Recruiting Wars
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I am handing out grades to the following teams’ recruiting classes following the early Signing Period for the class of 2021.
Considering the challenges all coaches have to deal with while recruiting during the pandemic, there is plenty of praise and blame to go around for Miami, UCF and Florida State.
Recruiting has three periods: Early Signing, National Signing Day, and Transfer Portal. I’ll be looking at the Early Signing Period and Transfer Portal.
Grading any recruiting class is a subjective venture. I determine grades based on the balance of talent level that is brought in, alongside with how the class addresses needs on the roster.
Miami: The Hurricanes earned the signatures of 21 players during the first day of the Early Signing Period. When the dust settled, the Hurricanes had the 11th class in the nation and 2nd class in the ACC.
Miami put a big emphasis on locking down the best players from South Florida (15 of the 21 signees are from Miami-Dade and Broward County).
The keystones of this Hurricane class are five-star defensive tackle Leonard Taylor and safety James Williams.
Miami also flipped four-star quarterback Jake Garcia from USC. The Hurricanes still need to add a couple more offensive linemen and cornerbacks. I’m giving Miami an A-.
UCF: The Knights had 19 players sign and one transfer. The Knights rank 61st Nationally and 4th in the AAC.
UCF focused on the defensive side of the ball with 11 defensive players signing.
Anthony Hundley signed with the Knights after decommitting from LSU. The Miami native had offers from Florida State, Michigan and Ole’ Miss.
Mikey Keene became the third quarterback to sign with the Knights since Josh Heupel took over. The Arizona native passed for 5,089 yards and 47 touchdowns during his time at Chandler High School.
Former Virginia quarterback RJ Harvey transferred to the Knights; however, he will play at running back.
UCF is a program unlike the others in this article, their recruiting budget is 1/10th that of the other schools. The Knights will add a few more pieces in February and use the Transfer Portal to fill out their class, but the grade for the Knights is C+.
Florida State: The Seminole fans hoping that the football program was going to take a dramatic, positive turn in the first year under new head coach Mike Norvell were in for a rude reality check.
The prized newcomer for the Seminoles won’t be a freshman, but rather, former UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton. If Milton is healthy, this is a talented game changer for Florida State.
This is the first class in modern day FSU history that has not included a five-star player.
In addition, the Seminoles only have one player ranked inside the top 250.
Norvell is very clearly trying to revamp the FSU defense with 10 of their 16 commits on that side of the ball.
Hunter Washington is the Seminole’s highest ranked recruit, and he is a bit undersized at 5 foot 11 and 175 pounds. Hunter Washington, Malik McClain, Shambre Jackson, Omarion Cooper, Rod Orr and Patrick Payton anchor Novell’s second class.
Florida State ranks 22nd Nationally and 4th in the ACC.
The Seminoles have a lot of work ahead of them to raise the talent level of their roster. Norvell must utilize the Transfer Portal. My grade for Florida State would be a D- but the arrival of McKenzie Milton alone raises it to a B-.
The Legend Of The Dirty Thirty
By: Jeff Doke
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It would be the epitome of understatement to say that the 2020 season for the Frederica Academy Knights was a surprising one.
Any season that ends in a trip to the state title game is a superlative one, no doubt.
Although the season was still somewhat up in the air due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, the global pandemic was the least of Coach Brandon Derrick’s worries.
Defensive Coordinator Alex Mathis left the squad to join fellow FA coaching alum Geoff Cannon on the Brantley County Herons.
The already thin roster saw several contributors either opt out of the season or transfer to other schools, most notably the starting quarterback.
When the dust settled, the Knights would look to start the season with a meager 30 varsity players – “The Dirty Thirty” as they would come to be known.
And then, as the Knights approached their season opener versus longtime rival Valwood, COVID made its presence known. A positive test two weeks prior to the season opener required a 10-day shuttering of the program. After four days of game prep, the team headed to Hahira, GA to take on the Valiants.
After their first four quarters of the season, the Knights had given the first peek of what could be ahead in 2020 in the form of a 36-13 win.
Senior RB Kyle “Meatball” Perez put up 149 yards on the ground with 3 touchdowns, while freshman soon-to-be phenom RB “The River” Jordan Triplett notched 2 more touchdowns, while piling up 167 yards.
What turned out to be the tipping point of the season came in week three, when the team traveled to Chula, GA for the first time in six years to take on Tiftarea Academy.
The Panthers mounted a 4th quarter comeback and won the game 21-18, knocking the Knights to 1-2 on the young season, but more devastating was the loss of Kyle Perez. A broken leg would cost the running back most of his senior campaign.
The injury to Perez would mean an opportunity for Jordan Triplett to shine – and shine he did. The freshman back took on the weight of the starting role impressively, and the Knights wound up going 6-1 over the rest of the regular season, with the lone loss coming to Bulloch Academy, 20-16.
That loss would be avenged a month later in the first round of the playoffs, a game the Knights won 34-27.
In that game alone, Jordan Triplett carried the ball 24 times for a gaudy 278 yards and 4 touchdowns. Payback for another regular season loss came in the second round of the playoffs.
In a low-scoring affair, Frederica punched their ticket to the state championship with a 14-7 victory over Tiftarea.
Alas, the season ended where the Knights wanted it to end, it just didn’t end how they wanted it to end. The Goliath of John Milledge Academy got some payback of their own against the David of Frederica, flipping the script from 2018 and winning the trophy, 49-0.
When all was said & done, Jordan Triplett wrapped up the season with a noteworthy 1865 rushing yards on 237 carries, racking up 22 TDs on the ground and 2091 all-purpose yards.
Triplett’s opening salvo of his high school career saw him ranked as the #1 freshman running back in the nation, and the #2 back across all classes in the state of Georgia.
Post-season superlatives for #4 include selections to the GISA All State & All Region teams, Southern Sports Edition All-Area team, and an invitation to try out for the U.S. National Team.
While the freshman was making waves on the stat sheet, his 16 teammates from the Class of 2021were making their presence known as well. DEs Will Thompson and Will Counts (otherwise known as “the Wills”) combined for 94 tackles and were both named to the GISA All-State, All-Region, and All-Star teams.
Joining them on all three squads was LB Josh Meadows, who contributed significantly on both offense (his seam route was near unstoppable all season) and on special teams (blocking two punts in one game while playing without full use of one of his arms).
Senior MLB Joshua Elliott also got the nod for All-State and All-Region recognition, and three more Knights seniors were named to the All-Region squad as well; Eli Fritchman, Jaiden Rose-Scally, and Garrett Squire.
True, there are holes to be filled on the roster, but as any team coached by Brandon Derrick shows, talent follows talent, and more importantly, heart follows heart.
The 2020 Knights had plenty of both.
High Tide
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The SEC Championship Game saw #1 Alabama (10-0) face off against #7 Florida (8-2).
These two programs played in the first SEC Championship Game in 1992. This was a matchup of two historically great programs, but it also determined the Heisman winner.
Mac Jones and Kyle Trask were the two frontrunners to win the Heisman and they did not disappoint.
This was the first real test for the Crimson Tide against a Gators team that would not quit. This is the case of the best player on the best team versus the best player in college football.
Mac Jones threw for 418 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. Najee Harris rushed for 178 yards and scored five TD’s. DeVonta Smith caught 15 receptions for 184 yards and two scores. It was enough to win a 52 – 46 shootout in Atlanta.
“Those guys are pretty phenomenal. They have been all year,” Nick Saban said. “They certainly delivered tonight when we needed them to.”
The Gators trailed 35 – 17 at halftime but they scored a couple of third quarter touchdowns and held Alabama scoreless. They scored two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but Bama scored 17 points.
Kyle Trask threw for 408 yards and 3 touchdowns.
“We were rolling pretty good,” said Trask. “We just ran out of time.”
Harris was the MVP of the game. He had 31 carries for 178 yards, but he also caught 5 passes for 67 receiving yards and turned three of those into scores.
“I’ve been catching the ball since birth,” he quipped. “People don’t expect it because of the running back name, but I can catch.”
Harris set an SEC championship game record with his five touchdowns, breaking the mark of four scored by Auburn’s Tre Mason in 2013. The Alabama senior also broke a couple of school records, setting new standards for career rushing TDs (44) and overall TDs (54).
Kadarius Toney led the Gators with 8 receptions for 153 yards 1 TD. Tight end Kyle Pitts had 7 catches, 129 yards and a touchdown. Florida’s leading rusher only had 2 carries for 24 yards. I think the lack of offensive balance has been a problem all season that came back to haunt them in this game.
“I thought we showed a lot of character,” coach Dan Mullen said. “That was an excellent team we played … give them credit. That’s why they’re ranked No. 1 in the country.”
This win completed an undefeated season for Alabama. They are the clear favorites going into the College Football Playoff.
“This has been a year with a lot of disruptions,” said Saban, who had his own bout with COVID-19. “The resiliency this team has shown this season to win 11 games is pretty phenomenal.”
The only team that I think is capable of beating Alabama is Clemson. The Tigers would not see them until the National Championship, assuming both teams win. They beat #2 Notre Dame 34 – 10 in the ACC Championship Game.
Heavy Is The Head
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
If there’s a problem with success, it’s the expectation of repeating it. That’s the case in many walks of life, and so it is in Major League Baseball. Winning teams are expected to follow up successful seasons with more successful seasons.
For the Atlanta Braves, who have now won three consecutive National League East Division Championships, they are expected to repeat that feat a fourth time. Especially, given the youth of the team and the starting rotation holes from 2020 that GM Alex Anthopoulos has already taken steps to fill in the guise of Charlie Morton and Drew Smyly.
In fact, the crown likely lies even heavier, given that the Braves went (much) deeper into the playoffs in 2020 than in the previous two seasons, coming within one game of the World Series.
With that on their recent record, Atlanta will be looked at to not just win their division, but to advance to the World Series in 2021 as well.
But there are some teams that would like to stop them and since we often talk about why a team will win, let’s look instead at the four teams that might stop the Braves’ quest to four-peat, in order of least concerning to most concerning.
- The Washington Nationals-The crazy thing here, and really about this division in general, is that the Nationals are not a bad team.
They have a top-tier pitching staff that couldn’t stay on the field in 2020, and they won the whole thing just 2 years ago (admittedly with the help of an MVP-caliber Anthony Rendon).
They’re really only one or two good pieces away from being back in the trophy hunt and word is that they’ve been meeting with top free agents like JT Realmuto.
Which brings up to the team he may not be returning to:
- The Philadelphia Phillies-They really should have been much, much better in 2019.
They spent tons of money bringing in players to shape their lineup into something intimidating, and then they just…didn’t win.
Bryce Harper was signed and then surrounded by loads of other acquisitions, but in the end it just wasn’t enough.
Now Realmuto, arguably the next-best player on their team and inarguably the best catcher in the game, is a free agent and may walk.
I couldn’t really pinpoint what it is that makes the Phillies not work right now – though certainly their rotation isn’t as good as ¾ of the rest of the division – and neither can they.
But the thing that separates them from the Nats is that they could flip a switch without really making any roster changes and be a huge threat in the division.
- The Miami Marlins-The other team from the NL East to make it to the playoffs in 2020, the Marlins starting rotation is young and gifted in a way that only the Braves can even come close to touching in the division.
They leaned on Sixto Sanchez, Pablo Lopez, and Sandy Alcantara last year, and it served them very well.
There’s no reason to believe that Derek Jeter and the rest of the Marlins brass is going to waste that kind of talent in their primes and a few moves to bolster their lineup could make Miami the toast of the division.
1.The New York Mets-That’s right, the New York Mets. This might seem like a crazy choice for the top threat in the NL East to unseat Atlanta’s three-year stint on the throne, but there are few things scarier than a new owner with a vision and a deep, deep wallet.
They’ve already got Jacob DeGrom, who is one of the best pitchers in baseball and Noah Syndergaard will be back with a vengeance after missing last year due to injury.
New owner Steven Cohen could very well fund new GM Jared Porter to go out and add Trevor Bauer to the rotation too and he could make a lucrative offer to Realmuto, or put together a trade package for Nolan Arenado wherein the Mets absorb his massive contract.
The point is, there’s a new top dog in New York, and that brings the threat of a massive upheaval in an attempt to make a splash and a statement in 2021.
Granted, that doesn’t always work (see #3), but it should be enough to strike at least a little questioning fear in the heart of Braves Country.
Out Of Gas
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Gus Bus finally ran out of gas at Auburn.
After eight years at Auburn, head coach Gus Malzahn will no longer serve as Auburn’s head coach as he was relieved of his duties, the program announced in a release.
Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele will serve as the interim head coach.
“After evaluating the state of the Auburn football program, we’ve decided that it was time to make a change in leadership,” Athletic Director Allen Greene said.
“We appreciate everything that Gus did for the program over the last eight seasons. We will begin a search immediately for a coach that can help the Auburn program consistently compete at the highest level.”
During his time as head coach, Malzahn had a 68-35 record, going 39-27 in SEC play.
In his first season at Auburn, he led Auburn to a National Championship appearance.
Auburn must pay Gus a buyout of $21 million dollars with $10 million of that coming to Malzahn in the next 30 days. 2021 will start off very nice for Gus and family.
The road seemed rocky at times for Gus at Auburn. Rumors started floating around back in 2016 that he may be fired, but then 2017 happened where Auburn beat number #1 Georgia and then beat #1 Alabama in a three week window, and won the SEC West.
Auburn lost to UGA in a rematch for the SEC Championship, and Auburn rewarded Malzahn with a 7-year $49 million dollar contract extension.
In 2018 Auburn finished 5th in the SEC West with an 8-5 overall record, and followed that up in 2019 with a 9-4 record with a loss to Minnesota in the Outback Bowl.
The 6-4 record this season with a bad loss at South Carolina heated up the fire Gus talk.
Then you factor in blowout losses at UGA and Alabama then the dye was cast.
Since 2014, Auburn has lost 33 football games with highly rated talent on the roster.
Malzahn had a 3-5 record in the Iron Bowl against Alabama, which is very good considering how dominant Alabama has been in the SEC.
His 2-7 record against Georgia in The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry had become a point of contention with the Auburn alumni base.
The 5-12 record against the two biggest rivals was a big factor in his firing. If you are the head coach at Auburn University you can’t consistently lose to Alabama and Georgia. Auburn never beat these two rivals on the road during his tenure at Auburn.
While Gus had overall top ten recruiting classes at Auburn two areas of major concern recently have been the lack of top tier offensive linemen and the QB position.
Auburn has failed to recruit and develop talent in the OL for years now and it shows up in the biggest games when Auburn gets dominated by the better defensive fronts in the SEC.
At QB, other than the great season by Nick Marshall in 2013, Auburn has been average at QB. Bo Nix currently was highly rated coming out of high school, but has been average at best at Auburn.
Gus ran a clean program and will hopefully get another Head Coaching job after he gets tired of spending Auburn’s buyout money.
I believe Auburn had a big name agree to take the job when Gus was let go, but since has backed out, and now you hear rumors of Kevin Steele having the interim dropped from his title, and if that is the case you have a public relations nightmare on the plains of Auburn.
Early signing day has come and gone and Auburn’s early signing period class was ranked 40th.
Whoever Auburn hires has his work cut out for him to try and salvage this recruiting class.
Committed
Coastal Georgia Area Football Early Signing Period Commits
Glynn Academy
TJ Lewis-QB/Louisville
Jaiden Miller-DB/College of Charleston
Camden
Micah Morris-OL/Georgia
Shawn Hardy-WR/Nebraska
Hudson Tucker-DT/Tennessee Tech
Brunswick
Caleb Cook-OL/Georgia Southern
Kyle Rehberg-K/Rose-Hulman Insititute Of Technology
MCA
Khay Loyd-DB/Army
The Flying Shoe
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Last week the Florida Gators had a loss Florida fans never saw coming, a 37-34 shocker against LSU.
UF being a three touchdown favorite and losing won’t be forgotten in Gainesville.
The Gators weren’t a shoe in for the College Football Playoffs with a showdown with mighty Alabama this Saturday night.
This game was a microcosm of the Florida Gators season. Florida’s sloppy and unemotional play by the entire team all came together last Saturday night.
The Gators have been fun to watch this season but they have not yet been a dominant team.
Other than the Georgia game, I can say there hasn’t been one game where the entire team played with the passion and desire to destroy the opponent.
Mistakes through lack of effort by the offense, defense, special teams and coaches cannot go overlooked.
Kyle Trask has brought the Fun & Gun back to Gainesville, but the critics will knock him for the three turnovers.
Trask finished the night making University of Florida history by surpassing Danny Wuerffel’s 1996 single season touchdown record, setting a new high with 40 touchdown passes on the season.
After starting the second half with back-to-back touchdowns drives (nine plays, 156 yards, 3:42 time of possession), the offense followed up with three consecutive three and outs.
Rewatching the game, Florida’s running backs and wide receivers did not help Trask with six drops on the night. The offensive line allowed too much pressure and missed assignments that put the Gators behind the sticks.
The Gator’s defense had been struggling all season. Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham has been under fire by the media and fans all season.
In the past two games (Tennessee and LSU), Florida’s defense has blown coverages, lined up incorrectly, and made costly penalties.
Florida’s secondary has blown coverages the entire season. I cannot remember one game this season where an opponent’s receiver isn’t running wide open. Majority of the time it ends in a touchdown or a chunk play that sets up a touchdown.
For some reason, Grantham likes to corner blitz. The safeties are on another page and they allow the receivers to run their routes against air.
He called corner blitzes twice in the LSU game, first one led to a 51-yard touchdown and the second one set up LSU’s last touchdown.
The Gator’s defense has struggled to line up correctly due to the play calls getting to players in a timely manner. This has been an issue the entire season and it has reared its head a couple times Saturday night.
The Shoe! No one is ever going to forget about the shoe. Marco Wilson’s boneheaded unsportsmanlike act didn’t lose the game but it helped hammer the nail in the coffin. This blunder won’t be forgotten soon by Gator fans or their rivals.
With all of those miscues, Trask and company got the ball on their own 25-yard line. Three big plays later, Evan McPherson was lining up to try a 51-yard field goal to tie the game.
McPherson is more than capable of drilling a 51 yarder, but there is no denying that McPherson blew the most important field goal of his college career on Saturday night.
Dan Mullen and his staff are not blameless. Mullen’s arrogance was costly, telling the ESPN production crew that he felt the Gators would get into the College Football Playoff even if they lost to LSU as long as they beat Number 1 Alabama. My biggest issue with the statement is his mindset. WHY?
Many believe Kyle Trask’s chances of winning the Heisman Trophy disappeared just like Florida’s College Football Playoff hopes.
That may not be the case. Trask completed 29 of 47 for 474 and 2 touchdowns and 2 rushing touchdowns; good looking stats for an ugly loss.
Whether it’s right or not, Trask’s turnovers will enhance the chance of Alabama’s Mac Jones to win the award.
Everyone please take a moment to pray for Keyontae Johnson.
SEC In Aerosmith Albums
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
With the regular season essentially over, here is how I think each team fared, worst to best, and the corresponding Aerosmith album it equates to, also in ascending order. (No particular reason for choosing Aerosmith, just been listening to them lately and they do have 14 original studio albums. Besides, who doesn’t enjoy Aerosmith.)
- Rock and a Hard Place- Vanderbilt. When you lose every game by an average of 22.5 points and fire your head coach, your season is as forgettable as this album. Even the most ardent Aerosmith fans forget these were ever recorded.
- Night in the Ruts- Tennessee. The only positive thing I can say about Tennessee’s season was it was better than Vanderbilt’s.
- Music From Another Dimension- Mississippi State. Much like the last album Aerosmith has released, there are one or two highlights, but not much else to get excited about.
- Just Push Play- LSU. A season most Tigers’ fans would like to forget. Will certainly never be a success story, but ten years from now it won’t be viewed as quite the disaster it is today.
- Nine Lives- South Carolina. If you look at their on-field production and results they should be ranked lower. I boosted them up a few spots based solely on parting ways with Will Muschamp, which was their biggest win of the season.
- Done With Mirrors- Kentucky. Middle of the road album, middle of the road season. Nothing more, nothing less.
- Draw the Line- Auburn. A decent but underwhelming album that immediately preceded Aerosmith’s two worst records. Auburn lived up to the first part, with Malzahn now gone the second part is sure to follow.
- Permanent Vacation- Arkansas. The album was a comeback of sorts for the band and even though the Razorbacks only won three games it feels as though they’re on the right track.
- Aerosmith- Ole Miss. Their offense is as good as “Dream On”; if they can just get their defense to the level of “Mama Kin” they may wind up being the second best team in the West.
- Get A Grip- Missouri. Having trouble finding any correlation between the team and other than it’s my fifth favorite Aerosmith record and I thought Missouri had the fifth most successful season.
- Rocks- Georgia. Admittedly this album has held up better over time than this season will for Georgia. I know the end result is a disappointment for most fans, but it very easily could’ve been worse. Plus, you’ve found your quarterback for next year.
- Toys in the Attic- Florida. A really good season marred by a bad Austin Powers impersonation (“Really, who throws a shoe”) and a coach who can’t keep his foot out of his mouth. The Gators podiatry program has been working overtime this year.
- Get Your Wings- Texas A&M. No standout tracks, solid from beginning to end, just not as strong as the album above it. No standout wins, strong in all aspects of the game, just not as talented and deep as the team above them.
1.Pump- Alabama. You can argue my pick for best Aerosmith album, but not with which SEC had the best season; undefeated, averaged 49.5 ppg, average margin of victory 32.7, and actually played all ten games. You don’t have to like them, but you damn sure have to respect them.
All Area High School Football Team
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Offense
QB-TJ Lewis/Glynn Academy
RB-Trenton Johnson/MCA
RB-Jordan Triplett/Frederica
RB-Ree Simmons/Brunswick
WR-Deonte Cole/Camden
WR-Tyrease Jones/Brunswick
WR-Shawn Hardy/Camden
TE-Ryan Burkhart/MCA
OL-Micah Morris/Camden
OL-Caleb Cook/Brunswick
OL-Kanaya Charlton/Brunswick
OL-Nick Muchison/Glynn Academy
OL-Garrett Squire/Frederica
Defense
DL-Hudson Tucker/Camden
DL-Will Counts/Frederica
DL-DeTerias Glover/Camden
DL-D’Marius Clinch/Glynn Academy
LB-Jadin Jones/Camden
LB-Miles Wood/MCA
LB-Miles Smith/Glynn Academy
LB-Zane Rosenbaum/Brunswick
DB-Keith Giddens/Camden
DB-Jaden Drayton/Glynn Academy
DB-Amarion Whitfield/Brunswick
DB-DaMarion Hayes/Glynn Academy
Coach Of The Year-Brandon Derrick/Frederica
Pirates Voyage
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Brunswick High Pirate Football team finished its season with a tough loss to Lee County in the second round of the State playoffs last week.
Brunswick finished with an 8-4 record. Head Coach Sean Pender and the Pirates won a share of the Region 2-AAAAAA crown this fall, which is something the Pirate football program has not done since 2009.
The eight-win season is something the program has not accomplished since 2010. The 2020 Pirates also won their first City Championship since 2013, and in spite of these accomplishments Sean Pender was not named the Region Coach of the year and the award went to a team and coach he defeated. 2020 strikes again. Maybe a recount should be requested.
This edition of the Pirates got off to a rocky start with a loss at Pierce County, where star running back Chukobe Hill suffered a knee injury that that kept him out of action for a month.
BHS bounced back and beat MCA in week two.
In week 3 the Pirates fumbled away a chance to beat highly thought of Benedictine deep in Cadet territory with a minute left in the contest.
After the 1-2 start the Pirates went on the road on a Thursday night and beat a good Northeast Macon team 41-12 and that began a four-game winning streak that included the “Miracle between the Bricks” 75-yard TD pass from KJ Lee to Tyrease Jones with 16 seconds left in the contest to win the City Championship.
On Halloween weekend the Pirates came up short against Richmond Hill but then won three straight before falling at Lee County last week.
The Pirates were well represented on the first team All-Region selections with the following Pirates be named to the first team:
OL- Caleb Cook
OL- Kanaya Charlton
DB: Amarion Whitfield
WR: Tyrease Jones
RB: Ree Simmons
LB: Zane Rosenbaum
Second Team Selections:
KJ Lee
Xaiver Bean
David Newbauer
Kayshawn Thomas
Kaleb Hampton
Camron Crump
Devontae Gadson
Anthony Elvine
Honorable Mention:
Kevin Thomas
Chukobe Hill
Quan Gibson
Keon Leggett
AJ Wilson
Kyle Rehberg
This Senior Class has put the program back on solid ground moving forward for the future. Coach Pender when asked about this group of seniors got a little emotional when commenting on this group:
“These kids bought into everything we were trying to teach them. They worked hard, and there was a spirit of unity with this group that has been infectious for the younger players in the program. They have laid the foundation for a winning culture here. They were the first group I have had here for all four years, and this group will always hold a special place in my heart because the foundation they created will produce results long after they will no longer walk these halls at BHS. They leave us as champions both Region and City and it has been a while since we have said that here, and now that is the expectation moving forward with this football program”.
I have enjoyed covering this team and group of seniors, and like Coach Pender stated this group has laid the foundation for the future of BHS football.
The 2020 Brunswick High Football team will always be remembered as the “Drought Breakers” on Altama Avenue and as champions and this senior class will be champions in life, and that means more than winning football games.
