Bishop Media Sports Network
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show with Brandon Derrick October 24
Glynn Academy Red Terrors Coach’s Show with Rocky Hidalgo October 24
Brunswick High Pirates Coach’s Show With Sean Pender October 23
MCA Buccaneers Coach’s Show with Tony Glazer October 23
Packing Another State Title?
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The high school football regular season is almost over. The best team in the state of Georgia’s highest classification (7A) is Colquitt County. The Packers are 8-0 and coming off a 38-9 win over Camden County.
It does not look like they will slow down any time soon. I’m going to look at the ranked teams from Gwinnett County and see if any of them have a chance to win the championship.
Over the past 21 years, twelve of the state champions of Georgia’s highest classification have been from Gwinnett County.
The highest ranked team is #3 Grayson (6-2). The Rams were the top ranked team in the preseason and ranked nationally. Despite all of that promise, the team had a mutiny and tried to get head coach Christian Hunnicutt fired.
A large number of players walked out of practice the week before the season opener. An anonymous parent said practice issues date back to last season, Hunnicutt’s first as Rams head coach, citing multiple ambulance trips for heat related issues and full body cramps, multiple players with broken bones in their hands from excessive hitting in practice and players who are injured being called “soft” and being “isolated.”
The 2 losses were against Begen Catholic (New Jersey) and Colquitt County. Texas A&M recruit Kenyon Jackson (6-foot-6, 200 pounds) is the best player on offense. They also have three high-level seniors on the offensive line — Tennessee commit Wanya Morris, Auburn commit Jakai Clark and Michigan commit Trente Jones.
Outside linebacker, Owen Pappoe is the No. 2 recruit in the state. Defensive end Kevin Harris is the No.9 recruit in the state and an Alabama commit. Corner back Kenyatta Watson II is committed to Texas and a three-star recruit. They also have defensive tackle Tru Thompson who is a Florida State commit. On paper they are hands down the most talented team in Georgia.
#4 Parkview (8-0) has played great this season. They just trounced their archrival Brookwood 31-2. The Panthers were a powerhouse in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. They won four state championships from 1997-2002 including a three-peat in 2000-2002.
Their best player is Malik Washington; he’s the No. 81 player in Georgia. He plays wide receiver and free safety. Parkview lacks the talent of some of the other top teams so I think they will struggle in the playoffs.
No. 7 North Gwinnett (7-2) are the defending state champs and the last team to beat Colquitt County.
The Bulldogs lost two close games to Wekiva (FL) and Walton. Walton is the 2nd ranked team in the state and just lost their first game of the season so they are very good.
North Gwinnett has the talent and experience to win again this season. Running back and Iowa commit is Tyler Goodson is the biggest threat on offense. They beat Duluth 41-0 Friday and clinched their second straight Region 6-AAAAAAA championship.
The last ranked team from the county is No. 9 Archer (6-2). They lost the season opener 21-19 against Milton then reeled off five consecutive wins. Then they were clobbered 41-14 by Grayson.
The Tigers have a lot of talent on defense so it was surprising they could not compete with Grayson. They have a corner and safety committed to Clemson, Andrew Booth and Jalyn Phillips. Defensive end Colby Wooden is an Auburn commit.
Colquitt County will be tough to take down this year but I think they will have a rematch with Grayson in the state championship.
Crean Of The Crop
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I can’t help but imagine it’s been a while since the UGA basketball fan base has entered a new season with any type of optimism.
I guess you have to back to the Jim Harrick year’s, which is not a time most fans look fondly upon. With the arrival of Tom Crean in March, there is reason for some excitement in Athens.
It’s completely fair to include Crean’s tenure at Indiana when judging his ability to coach, but I wouldn’t look too much into it.
For one, he didn’t do a bad job; Indiana has incredibly high standards that aren’t realistic in relation to their spot in the college basketball hierarchy. It’s kind of like expecting John Travolta to carry a movie because “Phenomenon” was popular over 20 years ago.
Plus, if you’re going to compare program expectations, Georgia is more aligned with Marquette, than Indiana.
At Crean’s two previous stops it has taken a couple years to implement his system with the players he wants, but has turned things around quickly once he was able to do so.
I fully expect him to have the same type of influence on Georgia’s program; unfortunately, that means it’ll be a year or two before fans really start to see everything pay off.
Even with a proven coach like Crean at the helm, this is going to be a difficult year. Their lone double-digit scorer from last year (Magen) is gone, and there isn’t much left over for the new coach to work with.
There are some young talented players coming in, who will be good building blocks 2-3 years down the road and could put up some good numbers, if for no other reason than they’ll have to.
Crean’s main objective this year is similar to that of Hawks head coach, Lloyd Pierce, albeit with a few minor differences.
Most of this upcoming season will be spent implementing his system, seeing who will be able to contribute over the next year or two, and making the Bulldog program as attractive as he can to prospective recruits.
There is a lot of basketball talent in the state that has seemed to have little, to no interest in signing with Georgia. Part of that has to do with the program’s history of mediocrity, but mainly because of their head coaches.
Most recruits today are concerned about their brand and making it to the NBA before they’re able to legally buy a beer. All the Georgia coaches since Harrick haven’t had a proven track record of being able to get players to the next level. When a player has made it, like with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, they are looked at as an outlier.
Crean’s notoriety and history with players like Dwayne Wade and Victor Oladipo should help in keeping some of the homegrown talent within the state.
Once that starts to occur, you’ll begin to see the program start to take off. But, like I mentioned earlier, all that is still a couple years away.
So, as the Bulldogs struggle to stay out of the SEC cellar this year- and probably next year- just keep in mind that Crean knows what he’s doing. He’s a good coach and recruiter that I bet will have this team back in the Sweet Sixteen within the next 4-5 years.
For a program that hasn’t tasted that type of success in over 20 years- 22 years, to be extract- it will be well worth the wait.
Eagles Continue To Soar
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Despite its early season success, there was plenty of reason to believe that Georgia Southern would struggle as it traveled to New Mexico on Saturday night.
The Eagles have a track record of underwhelming performances on long trips out west and — seemingly following the script — GS fell behind 14-3 early at New Mexico State.
And then the Eagles made their biggest statement of the 2018 season, so far.
Playing with a hobbled starting quarterback and without its leading running back and nearly a third of its usual starting defense, the Eagles absorbed some big shots from the Aggies (2-6) before rallying hard to take a halftime lead and putting the game out of reach by the time the fourth quarter rolled around.
When the dust settled, the Eagles were on their way out of town with a 48-31 victory and – with their sixth win of the season – bowl eligibility for the postseason.
Logan Wright rushed for 136 yards and a pair of touchdowns, Wesley Kennedy III went for another 99 yards and two more scores and Monteo Garrett and Shai Werts rushed for 78 yards each as the Aggies were bowled over time and time again by a relentless Eagle attack.
New Mexico State and its fast-paced spread offense made way early on. Christian Gibson opened the scoring with a 5-yard run and Jason Huntley’s 9-yard run midway through the first quarter gave NMSU a 14-3 advantage, but that’s when the Eagles took over.
Nursing sore ribs and avoiding the amount of contact that is normal for an option quarterback, Werts was able to contribute 155 total yards. Georgia Southern scored touchdowns on its final three drives of the first half and led by as much as 45-17 midway through the third quarter before both squads quickly transitioned to emptying their benches.
Josh Adkins (25-38, 295 yards) padded stats and kept the game moving over the final quarter of action.
Jason Huntley rushed for two of his three touchdowns in the final quarter, but only after the Eagles had taken a stranglehold of the action.
Georgia Southern was able to come away with the win despite dealing with a host of injuries.
Werts was protecting his ribs throughout the game, and he never as able to turn the ball over to Wesley Fields.
On the defensive end, linebackers Rashad Byrd and Todd Bradley were out, along with safety Sean Freeman.
But, as the Eagles have done all season, they adapted and overcame. Saturday’s win was another chapter in what has become one of the biggest turnaround stories in the country.
The Eagles finished 2-10 in 2017, but Chad Lunsford, named interim head coach midway through 2017 and given the permanent title before the end of the 2017 campaign, has been on a war path to put the Eagles back on the national scope.
The Eagles have found the spotlight. Now, it’s just a matter of how well Georgia Southern can run with it.
Georgia Southern will get most of its celebrating over the NMSU win done as the Eagles catch a flight back to the Atlantic coast.
A short week awaits before arch-nemesis Appalachian State invades Paulson Stadium on Thursday night in front of a nationally televised audience.
Resting Dawgs
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The notion that the week before the Georgia Bulldogs take on the Florida Gators is an “off week” is, frankly, laughable.
It’s one of the greatest and most ferocious rivalry in college sports and both teams are always hungry to beat the other, regardless of the context within the season as a whole.
For the Bulldogs in particular, after suffering a loss at the hands of LSU in Week 7, the bye week is a big opportunity to get some much-needed work in before they head to Jacksonville. With some of the holes becoming more apparent in the Georgia roster, there are a handful of young players that could use the extra time to work out and step up.
The first person who comes to mind who is capable of grabbing the bull by the horns is freshman quarterback Justin Fields. He arrived in Athens with plenty of fanfare, and Jake Fromm’s Cinderella season in 2017 can only carry so much goodwill in 2018.
That being said, it’s hard to blame Fromm for a bad game in a very hostile environment but he is likely going to be watched closely and scrutinized all the more going forward, and especially against the Gators.
If Fields can keep his nose to the grindstone during the off week and show Kirby Smart that he’s ready to grab the brass ring, Fromm’s leash might get even shorter than it had been.
Robert Beal is another player to watch. The Bulldog defense was pretty fairly maligned for its performance against the Tigers, but Beal picked up his first career pick. It was easy to overlook in a loss of that magnitude. If Beal steps up and helps D’Andre Walker start to elevate the level of play on D, Georgia will benefit immensely.
Demetris Robertson’s future with UGA might rest in the balance of his work rate during this bye week. Expectations were set very high for the wide receiver despite his injury and late arrival at fall camp. He will need to prove that he is ready to grind if he ever wants to make an impact for UGA.
If Robertson can practice well, in his blocking, route running and pass catching, he could see an increased work load against Florida. Up to this point, Georgia really only uses Robertson as a gimmick player. He needs to practice and play more like Riley Ridley if he is going to contribute to Georgia this season.
A loss like the one that the Bulldogs were handed by the Tigers never truly comes at a good time but having a week “off” to lick their wounds could arguably be a big benefit to UGA. More than that, the loss brought into focus the fact that Coach Smart will need to spend this bye week whipping his team into shape.
The Florida Gators are lurking just around the corner, and the team that showed up in Baton Rouge cannot be the same team that suits up in Jacksonville. The Gators always manage to find another gear when they take on Georgia and UGA needs to spend their extra practice time (time that Florida also has, mind you) figuring out ways to reach that extra gear as well.
The Bulldogs took a loss in 2017 before running up to and through the SEC Championship and into the National Championship, so there’s no reason to think that their season is over based solely on their Week 7 performance.
However, they will need to show up and impress against Florida to remain in the contention conversation. They’ve got an extra week. They need to utilize it.
Glynn Academy Wins City Championship
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Glynn Academy Red Terrors won another city championship Friday night against the Brunswick High Pirates.
The Terrors won 17-12 to take home the trophy for the 5th consecutive year. Red Terror Head Coach Rocky Hidalgo has never lost to Brunswick High, a perfect 5-0. The loss for the Pirates marks the 2nd consecutive graduating class that never beat Glynn.
Glynn marched the first drive of the game down the field and scored a touchdown for a 7-0. That lead would hold through the first half and Glynn went into the locker room up 7-0 at the half.
The Red Terrors added a field goal in the 3rd quarter for a 10-0 lead. Then, in the 4th quarter with five minutes and change left in the game, Glynn added another TD to go up 17-0 and it looked like the Terrors would coast to another city championship.
However, the Pirates did not make that easy on the Terrors. Brunswick finally answered and scored a TD of their own to make the score 17-6. The Pirates went for 2 and did not get it.
Brunswick then recovered an on-side kick and would score another touchdown to make the score 17-12. The Pirates would once again go for 2 and once again be unsuccessful.
With under a minute to go the Pirates attempted another onside kick, but this time the Terrors would recover and run out the clock on Brunswick for the 17-12 win.
The win gives back to back wins for Glynn and takes them to 5-3 on the season and 2-0 in the region.
Richmond Hill ended up beating Bradwell Institute, which now leaves the Red Terrors in first place in the region by themselves. The Red Terrors still have to play Effingham and Bradwell in region to close the season.
If the Terrors win both games they will win their 4th consecutive region and claim a #1 seed heading into the GHSA playoffs.
The first round opponent will likely be Mundy’s Hill for Glynn if they did win the region again.
Frederica Academy Knights Coachs Show With Brandon Derrick October 17
