Terrors Throttle Effingham
By: Christian Goeckel
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Good football teams seem to take on the identity of their coach.
Alabama is a “trust the process” machine that will cut you out if you don’t fit, just like their coach Nick Saban.
Georgia Tech carries a huge chip on their shoulder, to go along with a huge inferiority complex mostly perpetuated by head man Paul Johnson. The Glynn Academy Red Terrors are no exception.
Who Will Win AFC South?
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
We are in October and the first quarter of the NFL season is in the books.
It’s almost too early to really know the contenders and pretenders. In previous years, teams have started the season 5-0 or 6-0 and still missed the playoffs. I’m going to try to determine how the teams in the AFC South will fare the rest of the season.
Bye Bye Butch?
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It’s difficult in sports and just life in general, to temper your excitement or to realize the world isn’t going to come to an end based off of a singular event.
It’s like listening to “Baby Got Back” and announcing that Sir Mix-A-Lot is the greatest rapper to ever walk the face of the earth, without listening to everything else he’s done. Or in the case of Tennessee head coach Butch Jones, it’s like judging Adam Sandler’s career off “Jack & Jill” but not giving him credit for “Happy Gilmore”.
It’s easy right now to pile onto Jones and to argue that he deserves to be relieved of his duties as the Vols head coach; lord knows there’s been enough of those articles written the past few weeks.
The Two Jakes
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
There is a movie that Jack Nicholson directed and starred in from 1990 called The Two Jakes. It’s a sequel to Nicholson’s classic Chinatown, but The Two Jakes doesn’t come close to matching the quality of the earlier film.
I bring this up because The Two Jakes could also be the title of a movie dramatizing the 2017 Georgia Bulldogs’ football season.
Knights Lance Pinewood
By: Alex Mathis
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Knights traveled to Bellville, Ga to take on the Pinewood Patriots.
This is traditionally a huge game between the two teams. Last year’s Frederica won the matchup 30-17. Two years ago, Pinewood came away with the victory with a score of 41-6.
This was one of Brandon Derricks worst losses at Frederica. Coach Derrick challenged his team before the game by telling that he had never won on this field and that this game would be a statement game for GISA.
Glynn Exterminates Wayne
By: Christian Goeckel
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When the Terrors took the field Friday night in Jesup, it had been four weeks to the day since they walked off the field after being trounced by Tift County.
In those 28 days lie a hurricane whose effects are still felt around the county, irreparable damage done to families, 16 grueling hot practices, and a lot of determination.
Jake From State Fromm
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
JakeFromStateFromm. That is the Twitter handle of the Georgia QB, Jake Fromm. It is for certain his Twitter followers have sky rocketed over the last month, especially in Dawg Nation.
Fromm, a graduate from Houston County, was one of the most feared QB’s in the state of Georgia when in high school.
In fact, most thought he would not sign with UGA since Jacob Eason was already cemented as the starter for Georgia. However, Fromm did commit and instantaneously gave the Dawgs some much needed depth at the QB position.
Coach Kirby Smart had the luxury of another 5-star QB on the roster, just in case something were to happen to Eason.
SEC East Report Card
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Going into the season we had a pretty good idea of who should win each conference. We had favorites to win the different divisions so we might know what the conference championship matchup might be.
One of the most unpredictable divisions had to be the SEC East. I’m going to give my report card for the division.
Georgia (4-0): It pains me as a Georgia Tech fan to praise UGA. They look head and shoulders above everyone else in the division.
Kirby Smart has the defense playing fast and physical mirroring Alabama (which is why he was hired). You know about the two beasts at running back, Nick Chubb and Sony Michel.
True freshman quarterback Jake Fromm is the real deal. My only concern is he’s experiencing everything for the first time so I don’t know how he’ll react. For instance, playing in front of over 100,000 fans at Neyland Stadium next week. Grade: A+
Florida (2-1): Since Tim Tebow left Gainesville the Gators have struggled on offense.
They were manhandled on both sides of the ball in the first game against No. 7 Michigan. Since then they have started to have a little more success moving the ball with freshman QB Felipe Franks.
There may be a quarterback controversy brewing because Luke Del Rio has been named the starter against Vanderbilt. They also have nine players facing felony fraud charges including WR Antonio Callaway and RB Jordan Scarlett.
We’re used to the annual beat down they give Georgia every year in Jacksonville but this can change everything if these players are suspended or dismissed. Grade: C
Kentucky (3-1): The Wildcats are coming off of a tough 28-27 loss to Florida over the weekend. So far, they look like the second most consistent team in the division. Senior QB Stephen Johnson is completing 64% of his passes and the offense has several playmakers. Mark Stoops is looking to keep his job and lead Kentucky to their second consecutive bowl appearance. Grade: B
South Carolina (3-1): The Gamecocks had an impressive win over NC State to begin the season. The lone loss was by ten points to Kentucky. They struggled to beat Louisiana Tech over the weekend 17-16. It looks like Will Muschamp has finally gotten a team that can play some offense. As a team, they are inconsistent so we aren’t sure if they will play to the level of competition from week to week. Grade: B-
Vanderbilt (3-1): Vandy had an impressive win at home over No. 18 Kansas State a couple of weeks ago. Then they got destroyed 59-0 by Alabama the following week.
The Commodores aren’t as talented as the rest of the division but they play hard and disciplined.
They should play solid enough to win three more games but they don’t match up well with Georgia, Florida or Tennessee. Grade: B
Tennessee (3-1): We knew the Vols would have a tough time replacing QB Joshua Dobbs. Quinten Dormady has struggled, only completing 58% of his passes and throwing 6 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Running back John Kelly is the focal point of the offense averaging 112 rushing yards per game with 6 TD’s.
The Vols beat Ga Tech by one point in their first game and honestly should have lost. Florida beat them on the last play of the game with a Hail Mary. There coming off of a lackluster 17-13 win over U Mass. Grade: C-
Missouri (1-3): Their record says it all. The loan win was against an FCS team. They’ve been blown out in every other game. Grade: F
Falcons 3-0 Start A Mirage?
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
There were a lot of similarities between last year’s Falcons team and the Panthers team from the year before.
Both were NFC South teams that started the season off as afterthoughts when it came to Super Bowl contenders, yet wound up playing in the title game. Both had high octane offenses, led by MVP winning quarterbacks, maximizing the potential fans had been yearning to see.
So, after the Panthers took a nose dive last season, it was almost in the cards for the Falcons to follow suit. If last season was Atlanta’s version of “The Wall”, you couldn’t blame fans for wondering if this would be “The Final Cut.”
Funny thing about sports, and I imagine it’s one of the reasons you enjoy it, is even when things work out almost exactly as you expect them to, the outcome somehow winds up to be completely different.
Braves Season Wrap Up
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Like any losing team, the Atlanta Braves had an overabundance of disappointments during 2017.
Especially given that a few years back, 2017 and the opening of the new stadium was pegged to be the year that the then-rebuilding Bravos would begin to compete again.
As 2017 inched closer, those paying attention knew that wasn’t going to be the case but with 2016 ending on a high note with an offense firing on all cylinders there was potentially plenty to look forward to. So as the season wraps up this week, let’s look at a few positives and negatives from the season.
