High School Football
Pirates Sunk By Camden
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Camden County rolled into Glynn County Stadium and ruined the BHS home opener by blowing out the Brunswick High Pirates 37-0.
It was a total lackluster effort by the Pirates who suffered an embarrassing home loss.
Coming off a bye week the Pirates were just off all night on offense and as the game progressed the defense wore down and gave up some big plays.
Anthony Mountain came off the bench and led the offense on a couple of nice drives in the second half in relief of KJ Lee. Mountain’s performance may have created a QB battle moving forward.
Pirate Report Card:
Offense: F. The offense was offensive. The offensive line got manhandled. The QB play was not much better and forced a QB change in the third quarter.
Mountain came in and did some good things and maybe earned the opportunity to start next week. The wide receivers had key drops and the Pirates had two more turnovers. The Pirates were held to 58 yards rushing and 225 yards of total offense.
Defense: D. This grade would have been higher but I felt this group mailed it in during the 4th quarter of the contest.
You can’t beat anyone when you give 7.8 yards per play in a football game. BHS had talented defensive backs getting beaten too easily and the run defense was good in spots but just got worn down due to lack of production from the offense.
Special Teams: B. Mitchell Richburg had a good night punting the football and you know it is a long night when your punter is a candidate for player of the game. The opening kickoff was a touchback. A nice Improvement made in this area.
Coaching: D. This team did not play well. And late in the first half Camden ran the same play three straight times for a TD, Camden stoned the BHS offense.
The Pirates had nine penalties on the night and came out after the halftime break flat. Being on a running clock in the 4th quarter is never good.
Overall: D. Back to the drawing board for BHS.
This was just an awful performance and there is nowhere to go but up now. This team has the talent and potential to be a good football team but it needs to become mentally tougher.
There is no excuse to get beat 37-0 at home. This team will improve and get better when region play starts in October. Time to forget this one and move forward. This teams needs its talent to play up to its talent level.
Statesboro Killed By Turnovers Against Effingham
By: Josh Aubrey
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Last year it was a wild shootout between Statesboro and Effingham that saw the Rebels come from 20 points down to win in Springfield 38-34.
This time around instead of a shootout, the Blue Devils shot themselves in the foot, with three first half turnovers that proved too much to come back from, as Statesboro fell 20-15 to drop to 2-2 on the season.
“The last thing we told our kids was to protect the football,” said Statesboro coach Jeff Kaiser. “Three turnovers, with one going for a touchdown really killed us. We beat ourselves, they didn’t beat us.”
Statesboro actually outgained Effingham County with 312 yards of total offense to only 120 for the Rebels but it would be the three Statesboro turnovers that would prove to be the difference in this one.
The Blue Devil offense was in excellent field position on their first drive of the game. Jaylen Roberson broke a tackle and went 45 yards before being brought down at the Effingham seven-yard line. The offense stalled and then on third down a bobbled exchange resulted in the ball being loose. After both teams scrambled around the Rebels finally fell on it at their own 35-yard line.
With no score through one quarter of play Statesboro’s defense got them the ball back, as Flip Dixon picked off a Jerid Stokes pass, giving the Blue Devils the ball at the 35.
A few plays later Statesboro quarterback Drake Horton was intercepted himself and the Rebels took over at midfield.
It wouldn’t take the Rebels long to score as Stokes hooked up with tight end Necos Gadson on a crossing pattern and he would go the rest of the way untouched for a 37-yard touchdown and the Rebels had a 7-0 lead.
Coach Kaiser then put Sage Reese in at quarterback for the first time this year and things didn’t go well.
On the first play from scrimmage Reese was stood up and while fighting ahead the ball was stripped away and scooped up by the Rebels Joseph Solomon, who would go 35 yards for the touchdown. The two-point conversion failed and Effingham was on top 13-0.
On the ensuing kickoff the Blue Devils Will Yawn gave Statesboro a bit of a spark with a 38-yard kickoff return into Rebel territory.
The offense then proceeded to march downfield, with linebacker turned running back Corey McCullough doing a lot of the damage. McCullough would cap the drive with a 11-yard touchdown run.
McCullough would then punch in the two-point conversion, cutting the lead to 13-8, with 2:35 left in the half. That score would hold into halftime.
The Rebels came out of the third quarter and promptly went on a five-minute drive, capped off by a seven-yard Desmond House touchdown which extended the lead to 20-8.
The Blue Devil offense was unable to get going until late in the game as they went 70 yards on their final drive of the game, aided by a couple Effingham penalties.
The drive culminated in a seven-yard touchdown pass from Horton to Yawn to cut the lead to 20-15 with less than a minute to go.
The Blue Devil onside kick attempt was recovered by the Rebels, who were able to take a couple knees and run out the clock, as they improved to 4-1 on the season.
“Our kids played hard but I didn’t think we played too smart tonight,” Kaiser said. “We will tell our kids they can listen to the poison out there if they want to, or you can come back to work, and put your nose down and try to get better. It doesn’t get any easier.”
Up next Statesboro travels to West Laurens next Friday night for a non-region matchup.
Glynn Stung By Yellow Jackets
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Glynn Academy Red Terrors took to the road this past week to take on the undefeated Wayne County Yellow Jackets.
Wayne County had looked impressive coming in with a big win over Richmond Hill two weeks ago.
The Terrors had a bye week prior to the game and had only played a half of football in two weeks. That half coming against Groves and the second half was cancelled due to weather.
The Wayne County Yellow Jackets took control of the game early, scoring on their first drive of the game for a 7-0 lead.
Wayne would add to it in the 2nd quarter and would lead 14-0 before Glynn would rally.
The Red Terrors put a TD on the board to close within 14-7 and would then score on a 1-yd TD run by quarterback TJ Lewis to tie the game heading into the half.
However, Wayne would take control of the game again. MJ Fuller returned the opening kick of the second half 80 yards for the touchdown. The Yellow Jackets converted a 2-point conversion for a 22-14 lead.
Wayne would then recover a kick that hit a Glynn player on the kickoff and then would march the ball into the endzone for a 29-14 advantage early in the 3rd quarter.
The Yellow Jackets went into “clock chewing” mode after that and ran the ball at will against the Terror defensive front.
The Red Terrors began to amass some momentum in the 4th quarter, however that momentum would be squashed as the Terror QB TJ Lewis threw into double coverage and the Yellow Jackets intercepted the pass inside the 20.
Keep in mind the Terrors are a young football team and this was a great measuring stick to see there they stood. You can expect Coach Hidalgo to have his Terrors ready to play next week and to have learned from the mistakes made against Wayne.
With the loss the Terrors drop to 2-2 on the season and will travel to Waycross next week to take on rival Ware County.
Glynn Academy has not lost to the Gators since 2014.
Ware will be coming off of a bye week.
Jousting Match
By: Rich Bontrager
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
For the second straight week the Frederica Knights would score more than 60 points and control all sides of the ball as they defeated Bethlehem Christian 60-21.
Seven different Frederica players would score, including 3 more touchdowns for senior running back Isaiah Jackson. All three of his TD’s would be in the first quarter of play and help make it 27-0 at the end of that quarter. By half-time the GISA offensive player of the past week would have over 150 yards rushing.
Other teammates that contributed to the lopsided win included Jashawn Sheffield (two TD’s), QB Denver Anthony, (two TD’s), Harry Veal, JT Elliot, and freshman QB Thomas Veal late in the fourth quarter.
At half-time the Frederica Knights lead 41-7 and limited the Knights of Bethlehem Christian with less than 50 yards of offense and one score off of a 55-yard bomb.
The defense set the tone of the game when Josh Meadows (So.) intercepted Jacob Adams’ pass down field and help set up Frederica to get the second score of the game with 5:35 left in the first quarter.
With such a lopsided victory for Frederica, you must give credit to the coaching staff and head coach Brandon Derek.
Despite having several key players still out due to injury, the coaching staff has figured out how to assemble a winning team. The play calling in this game was made up of a never-ending rotation of players and plays.
This coaching scheme kept the Knights of Bethlehem guessing who might actually get the ball. Every series in the first half was a totally different package of players on offense.
Frederica takes their 2-2 record and will make their longest road trip of the season next week as the travel to face Augusta Prep.
Preseason predictors have said Frederica could win by 30 points or more. Will the Knights advance to 3-2 and break 60 points for the third straight week before getting a much-needed break?
To Coach Brandon Derek, that would be the ideal situation for his team that has battled extremely hard and suffered tough injuries the first two games.
Not So Fast
By: Josh Aubrey
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Statesboro Blue Devils have made great strides over the past two weeks, starting the season 2-0.
Friday night the Warhawks showed the Blue Devils they still have a ways to go, holding Statesboro to only 34 yards rushing and shutting them out 21-0.
“Everybody in our community – which we love and appreciate their support – was telling our kids and each other that Statesboro is back,” Statesboro coach Jeff Kaiser said. “Statesboro is not back, this is a journey and a process of getting to where we want to be. We are a lot further along than we have been in a while, but we aren’t where we want to be.”
The Warhawks defense stacked the line and shut Statesboro’s rushing attack down. Davardrion Lipsey managed only 30 yards on 14 carries, while Jaylen Roberson was held to just one yard on 14 carries.
“They are by far the most physical defensive line we have seen,” Kaiser said. “What really disappoints me is that instead of biting down on the bit and getting after it physically up front, we did not execute and were not physical.”
With the rushing game ineffective the Blue Devils were forced to do something they had only done once in the first two games, throw the ball. Quarterback Drake Horton completed 5 of 17 passes for 70 yards and had 3 interceptions.
“They forced us into doing what we don’t do and that’s throwing the ball,” Kaiser said. “We had a few good spots there but we threw too many interceptions and we have to do a better job keeping the ball.”
Statesboro managed two first downs on their opening drive but were forced to punt. The Warhawks then marched downfield on an 11 play 75-yard drive that culminated in a 12-yard Sebastian Verger touchdown for a 7-0 lead.
The Blue Devil defense held strong through the rest of the half. Veterans tried a fake punt that the Blue Devils stopped and Statesboro also recorded a fumble recovery at midfield by Flip Dixon.
The Blue Devil offense was unable to take advantage of field position on a couple occasions in the first half, having one drive end on an interception and another on an unsuccessful fourth down attempt.
In the third quarter the Warhawks busted free for a big play, as Verger kept it on an option right and streaked down the sidelines for a 47-yard touchdown and a 14-0 Veterans lead.
Horton was picked off twice in the third quarter, the first interception was returned 33 yards inside the Statesboro 20-yard line.
That would set up the final score of the night as Cyrus Zuell busted up the middle for an 8-yard touchdown, and a 21-0 lead.
“We need to get things ironed out, and get our heads straight and understand what we need to do to get better,’ Kaiser said. “I have one hundred percent faith that our kids will come in Sunday afternoon and watch film, and come Monday ready to get better.”
The win improves Veterans record to 4-0 on the season, while the Blue Devils drop to 2-1. Up next Statesboro travels to Effingham County Friday for a 7:30 start.
Red Terrors Hitting Their Stride?
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Glynn Academy Red Terrors improved to 2-1 on the 2018 season with 49-0 win over the Groves Rebels.
The Red Terrors were coming off of a 42-6 woodshedding of the Washington Bulldogs.
Groves had given 77 points the week prior to the Effingham Rebels and came into Glynn County Stadium winless on the season.
The game was called after the first half due to inclement weather. Groves was more than happy to get out of Glynn County Stadium after a half.
Rocky Hidalgo’s Red Terrors, once again, dominated on the ground and ran the ball at will.
Glynn QB TJ Lewis continues to improve a weekly basis. The growth of Lewis will prove more and more important as the playoffs approach and into the playoffs.
The Red Terrors will now get a week off to rest and get ready for the South Georgia Gauntlet.
The next time the Red Terrors will take the field it will be against undefeated Wayne County in Jesup.
The Terrors took on an undefeated Yellow Jacket team last season in Jesup and when the night was over Glynn had handed Wayne their first loss of the season (6-1).
The week after that Glynn will once again take to the road, this time to Waycross to take on Ware in the Swamp.
The Terrors have had a great deal of success against the Gators, reeling off four straight victories against Ware.
In case that wasn’t a stiff enough test, Glynn will then travel down to Chris Gilman Stadium in Kingsland to take on the resurgent Camden County Wildcats.
The Red Terrors have picked off Camden two straight years and it hasn’t been close either year.
These three games could go a long way in determining how good these young Terrors will be moving forward into the playoffs.
For now, Rocky Hidalgo’s young Red Terrors sit at 2-1 on the young season
Knights Back On Horse
By: Rich Bontrager
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 0-2 Frederica Knights Football team took to the road for the first time this season to face 0-1 the Lanier County Bulldogs. This was the third non-region game for the Knights and the first time these two teams have ever met.
The Knights came into the matchup short-handed as starting Quarterback Jaylin Simpson, wide receiver Jashawn Sheffield, cornerback Avery Cobb, and several others were out after last week’s intense loss to Valwood. The Knights would have to rely on their underclass and a few key players to carry the load.
The field was wet due to a brief rain shower prior to the start of the game. Regardless of the challenges, the Knights scored nine unanswered points in the first quarter, a field goal plus a 4O yard TD run by senior running back Isaiah Jackson.
During the second quarter, the scoring improved by both teams. The Bulldogs would go deep and score off of Brockington’s (QB) throw to Sirman (WR). The extra point was no good and Frederica maintained a 9-6 advantage. Moments later, Isaiah would score his second of four touchdowns as he returned yet another kickoff, running 80-yards up the middle.
Jackson would gain over 220 yards rushing off of more than 20 carries in the game. At halftime, starting QB Denver Anthony snuck into the end zone on a 1-yard sneak.
The Lanier Bulldogs got back into the game after their defense recovered a Knight’s fumble.
Their offense scored, making it 21-12. The Bulldogs then added another 2-yard TD pass
making it a 21-18 game late in the third quarter.
Jackson helped put the Knights back on top with his third TD run. This time Brock kicked the extra point and the Knights were up 28-18.
The heat, humidity and tough plays by Frederica’s defense began to affect the Bulldogs as they abandoned their running game and threw pass after pass. The Bulldogs had to make that adjustment after Patrick Brunson (Sr) ran back a 55-yard punt making it 34-18. The extra point was good and the Knights expanded their lead to 35-18 at the end of the third quarter.
Lanier County would score again in the 4th quarter. However, Isaiah Jackson responded with another TD run.
Junior transfer, Denver Anthony (5’8, 180 Ibs), had an excellent start for a second week in a row as the QB to lead Frederica. The Bulldog fans saw hope as they scored again on a long 55-yard pass from Brockington to Baker.
The Knights added two more rushing touchdowns by Harry Veal (10 and 8 yards). The Knights scored one more time in the fourth quarter to seal the victory as Kyle Perez (So., RB) ran for a 30-yard touchdown, making the final score 60-40.
Perez’s scores highlighted how coach Brandon Derrick, of Frederica, used every player
possible at just the right moment to secure the win. This strategy was evidenced, as well, by
the extra point kicked through the uprights by young Logan Bower, #99.
Lanier County falls to 0-2, while the Knight now stand at 1-2.
Next week the Knights are back at home to face Bethlehem Christian Academy. These two teams have not met since the first round of the 2016 season. The game will begin at 7:30
Statesboro Bedevils Liberty
By: Josh Aubrey
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It may be only two games into the season but it looks like the Statesboro Blue Devil football team may be back. On the heels of a 7-3 victory at Greenbrier, the Blue Devils welcomed in a highly touted Liberty County team and whipped them pretty soundly 23-6.
“These kids have really bought into what mental toughness is all about,” said Statesboro coach Jeff Kaiser. “We finished, we finished it the way we are supposed to. This is the way things are supposed to go at Statesboro High School,”
Once again it was the Blue Devil defense leading the charge. Liberty came in featuring one of the state’s top running backs in Kris Coleman, who was coming off a 350-yard, five touchdown performance. The Blue Devils held him to only 93 yards and held the Panther offense to just 124 yards of total offense.
“Our defense came ready to play once again, and never hung their head,” Kaiser said. “Liberty made an adjustment in the third quarter but we came right back and countered that move and I’m so proud of them and our entire coaching staff.”
The Blue Devil offense, who struggled mightily last Friday, rebounded nicely as they finished with 209 yards of total offense which included their first passing play of the season – which resulted in a touchdown – and their first big yardage play. That was a 74-yard Davardrion Lipsey touchdown run.
“Our offense line, who played pretty bad last week, really responded well tonight,” Kaiser said. “I know people want us to throw the ball but I think we are running it pretty well.”
The Blue Devil defense actually came up with the first points of the game, which was set up by the special teams.
A Hunter Saussy 48-yard punt pinned the Panthers on their own five-yard line. Two plays later Dake Williams wrapped up Coleman in the end zone for a safety.
“Hunter Saussy is just a tenth grader, but he has ice water in his veins,” Kaiser said. “He punted great and he typifies what we want out of all of our players.”
“Sometimes even kids who are just 16 or 17 years old say enough is enough,” Kaiser said. “Tonight, we saw the kind of fight I’ve been wanting to see out of this team. I couldn’t be prouder of this team, this coaching staff, this school, and these fans for turning out.”
The emotional game was capped off by an emotional moment after the game as coach Kaiser handed out his first ever game ball to O.J. Watson, who was recently diagnosed with leukemia.
“He’s a tenth grader and is a part of our team whether he’s out there or not,” Kaiser said. “He’s got a hard battle ahead of him, and I feel like our kids were as excited to see O.J. out here tonight as they were to win this game.”
The win improves the Blue Devils record to 2-0 for the first time since 2013. Up next, Statesboro travels to Veterans Friday for a 7:30 game.
Righting The Ship
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Brunswick High traveled to Darien and beat a young MCA squad 49-7.
The Pirate offense set the tone right after the opening kickoff with a 77-yard TD drive, all on the ground to race out to a 7-0 lead and never looked back.
The win put BHS at 1-2 going into a bye week before the home opener with Camden at Glynn County Stadium on September 14th.
Pirate Report Card:
Offense: A-. The Pirates did it all tonight on offense against MCA.
KJ Lee tossed a 90 and 28-yard TD pass to Marlon Carmena. Freshman Chucolbe Hill got the start at RB and did not disappoint.
Carmena has become the number one receiver in the program and threw the key block on Lee’s 73-yard TD in the third quarter.
The offensive line dominated MCA up front as the Pirates rushed for over 230 yards on the night.
Two fumbles in the 3rd quarter were the only negatives of the night on offense. Anthony Mountain saw his first action of the season after he sprained his knee in the Beach scrimmage and tossed a 20-yard TD pass to Xavier Bean.
MCA was just what the doctor ordered for the BHS offense after scoring only 13 points in the first two games.
Defense: A. This unit gave up a short 30-yard TD drive after the offense fumbled deep in Pirate territory.
Justin Akra and Keith Garrett played their best games of the year so far. Demetrius Hardee was much improved against MCA as well.
The pass rush was solid all night, rush defense was much improved and pass defense rebounded from a week ago. Best effort of the young season so far by this group.
The defense has an off week now to prepare for Camden County. Billy Anderson played well in his first start at CB.
Special Teams: B. Brunswick made all XP attempts, but kickoffs need to be deeper and kickoff coverage needs to improve.
Mitchell Richburg punted well once again. This unit made great strides this week.
Coaching: A. This team was ready to play. The game plan was solid and the kids responded well to a very intense week of practice.
Some starters did not start this week but the message from that was received loud and clear and when they got their opportunities to play they played with a chip on their shoulder.
Overall: A. This team beat an overmatched team handily and looked good doing it.
MCA was just in the wrong place at the wrong time on the schedule and BHS put this team away in business like fashion.
This is a young football team that is growing and will continue to improve week by week. This team will be dangerous when region play rolls around.
The Pirates are solid in the power run game and once the passing offense starts to click, look out.
KJ Lee looked very good against MCA and Anthony Mountain played well also in his first action.
Jaylen Trimmings and Hill are a solid running back core, and Marlon Carmena is having an all-region type season.
Next up, Camden County. The Pirates finally have a home opener one month into the season against the much-improved Wildcats.
Brunswick beat Camden 43-27 in Kingsland last year. This should be a good one folks and could set the tone for the Pirates for the remainder of the 2018 season.
Knights Un-horsed By Valwood
By: Rich Bontrager
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Friday night, on Saint Simons Island, fans were treated to an almost perfect rematch of last year’s playoff season-ending loss to Valwood.
Not only was it scoreless at half-time like last year, but it was scoreless through regulation.
The game began with high emotion and back-to-back turnovers. First, Jaylin Simpson of the Knights intercepted Valwood’s Quarterback, Caleb Burns. The very next play, Frederica’s QB
Denver Anthony lost the ball as Valwood stripped it from his hands.
The rest of the game became a war in the trenches of the front lines. While both teams
struggled to find any offensive rhythm, both defenses played extremely well.
Cameron Gardner (Sr., 6’1, 210) of Frederica made his presence known on several occasions, including a goal line stand that forced the Valiants to turn the ball over on downs.
Head Coach Brandon Derrick praised his team for playing, “a hard-fought game.”
Throughout the game, the Knight’s offensive line struggled to keep Valwood from breaking
through and getting into the backfield. With the Valiants breaking the line regularly, Frederica
found it hard to get any consistent passing or rushing game going.
At half-time, the Knights had only managed one first down.
The second half started with Frederica receiving the opening kickoff and putting together a solid series of plays until QB Jaylin Simpson took a hard sideline hit and an injury forced his removal from the game. Injuries mounted for the Knights all evening and forced the team to adjust to mostly a running attack.
With the game tied at 0-0, late into the fourth quarter, Frederica’s Head Coach called for a long pass toward the end zone and it appeared to have been caught but was waved off by the
referees at the two-yard line.
Penalties filled much of the second half, which caused setbacks
to both team’s momentum.
The high emotion of calls affected several of Frederica’s players and resulted in two penalties that cost them 30 yards and another stalled out drive.
In overtime, Valwood received the ball first and scored with starting QB Caleb Burns
connecting with Willie Robertson for a touchdown. The extra point counted making it 0-7.
The Knights finally scored on Isaiah Jackson’s 16-yard run, making the score 6-7.
Head Coach, Brandon Derrick, chose to go for the win and attempt a two-point conversion rather than kick the extra point and be tied once again. Valwood’s defense stopped the attempt and gave Frederica another difficult loss.
Not only did the Knights suffer their second loss of this early season, but the team also has injuries to assess and heal before going on the road to face Bethlehem Christian Academy next Friday night.
