ATHENS — During his playing days as a standout at Rabun County, Charlie Woerner was no stranger to the end zone.
In his four seasons with the Wildcats, Woerner amassed over 5,000 all-purpose yards and scored 60 total touchdowns (32 rushing, 28 receiving). He was the go-to guy on a team full of offensive firepower.
So for Woerner on Saturday it must have been like rediscovering a long-lost friend when the now-sophomore tight end for Georgia gathered in a Jacob Eason pass, bounced off a defender, and then outraced three defenders to the end zone for a touchdown in the Bulldogs’ annual Spring Game at Sanford Stadium.
The Georgia Red beat Georgia Black 25-22 on a late field goal by Rodrigo Blankenship.
Woerner played in 12 games for the Bulldogs in 2016, starting two, including the season-opener against North Carolina in the Georgia Dome. But he snared just five passes for a pedestrian 50 yards and no touchdowns. One of the five catches was for 29 yards against Nicholls State, another was for 11 yards against Florida, and the other three totaled just 10 yards combined.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart gave the 6-foot-5, 251-pounder a shout-out during his post-game interview as one guy he was glad fans got to see what those behind the scenes have known all along.
“Charlie came out of his shell a little bit,” Smart said. “We see that kind of thing all the time in practice but for whatever reason it just never came to him last year. I’m glad (the fans and media) got to see that.”
The touchdown grab was Woerner’s only catch of the game and Smart hinted that they are looking for bigger things from him this season. He was targeted three other times by Eason: one bounced off his shoulder pad on an underthrown ball and another was picked off by Aaron Davis.
“We know he is capable of plays like that every game,” Smart said. “He’s definitely worked hard and it was good to see that for him.”
Woerner wasn’t the only former northeast Georgia prep standout on the field on Saturday. Isaac Nauta, who helped lead Buford to back-to-back state titles in 2013 and 2014, started for the Black squad. The 6-4, 246-pound sophomore tight end did not register a catch on the day but was targeted three times by Eason. Two of those passes were knocked down by defenders as the Black offense was matched up with the No. 1 defensive unit the entire game.
Nauta had a solid freshman campaign hauling in 29 passes for 361 yards and three touchdowns in 2016.
Former Stephens County standout Ben Cleveland (RFr. OL, 6-6, 340) was dressed out for the Red squad but did not play.
