Knights Conquest
By: Jeff Doke
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
After an unexpected trip to the state championship game last season, the Frederica Knights are looking to temper expectations for this season. “We’re rebuilding, but we’ve got some really talented kids,” says Head Coach Brandon Derrick.
Arguably the most talented young man on the roster is sophomore RB Jordan Triplett. The #1 freshman running back in the nation last year, “The River” Jordan has been busy this offseason, attending numerous football camps, including a tryout for the US National Team.
“Jordan will be bigger and better this year,” according to Coach Derrick. “He’s got great speed especially when someone’s chasing him. When he gets in the open field, he didn’t get run down one time last year.”
Hamp Thompson, who played back-up last year, will also see a lot more action.
“This year he’s gotta be ready to play,” said Derrick. “It’s going to be a new experience for him.”
Another big year is expected from Senior Quarterback Thomas Veal. After being unexpectedly thrust back into the starting lineup last year, Coach Derrick is counting on solid development and performance from the signal-caller.
“Veal has been pretty good (in camp). He’s going to be a bit more of a runner this year. He’s got sneaky speed and he showed it last year. I think he’s got a greater understanding of what we’re trying to do. Experience is going to help him.”
Of the returning offensive & defensive linemen, there will be some new assignments for the 2021 season. Rising Junior Sam Norris, who played last year at Guard, will be moving to center to replace the graduated Joshua Elliot.
Quite possibly the most notable addition to the 2021 squad comes to the DL in the form of a 5’10” 305lb Ashton Frankel. A senior who was in line to be a starter at 7A North Gwinnett High, Frankel will be lining up at Nose Tackle for Frederica. According to Coach Derrick, Ashton “has done a good job of coming in and fitting right in.”
While the OL and DL are major points of concern, the receiving corps seems to be in good shape.
“We’ll be okay at WR,” according to Coach Derrick. “We didn’t have flashy speed last year but were still able to average 100 yards a game and complete 60% of our passes because we knew what we were capable of doing. We’ll have to be very calculated this year.”
With rising senior Chase Schueneman transferring to Glynn Academy, the leadership mantle of the receivers falls on the capable shoulders of senior WR Bryce Reilly.
According to Coach Derrick, “Bryce has the experience; he’s a senior with four years of game time under his belt. He’s nursing a tweaked knee right know, but he’ll be good to go.
At the Tight End position, the job looks to belong once again to Jon Phillip Spiers. While he “may be moved to OT” according to the Coach, they’re “trying to keep him at TE as the slot guy.”
When asked who will be the big surprise this season, Coach Derrick points to either William Levy or sophomore Blake Holloway.
“Blake is going to be a big-time football player this year. He’s 6’3, he may wind up being a premium DE/OLB when it’s all said and done, but he’s so fast at CB and he’s good. He’s going to be a big target down the field with great hands. He and Bryce are going to be a great pair.”
Elsewhere on the defense, DT Mike Collier still hasn’t recovered from last year’s injury. The team is expecting him back around mid-season. In the meantime, senior MLB Jacob Aiken will definitely be the defensive anchor.
“We’re not going to be flying around, trying to go no huddle with everybody. We’re going to slow it down, more ball control/clock control,” says Coach Derrick. “Our kids understand where it’s at. It’ll be interesting.”
Gator Roll
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Ware County Gators finished the 2020 season with a 10-2 record. Those two losses came to Warner Robins and Cartersville each by 3 points. Those teams played for the 5A State Championship last fall.
Head Coach Jason Strickland begins his third season at Ware this fall with an overall record of 18-6 in his first two seasons.
When asked about what he likes about his 2021 football team the Head Gator offered “With the close calls last year against those two teams that beat us that ended up playing for the title showed our kids how close we are to being at that championship level. This team just feels different. I think we are one of the best 4-5 teams out there. Our kids have developed a culture of accountability and that has been a tone setter leading up this this season. Our kids feel like we are good enough to win it.”
On offense it all revolves around QB Thomas Castellanos who his coach calls a “Special, special kid”. “He can do anything on the football field. His best intangible is that he plays QB for us. He calls about 50% of the plays on Friday night, makes all of our protection calls, and he is just a natural leader.” Castellanos will play his college football at Central Florida next year.
Running back Cartevious Norton is set to have a banner senior season. “He is a kid I’m pulling hard for. By the end of the season, I think everyone will know who he is”.
Cameron Gonzalves is the lone returner on the offensive line, but Strickland thinks they will be bigger, stronger and more athletic than last year.
At WR James Daniels is an excellent route runner with great hands. Jarvis Hayes is the guy who can blow the top off a defense.
Malik Mitchell and Demetrius Baldwin will lead a defensive line that will rotate 7 players. “They will have to carry us until our linebacker group gets some game experience”.
Trey Hargrove returns at LB and will move to Mike. LJ Hall and Teshawn Norton will start in the secondary. Strickland says “We have good talent back there but we may need to simplify things to gain experience. I want these kids to play fast”.
Henry Bates a 4.0 student returns at kicker. “He is a great character kid who looks to kick at the next level”.
Strickland says the region is “brutal”. “Warner Robins won state. Coffee was a final four team last year, and Veterans really punched us in the mouth when we played them. Wayne has good talent and an excellent staff and was a team that was really decimated by injuries last year that should be much better this year.”
The schedule is difficult. “They might want to run that guy off around here who set that up” Strickland joked. “It will create some exciting Friday nights for us this fall”
Ware Schedule/My Predictions:
8/20 @ Cook: Gators win big on the road.
8/27 vs Bartram Trail (FL): Higher classification program from Florida comes to the Swamp. Bartram Trail is a good program but they go down to Ware.
9/3 vs Baldwin: Baldwin not physical enough in the trenches, Gators big.
9/10 vs Thomson: Proud program coming in for a beat down. Ware big once again.
9/17 @ Bainbridge: If the Gators drop a non-region game this could be it. I think this one is a classic and Ware wins a huge road game late say 34-30.
9/24 @ Benedictine: Only way Ware drops this is, if the Savannah Zebras are a factor in the game. Ware stays undefeated.
10/8 @ Coffee: Ware lost by two TD’s on their last journey to Jardine Stadium. Ware has Castellanos and Coffee does not. Ware in a war.
10/15 vs Warner Robins: Gators back home after traveling a combined 600 miles over South Georgia highways over the previous 3 weeks. These teams could meet again in the playoffs. Gators get revenge at home.
The Gators finish the regular season undefeated after beating Veterans and Wayne.
Look out for this football team. They are well coached, talented, athletic and most of all hungry. These Gators are dangerous folks.
The SEC Stable
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
SEC talent is always the top talent of college football. This year is no different, especially when it comes to running backs.
Despite losing talent such as Najee Harris, Larry Roundtree and Eric Gray, the SEC remains strong all around at the running back position in 2021.
Three out of the top five rushers are returning. Who will lead the rushing attacks for the SEC programs in 2021?
This list isn’t just about players’ statistical impact, but their overall impact on and off the field. Here are my top 5 running backs in the SEC for 2021.
- Brian Robinson, Alabama: Robinson doesn’t have the production numbers compared to the others on my list, partly because he was playing behind Najee Harris the past few seasons.
The Crimson Tide’s starting running backs have produced 1,000 plus yard seasons eight times in the past 10 years. Robinson will run behind one of the SEC’s most dominating offensive lines, so just pencil him in for 1,000 plus rushing and double digits touchdowns, not to take away from his incredible explosiveness and talent.
- Chris Rodriguez, Kentucky:Rodriguez just might be the most underrated backs in the country right now.
Rodriguez is a power runner with excellent footwork, and 2021 will be his breakout season. Last season he finished 6th in SEC rushing yards, and he only played in nine games.
Rodriguez piled up 11 rushing touchdowns (4th in the SEC) and averaged 6.6 yards per carry! He will share the backfield with Kavosiey Smoke this season.
- Kevin Harris, South Carolina:Harris finished 2020 with the most rushing yards per game.
Let’s be totally honest, Harris was the Gamecocks’ whole offense last year. A physical runner noted one of the league’s biggest surprises in the 2020 season.
Harris averaged 6.2 yards per carry behind one of the (measurably) worst offensive lines in the SEC. He is a human bowling ball. He rarely falls at first contact, and never falls backward.
Harris gives the Gamecocks reliable balls in the backfield. He’s a difference maker who will be heavily carrying Shane Beamer’s first season.
- Isaiah Spiller, Texas A&M: Spiller has become Jimbo Fisher’s featured back in the Texas A&M offense. This past season, he totaled 1,229 yards of total offense (1,036 rushing and 193 receiving) in only 10 games.
When the Aggies needed a big play or key third down conversion, they dialed up Spiller. With a new signal caller in College Station this season, Spiller will man the new controls in the offense.
I expect Spiller to team up with Devon Achane and Anias Smith (Mr. Do it All) to give Jimbo Fisher plenty of weapons to choose from, but Spiller will be the focal point of this Texas A&M offense.
1.Tank Bigsby, Auburn: Bigsby is the best running back going into the 2021 season.
Despite being 6 foot and weighing 208 pounds, he is built like his first name and plays like one too.
First year coach, Bryan Harson’s offense will thrive through Bigsby. He is capable of carrying the ball 20 plus times a game this year.
As long as Bigsby can stay healthy, he should emerge as one of the elite running backs in the SEC in 2021. Considering the production at running back at Boise State during Harson’s reign, Bigsby has to be excited about being the bell cow of the Auburn offense.
Honorable Mentions Outside of the Top 5: Trelon Smith, Arkansas; James Cook, Georgia; Jerrion Ealy, Ole Miss; Zamir White, Georgia; Ainias Smith, Texas A&M; Tyrion Davis Price, LSU; Trey Sanders, Alabama; Nay’Quan Wright, Florida
Breakout Player This Year: Tiyon Evans, Tennessee
Ramming Through
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Last season Grayson won the 7A Georgia state championship in dominating fashion.
The Rams finished 14 – 0 and only had one game decided by single digits.
That was their third championship, all of them have come since 2011. They are one of the newer powerhouse programs.
Grayson ended 2020 ranked second nationally. They will go into the 2021 season ranked 8th in the nation.
Head coach Adam Carter is entering his third season as head coach. He has a 25 – 2 record since taking over as the head ball coach in Loganville.
The Rams were at the center of some controversy last season. They had four-star quarterback Jake Garcia from California. He transferred to Valdosta over the summer for his senior year and played one game for the Wildcats. Then he transferred to Grayson. Garcia committed to Miami.
Last season senior running back Phil Mafah committed to Clemson. He suffered a season ending injury late in the season and his replacements filled in nicely.
In the state championship game against Collins Hill, sophomore Joseph Taylor (15 carries, 121 yards and junior Sean Downer (16, 92) played well.
Freshman Joseph Stone also played. The Rams will probably use the committee approach again this season.
They do not have as much talent as they had last season. The highest ranked recruit on the team is three-star safety Mumu Bin-Wahad. He’s ranked as the 90th best prospect in the state for the Class of 2022 and he’s expected to commit to West Virginia.
Senior guard Griffin Scroggs is 6’5, 295 pounds and he committed to Georgia Tech. Defensive backs Michael Daugherty and A.J. Lopez are currently uncommitted, but both should attend Power 5 schools.
The season kicks off August 20th against Creekside. Creekside is a 5A school, so this is a game against an opponent from a lower classification. The Indians were 7 – 3 in 2020 and won a region title but they cannot compete with an elite 7A team.
Week 2 is on the road at McEachern. They are normally one of the best programs in the state, but the Indians were 4 – 8 last season. This game may be close early, but Grayson will win by double digits.
After a bye week the first game in September is home against Archer. The teams played in 2020 and Grayson won, 26-7. The Tigers won a playoff game last year, so they have some talent. I think they can hang around for three quarters before the score gets out of hand.
The Rams travel to Kennesaw to face Harrison 9/17. This is Justin Fields alma mater. Harrison is a very good program. They were undefeated and won the 6A state championship in 2019. 2020 was the first season in 7A for the Hoyas and it was tough. They finished 4 – 8, including a 30-6 loss to Grayson in the playoffs. This will be an easy win.
The next week is the beginning of region play, at Mill Creek. The Hawks were the only team to challenge Grayson last year, losing 20-13 in double overtime. I think they will get the W in 2021.
October 1st is home against South Gwinnett, an easy win.
After another bye week the Rams travel to Parkview. The Panthers have returned to be a contender over the last couple of years. They lost some talented seniors though.
The final two games are home versus Brookwood and at Newton. Brookwood might be a tough win, but Newton doesn’t stand a chance.
Grayson should return to the state title game in 2021.
Loaded Ship
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Sean Pender is confident about his 2021 football team this fall. “We are involved in a culture change here. We are evolving from a winning program into a championship program. Our kids realize that and our coaches see that every day”.
QB: Senior Jeffery Waye looks like the starter going into the season. Waye played well in the back-up role last season. Sutton Ellis has played his way into the mix this summer, and Jayden Drayton, who is a special athlete will have some designed packages to use his talents. If BHS gets solid play from this group, then look out.
OL: Kanaya Charlton will move to guard this fall and Pender says “Kanaya Charlton is as good as they’ve had there and that says a lot”. Charlton committed to play at Florida State.
Jaquan Gibson and Jamal Meriweather make this a deep group. “For the first time since I have been here, we have good depth at the position” says Pender.
WR: The position is very deep in talent, Kevin Thomas, Pat Leggett and Jayden Drayton could make it the best WR unit in the region.
DL: Kayshawn Thomas will be back for his junior season with offers pouring in. Thomas will lead a group that consists of River Creel, Jordan Jimerson, and Jameer Lang.
LB: The Pirates have Staffon Stanley, Adam Mweemba, and Lionel Twitty that all started games last year at the position.
DB: Jayden Drayton was All-Region in 2020. Derrick Smith and Keon Leggett were big contributors last fall. Ivan Johnson returns at safety. Na’verious Williams will get snaps also. Deep group.
Anthony Elvine returns as punter, and McClain Fineran will handle PAT/FG’s.
Finally, the “Wolfpack”, also known as the RB group. Ree Simmons and Kobe Hill have both had seasons with over 1,000 yards rushing and they return for their senior season. Leon Charlton has emerged as a third option at the position.
Schedule/My Predictions in key matchups:
Aug 20 vs Pierce County: Pierce was a doormat before Sean Pender arrived on the scene a decade ago.
He played a major role in the evolution of that football program winning region titles and state playoff games. The Bears took the next step and won a state title last season and drilled BHS 31-10 in the season opener last season.
That has eaten at the fabric of Sean Pender for a year. Pierce comes to Glynn County Stadium and will lose to BHS.
Sept 24 vs Glynn: BHS broke a long losing streak in the series last season. Folks around Glynn County say the Red Terrors will throw the football more in 2021.
Instead of 2-3 passes a game they may throw 10 per game, who knows. BHS wins for the second year in a row.
Oct 8 @ Statesboro: Be ready Pirates. This one has TRAP GAME written all over it. Don’t get caught looking ahead to Richmond Hill.
Oct 15 vs Richmond Hill: BHS has lost 3 straight to the Wildcats. Until they prove it again to me, I’m calling this a loss.
This school has 600-700 more students than anyone else in the region. Time to play up or build another high school in Bryan County.
Other Wins: MCA, New Hampstead, Islands, South Effingham, Bradwell, and Effingham.
Best Case 10-0 Region Champions.
Worst Case 8-2 with losses to Glynn and Richmond Hill and a #3 seed in state playoffs
My Guess: 9-1 with a loss to Richmond Hill and a #2 seed and home playoff game in First Round.
Sean Pender says “It is time for us to take the next step, and I believe we have the pieces in place to do just that”.
Expectations are high on Altama Avenue.
Looks Like Me
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
College athletes across the country began raking in money for their name, image and likeness (NIL) July 1st.
Who’s set to earn the most money? We may never know as some players are keeping the details of their deals with companies entirely private.
Most fans assume the biggest earners will be college football players, but that may not be the case. Social media outlets like TikTok and Instagram may be a determining factor in the marketability of a player in other college sports.
Local businesses in sports-crazy college towns will contribute heavily and if a player secures multiple deals from companies big and small, they will become a presence in their city, and still scrape in some decent royalty cash. Let’s take a look at some of the early winners in NIL.
- Olivia Dunne, LSU Gymnast: Dunne, an All-American gymnast is a social media BEAST. She has 5.1 million Twitter followers, 400,000 TikTok followers and 1.2 Instagram followers. Dunne is projected to make over one million dollars a year off NIL.
- Hanna and Haley Cavinder (twins) Fresno State Basketball: The Cavinders have over four million followers on TikTok and Instagram. The estimated annual gross income for social media influencers is about 80 cents per follower, you do the math, this is a sports magazine.
- D’Eriq King, Miami Football: King signed a couple deals with College Hunks Hauling Junk and Murphy Auto Group that total around $200,000. King and McKenzie Milton partnered on a NIL platform called Dreamfield as well, whose contributions are unknown.
- Hercy Miller, Tennessee State, Basketball: Miller is the son of rapper Master P. Hercy Miller signed a two-million-dollar deal with Web Apps America, and that’s just for right now.
- Brock Vandagriff, Georgia Football: Vandagriff signed a big money deal with Onward Reserve, a men’s apparel company. Vandagriff was one of five players to sign with Onward Reserve, the identities of the other four are yet to be known.
- Spencer Rattler, Oklahoma Football: Rattler signed a deal with Raising Cane’s, a Louisiana based restaurant franchise with locations across the country. Rattler promised to share his NIL profits with underprivileged communities this season.
- Lexi Sun, Nebraska Volleyball: Sun signed an undisclosed deal with Ren, a volleyball apparel company.
- Trey Knox and Blue, Arkansas, Football: Knox and Blue (a Siberian Husky) signed a deal with PetSmart, which operates 1,650 stores in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Also, notably, more than 4,000 college athletes have partnered with Yoke Gaming, an app that allows fans to pay to play video games with them on stream.
Welcome to the new world of college athletics. It’s going to be hard (actually impossible) to enforce NIL violations, but it is about time that young athletes get the chance to earn money for themselves and their families!
Another interesting benefit to explore is that college athletes will be granted direct work experience in the line of a professional athlete, and isn’t that a great reason to go to college?
This will avoid athletes from signing predatory marketing deals their first year in the bigs and allow them to strategize marketing platforms for their NIL alongside their playmaker marketability.
In my opinion, it’s going to be crazy unsettling and it will take a couple years to get a handle on all this in the leagues. I wonder why this step in the right direction took so long for the NCAA to make.
Foundation Rebuilding
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Florida State ended a hectic month of June with supreme style, landing four public commitments from the final weekend of official visits before the Dead Period began.
The Seminoles moved to number 3 in some recruiting rankings and that’s top in the ACC.
Most fans pay attention to the details of their own team, and look at rival teams with a broad stroke. Assuming the worst for their rivals, fans don’t get into the details of why or how very often.
So… Florida State: they hired Mike Norvell from Memphis, who went 3-6 last season. Fans ignore the state of the roster and lack of coaching time mostly due to COVID, meanwhile Gator and Cane fans have laughed about “Memphis Mac” for about a year now.
If you watch video from his time with the Tigers, you will see a dynamic offense. Most Florida State fans assumed that would translate immediately to their program, and they were left hopeful after the North Carolina game.
FSU fans ignored the roster and lineup changes during the season and any improvement on the offensive line. All they saw was three wins! That only reinforced FSU’s rivals on social media that Norvell can’t coach or recruit.
Norvell is building his FSU team inside out. He currently has 14 total commits and 7 are offensive and defensive linemen. The class is led by the number 2 player in the country Travis Hunter from Suwanee, GA and Sam McCall is the other five-star commit from Lake Gibson, FL.
Now the inside players, FSU currently has 4 offensive linemen committed. Antavious Woody a 6-3, 291 guard out of Lafayette, AL, Qae’shon Sapp a 6-5 320 tackle out of Leesburg, GA, Aliou Bah a 6-6, 325 tackle out of Memphis, TN and Kanaya Charlton 6-5, 351 guard out of Brunswick, GA.
Norvell and staff are currently addressing their need on the o-line and I think FSU will try to add two or three more linemen to this class, Norvell has his sights on Elijah Pritchett, Julian Armella, and Daughtry Richardson.
With the way things are going, it’s probably safe to say the Seminoles will land a top class of offensive linemen, in pursuit of rebuilding. One of many steps in multiple recruiting cycles to acquire competent depth; sounds like a good coach.
As Florida State gets closer to the start of fall football practice, the offensive line may be the most intriguing unit. They weren’t great by any means this past season, but there was notable growth. With the entire group returning, there’s cause for optimism in the depth chart’s rotation.
Norvell must win more than 5 games this year, or these recruits will portal to another, more successful campus to call their home.
Eagles To Fly In 2021
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Collins Hill (Suwanee, GA) is not one of the top high school football programs in the state of Georgia.
They have always struggled with being a consistent contender. Typically, every 3-4 years they have a class that can make the playoffs and win a game or two.
The 2020 season was very successful, they finished 12–3. The Eagles made it to the 7A state championship game and lost to Grayson for the second time.
They beat some very good teams in route to the state final game like Alpharetta, Parkview and Lowndes. Grayson was stacked with talent so there was no shame in losing to them.
Going into the 2021 season Collins Hill is returning some great talent. They have the top-rated recruit in the class of 2022, five-star corner back Travis Hunter. He is rated as the third overall recruit nationally and he committed to Florida State.
Hunter is 6’1, 165 pounds with great speed. He also returns kicks and punts for the Eagles. I would suggest looking up some of his highlights when you get a chance because he seems like a young Deion Sanders.
Quarterback Sam Horn is a four-star player and he’s rated as the 6th best player in Georgia for the class of 2022. Horn has prototypical size for the position, standing 6’4 and 190 pounds. In 2020, he passed for over 3,900 yards, 41 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Horn has committed to Mizzou. I expect him to have another big year as a senior and cut down on his interceptions.
His top target is senior wide receiver Cam Pedro. Pedro recently committed to Marshall.
I have seen some publications rank Collins Hill in the national preseason top 25. The highest I have seen them ranked is No. 11. Even though that is high, Grayson is ranked higher.
It’s an understatement to say expectations are high and they are expected to compete for the 7A state championship. They are also in one of the toughest regions, 8-AAAAAAA.
The season kicks off August 22nd against Brookwood. The Broncos are a very good program and they are coming off an 8-3 season. They have the No. 13 prospect in the state, corner back Marquis Groves-Killbrew. This will be a tough game. I give the edge to the Eagles.
Week 2 is against Sprayberry. This should be an easy win for Collins Hill.
September begins with a game versus Greenville Christian (Greenville, MS). They were 11–1 last year and won the state championship. The Saints will be a solid opponent.
Week 4 is on the road against Rome. The Wolves are very good, but they are in a smaller classification, 6A. The teams played last year, and Collins Hill won 28–14. I expect a similar result in 2021.
The next game is against Alpharetta. These teams played twice in 2020 and Collins Hill won both times. I expect the Eagles to beat Alpharetta again.
East Coweta comes to town September 24th. The Indians were 10–2 in 2020 and won region 2-AAAAAAA. This will be a close win for the Eagles.
Region play begins October 1st against archrival Peachtree Ridge. The Lions will get blown out similar to last season’s 42–7 score.
After a bye week Collins Hill travels to North Gwinnett. The Bulldogs are a very good team and I think they will win.
The last two games are against Mountain View and Mill Creek which will be convincing victories.
Going into the playoffs I expect the Eagles to be 9-1.
Pirates Passage
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Kanaya Charlton is going into his senior season at Brunswick High School.
Number 69 for the Blue and Gold stands at 6’5 and weighs in at around 335 pounds. At that size Charlton is a pretty good athlete. He has quick feet and plays multiple positions along the Pirate offensive line which he will anchor in 2021.
He currently holds 22 committable offers from some big-name schools. Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Texas A&M, Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida State, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech just to give you a sample size.
On the academic side Mr. Charlton has a 3.8 GPA and is fully qualified. He will graduate BHS early and will enroll in college in January 2022.
Things I noticed in the interview for this article was that Kanaya is a yes sir/no sir type of kid with a firm hand shake and he looks you in the eye when he talks to you.
Charlton’s head coach Sean Pender had to following to say about his highly recruited offensive line prospect: “Kanaya is a young man that wants to get better daily. He takes hard coaching very well, and he can play anywhere along the offensive line when we need him to do so. College coaches look for that versatility in kids they recruit plus he is a great student so we don’t worry about him producing in the classroom. He has gone from a shy kid when he arrived in 9th grade into a confident young man who now addresses the team in meetings in a leadership role. He is the type of kid that is going to show you every single day that he is up for any task we throw at him.”
I spoke with BHS Offensive Coordinator and Offensive Line Coach, Garrett Grady who is Charlton’s position coach and he offered the following comments: “Kanaya is a complete student-athlete. He cares about his academics as well as his performance on the field. He is a genuine person who truly cares about everyone around him. His development from his freshman year to now is amazing. He has made tremendous gains in the weight room becoming one of the strongest members of this team. Kanaya has stepped into a leadership role this year and has raised the level intensity & pride of this team. I am very proud of the young man he is becoming and looking forward to what the future holds for Kanaya Charlton. Expect Great things from him!”
I asked Kanaya a few questions regarding this season and his college plans:
What does this coaching staff at BHS mean to you? “My coaches have been there as role models for me. That is an amazing feeling. I feel like they are a huge reason why I’m in the position I am in today”.
What do you like about this 2021 BHS football team? “Since I have been here our team and coaching staff have gotten better every single season. Our goals this year are: City Championship, Region Championship, State Championship. Being put out in the second round the past two seasons has really left a bad taste in our mouth. We are going to change that in 2021. I want our group of seniors this fall to be known as the class that changed our program culture from just being a winning program into a championship program. That is a huge step for our program”
College choice, any thoughts on where you might go? “Today FSU is my #1 choice. I am going there on an official visit this month. I have been on many unofficial visits there so far. The coaches there make me feel the most at home. I will probably make my official commitment to the school I choose either the last week of June or the first week of July. I want to get this behind me so I can 100% focus on my senior season at BHS”. Charlton has indeed committed to go to Florida State.
What will you major in at college? “Life Sciences with a possible focus on Marine Biology”.
Any last comments? “Pirate Pride and remember it is “All about the Family” at Brunswick High School.
The Willis Way
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Recently The Glynn County Board of Education approved the renaming of the BHS field house in honor of longtime BHS coach John Willis.
The “John Willis Field House” will be named after a man who roamed the sidelines at historic Lanier Field and Glynn County Stadium from 1980-2001.
For 22 seasons John Willis was the face of Pirate football and will always be the face of Pirate Football to me because John Willis is MY football coach.
I played on his first two football teams in 1980 and 1981. Pirate football is a passion to me to this day because of one man and one man only and his name is John Willis.
The situation at Brunswick High School in 1979/1980 was similar to what we see in our country currently which was a lot of racial division. Our program was coming off a horrible 0-10 season. Our head coach resigned and I was going into my junior year at BHS. Our school needed someone who could unite and bring us all together.
John Willis was named head football coach at BHS in the summer of 1980. I met John Willis for the first time on a hot steamy practice field behind the old BHS campus around 7AM in early August of that year.
Our first game in the 1980 season was a road game at Camden County. Keep in mind we had not won a football game in two years, and the first thing out of the mouth of our new coach was when we beat Camden. Not we are or we hope it was when we beat Camden.
Then we proceeded to run 21, yes 21, I’ll never forget, 100-yard gassers. Coach Willis said I want to find out who is going to quit on me because if you quit on this practice field then you will quit on me on Friday night.
Coach would chant “what kind of meat?” we would answer Wildcat meat. That became our preseason rally cry. We became a football team in three short weeks.
We loaded the bus and went down to Camden on a Friday afternoon for that season opener. John Willis had a way of making you want to run to run through a wall for him. We believed we were going to beat Camden that night and we did 6-2.
We were all jumping for joy on the field and the first person who hugged me when the horn went off was John Willis and his quote was “I told you so Kipp”.
Outside of my own Father I can’t think of another man I respect more than John Willis in this world today. We went on to become a playoff team my senior season in 1981 and when I see my former team members there is always a special bond from that season when we became a winning football team.
John Willis made us into winners and the lessons he taught us on the practice field still hold true today. If you believe, work harder, and never give up then not many folks will beat you in life.
The ‘John Willis Way’ gave two decades of Pirate football letterman a solid foundation for life. I’m told the road from Habersham Street to the John Willis Field House will be called John Willis Way.
Former players have called Habersham Street John Willis Way for years because John Willis helped teach us how to become a man.
The ‘John Willis Way’ is the only way I know how to approach the game of football. Thank you coach for all you have done for Brunswick High School. Next stop for you should be The Glynn County Sports Hall of Fame. You taught me Pirate Pride coach!
