Once again for seniors at Paulson Stadium

Georgia Southern would love nothing more than to send its 28 seniors off the field with a win on Saturday when it closes out the regular season against arch-rival Appalachian State.

In what has become the norm in college football thanks to the transfer portal, NIL and an extra COVID year for some, this senior class is a mixed bag: There’s one true senior, 12 redshirt seniors, eight fifth-year seniors and seven who are they are in their sixth year of college football.

Some have spent their entire careers with the Eagles, others came from elsewhere.

The list lists players who started their careers at: Oklahoma, Kansas State, Washington, Auburn, West Virginia, Florida, Wingate, Presbyterian, Rochester Tech, Iowa Western, North Carolina, Savannah State, Alabama State, Georgia State, Georgia and Georgia Tech.

Quite a mix to say the least, but the bottom line is that whether born or adopted, they will take the field as Eagles with the sole goal of beating the school’s bitterest rival.

And, more importantly, playing to stay alive in the race for the Sun Belt Conference’s East Division. A Georgia Southern win and a Marshall loss at James Madison will give the Eagles a Dec. 7 conference championship game against Louisiana or Arkansas State. The Eagles start at 6 p.m., Marshall and the Dukes two hours later.

Each player contributed in their own way to help the Eagles (7-4, 5-2) have their first winning season since 2020, something third-year coach Clay Helton hasn’t lost.

“These seniors trusted us, they built a relationship with us as a coaching staff,” Helton said at his Monday press conference. “They were a three-win football team in 2021 and now here they are, three years later, in the last game of the season, fighting like hell to play for the championship.

“Players win games, players love success and they did that this year.”

Helton was hired after the 2021 season when Chad Lunsford, now interim head coach at Florida Atlantic, was fired midseason.

The “old” Eagles in their final home game include Marques Watson-Trent, Jalen White and Derwin Burgess, Jr., all looking to further their distinguished careers.

Watson-Trent is one of the best linebackers to ever grace a Georgia Southern jersey. He has 97 tackles, second best in the SBC, and three more will give him his third 100-tackle season. His 342 career tackles are third in program history behind Paul Carroll (375) and Freddy Pesqueria (353).

The fifth-year senior from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has four forced fumbles, which ranks him second in the FBS, and he has recorded 15 double-digit tackle performances, including five this season.

White has 2,802 career rushing yards with 32 touchdowns and became the school’s 14th 2,500-yard career rusher at Georgia State. White reached the peak of his career in 2021 when he ran for 167 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 carries against Arkansas State.

The Daleville, Alabama product had a spectacular high school career, leading the nation with 3,517 yards rushing in 11 games during his senior year and scoring eight touchdowns in the first half of games.

Burgess is the only true senior (four years) on the team and he has proven to be a reliable and dependable receiver, needing one more touchdown catch to match Monty Sharpe’s school record of 18.

For his career, Burgess recorded 198 receptions and 2,425 receiving yards, both of which rank second on the all-time list behind Khaleb Hood, who finished with 245 catches for 2,692 yards. Burgess also needs a 100-yard game to reach Hood’s school mark of six.

Starting linebacker Davion Rhodes certainly reflected the sentiments of those who will be on the field against the Mountaineers.

“It was great,” Rhodes said of his two years with the Eagles. “I haven’t been here that long since a transfer (Wingate), about a year and a half, but it’s been a great change for me.

“I thank Coach Helton every day for bringing me here. It’s a great program and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”