By: John Wetzler

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The Frederica Knights football team stalled in the playoffs last year with a heartbreaking loss to Gatewood.

The bright side of last year’s season was that Frederica was able to compete in the playoffs with only 4 seniors and a roster of nearly 30 players at the end of the season, many of whom were underclassmen.

Fast forwarding to this summer, Head Coach Brandon Derrick has spoken often about how excited he is to see this year’s array of skill players have their chance to compete against the top schools in the GISA.

Frederica will look a lot more like Valwood, Pinewood and Gatewood among others in terms of talent and depth in the GISA, the teams which have been traditional powerhouses with lots of re-enforcements to work with seem to be the last ones standing.

This summer, Frederica has competed in two regional invitational 7 on 7 passing league events. These events have showcased exactly why Frederica’s skill players give coach Derrick so much hope concerning the potential for the 2016 Knights season.

The Knights competed in Georgia’s Adidas 7 on 7 invitational against all classifications of schools. The Knights won the South Georgia division in Waycross. Frederica was then selected to travel to Atlanta and compete against the best all-around football teams in the state of Georgia winning against GHSA schools of all classifications.

The Knights then travelled to Tallahassee, FL to compete in FSU’s Jimbo Fisher 7 on 7 invitational tournament where the Knights bested every opponent and won the entire event along with a giant trophy to go in the case.

While there is a big difference between 7 on 7 tournaments and beating the likes of Valwood and Pinewood in four quarters of full contact football, it gives Frederica fans and players a great deal of confidence to know that they can compete with some of the very best football teams in Georgia as well as the United States when it comes to our skill players.

There are many returning veteran starters, many of whom are sophomores and juniors.

Look for sophomore RB Jayshawn Sheffield to continue to impress the fans and college scouts.

Sophomore QB Gavin Williams continues to gain confidence from experience as he learns the system.

The Frederica defense will be solidified in the middle by newcomer Antonio Heyward at LB.

Chris Myrick, Jaylon Simpson and Patrick Brunson make Frederick’s defensive secondary as formidable as any Frederica opponent in the GISA. They each performed impressively against some of the best talent in Georgia and the entire South.

The question will be how the offensive and defensive lines settle into their roles. The line will be anchored by 315 Lb, 6’4” Austin Skelton.

Many of the lineman, however, will resemble skill players more than traditional big guys like Skelton.

Special teams will have two year starter John-Mitchell Brock as a powerful weapon at kicker, giving the coaches confidence to attempt long range scoring opportunities without a great deal of risk.

This year, Federica will not likely be satisfied to merely compete in the playoffs. The potential is there to go as far as this year’s seniors want to go if the veterans can stay healthy and they come together to find the special x-factor of leadership in the locker room and classroom which champions must find.