football this season.