By: Alex Mathis

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

It had been a total of 20 days since the Knights last took the field in Atlanta against powerhouse Wesleyan.

The Knights went into unfamiliar territory against Wesleyan but played hard the entire game. Turnovers cost the Knights in that game and that would be the last game they would play for a while because Hurricane Irma would put a halt on the Knights’ season.

When the Frederica Knights evacuated their campus, they did not know what they would come back to. Nor when they would be allowed to be back on campus.

Just last year the Knights were in this same position when Hurricane Matthew decided to wreak havoc on St. Simons Island. This year, Hurricane Irma would cause the Knights to cancel their games against Valwood and Memorial Day School.

Luckily, this year Frederica Academy only suffered minor damage. A bent goal post and a few missing lights would be all the damage dished out from Irma. Frederica got back to some normalcy when they resumed practice on Monday

Brandon Derrick’s Knights started out fast against the Trinity Christian Crusaders. The defense came out and forced a punt. The Knights ensuing drive stalled as well, but the Knights got a great punt from John Mitchell Brock and pinned the Crusaders inside the 5.

The Frederica defense, led by stud linebacker Harry Veal, made another great stand and forced a punt.

The first score of the game for the Knights came with a Jaylin Simpson scamper into the endzone. The next offensive possession saw Jaylin Simpson connecting with Jashawn Sheffield for a big pass down the center of the field. The Knights finished the half with scores from Isaiah Jackson and a huge catch from Harry Veal from Jaylin Simpson.

Frederica went in at halftime up 21 points and with over 200 yards of offense. The defense held the Crusaders to only 53 yards of offense.

Coach Derrick’s and Burkett’s goal defensively this week was to stuff the run and they did a great job in the first half doing that. The Crusaders struggled to find running lanes in their Wing-T offense.

Offensively, Coach Derrick’s goal was to be efficient and move the ball down the field to score and score often. They were able to do that in the first half.

The long 20 day break without playing a game seemed to show in the second half. Frederica struggled on offense to start the half.

Jaylin Simpson fumbled on the first offense possession in the second half. That fumble led to the Crusaders first score as they scooped and scored.

The Knights got another big play on defense from Avery Cobb. Cobb intercepted a pass from Trinity’s quarterback and sprinted through the Crusaders defenders for a pick 6.

After this spectacular play, the Knights struggled to stop the passing game of the Crusaders. Trinity Christian amassed 250 yards of offense in the 4th quarter but this was not enough to beat the Knights.

Isaiah finished the night with 188 yards rushing and Simpson had 196 all-purpose yards.

Harry Veal played lights out on defense. Veal is one of the best linebackers in Southeast Georgia and he showed that on Friday.

The offensive and defensive lines also played great on the night. The offensive line helped pave the way for almost 300 yards of rushing offence. The defensive line did a great job stuffing the run and pressuring the quarterback as well.

Next week the Knights will travel to play Pinewood. The winner of the Frederica versus Pinewood game traditionally goes on to win the region. The Knights look to go 2-0 next week.