Bishop Media Sports Network
Richmond Hill Wildcats Coming Out Party
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Richmond Hill Wildcats have gotten off to a great start in the 2026 season.
Going into Friday night’s game with the Ware County Gators the Wildcats found themselves undefeated on the young season at 3-0.
The Wildcats survived a week 1 encounter with the Effingham Rebels 22-21.
In week 2 Richmond Hill flexed their might against the Liberty County Panthers to the tune of a 42-7 win.
In week 3 the Wildcats welcomed a very good Jenkins Warriors team to ‘The Hill’ and outlasted Jenkins; winning 31-27.
Richmond Hill has had the advantage of all three wins being in the friendly confines of ‘The Hill’ at Wildcat Stadium.
In week 4 the Wildcats would not have the advantage of being at home. In fact, they would travel to one of the toughest places to win in the state, Memorial Stadium in Waycross-‘The Swamp’. Many seasons have been ruined and title dreams ended in Waycross at the hands of the Ware County Gators.
This was the task in front of the Richmond Hill Wildcats, to beat Ware in ‘The Swamp’ to remain undefeated. This is a tall order.
Ware came into the game at 1-1. The Gators took down Bainbridge in week 1 22-21 and lost to rival Coffee County in week 2, 27-7.
Ware also was coming off a bye before the Richmond Hill game so the Gators had a full 2 weeks to prepare for the Wildcats.
At first look this seemed like a game that Richmond Hill would suffer their first loss of the season; playing in ‘The Swamp’, it being their first road game of the year, Ware having 2 weeks to prepare and the Gators coming off a loss. Not to mention it was the first home game of the season for the Ware County Gators.
None of these things mattered and what looked like a likely loss instead turned into a coming out party for Richmond Hill.
The Wildcats upended the Gators 13-7 to remain unbeaten and climb to 4-0 on the season. This game was one of the best games of the season.
With time about to expire and the game tied at 7-7, Ware County lined up to kick a game winning field goal.
Instead of the kick sailing through the uprights for a Ware win, the kick was blocked and pick up by Eli Grant and returned 96 yards for a touchdown with no time on the clock giving the dramatic win to Richmond Hill. Literally snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
DB/WR Eli Grant had a monumental performance to help Richmond Hill win this football game. Grant scored both touchdowns for the Wildcats; one receiving and the other returning the blocked kick. Oh, and also Grant added in an interception just for good measure.
Next up for Richmond Hill is Wando High School out of South Carolina. The Wildcats will be back at home for this contest. Wando is off to a 3-1 start so this will be another tough test for the Wildcats.
Coach Matt LeZotte has the Wildcats off to a great start and they will be a force in region 1-7A.
Bulloch Academy Gators Another Big Win
By: Joseph Stuckey
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Bulloch Academy Gators came into this past Friday’s game with a 3-1 record. This game came the week after the hard-fought loss to John Milledge Academy, 23-35 in Milledgeville.
The good news is the Gators have played a really tough schedule, and their MaxPreps ranking is taking note as they came into this game #2 in the AAAA rankings and #4 in all of GIAA.
With their win on Friday over the Westfield School Hornets out of Perry, GA, the Gators improve to 4-1 and look well on their way to locking up a top seed in the GIAA AAAA playoffs.
Westfield came into the game ranked #2 in AAA and #6 in all of GIAA. This game featured playmakers in all aspects of the game.
The offense was able to control the clock by running the ball consistently and getting big runs when needed from impact players like Connor Perry and quarterback Sam Hubbard.
Hubbard continues to show how impressive his ability to make decisive runs and calculated throws is.
The offensive running game also felt an impact from Rocco Reiss, B.J. Smart, and Nick Eason Jr. The offensive line upfront also continues to show why it is the most consistent group for the Gators year after year.
The Gators’ defense was able to capitalize on the Hornets playing from behind the sticks most of the night. They allowed minimal big plays and implemented a bend-but-don’t-break mentality.
The defense only allowed a couple of big receptions and tried to keep everything in front of them. The defense allowed the Hornets to make mistakes and then capitalized for big stops.
The defense had several playmakers, including Jayce Farmer, Tate Williams, and Colin Grooms.
Also, the quarterback felt pressure all night from Braylon Cone at nose guard and Billy Crider off the edge. Crider also knocked down a pass late in the game to help seal the victory.
On special teams, the Gators relied on good returns from Perry and Crider as well as consistent kickoffs and extra points from Case Woodrum.
Special teams seem to be an area where the Gators find an advantage over other teams, and with a little fine-tuning, it could become their best aspect of their team.
The game against the Hornets basically ran at a 2-score deficit most of the night; even though they scored a late touchdown, which made the score look closer, the Gators controlled the game from start to finish.
Westfield also had a failed 2-point conversion towards the end of the game, which all but put the final nail in the coffin, as the Gators offense was able to run out the clock.
Outside of a few minor errors and slip-ups, the Gators seem to have rebounded well from the loss to JMA and look to have their eyes set on going for the big GIAA prize.
Now that this game is in the book, the Gators will travel next week to Robert Toombs in Lyons and hope to avoid a 3-overtime marathon game like last season. After that, the Gators will travel to Strong Rock Christian in Locust Grove for their biggest AAAA regular-season matchups of the season.
McIntosh County Academy Buccaneers Coach’s Show with Bradley Warren September 10 2026
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show with Brandon Derrick September 9 2026
LSU To Be Ousted From SEC?
By: Michael Spiers
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Welcome to college football in 2026.
On Saturday night, LSU looked like one of the best teams in America, dismantling Clemson 51-10 in Lane Kiffin’s debut.
By Tuesday, the Tigers had climbed to No. 8 in the AP poll. And on that same day, the Southeastern Conference was preparing for a meeting that could potentially result in LSU being kicked out of the league. You can’t make this stuff up.
The dispute centers around Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, two former Ole Miss players who signed NFL contracts and spent time with professional teams this summer before attempting to return to college football at LSU.
The SEC says they shouldn’t be eligible. A Louisiana judge has ruled, at least temporarily, that they can play. LSU didn’t use either player against Clemson, but the fight has continued anyway.
And naturally, Lane Kiffin couldn’t resist having a little fun with it.
With LSU leading Clemson 31-3 at halftime Saturday, Kiffin joked during his television interview, “Imagine if we had pro players.”
I’m guessing SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey didn’t find that nearly as funny as Kiffin did.
Now the situation has escalated to the point where SEC presidents and chancellors are scheduled to meet and potentially consider LSU’s future in the conference.
We’re talking about LSU here. A founding member of the SEC. One of the biggest brands in college football; Tiger Stadium, national championships and generations of SEC history.
Personally, I think kicking LSU out would be a massive overreaction. But I also understand the SEC’s position.
A conference has to be able to make rules and expect its members to follow them. If the schools agree on an eligibility rule and one member can simply go to court and have that rule blocked, how does the conference govern itself?
But that’s also why this story is about much more than LSU. College football has changed almost everything about itself in a remarkably short period of time without developing a system capable of governing what it has become.
NIL changed the financial landscape. The transfer portal changed roster building. Revenue sharing changed the relationship between players and schools. Eligibility rules continue to be challenged in court.
And every time the NCAA or a conference tries to draw a line, someone seems ready to file another lawsuit.
So, who’s actually in charge of college football? The NCAA? The conferences? The schools? The courts? I’m not sure anybody knows anymore.
I don’t blame the players for taking advantage of every opportunity available to them. I don’t necessarily blame LSU for challenging a rule it believes is wrong. And I certainly don’t blame the SEC for believing membership in its conference should require following conference rules.
But college football desperately needs some consistency. That’s the bigger story here.
The crazy part is that LSU might actually be really good. The Tigers just embarrassed Clemson and suddenly look like a legitimate playoff contender.
Yet only a few days later, we’re barely talking about football.
Instead, we’re wondering whether one of the SEC’s founding members could actually be thrown out of the conference.
That’s college football in 2026. LSU may be ready to compete for an SEC championship.
First, apparently, the Tigers have to make sure they’re still in the SEC.
Clemson Tigers: A Declining Program
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The college football season has officially kicked off. I want to discuss Clemson’s head coach, Dabo Swinney. He’s had a lot of success at Clemson but the current era of college football seems to have passed him by.
Clemson traveled to Baton Rouge to face #11 LSU recently. After that performance, LSU looks like the best team in the country. They beat up on the other Tigers, 51-10. This was Clemson’s worst loss since falling 41-0 to Syracuse in the 1996 Gator Bowl
“The best thing about that game is it’s over,” Dabo Swinney said. “Just really poor performance, not what we worked for or expected.”
They played in front of a sellout crowd of 102,000 at Tiger Stadium. The game was delayed almost two hours due to a weather delay.
Clemson did tie the game 3-3 in the first quarter. They briefly looked like they had a chance. LSU finished with 644 yards of offense. Clemson finished with 145 yards.
That led to LSU head coach Lane Kiffin taking shots at Clemson. “I didn’t expect their offense to be that dysfunctional,” Kiffin said after the game. “Our [scout] team scored more than they did against us.”
“We got our asses kicked,” Swinney said. “We gotta go win next week. It’s an embarrassing performance, coaching and playing. We’re going to have to own that. We can’t let that lead to another loss.”
LSU rushed for 309 yards. RB Dilin Jones, who transferred from Wisconsin, rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Arizona State transfer QB, Sam Leavitt, rushed for 113 yards and two scores. He also passed for 230 yards and a TD.
“You’re not going to win if you can’t stop the run,” Swinney added. “We just did a really poor job of setting the edge, especially versus the quarterback run, which really killed us.”
The Tigers (Clemson) struggled so much on offense they pulled starting QB Christopher Vizzina out of the game for freshman Tait Reynolds late in the second quarter.
“The start of the game was great for us, but we couldn’t truly capitalize on it,” Vizzina said, referring to his offense’s stumbles. “We’re not helping our defense at all.”
I have to start with the good things Swinney has done. He took over as the interim head coach in 2008. Since then, he’s gone 187-55, which includes two national championships in 2016 and 2018. He turned the Tigers into an elite program.
He’s competing against what he’s previously done. In the new era of college football, which includes NIL and the transfer portal, he’s been slow to adapt. He went several years without having a player transfer to Clemson.
He’s been adamant that he only wants to build his team through high school recruiting. That blueprint worked about 8-10 years ago.
They have been on a steady decline. After 12 consecutive seasons with double digit wins, they were 9-4 in 2023. They did bounce back in 2024, going 10-4 and making the College Football Playoff.
That season started with a 34-3 loss to #1 Georgia. That showed the talent gap between the Tigers and an elite program. #5 Texas beat them in the CFP 38-24 and the final score makes the game seem closer than what it was.
Last season the Tigers started the season ranked #4 in the AP poll. They returned senior QB Cade Klubnik and several starters from the previous year. They went 7-6, with one of the losses in the Pinstripe Bowl to Penn State.
The next game is against Georgia Southern. I think this will be another long season.
Camden County Wildcats Coach’s Show with Tucker Pruitt September 8 2026
Brunswick High Pirates Coach’s Show w Byron Slack September 7 2026
McIntosh County Academy Coach’s Show with Bradley Warren September 3 2026
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show with Brandon Derrick September 2 2026
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