Terrors Downed
By: Joe Delaney
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Glynn Academy Red Terrors saw their 2024 season come to an end.
After a long 7-hour bus trip to Rome, the Terrors ran into a bunch of hungry Wolves and the outcome wasn’t pretty. The turnover plagued Terrors fell 49-17 and it really wasn’t that close. The number 1 seeded Wolves feasted on those Terror turnovers early and often.
While the Terrors had shown resiliency and fight throughout a tough season, this one was over quickly.
The superior Wolves broke a 47-yard touchdown in the first minute of the contest. It was 7-0 before everyone had gotten into their seats.
Two Red Terror turnovers on the next two Terror possessions in the first quarter doomed the Terrors as Rome quickly went on scoring drives breaking off chunks of yardage and going up 21-0.
By halftime the Terrors had fallen into a 42-3 hole and the second half was played with mostly Rome second teamers.
While the Terrors were outgunned and outclassed they never quit against a much better team and put two scores on the board in the second half.
The first was on a blocked punt. Cooper Reiss blocked the punt and scoop and scored to put Glynn on the board and then T. Y. Chisolm scored on a determined 33-yard run in the final minute to put the final points on the board.
The first-round playoff loss left the Terrors with a final 6-5 record and a long bus ride home.
The Terrors final record included wins Wayne County, Bradwell Institute, Statesboro, South Effingham, Greenbrier, and Evans.
The losses were to Richmond Hill, Lakeside Evans, Brunswick, Effingham County, and the Wolves.
The win over Wayne County was a milestone as the Red Terrors became the 25th school in the state of Georgia history to win 600 games! Yes that’s SIX HUNDRED!
The Glynn seniors ended up going 20-13 for their 3 years and will be sorely missed.
The Red Terrors of 2024 showed remarkable poise and determination.
They were knocked down and always got back up. Having a winning season and making the playoffs for the 17th season in a row was a testament to the grit, determination, and hard work of the boys and the coaching staff.
When you reach the playoffs in any sport for over 15 years in a row, it says something about your team and program.
In the Rome Wolves, the Terrors took on a hot team. After losing their first 2 games, the Wolves had been on a 7-game winning streak, now 8.
The Wolves are prolific on offense scoring 59, 28, 70, 63, 35, and 50 in their last 6 games going into the 1st round matchup with the Red Terrors in the first round of the GHSA 5A playoffs.
Defensively in those six games, they’ve given up 35 points total. The Terrors definitely hand their hands full.
After a long season full of highlights and a few lowlights the Terrors can begin looking toward the 2025 season.
The old adage that says winners never quit and quitters never win was never more appropriate than with this outfit. So now the Terrors will look to off season workouts and start laying the foundation for the 2025 edition.
Bucs Voyage Ended
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2024 season has come to an end for McIntosh County Academy Buccaneers.
Once again the Bucs made the playoffs under head coach Bradley Warren.
Unfortunately for Bucs fans MCA made a first-round exit from the playoffs for the second season in a row, this year falling to Wilcox County 9-0 on the road.
Last season, the Bucs went down to rival Clinch County 38-14 in the first round of the GHSA playoffs.
Despite the early exit this season huge strides were made from last season.
In 2023, MCA finished the season w a 4-7 record. 2024 saw the Bucs improve to a 7-4 mark and earn a three seed in region 3-A Division II with a 6-2 region record.
The 2024 schedule was a tough one with tough region play. The Bucs had the Metter Tigers, the Jenkins County War Eagles, the ECI Bulldogs, the Bryan County Redskins, the Portal Panthers, the Screven County Gamecocks, the Claxton Tigers and the Savannah Blue Jackets all in region.
MCA started the season on the road against the Islands Sharks and showed right away a dominant defense, beating the Sharks 22-0 to start the season on the right foot.
Week two was the home opener at ‘The Ship’ in Darien against the Charlton County Indians and while the defense played well, the offense stumbled and the Bucs took a 19-0 loss to Charlton.
The Bucs would open region play against the ECI Bulldogs after a week three bye in week four. The Bucs defense would once again show up, limiting ECI to only 6 points. This led to a 7-6 MCA win to get back over .500 at 2-1.
The Bucs hosted Claxton in week 5 in a ‘get right’ game for the offense, throttling the Tigers 48-6. MCA improved to 3-1.
In week 6 the Bucs traveled to Sylvania to take on Screven County. They would continue to roll, beating the Gamecocks 32-14.
The 4-1 Bucs hosted Jenkins County with first place in the region on the line. Bradley Warren’s team would fall short against the War Eagles 37-19. MCA would fall to 4-2 taking their first region loss of the season. Jenkins County went on to claim the 2 seed in the region.
MCA would rebound the following week on the road beating Bryan County 36-14 and improving to 5-2 on the season and 4-1 in the region.
The Metter Tigers visited Darien the next week taking down the Bucs 12-6 in a defensive struggle. Metter went on to win the region.
MCA trekked up to Savannah the next week and beat the struggling Savannah Blue Jackets 46-6 to get things back on the right track, improving to 6-3 on the season and 5-2 in region.
The season finale was a home game against the Portal Panthers where the Bucs played a complete game beating the Panthers 40-0.
With the win over Portal, MCA earned a 3 seed in the region with a 7-3 regular season and 6-2 in region.
Unfortunately, Gus Bradley’s team got a tough first round draw and had to head to Rochelle, GA to play the Wilcox County Patriots. After a hard fought 9-0 loss the season had ended with a 7-4 record for MCA.
Coach Warren continues to be successful in Darien and will look to once again be a playoff team next season.
Flightless Falcons
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Atlanta Falcons got demolished by Denver, 38-6. It was their second consecutive loss. New Orleans snapped their seven-game losing streak against Atlanta the previous week, 20-17. The Falcons are now 6-5.
Rookie quarterback Bo Nix completed 85% of his passes for 307 yards and 4 touchdowns.
“No one play ever defines any game,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “(But) that was a great-effort play by those guys and not a great-effort play by us. You’ve got to give those guys a lot of credit for playing hard, playing physical. And they absolutely went out there and beat us today with their effort and their physicality, and that was a key to the game.”
I thought Nix was a pretty good rookie but he looked like a Hall of Famer against the Falcons.
The Broncos swept the NFC South by a cumulative 125-37. It marks Denver’s first sweep of a division since they went 4-0 against the NFC North in 2015.
Atlanta is trending in the wrong direction and this loss raises some concerns. I can understand losing a game but they were blown out by a team that came into that game .500 with two consecutive losses. This reminds me of the Week 7 home loss to Seattle (5-5), 34-14.
The Seahawks were on a three-game losing streak coming into that game. On paper they should be able to beat these teams, or at the very least be competitive.
The one bright spot was kicker Younghoe Koo. He missed three of his four field goal attempts against New Orleans, one of those was blocked. Against Denver he made both of his field goals. One was 41 yards and the other was 51 yards.
Injuries are beginning to take a toll on the team. Atlanta ruled out eight players before the game, including several starters on defense. Falcons CB Kevin King was ruled out in the second quarter with a concussion and WR Darnell Mooney pulled a hamstring in the third quarter.
The Falcons are on their bye week now. Hopefully that will allow players to heal from injuries. The coaching staff needs to meet and figure out how to get better results on both sides of the ball.
The biggest problem the last few years has been getting the ball to playmakers and that is still an issue.
QB Kirk Cousins is third in the league for passing yards with 2,807, 17 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. Only four players have more interceptions.
Running back Bijan Robinson is sixth in rushing, with 783 yards and 6 TD’s. Jahmyr Gibbs (Detroit) is fifth and he has 34 less attempts but more yards (796) and touchdowns (8).
Drake London is fifth in the league in receptions (61), with 710 yards and 2 scores but he has less yards and touchdowns than Darnell Mooney. Mooney has 48 catches, 711 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Tight end Kyle Pitts needs the ball more. He has great size and speed but he seems to disappear from the offense regularly. He had 1 catch for 9 yards against Denver on 3 targets. He had 1 catch for 11 yards on his only target against Dallas. In the first meeting with New Orleans, he did not record a catch and he was targeted 3 times.
Atlanta ranks 25th in total defense, giving up an average of 357.1 yards per game.
The first two games after the bye are against the LA Chargers (7-3) and at Minnesota (8-2).
Those are quality opponents so there is a good possibility to lose those games.
Knights Journey Ends
By: Jeff Doke
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
During the offseason leading up to the 2024 football season, the speculation regarding the Frederica Academy Knights was that this would be a team in serious rebuilding mode.
When All-Time State Rushing Leader Jordan Triplett graduated last year, he took over 90% of the Knights’ offensive production with him. Many observers expected this year’s squad to suffer some serious growing pains.
While it’s difficult to replace a legend, the 2024 Knights made a valiant attempt. So much so that longing for the glory days of “The River” turned out to be an afterthought.
Opening week against the hapless Savannah High Blue Jackets set the expectations for the season higher than originally expected.
Sophomore QB Stanton Beverly proved effective thru the air and on the ground, rushing for three touchdowns and throwing for another two. Beverly’s running style drew comparisons to Stetson Bennett, and he continued to be the team’s rushing leader on and off throughout the season – and at one point, he was also the leading rusher in the region as well.
While the first game of the season was encouraging, the next four were anything but. Two lopsided losses to an oversized West Nassau team and the defending state champion Valwood Valiants were followed by two frustratingly close defeats at Tiftarea and Stratford, and Coach Brandon Derrick’s squad found themselves at 1-4.
The second half of the season went much better as the Knights flipped the script and went 4-1 for the back half of the year.
While the lone loss that came at the hands of hated rivals Bulloch Academy cost them another region title, the four victories were quite satisfying.
The Knights were able to notch payback victories against Brookwood and Pinewood, as well as recording their first shut-out since the 2020 season – a 42-0 shellacking of Robert Toombs Christian Academy.
Although Frederica was clicking at the right time, a deep run into the playoffs was not meant to be. For the second year in a row, the Knights’ season ended on the campus of Valwood Academy, this time in the opening round instead of the semi-finals.
One would think that considering the up-and-down nature of this first post-Triplett season that Frederica would be thankful to have gotten that far. Surprisingly enough, that’s not the case.
This didn’t feel like a season that was destined to end this quickly. The offense was finally starting to click with Jayden Gibson finding running lanes on the inside that simply weren’t there and Jaylin Baldwin adding a jet sweep in the Apache/Cherokee formations that were faster than what we’ve seen since another notable Jaylin roamed the Frederica sideline.
JC Wessel was finally starting to knock off the rust of almost a decade of not playing football and Braxton Sykes was proving valuable as a receiver as well as the backup quarterback.
The twin kickers of Mary Ford Fitzjurls and Noah Restrepo were as reliable as they come.
But alas, a deep run was not meant to be. True, the fact that there are 18 starters from this year’s squad set to come back next year should offer a fair amount of hope to the Frederica Faithful, but you just can’t help but wish that there could have been more for this year’s senior class.
Hayes Carter, Esai Hernandez, Tucker McLain, and Will Johnson had been through so much since their freshman campaign.
The final survivors of the infamous “Mean Nineteen” year, their contributions on both sides of the ball were instrumental in the record setting seasons of the previous three years.
You just can’t help but wish we could have seen them together for another two weeks.
2025 promises to be another step up the ladder for the Knights, perhaps even another trophy to hoist could be in the cards.
Failed Expectations
By: Michael Spiers
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Doug Pederson’s time with the Jacksonville Jaguars has been a rollercoaster of highs and lows.
In his first season, Pederson turned things around, taking the Jaguars to the playoffs and winning the AFC South. Expectations were sky-high heading into last season, especially with Jacksonville starting strong at 8-3 and aiming for the AFC’s top playoff spot.
But things took a big turn after a Monday Night Football loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in December 2023, which kicked off a painful slump.
Since then, the Jaguars have gone 3-13, leaving them with a rough 2-8 record this season and at the bottom of the league.
Pederson’s job security is definitely under the microscope now as Jacksonville has struggled in clutch situations. He’s sitting on one of the hottest seats in the NFL, especially since the Jaguars have a frustrating 1-6 record in one-score games this season.
Ownership had touted this roster as possibly the “best Jaguars team ever,” but right now, the team’s record looks a lot like the Urban Meyer disaster, with losses piling up fast.
Their recent loss to the Minnesota Vikings kind of sums up the season.
Jacksonville got off to a good start thanks to a strong defensive showing, picking off Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold three times in the red zone and preventing Minnesota from scoring an offensive touchdown.
But the offense couldn’t get going. Backup quarterback Mac Jones, in for the injured Trevor Lawrence, put up only 143 total yards and turned the ball over three times in the last seven minutes, leading to a heartbreaking 12-7 defeat.
Historically, no team has lost a game with stats like that, where they allowed zero offensive touchdowns and forced three interceptions.
Pederson is doing his best to keep morale up, reminding the team of the chances they still have and focusing on the positives.
He’s aware of Jones’s mistakes but remains confident in the young quarterback, hoping he’ll improve with more time on the field.
At the same time, Pederson has a tough call to make: should he play Lawrence, who’s dealing with a shoulder injury, or sit him to protect his long-term health, especially in a season where the Jaguars’ playoff chances are down to just 2%?
Looking ahead, Jacksonville faces a tough road game against the 8-1 Detroit Lions before hitting their much-needed bye week.
A loss to Detroit could all but guarantee a losing season and increase speculation about Pederson’s future. Jaguars owner Shad Khan has been patient in the past, but he hasn’t hesitated to cut ties with underperforming leaders, like Gus Bradley in 2016, GM Dave Caldwell in 2020, and EVP Tom Coughlin in 2019.
This track record raises the stakes for Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke, who’s been criticized for putting together a roster that looks good on paper but isn’t translating to sustained success on the field.
Even with everything going on, Pederson insists the team hasn’t quit. He stays optimistic, pointing out that the division is still within reach and that there are chances to build momentum. The players are still fighting hard, but the team’s struggles to close out games have cast doubt over their future.
Lawrence’s possible return after the bye could be a boost, but Jacksonville’s ongoing problems are sparking questions about where the franchise is headed.
For now, Mac Jones will make his second start in place of Lawrence against Detroit.
Jones, who came over from the Patriots in a trade, will try to rebound from a rough first game. His recent struggles as a starter in New England left him with limited experience, but Pederson is hopeful he can bring some stability to the offense while Lawrence recovers.
As the Jaguars approach the back half of the season, Pederson’s tenure is at a crucial point. Once seen as the team’s savior, he’s now under heavy scrutiny.
His future—and that of Baalke and Jacksonville’s once-promising roster—are all hanging in the balance as the Jaguars try to get back on track in a season that’s been full of setbacks and missed expectations.
All Bark?
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
If anyone’s wondering how important Georgia’s showdown against Tennessee is on Saturday, let me tell you.
Win, and all is OK, full steam ahead to the College Football Playoffs and perhaps even a National Championship.
Lose, this season is set, but not in a good way.
It’s not ideal for any team to lose football games, but it happens. It’s much less ideal to try to clean up two viral messes from that loss. It’s even less ideal to field a question about whether to change quarterbacks.
The first viral moment: Carson Beck, starting and beleaguered quarterback, was spotted smiling on the bench as he spoke with backup quarterback Jaden Rashada during the fourth quarter of Georgia’s 28-10 loss to Ole Miss (UGA’s largest point margin loss in five years).
The visual was seized as a symbol of what’s wrong with Beck and perhaps the entire Bulldog football team.
The optics were poor and out of context: Harlen Rashada, Jaden’s father, posted, showing the moment before, Beck not smiling, Jaden Rashada telling him something that made him laugh.
Here the internet had birthed yet another out-of-context viral moment.
Beck’s on-field play has noticeably regressed. The easy excuse is he wasn’t focused during the offseason, between his Lambo and his personal life. Beck told me in the spring he wasn’t working any less, he was taking time to enjoy life after four years of hard work, which he certainly had earned.
We have seen many young athletes enjoy their life as a college student, and still thrive on the field.
It also feels invalid to attribute the offensive troubles to Beck’s leadership. He’s never been a rah-rah quarterback, and Stetson Bennett wasn’t either.
The difference might be the leaders around Beck. Nobody appears to have filled the void left by center Sedrick Van Pran. There isn’t an obvious alpha personality on the other side of the ball the way this year’s defense has Jalen Walker.
But the defense shouldn’t be absolved of blame, either. It came up huge in the wins over Texas and Clemson but also gave up big plays at Ole Miss, started soft against Alabama and has earned a reputation of inconsistency, ranking eighth in the SEC in defensive yards per play.
It’s not like a great defense is being wasted. A ton of world-class athletes on defense aren’t playing to their potential. Luckily for them, there’s still time. There’s still time for the whole team.
In the wide scope of this season, going 10-2 with this schedule is perfectly acceptable.
The focus then moves to how Georgia performs in the Playoff, where pressure still waits, but the minimum threshold of making the dance has been hit.
Missing the Playoff, meanwhile, would in the kindest interpretation mean that Georgia was a flawed team undone by a brutal schedule.
The harsher takeaway would be that the schedule exposed a team that isn’t very good and the program has work to do this offseason to get back to status.
Even then, perspective is needed. This is a program that has won two of the past three national championships, then fell short but still went 13-1. If anyone has earned leeway to slip its Georgia.
If any coach has shown he can adapt and make needed changes, it’s Smart. Panicky fans need to touch grass.
Georgia may feel a lot better after Saturday. Through these years of winning Smart has loved to say that “humility is a week away.” Well, humility is here, and so is the chance for redemption.
Terror Character
By: Joe Delaney
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When you reach the playoffs in any sport for over 15 years in a row, it says something about your team and program.
That was all on the line last Friday night for the Glynn Academy Red Terrors.
After an up and down season, the Terrors found themselves down 24-21 late in the fourth quarter to the Evans Knights.
It was literally win and you’re in or lose and close but no cigar. The winner would be the region’s last team in and the loser could start pumping up basketballs.
With under 6 minutes to go in the game and trailing, the Red Terrors reached down and found that little extra they needed. They stood up and took charge of a game that they had made close with some crucial mistakes in the 3 ½ quarters before.
Behind the play of T. Y. Chisholm, Da’Sean Howard and Sean Wallace on offense and Tae Green on defense the Terrors came back to take a 28-24 victory and win a trip to take a six-hour bus ride to take on the Rome Wolves in the first round of the state playoffs.
In those final 6 minutes the Terrors showed the character of a team full of winners.
First, Howard put the team on his back and carried the ball on pretty much the same play three times in a row. The third one, a tackle breaking run went for 39 yards and the go-ahead touchdown. Tuck Tuckers extra point made it 28-24.
That left it up to the Red Terror D that had played well all night but had given up several big plays for scores.
They responded by making interceptions the last two times Evans had the ball. The last by Ervan Rowe on a 4th down and 28 Hail Mary pass. That 4th and 28 was set up by Tae Greens’ SIXTH sack of the night. The guy was a true Terror, all over the field.
Coach Rocky Hidalgo was “relieved” that the Red Terrors had won but bemoaned the errors that his Terrors had made.
All teams make errors and nobody is perfect but character stands out. In the last 6 minutes with the season on the line the Red Terrors showed character.
Can they stand up to the 5A #1 seed Rome Wolves? We will see. But the Terrors definitely have the right attitude and it begins with Coach Hidalgo’s comments following the game.
He stressed that the Terrors had to be ready not only for next Friday night in Rome but on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on the Glynn practice field. That’s why the Terrors are in the playoffs for the 16th consecutive season.
In the Rome Wolves, the Terrors will take on a hot team. After losing their first 2 games, the Wolves have been on a 7-game winning streak.
The latest being a 50-3 pasting of Kennesaw Mountain. The Wolves are prolific on offense scoring 59, 28, 70, 63, 35, and 50 in their last 6 games.
Defensively in those six games, they’ve given up 35 points total. The Terrors definitely will have to play their absolute best to hang with Rome.
If they make crucial errors at times in this game they could get hammered. The Terrors will head into the game at 6-4 and the regions 4th seed.
After a long season full of highlights and a few lowlights the Terrors can head up north knowing they are big underdogs.
The official website for Rome says they are playing the GLYNN COUNTY SCHOOLS. They evidently don’t even know who Glynn Academy is! Glynn should go and let it all hang out.
As the old saying goes, they’ve really got nothing to lose.
Pirate Blitz
By: Teddy Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Coach Garrett Grady’s Brunswick High Pirates readied themselves for the state playoffs by setting a school record for the most points in a single regular season.
The 43-12 victory over Bradwell Institute on Friday night gave the Pirates 460 points for the season, surpassing the 459 scored during the regular season by the 1999 team.
The ’99 Pirates went on to play for the state championship, losing to Lowndes.
This year’s Pirates averaged 46 points per game, also a school record.
The win over Bradwell earned the Pirates a perfect 8-0 record in Region 1-5A, including, of course, the region championship and a #1 seed in the state playoffs.
After an opening-season 51-41 loss to 6A Camden County, Brunswick High reeled off nine consecutive victories with wins over Wayne; Effingham; Evans; Greenbrier; Glynn Academy; Statesboro; Lakeside; South Effingham; and Bradwell.
Senior running back William Heck is the leading rusher for the Pirates with well over 1200 yards. Heck also has scored nine touchdowns.
Nigel Gardner and Josiah Gibbons—both sophomores—have also contributed heavily to the run game. Gardner has run for some 800 yards, averaging a whopping 15 yards per carry, while Gibbons is closing in on the 600-yard mark. Gardner and Gibbons have run for six and nine touchdowns, respectively.
Junior quarterback Grant Moore has completed over 70% of his passes, totaling more than 1800 yards with18 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions. He will be the All-Everything quarterback for the region and will be in the conversation for some state honors.
Senior Ja’Marious Towns, junior Heze Kent, and sophomore Waseem Murray have been Moore’s favorite targets, all with at least 30 catches, more than 500 yards receiving, and at least five touchdown catches. Senior Jordan Hicks also has double digit receptions for the Pirates.
Brunswick High’s defense hasn’t been too shabby either, allowing only 179 points, with 51 of those coming against 6A Camden—and three of Camden’s touchdowns were on short fields following a BHS fumble and two botched punts.
Senior linebacker J’Shawn Towns is the leading tackler for the Pirates, closing in on 90.
Seniors Caleb Butler and Chris Kimp have also been stalwarts on defense.
Jeremiah Robbins, Kregg Richardson, Lance Brown, and Joshua White—all seniors—have recorded multiple sacks for BHS.
The Pirates ‘Black Flag Defense’ has eight defensive touchdowns: three by Towns; two by junior Aviyon Addison; and one each by seniors Seki Ashley, Zach Miller, and Butler.
Grady’s Pirates will host the Villa Rica Wildcats in the first round of the 5A playoffs on Friday night at Glynn County Stadium.
Villa Rica finished the regular season with four wins and three losses in Region 5-A to earn the #4 seed. Overall, the Wildcats were 5-5.
Villa Rica scored 275 points in the regular season (460 for BHS) and allowed 226 (179 allowed by the Pirates).
If the Pirates get past Villa Rica in the first round, they will also host a second-round game. BHS would take on the winner between Coffee County and Jackson County. If Brunswick High and Coffee both win their first-round games, it would be a battle of top ten teams in the second round.
If Brunswick High gets to the third round of the playoffs, a coin toss would decide home-field advantage unless Brunswick High was matched against a lower seed.
But first things first. The Pirates have to beat Villa Rica in order to worry about a second-round game, much less anything beyond that.
So come on out to Glynn County Stadium on Friday night and holler for the Pirates!
Becoming A Legend
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The air on Friday nights gets a little cooler…time change makes the sun set a little earlier; it must mean it’s time for postseason football in South Georgia.
Although the GISA has gotten a jump on the postseason party a few weeks prior to the GHSA, Southeast Bulloch Football is poised to return to the postseason for the first time since 2021.
Although there’s a ton of factors in the success for the Jackets in 2024, there’s one that seems we have said over the airwaves repeatedly and has racked up a historic season in Brooklet…Colby Smith.
On the first weekend in November, Colby Smith eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season becoming the first Jacket in seven years to run for more than 1K in a year.
With a 36 yard second quarter rush against Beach, the junior running back became the first SEB rusher since Chase Walker in 2017 to reach the 1,000-yard echelon, which lends itself to pretty good company.
Chase Walker is one of the most decorated players to come through Brooklet with a stellar high school career from 2014-2017 playing under three head coaches in his four-year span of Pat Collins, Steve Pennington, and Barrett Davis.
Walker not only surpassed 1,000 rushing yards as a senior in 2017 but did it in all four years as a Yellow Jacket and racked up 6,100 career yards on the ground with 28 career 100-yard rushing games.
Walker also found the endzone 91 times for rushing touchdowns, which still ranks top 15 on the all-time state of Georgia record book. To put it in perspective, Herschel Walker (regarded as one of the best players out of the state) sits 3 spots behind Walker on the all-time career rushing touchdowns list with 86.
Colby Smith has been a massive impact for Southeast Bulloch on both sides of the ball virtually his entire career. He will wrap the 2024 regular season with his 27th game played and 25th career game started.
Smith was thrust on the scene as a freshman in 2022 and started the back half of the season as a linebacker for the Jackets.
Over the last four years, Smith has seen considerable action at linebacker, safety, nickel, running back and was the backup quarterback last season and was thrown in the fire after Will Nelson’s injury.
“He’s just a hard-nosed kid,” said SEB Head Coach Jared Zito. “He physical and he’s super smart, but what gets overlooked is his athleticism and the kind of athlete he is. He’s got incredible balance, great vision, tremendous feet and is MUCH faster than people think.”
Smith has the old school football player feeling around him, and a lot of that comes from his family.
His family is one that loves the Jackets and is the picture of what a football family is.
There is not a game or event that goes by that doesn’t have his dad Cameron (who is part of the chain crew on the sidelines for the home games), his mom, Christy, and sister Courtney.
It goes beyond that too. Colby’s cousins Matt Bowen played, and Jason Bowen plays for the Jackets on the field with his Uncle Mark Bowen in the booth as an analyst on SEB’s radio broadcast on 106.5, the Boro and Aunt Christy Bowen who serves with the SEB Athletic Booster Club as the treasurer.
If that group isn’t enough, the icons of the squad that show up no matter where or the weather are his grandparents Larry and Charlotte Bowen, and when you hear someone yelling and cheering above everyone else…. it’s probably Mr. Larry.
It’s been a blast this year for me to get a front row seat to watch a historic season that Colby Smith has been putting up on the field, but the real root of high school football is the people that you get to spend each Friday night with, and it’s an absolute honor to get to see the person that Colby is and has around him.
SEC Dominance
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Kirby Smart wrapped up practice Tuesday at The University of Georgia. The College Football Playoff rankings just released, naturally interviewers asked Smart if the expanding field to 12 this year changed his curiosity.
“I could care less,” Smart said. “Because what is a quality win and a quality loss right now; they’ve been known to change their mind before it comes.”
The format may be different and the field may be bigger, but Georgia has experienced this before. Texas did last year. Tennessee did two years ago. Alabama and LSU have plenty of experience with it. At this point, everyone knows the deal by now.
Smart and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey may not love Georgia’s rank at third, behind two Big Ten teams, while the Bulldogs are second in the AP and coaches polls.
There are seven SEC teams in the top 25, by far the most of any conference (in second place: the Big Ten. With four). That’s an important note for a couple of reasons:
With four in the top 12 (Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama) and a few in striking distance (No. 14 Texas A&M, No. 15 LSU, No. 16 Ole Miss), this sets up more SEC teams to make the playoffs in the future.
Second, more SEC teams will have more chances for ranked wins, or their ranked losses might not seem as bad to the rankings.
Georgia bought itself a lot of room with its win at Texas, giving it a second ranked win, and its only loss came at Alabama. It would seem the Bulldogs need only get a split of the next two games at Ole Miss and Tennessee and they would be in. Even if UGA lost both games, they would have an argument.
Texas and Tennessee also have one loss but a little less leeway.
Texas is clearly in if they win out, although losing at Texas A&M in the regular-season finale would make things dicey.
The Longhorns don’t have a win over any team in the Top 25. Vanderbilt, ranked in the AP, didn’t make the CFP rankings.
Tennessee is all set if they win out because an 11-1 record with a win at Georgia is a strong argument.
If The Vols are competitive at Georgia and lose, 10-2 with two road losses but a win against Alabama may be enough to get it done. Of course, the regular-season finale at Vanderbilt isn’t a sure win.
Texas A&M, meanwhile, is not in the field right now — 14th — but the assignment seems straightforward: Win out, including the Texas game, and the Aggies are close enough to feel good about their chances.
Important caveat: winning out is no guarantee; it depends heavily on what happens elsewhere. As Smart pointed out, the committee is known to change their mind.
Alabama at LSU this week: The loser has a third loss, which puts its Playoff hopes to sleep, while the winner is in great shape. But is the loser truly done and the winner truly in?
Alabama would have three losses to ranked teams LSU, Tennessee and Vanderbilt, if it could sneak into the CFP Top 25 with one ranked win (Georgia) and some others that might check off as good.
LSU may need this win more. It has a loss to unranked USC and the other to Texas A&M. Their best win right now is against Ole Miss.
Then there’s Ole Miss, which is almost certainly done if it loses to Georgia this week. But if Ole Miss wins, that would give it something a ranked win and winning out would mean a 10-2 record.
Still, it has a home loss to Kentucky, and other than the Georgia game, there isn’t much impressive on the resume. So, Lane Kiffin’s team would seem at the mercy of the committee and things falling its way elsewhere.
There are so many important games left and too many data points left to draw any grand conclusions. Nobody from the SEC is definitely in yet, and seven teams still have a realistic shot.
That number figures to go down after this weekend. The question is whether it continues going down over the coming weeks or the SEC ends up with a half-dozen candidates for only so many spots.
