Bishop Media Sports Network
Figuring Out The Ramblin’ Wreck
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Last season Georgia Tech made their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010.
The Yellow Jackets were 17 – 9 and 11 – 6 in the ACC. They finished fourth in the conference. They won the ACC Tournament by beating 15th ranked Florida State in the championship game. It was their first ACC Tournament Championship since 1993.
Georgia Tech lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Loyola (IL), 71 – 60.
Head coach Josh Pastner was hired in 2016. He was named ACC Coach of the Year in 2017 for leading Tech to a 21 – 16 record. He led them to wins against a top 5 North Carolina team and top-10 Florida State.
Last season’s team was led by senior forward Moses Wright, who was the AP ACC Player of the Year. He averaged 18 points per game and 8.1 rebounds per game. Senior guard Jose Alvaredo was another key contributor from last season that has to be replaced.
This season started with an upset loss at home to Miami (Ohio), 72 – 69. Pastner is now 3 – 3 in season openers at Tech. Miami is the third mid-major from the state of Ohio to beat Georgia Tech at McCamish Pavilion in the last five seasons.
Games like this are supposed to be easy wins. They need as many of those as possible before conference play starts. They bounced back to beat Stetson the next game, 77 – 52.
“We were far from perfect, but when we play with great energy, we’re a good basketball team,” coach Josh Pastner said.
The last game was a 75 – 66 win against Lamar. Lamar has a new head coach and they were 10 – 18 last year. The Yellow Jackets led by 22 points in the first half but looked sluggish in the second half.
“We definitely should have played harder,” said Jordan Usher, who finished with 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds but also turned the ball over four times. “I felt like we came out kind of lethargic at halftime and we can’t do that coming down the stretch when we play more skilled teams. But props to Lamar. We just need to be better.”
Tech had 10 turnovers. The announced crowd attendance was only 3,625 people so it was far from a packed house. They are struggling with figuring out roles for returning players and newcomers.
“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing,” Pastner said. “If we’re playing a Division III team, a Division II team, if we’re playing Lamar, if we’re playing North Carolina or we’re playing Gonzaga or we’re playing the Atlanta Hawks – if we don’t have energy, it can be a recipe for disaster.”
Georgia Tech currently has two players that average double digits in scoring. Senior guard Michael Devoe leads the team with 21.5 points per game. Senior forward Jordan Usher averages 13 PPG and 10 RPG. Freshman guard Dallan “Deebo” Coleman is third in scoring with 9 PPG. I think that will increase if he gets more playing time.
The next game is Friday at Georgia. The Bulldogs are 1 – 1 and will play South Carolina State before they play Tech. This is a game Tech needs to win against their archrival because they don’t have a chance in football.
The next two games after that are against Charleston Southern and Georgia Southern, both at home. Then things get tougher December 1st against Wisconsin in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
Over the next couple of weeks, we will see if Georgia Tech is a team that can make the NCAA Tournament.
MCA Buccaneers Coach’s Show w Bradley Warren November 15
End of the Road
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The season is over for the Camden County Wildcats.
The Wildcats were eliminated in the first round of the GHSA state 7A playoffs at the hands of the North Cobb Warriors, 44-6.
North Cobb was the winner of region 3-7A and a #1 seed going into the 2021 playoffs. The only loss the Warriors suffered was to the Buford Wolves in the season opener. They are a very good football team and overmatched the Wildcats.
Camden ends the 2021 season with a 4-7 mark. It was a tough second half of the season for the Wildcats.
Camden came in with high expectations entering the 2021 campaign. This was mostly due to the second coming of Jeff Herron as Camden Coach; I like to refer to it as the Jeff Herron era 2.0.
Herron won three state titles in his first go around with the Wildcats and 12 straight region titles.
In fairness to Herron, he was trying to implement to complicated Wing-T offensive system to 17-18 year olds, who had never run it and were used to playing out of a spread offense. It was a tall order.
Not to mention the schedule was brutal. By far the Wildcats had the toughest schedule in the state. The Wildcats played games against Glynn Academy, Marietta, and Oakleaf in the first half season of season. The first half of Camden’s season saw them go 4-1 with blowout wins over both Glynn and Oakleaf.
The schedule in second half of the season got even more difficult. Camden had game @ Coffee County, Warner Robins, Colquitt, @ Tift and then at home against Lowndes.
Coffee made the playoffs, Warner Robins is the favorite to win the 5A state title, Colquitt was ranked 8th in the state, Tift had a new coach and new system and Lowndes was ranked #5 in the state. The second half schedule was brutal.
Despite that the Wildcats played tough in most of those games and had chances to win. Camden lost to Coffee 10-7 on a trick play and a 50-yard field goal. Then lost to Colquitt in over time. After that lost to Tift by a touchdown and then lost to Lowndes on a miracle play right at the end of regulation. The point is Camden could have very easily finished the regular season 8-2 with a region title and a #1 seed in the GHSA playoffs, instead of 4-6.
None the less, the season is over and the record is 4-7. Now the Wildcats look ahead to 2022.
Camden will lose QB Gray Loden, RB Jamie Felix, LB Jadin Jones, RB KK Albertie, DB Zach Andreu, LB Will Dykstra, DL Iman Davis, DL Demarion Davis, DL Quinton Pinkney, K Adonis Coyle, OL Noah Demeritt, OL Thomas Scholl, OL Tyler Yarborough just to name a few.
The question is now can Jeff Herron turn this program back into one that reloads instead of rebuilds, I feel the answer to that question is YES.
Restructure
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It has been an interesting few weeks in the Georgia High School Association.
The GHSA assigned classifications for the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 athletic seasons in early November.
After the classifications were revealed then schools around the state had the opportunity to appeal their placement. Below are the GHSA rulings on the various appeals filed.
Appeals results:
From 7A to 6A:
Won – Arabia Mountain, East Paulding*, Etowah, Rockdale County, St. Pius, Woodward Academy
Lost – Camden County, Carrollton, Kennesaw Mountain, Richmond Hill
From 6A to 5A:
Won: Cartersville*, Chapel Hill, KIPP Atlanta Collegiate
Lost: Blessed Trinity, Marist, New Manchester
From 6A to 4A:
Lost: Thomas County Central
From 5A to 4A:
Won: Perry, Riverdale, Starr’s Mill, Walnut Grove, Whitewater*
Lost: Calhoun, Flowery Branch, Greater Atlanta Christian, Jefferson, Jenkins
From 4A to 3A:
Won: Central-Macon, Cross Creek, Johnson-Savannah, Pickens*, Richmond Academy, Ridgeland, Sonoraville*, West Hall
From 4A to 2A:
Lost: Lovett
From 3A to 2A:
Won: East Jackson*, Therrell
Lost: Bremen, Thomasville, Vidalia
From 2A to A:
Won: Bryan County
Lost: Social Circle
*Six schools were allowed to move down without appealing to accommodate schools below that won petitions to move up.
Schools petitioning to play up:
All won except Fellowship Christian, which must remain in Class A Private.
7A: Milton
6A: Jackson County
5A: Mays
4A: Holy Innocents’, Pace Academy, Trinity Christian
3A: Savannah, Woodville-Tompkins
2A: Aquinas, B.E.S.T. Academy, Coretta Scott King, Davidson Fine Arts, Elite Scholars, Johnson-Augusta, Technical Career Magnet
In coastal Georgia both Camden County and Richmond Hill lost their appeal to play in the 6A classification and will be forced to play in their correct classification on 7A.
The GHSA basically had their hands tied on this one. By granting an appeal to Camden and Richmond Hill the state would have been left with a three team 7A region in South Georgia. Under current playoff guidelines the top 4 teams in each region make the playoffs in each sport.
Region 1 AAAAAAA will look like this next year: Camden County, Colquitt County, Lowndes County, Richmond Hill and Valdosta.
This will be a brutal football region. Camden is rebuilding their football program and under Jeff Herron should be in the hunt for a region title in 2022.
Richmond Hill could struggle in this region in football, but will be very competitive in both basketball and baseball in their new region.
Region 1 will be the only 7A region in all of South Georgia. Richmond Hill had 7A numbers during the last cycle but appealed under the isolation rule and was allowed to play down in 6A.
Tift County dropped to 6A for the 22-23 seasons, which left old region 1 with 3 teams. With Valdosta moving back up into 7A, the GHSA could not grant appeals to both Camden and Richmond Hill so the GHSA denied their isolation appeals and will require them to play in the 7A classification.
In 6A The Coastal Georgia region will look like this: Brunswick, Effingham County, Glynn Academy, and South Effingham.
The GHSA will probably add three Augusta area schools of Grovetown, Evans, and Lakeside Evans to create a 7-team region.
With Richmond Hill moving up a class and Bradwell and Statesboro dropping to 5A, adding the Augusta schools replaces the three teams lost.
Wayne County who finished the season at 0-9 will drop down to 4A.
Benedictine will move up to 5A. Brantley County will drop to 2A. MCA will stay 1A. Ware County and Coffee County will stay in 5A.
Stay tuned for region placements coming in the near future where everyone will learn who they will compete against for the next couple of years.
Camden County Wildcats Coach’s Show w Jeff Herron November 10
Brunswick High Pirates Coach’s Show w Sean Pender November 10
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show w Brandon Derrick November 10
The Chopping Block
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Atlanta Braves are the 2021 MLB World Series Champs.
While fans will be celebrating that championship for the next few months, baseball continues to move on and the offseason is here. Did Freddie Freeman take his last swing under his current contract with Atlanta?
Freeman just completed an eight-year, $135 million dollar contract that he signed in 2014. Freeman has accomplished everything possible in Atlanta. He is a five-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger winner and MVP of the National League.
Freeman is the face of the franchise and there is a real possibility that the Braves will be back contending for a repeat title next season. Freeman will certainly receive a qualifying offer from Atlanta.
The Braves have eight players that have filed for free agency: Ehire Adrianza, Jesse Chavez, Chris Martin, Eddie Rosario, Drew Smyly, Steven Vogt and World Series MVP Jorge Solar. Frankly, I believe Freeman will be the only player to receive an offer.
Atlanta had options on three players. Josh Tomlin, Joc Pederson and Adam Duvall. None of those options were picked up.
The Braves will get Ronald Acuna and Mike Soroka back from injuries, and the pitching staff received a boost with Kyle Wright showcased in the World Series.
The Braves have one of the best foundations for multiple years of success with top prospect Christian Pache and Drew Waters, who has a chance to win an Opening Day roster spot. Few organizations have a plentiful farm system like Atlanta.
Do the Braves pursue a top tier free agent this offseason? Here is a list of the top players available: Carlos Correa SS, Cory Seager SS, Max Scherzer P, Robbie Ray LHP, and many more.
Atlanta Braves fans celebrate the first World Series title since 1995. It was pretty clear throughout the World series this was a special team. After Solar hit the ball over the tracks, you could feel the Astros players and fans sigh.
The narrative for the 2022 offseason is to sign Freddie Freeman and become the hunted instead of the hunter.
Knights Quest
By: Jeff Doke
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Over the years, Frederica Knights teams have developed their own personalities from year to year, and historically become known by it.
The 2018 championship squad was known as the fastest. In 2017, they were heralded as the most “football smart” unit. The Dirty Thirty of 2020 was aptly described as the grittiest Knights team to take the field.
The 2021 squad will more than likely be remembered by a single trait; resiliency.
The cards were stacked against the 2021 Knights from the moment the 16 seniors that led the Dirty Thirty crossed the graduation stage. Any team that loses that amount of talent and leadership will feel the loss in the locker room. The lack of incoming players for the new season just added to the difficulties.
When all was said & done in the offseason, there would be a scant 22 players in green & grey starting off the 2021 campaign. Coach Brandon Derrick, needless to say, was trying to temper expectations.
“We’re not going to be flying around, trying to go no huddle with everybody. We’re going to slow it down, more ball control/clock control,” said Coach Derrick during a preseason interview.
After Senior QB Thomas Veal broke his hand during the week 1 victory over Valwood, the Knights were forced to show their resiliency once again. Shifting fellow senior Bryce Reilly from WR to QB, the target for opposing defenses shifted even further to record-setting RB Jordan Triplett.
Four tough losses and a bye week later, Veal returned to the lineup and things started clicking again.
A lopsided win over Memorial Day was followed by a solid victory over the hated Bulloch Gators, and then a historic performance from Triplett the following week. “The River” put up 442 yards rushing against the St. Andrews Lions for the 6th best rushing game in the history of high school football in Georgia.
More importantly, the victory took the Knights to a 4-4 record on the season at the time, and set them up for a region championship matchup against the Pinewood Patriots the following week.
After going up 13-0 early against the Patriots, Pinewood QB Mic Wasson turned on the jets and led his team to a 32-20 victory over our Knights. Another loss is the Pinewood game would be senior TE/LB Jon Phillip Spiers, who broke his hand and is out for the remainder of the season.
Which meant it was time to show that resiliency once again to wrap up the regular season.
On the road in Dublin, the Knights took care of the Trinity Christian Crusaders to the tune of 42-17.
The Knights have a bye week coming up this week and will face fellow bye week recipient Tiftarea Academy the following week in a rematch from week 3.
The Panthers won that game 29-7. The winner of that game will more than likely face defending state champion John Milledge Academy. The Trojans have been dominant against the GISA, losing only one game in the last three years.
That loss was to Frederica. Resiliency will absolutely be needed from the Knights if that matchup is in their future.
We Are The Champions
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Atlanta Braves are your 2021 World Series Champions!
That sounds pretty good doesn’t it Braves fans? This Braves team was not favored in a single series this postseason.
The Brewers, Dodgers, and the Astros all found out that the Atlanta Braves were a team of destiny in 2021. It has been a long 26 years since the last championship in 1995.
To give you some context here is what the world looked like in 1995:
Cost of Living in 1995
Average Cost of new house $113,150.00.
Average Income per year $35,900.00.
Average Monthly Rent $550.00.
Cost of a gallon of Gas $1.09.
US Postage Stamp 32 cents.
Average cost of new car $15,500.00.
To say it mildly a lot of things have changed in those 26 years.
Things looked bleak for 2021 when Ronald Acuna got hurt and was lost for the season with a torn ACL in early July in Miami.
The Braves were not really playing good baseball. At the time the Braves were trailing the Mets in the Eastern division. Actually, the Braves started the evolution to become a World champion back in 2017 when they hired Alex Anthopoulos as GM to clean up a huge mess in the Atlanta Braves Front office, whose illegal signings in Latin America cost the team 13 prospects, wrecked their ability to pursue premium international talent for two years and got the previous GM, John Coppolella, banned from the sport for life.
Anthopoulos, with the Braves not even playing .500 baseball at the time put together an outfield for the stretch run that may go down as some of the greatest moves in baseball history.
It started with Joc Pederson, who came in with a swagger that helped ignite the clubhouse. Pederson hit some big HRs down the stretch as the Braves started winning games. The Pearls became a fashion statement in Atlanta.
Eddie Rosario was brought in from Cleveland. Rosario had to get healthy once he got to Atlanta and then his bat paid dividends. Ask the Los Angeles Dodgers how good he is as Rosario was the NLCS MVP.
Adam Duvall was brought back in from Miami with his much-needed power added into the lineup.
Jorge Soler was brought in from Kansas City and hit a HR in game 6 of the World Series in Houston that landed in the Gulf of Mexico. Soler went on to become the World Series MVP.
These moves pieced together an outfield at the trade deadline that will be viewed as some of the greatest moves in baseball history.
The Atlanta Braves were playing sub-.500 ball until early August.
In fact, they were in third place in the NL East with a 52-55 record entering play on August 3. They went 36-18 in the final third of the season, which was enough to win the NL East by 6.5 games and were a red hot team entering the playoffs.
The bullpen, which struggled for most of the season, became lights out down the stretch run and in the postseason. Minter, Matzek, and Smith became a feared trio in the playoffs.
The magical season just ended in a World Championship for the City of Atlanta. Alex Anthopoulos deserves a lot of credit for building this roster and salvaging the season when things looked bleak. He deserves a huge raise.
Now the Braves need to get Mike Soroka and Ronald Acuna healthy, re-sign Freddie Freeman to a mega deal to make him a Brave for life, and decide what they are going to do with the championship pieces assembled at the trade deadline.
The Braves can worry about those items in a few weeks. Now is the time to celebrate your World Champion Atlanta Braves.
