High School Football
Head Cat Out
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Camden County Wildcats will once again be looking for a new football coach.
It has been announced that Travis Roland, Camden’s Head Coach for 2024 and 2025, will not be returning for the 2026 season.
Roland went 13-8 in his brief tenure with Camden.
In 2024 Camden made the playoffs under Roland and went 7-4 overall. The Wildcats lost in the first round of the playoffs in 2024 to North Cobb, 28-7. The Cats got into the playoffs as the #4 seed from Region 1-6A..
In 2025 the Wildcats started off 5-0 and we’re ranked in the top 10 in the state in 6A. Things did not go as well in the second half of the season as Camden notched a 1-4 record.
Camden County finished the season 6-4 and did not make the playoffs in 6A.
Roland was 0-6 against Lowndes, Colquitt and Valdosta. He went 1-1 against Richmond Hill and 2-0 against Tift County in his two years as head coach.
Travis Roland was hired out of Mainland High School in Florida. He won the 3-S State Title in Florida in 2023. Roland’s Buccaneer’s went 14-1 in 2023 and defeated St. Augustine 21-19 in the title game. He was the Head Coach at Mainland High School from 2021-2023 where he went 30-10 overall.
He was the Head Coach at Flagler Palm Coast in Florida before he took the job at Mainland High School and went 58-22 overall at Palm Coast.
Roland finishes his tenure with Camden with an overall record of 101-40 as a Head Coach.
Roland took over the program after legendary Coach Jeff Herron retired after three seasons in his second stint with the Wildcats.
Heron took the Wildcats to the second round of the GHSA Playoffs in 2022 and then the Final Four in the playoffs in 2023.
In 2025 the Wildcats lost to Lowndes, Valdosta and Colquitt, their main rivals in the region, by a combined score of 143-61.
The next coach at Camden will be the fourth in seven years with the Wildcats.
With the tradition of the program and Camden only being two years removed from a Final Four appearance in the GHSA Playoffs, the Wildcats should have several elite coaches to choose from in the hiring process.
Wildcat 2025 Rewind
By: Michael Spiers
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2025 Camden County Wildcats season was a rollercoaster ride that started hot, hit some bumps in region play, and finished strong with a big win on the road.
Coach Travis Roland’s squad showed plenty of heart, grit, and flashes of the old Wildcat magic, closing the regular season with a 6-4 record and a lot to build on for the future.
The Wildcats came out firing in August, outlasting Brunswick 44-35 in the Frank Smith Classic.
Quarterback Will Jackson made an instant impact with five touchdown passes in his Camden debut, while running back Antwan Williams pounded out 158 yards on the ground. It was the perfect tone setter for what looked like another big year.
Week two was the David “D.C.” Coleman Show. The junior speedster returned two kickoffs for touchdowns, one 91 yards and another 97, as Camden blasted East Lake from Florida 57 to 33.
Jackson threw two more scores, and the Wildcats’ offense piled up nearly 500 yards. Coach Roland called Coleman special, and fans in Kingsland were already nodding in agreement.
Camden stayed red hot in week three, handling West Broward 32 to 13.
The defense completely shut down the run, holding the Bobcats to minus two rushing yards. Jackson tossed two touchdowns, ran for another, and special teams chipped in again when Trent Hamilton housed an 80-yard kickoff return.
By week four, the Wildcats were in full throttle mode. On Senior Night against Ribault, Camden fell behind early but then rolled to a 56 to 13 win.
Coach Roland broke out the Rhino package, a power formation that sparked a 49-point outburst. Coleman scored three different ways, and Dailey added two rushing touchdowns.
At 4-0, Camden hit the bye week averaging over 44 points per game.
Homecoming was next, and the Wildcats sent Royal Palm Beach back to Florida with a 37 to 20 loss. Jackson opened the game with a 40-yard run followed by a 39-yard touchdown pass to Sean Green, and the rout was on.
Coleman scored twice, the defense racked up six sacks, and Camden moved to 5 and 0 for the second straight season.
Then came Region 1 6A play, and the road got a lot rougher.
Camden dropped three straight to Valdosta, Richmond Hill, and Lowndes, all ranked opponents.
Valdosta racked up over 600 yards in a 63 to 19 loss, but the Wildcats bounced back the next week with a strong defensive showing at Richmond Hill, losing a close one 24 to 20 despite 285 passing yards and two touchdowns from Jackson.
Against Lowndes, Camden again fought hard, cutting a 21 to 0 deficit to 21 to 14 before the Vikings pulled away late.
Colquitt County was next, and the Packers once again proved why they’re one of the state’s top programs, beating Camden 45 to 28. Jackson accounted for all three Wildcat touchdowns, but the defense couldn’t slow down Colquitt’s ground game.
It was a tough stretch, but Roland’s team kept battling every week.
Then came a chance to finish on a high note at Tift County, and Camden took full advantage. The Wildcats capped the regular season with a convincing 35 to 17 win.
Jackson threw for 212 yards and two scores, Williams rushed for 141 yards, and Coleman added another touchdown to his growing highlight reel.
The defense came up big too, forcing three turnovers and holding the Blue Devils to just 10 points after halftime. It was the fast, physical, and disciplined kind of performance Roland had been pushing for all season.
Jackson finished the year with more than 1,500 passing yards and over 20 total touchdowns. Coleman proved to be the ultimate playmaker, scoring in just about every way possible.
Green was a steady deep threat, while Williams and Dailey powered one of the most dangerous backfields in Georgia.
The final record might not jump off the page, but this Camden County team showed resilience, toughness, and a lot of promise.
The Wildcats started strong, stumbled in the middle, and finished the right way, with a road win and renewed confidence.
As Coach Roland said more than once this fall, “Winning is hard to do, and you’ve got to enjoy your wins when you get them.”
Realignment
Realignment
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The GHSA has announced the preliminary 2026-2028 region alignments. While this is not 100% final, by in large this will be the region alignments for the next two football seasons.
Regions with south Georgia teams will look like the following.
1-7A: Camden, Lowndes, Valdosta, Colquitt, Richmond Hill.
1-6A: Brunswick, Glynn Academy, Bradwell Institute, Effingham, South Effingham, Grovetown, Lakeside-Evans, Greenbriar.
2-6A: Coffee, Thomas County Central, Lee, Tift, Houston, Northside Warner Robins, Veterans.
1-5A: Benedictine, Evans, Ware, Wayne, Groves, Jenkins, Richmond Academy, Statesboro.
2-5A: Warner Robins, Perry, Eagles Landing, Jones County, Locust Grove, Ola, Union Grove.
3-4A: Southeast Bulloch, Harlem, Liberty, Long, New Hampstead, West Laurens, Windsor Forest
1-3A: Carver-Columbus, Cook, Crisp, Jordan, Kendrick, Sumter, Worth.
3-3A: Appling, Beach, Brantley, Islands, Johnson-Savannah, Pierce, Tattnall, Toombs.
1-2A: Fitzgerald, Berrien, Brooks, Bacon, Jeff Davis, Thomasville.
2-2A: Bleckley, ACE Charter, Dodge, Dublin, East Laurens, Vidalia.
3-2A: Bryan, Calvary Day, Metter, Savannah, Savannah Christian, Screven, Swainsboro.
2-1A: Atkinson, Baconton, Charlton, Clinch, Irwin, Lanier, Mitchell, Pelham.
3-1A: Claxton, ECI, MCA, Montgomery, Portal, Treutlen.
4-1A: Dooly, Hawkinsville, Telfair, Turner, Twiggs, Wheeler, Wilcox.
Onward Knights
By: Jeff Doke
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
This past Friday night, the Frederica Knights exorcised some playoff demons.
Goddard Field on the campus of Valwood School is a place that holds equal amounts of joy and heartbreak for the Frederica faithful.
In a rivalry that dates back to the 2014 season, this is the place where Jordan Triplett broke the all-time rushing record in the state of Georgia – albeit in a 56-30 semi-final round loss.
The fact that the Knights have had playoff hopes dashed more than once at the hands of the Valiants is one that is not lost on quarterback Stanton Beverly.
“I just want to beat them,’ the Junior signal caller said during the bye week. The Valiants had a five-game win streak in football against Frederica, and the four-sport player Beverly had never won against the team in orange and blue on any field, court, or diamond.
That changed this past Friday.
The crowd that made the trip to Hahira from St Simons was sizeable – quite possibly the largest since the 2018 state championship game. In addition to being large, they were also loud.
The Knights fans provided an early game atmosphere that led to the first two plays from scrimmage result in Valwood false start penalties.
After the Valiants went 3 and out in their opening drive, Frederica embarked on a 9 play 69-yard drive that was topped off with a 2-yard Stanton Beverly touchdown run.
While it looked like the game would be lopsided from the onset, the remainder of the first half wound up being a war of attrition, going to the halftime locker room with a 7-7 tie.
The Knights would get the ball first to start the second half but unfortunately would go 3 and out when a potential touchdown reception fell through WR Jayden Gibson’s fingers.
Gibson would make up for it in the next drive, taking an interception back 46 yards for a score. It would be the second most important of the four interceptions the Knights would have in the game.
With less than four minutes left in the 4th, Stanton Beverly would connect with Jaylen Baldwin on an 18-yard TD to put the Knights up 28-14. Valwood would take the ensuing kickoff back for a score and then followed that with a successful onside kick.
Valwood was able to move the ball another 30 yards before Gibson had his second interception on the night, this time in the red zone and securing the Frederica win.
Frederica now moves to the semi-final round of the GIAA Class AAA playoffs to face a foe with another lopsided rivalry in the form of the John Milledge Academy Trojans.
Apart from the 2018 State Championship game win, the Knights are winless against the squad coached by JT Wall, including the last four in a row.
After an aberrant 2-9 season in 2024, the Trojans were back to form in 2025, posting a 9-1 record in the regular season and opening the playoffs with a 56-0 walloping of Piedmont Academy.
JMA is led on offense by QB Lewis Cheney. The 6’4” 187 lbs. Senior is 95 for 150 on the year with 1773 yds/21 TDs/4 INTs.
The main beneficiary of those stats is Sophomore TE Asa Wall, who has 40 receptions for 830 yards and 9 TDs. Wall has also carried the ball 54 times for 494 yards and a gaudy 13 TDs.
Elsewhere on the ground, Sophomore Javaris Hurt and Junior Jamel Cooper have combined for over 1400 yards and 14 TDs.
Asa Wall is also a force on defense, leading the Trojans in tackles with 76 and sacks with 5.
The winner of Frederica vs. JMA will face the winner of the Deerfield-Windsor vs. Westfield game in the State Championship at Mercer University on November 21st.
Reclassification
By: Michael Spiers
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The GHSA dropped its new football classifications for 2026 through 2028 this week, and as always, it’s stirring the pot across the state.
The new setup means some schools are moving up, some are sliding down, and a whole bunch of athletic directors are now staring at spreadsheets trying to figure out what it all means before appeals start Monday morning.
Let’s start with the big news.
A few powerhouse programs are heading to tougher neighborhoods. Creekside, Worth County, Kell, Jefferson, and LaGrange are all moving up a class or more.
Basically, if you’ve been steamrolling folks the past few years, congratulations, you’ve earned yourself a promotion.
For fans, that means some fun new matchups and maybe a little more balance when it comes playoff time.
For coaches, well, that’s a few more sleepless nights watching film.
Then there’s the private school puzzle.
A handful of top programs like Marist, Westminster, Benedictine, and Pace Academy can either stay put or drop into the new “4A-2A Private” division.
Most of those schools have been playing up for a while, but now they’ve got to decide if they want to keep testing themselves against the big boys or move where the competition might be a little fairer.
Whatever they decide, it’s going to shift the power balance. If a couple of those juggernauts move down, that private bracket is going to be stacked.
Now, the real headache for a lot of schools is the GHSA’s out-of-zone multiplier. This is the rule that bumps up schools with a bunch of students who live outside their attendance area.
It’s supposed to level the playing field, but it’s also created some weird side effects.
For example, Gainesville, Dalton, and Calhoun, all city schools that people assume recruit like crazy, actually have very few out-of-zone students. Because of that, they’re getting placed lower than their enrollments suggest.
Meanwhile, county schools like Kennesaw Mountain, Arabia Mountain, and Lakeside-Evans are getting bumped up a class because of a handful of transfer students.
I don’t think that’s exactly what the multiplier was designed for.
Then there’s the idea of competitive balance, which is something GHSA is finally starting to take seriously.
The organization wants to build a formula to identify programs that consistently struggle and might deserve to play down. That’s long overdue. If a team hasn’t sniffed the playoffs in a decade, forcing them to line up against a perennial powerhouse every year doesn’t help anybody.
Schools like Berkmar, Meadowcreek, Beach, and Groves could benefit from this new thinking if GHSA actually follows through.
So, here’s the bottom line. This new classification cycle is a step in the right direction, but it’s not perfect. Some schools are going to feel punished for things out of their control. Others will finally get a fair shot.
The multiplier still needs fine-tuning, and GHSA’s “competitive balance” plan will only work if it’s transparent and consistent.
But overall? It’s progress.
Reclassification used to be just a numbers game. Count your students and that’s where you land. Now, GHSA’s at least acknowledging that there’s more to it than headcount.
For fans, that means new rivalries, maybe longer road trips, and hopefully a few surprise playoff runs. For coaches, it means scouting new opponents and figuring out where their teams really stand.
And for the rest of us, it’s another reminder that in Georgia high school football, nothing ever stays the same for long, except the passion on Friday nights.
Jackets Stung
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When word finally came down from the GHSA office that the 3A bracket didn’t include Southeast Bulloch, there were questions being asked and directed toward Thomaston (where the GHSA office is).
The fact that SEB was left out of the bracket wasn’t so much of a gripe, but who did get in was more the issue.
Beach High School out of Savannah received an at-large spot as the 29th seed in the 3A playoff bracket despite only playing 9 regular season games and being beat by the Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets 48-8 just two days prior to the bracket coming out.
Southeast Bulloch finished the season 5-5 and 5-4 in Region 3 play after the 48-8 victory over Beach and ended up 5th in the Region (out of 10 teams). After falling to the Jackets, Beach finishes in 6th place behind SEB.
Beach only played 9 regular season games because their week 2 matchup with Savannah High was declared a no-contest after player ejections and coaches’ arguments broke out in the second quarter of the game in Savannah.
While Beach highly likely would have gone on to win that game against a Savannah team that finished 1-8, the game itself would have played a bigger factor than just a win for Beach.
The PSR (Post Season Ranking) metric that the GHSA uses to determine seeding for 3A and also is the only factor that is used to determine at-large bids is a formula that is 35% based on your win percentage, but is also 35% based on your opponents’ win percentage and 30% based on your opponents’ opponents’ win percentage.
The only comment made by the GHSA has been GHSA associate director Don Corr, who oversees the GHSA’s PSR Ratings and sets the playoff brackets, when he put out a generic statement of “The region followed their procedures to provide the GHSA office with their results, and the GHSA followed the PSR rules as approved by the GHSA state executive committee.”
In the current system, the top four seeds in each region make the playoff field, then at-large berths (due to having to pull the private schools out) are determined by the PSR ratings.
While this year, this flawed system negatively affects the team that I’m tied to with me being the radio play-by-play broadcaster for the Jackets, I’ve said this system is incredibly flawed since it was introduced.
First off, teams in SEB’s region are at a disadvantage because they are in the only 10-team region in all of 3A, so teams only have one non-region game they have control of to increase the PSR ratings, and the way the recent history of the teams in the region has been, there’s only four or five teams that actually can help improve your PSR in region.
With the current region’s makeup, there are two regions that only have six teams in it (so two-thirds of the region make the postseason bracket), and two others that have seven teams.
Aside from that issue, the PSR is an extremely complicated but lazy answer for the GHSA. While the current PSR counts road games more than home games (1.1 to 0.9 in the formula), there is no differentiation between non-region games against a higher classification team. In SEB’s case, they opened the season with the lone non-region match-up against the 5A Statesboro squad, but if you just looked at the PSR formula, it would look like any other game on the schedule.
While the system itself is flawed, the execution and transparency by the GHSA leaves a lot to be desired and caused confusion at the end of the season.
Throughout the regular season on the GHSA website, fans can go online and see the PSR ratings and how each team got to their PSR number, but for some reason, the GHSA took the Football PSR page down Thursday evening before the final games of the regular season, and still remains hidden.
In SEB’s case, the week began with thinking there was no chance at an at large, but as the week went on, a member of the SEB community dove into the numbers and discovered there was a path just to be denied and no explanation of the PSR numbers.
At the end of the day, yes, if SEB wins another game or two, they’re in the top four of the region, and it’s a moot point…..in Brooklet at least, but the scary part is that beginning in 2026, the GHSA has approved to go to the PSR for all classifications (oh yeah, PSR only comes into play for 3A and lower….) and region finishes won’t matter.
Beginning next year, the region champions will get an automatic berth, then everyone will be seeded, and all other at-large berths will come from the same PSR that has failed them this year.
Lead Knight
By: Jeff Doke
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
At the beginning of this season, Frederica Academy quarterback Stanton Beverly had several goals he wanted to achieve. He’s already accomplished several, plus at least one he wasn’t aware of.
At the completion of the regular season, the coaches of the GIAA AAAA/AAA District 2 named their All-Region Team as well as their Region Player of the Year.
While eight of his teammates were named to the All-Region team, seniors Gavin Grantham and Fuller Wimberly, juniors Jayden Gibson, Jaylen Baldwin, and Eli Middleton, sophomores Eric Alford and JC Wessell, and freshman Hudson Carter, Beverly was unanimously selected as the Region Player of the Year.
When asked about the post-regular season laurels, Stanton was more than willing to heap further praise upon his teammates.
“Everybody deserved it, but I think even more people deserved it,” the junior signal caller said recently. “I think Jordyn Rollins and Travis Garland deserved it as well. Honestly, every single person on this team could have deserved it.”
And he would know. According to a trusted member of Frederica Head Coach Brandon Derrick’s staff who keeps track of player history on HUDL (okay, fine. His wife Becky…), Beverly spends far and away more time viewing film than any of his teammates. According to Stanton’s family, he’s been that way since he was a child.
“When Stanton was 5 years old, he came to me and said that he wanted to play football,” recalls his father Corey Beverly. “I despise flag football, and at the time the local rec department in Nashville only had flag football for ages 5 and 6, so I told him no. The next year I got a call from the rec and they said they’re adding tackle this year. So, I said, ‘yeah, I’ll sign him up.’”
“So, I pick Stanton up from school and we miss the road to home and Stanton asks where we’re going. I told him we were going to the rec department to sign you up for football. I looked over and he had tears running down his face. He said, ‘I’ve waited my whole life for this!’” This year, opposing defenses have been driven to tears.
In the regular season, Beverly has gone 62-108 passing for 948 yards and 10 touchdowns. This places him at #4 all time in Frederica history behind Jalin Simpson (2018) and Gavin Williams (2016 & 15).
Combine that with the fact that he also leads the team in rushing: 113 carries for 751 yards and 10 more touchdowns and you can see why he’s drawn comparisons to another recent scrambling signal caller from Southeast Georgia.
“I love Stetson,” Stanton replied when made aware of the comparisons. “I think he’s the greatest UGA quarterback of all time. I kind of style my game after him. That’s who I want to be; go to Georgia as an underdog story. Stetson Bennett is my hero.”
On defense, Beverly has put up decent stats at Safety as well. His 38 total tackles has him tied for 3rd on the team and is also tied for 1st with 2 INTs.
Much like former Knight Jordan Triplett (who Stanton got to play with his freshman year), Beverly believes his time on defense makes him a better player on offense.
“Safety is almost all about coverages. When I drop back to pass, I can sort of see the demeanors of the cornerbacks and the safeties and it all clicks for me. That also comes from watching film as well.”
After a first round bye in the playoffs, the Knights will take on Valwood Academy, a team that currently is on a 5-game win streak against the Knights. “This team has come such a long way from the beginning of the season. We’re not even comparable to the team we were when we faced Valwood the first time.”
The Finish Line
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
We have made our way to the final week of the high school football season. For some there are still a lot of undecided seedings and playoff berths to be determined in this final week and for others the season will close on Halloween Night.
The Brunswick High Pirates will be moving onto the playoffs, just what seed still needs to be determined. The Pirates are 7-2 overall and 6-1 in region play.
Brunswick will host the South Effingham Mustangs this week at Glynn County Stadium. The Mustangs were eliminated from the playoffs last week after they went down to
The Statesboro Blue Devils last week 27-17.
For South Effingham it is a chance to finish at .500 and for Brunswick there is still potential to claim a region title and a #1 seed for the GHSA playoffs.
The Pirates need to beat South Effingham and a little help from the Effingham Rebels, who play Statesboro at Womack Field in Statesboro.
If Effingham can knock off the Blue Devils coupled with a Pirates win, the Rebels would claim a #2 seed and the Pirates would claim the Region Title. Otherwise, BHS would be #2 seed and Effingham would be the #3 seed with Statesboro as your Region Champ.
If BHS were to lose to South Effingham and Effingham wins, the Rebels would be your Region Champs.
The Frederica Knights went 7-3 in the regular season and 3-0 in the region.
The Knights downed the St. Andrews Lions last week 49-16 to finish the regular season.
Frederica will receive a 1st round bye in the GISA playoffs but will have to begin on the road taking on the Valwood Valiants in Valdosta.
Valwood earned a #4 seed and Frederica was the #5 seed.
The Knights fell to Valwood earlier in the season 33-14 at home on St. Simons Island.
The Glynn Academy Red Terrors are currently 5-4 and 4-3 in region play.
The Red Terrors fell to Effingham last week 45-42 in a game that the Terrors made a frantic comeback almost pulling off a miracle. Glynn trailed 45-20 heading into the 4th quarter and scored 21 unanswered points to close the game and simply ran out of time to finish the comeback.
The Terrors will close the season against the Greenbriar Wolfpack. Win or lose Glynn will be in the playoffs as the #4 seed from Region 1-5A. Greenbriar is 2-7.
The MCA Buccaneers are 5-4 and 4-3 in region play. The Bucs took care of business last week beating the Savannah Blue Jackets 35-20 last week.
Currently the Bucs are sitting as the #3 seed in Region 3-A D2. MCA will take on the Portal Panthers needing a win to maintain playoff hopes.
A Buccaneer win coupled with a loss for either Bryan County or Jenkins County would punch a playoff ticket for McIntosh County. If MCA and Jenkins County win and Bryan County loses the Bucs would be a #4 seed. If MCA and Bryan County win and Jenkins County loses then MCA would be a #3 seed.
Bryan County plays Metter at Metter and Jenkins County goes to Savannah.
If all three lose then it would create a four-way tie breaker between MCA, Jenkins county Metter and Bryan County for the #3 and #4 seeds. If all three win then it would be a three-way tie breaker for the #3 and #4 seeds.
The Camden County Wildcats are 5-4 on the season and 0-4 Region 1-6A.
The Wildcats had their playoff hopes ended last week at the hands of the Colquitt County Packers, losing 45-28.
Camden started the season undefeated at 5-0 but have since gone winless in region play.
The Wildcats will play the Tift County Blue Devils looking to finish above .500 at 6-4. Tift is also winless in the region at 0-4 and is 3-6 overall. They will play the game in Tifton.
Another Conquest
By: Jeff Doke
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
For the first time since 2022, the Frederica Academy Knights are Region Champions in the GIAA AAAA/AAA Region 2.
After convincing back-to-back wins against long-time rivals Bulloch Academy and Pinewood Christian Academy, Coach Brandon Derrick’s Knights have secured the region crown regardless of the outcome of their final region game against St. Andrews this Friday night.
Opening region play against the Gators on October 9th, the Knights were looking to even some scores against their most heated rivals.
With their 2024 shutout victory in Statesboro, Bulloch Academy tied the all-time record between the two schools at 6 wins apiece and handed the Knights their first shut-out loss since the 2020 State Championship game loss to John Milledge Academy.
This year would be a different story. The Knights would take a 7-3 lead into the halftime locker room before opening things up in the second half, closing the night with a 35-20 victory.
The highlight play of the night was arguably the 90-yard halfback option passing touchdown to WR Braxton Sykes from RB Jaylen Baldwin. Baldwin also had both a rushing touchdown and receiving touchdown on the night.
Frederica followed up the 2025 region debut with a matchup against another long-time adversary, Pinewood Christian Academy.
The Knights had battled back against the Patriots to a 7-7 tie in the all-time matchup after starting 0-5 in the early days of the rivalry.
For the second week in a row, Coach Derrick’s team would break the all-time tie and extend their winning streak to four games against the boys from Bellville, notching their second region win to the tune of 28-14.
While Jaylen Baldwin once again had two touchdowns on the night, the play of the game – if not the season – came in the 2nd quarter when 6’7” 225 lb. Sophomore TE JC Wessel caught a 4th down pass on the 10 yard line and carried four Pinewood defenders from there into the endzone.
Region play wraps up for Frederica on October 24 with a trip to Savannah to take on St. Andrews.
The Lions – currently playing at Daffin Park next to Historic Greyson Stadium due to field upgrades at their Wilmington Island campus – come into the matchup with a 3-6 record but winless in region play.
St Andrews has never beaten Frederica, with the 7-0 loss in 2020 the only match that was within three scores.
To be bluntly realistic, the chances that coach Derrick’s squad doesn’t end the week with an undefeated Region Championship are very, very low.
That being said, the outlook for the playoffs is promising, but less than perfect. The GIAA uses MaxPreps rankings to seed their playoff brackets.
This puts Frederica at the #5 position in the Division, just behind Valwood and ahead of Tiftarea Academy.
If this ranking stays the same after this weekend’s matches, it means Frederica will get a 1st Round bye but will not get a home playoff game.
One thing that may affect the ranking is the final decision in regard to the weather-shortened 14-7 loss to West Nassau High in Week 2.
Lightning in the area suspended play with about a minute left in the 1st quarter and never resumed.
If the two coaches can agree to wipe the “game” from the site, it might be enough to vault Frederica into the #4 seed, however the head-to-head loss against Valwood in Week 3 will more than likely complicate the matter.
More than likely, if the seeding does not change, the Knights will be making a 2nd round road trip to either Westfield or Valwood.
The Knights are 2-0 all-time versus Westfield (two lopsided wins in 2018 & 2019) but are currently on a five-game losing streak to Valwood after going 4-5 against the Valiants in their first nine matchups.
Dragons Slayed
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
As the High School Football season marches on the playoff picture begins to become clearer with teams around southeast Georgia.
Over on St. Simons Island the Frederica Academy Knights claimed another region championship. The Knights hosted Pinewood Christian Academy on Friday night and down the Patriots 28-14.
The win took the Knights to 6-3 overall and 2-0 in the region and clinched another Region Championship for Coach Brandon Derrick and his Knights of Frederica.
Frederica will trek up to Savannah to take on St. Andrews in the season finale with a possible 1st Round bye on the line.
The Brunswick High Pirates are currently the #2 seed in Region 1-5A with the #1 seed still a possibility. The Pirates are hoping either the South Effingham Mustangs or Effingham Rebels can upend the Statesboro Blue Devils in one of the last two games of the season which would allow Brunswick to claim the #1 seed.
Brunswick is 7-2 overall and 6-1 in region play. The Pirates will rest up on a bye this week before they play and will get ready to take South Effingham in the season finale.
The MCA Buccaneers went into Friday’s game against the Metter Tigers in a ‘must win’ situation to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The Bucs did just that. Coach Bradley Warren’s Buccaneers went on the road to Metter and beat the Tigers 18-8.
The win pulls the Bucs to .500 at 4-4 overall and 3-3 in the region.
MCA’s defense has only allowed 15 points in the last 3 games.
The Bucs still have the Savannah Blue Jackets and the Portal Panthers on the docket. If they win both of those games the Bucs would be in as a #4 seed holding the tie breaker over both Bryan County and Metter.
The Glynn Academy Red Terrors are currently the #4 seed in Region 1-5A and have a big matchup this week against the Effingham Rebels. Effingham is currently the #3 team in the region.
This is a must win for the Red Terrors. A Glynn win would almost assure Glynn of a playoff berth at least as #3 seed. A Red Terror loss puts them on the outside looking in and Glynn would need a lot of help to get into the playoffs in the final week.
The Red Terrors are 5-3 overall in 2025 and 4-2 in the region. A #2 seed is still not out of reach for Terrors either with a little help. If Glynn Academy wins out and Statesboro drops another game the #2 seed would belong to the Red Terrors.
The Camden County Wildcats will be taking on the Colquitt County Packers and are coming off of a much-needed bye. After a 5-0 start the Camden County Wildcats have dropped 3 straight, all region games.
With losses to Valdosta, Lowndes and Richmond Hill Camden has to win in the Hog Pen in Moultrie to have a chance to make the playoffs.
For the Wildcats the path to the playoffs is a little complicated. Camden must beat both Colquitt and Tift in the final two and have Richmond Hill beat Colquitt in the season finale. This would give Camden the #4 seed. A loss to Colquitt or Tift would eliminate Camden from postseason play.
The Wildcats are currently 5-3 on the season and 0-3 in region play.
