Bishop Media Sports Network
Turning The Ship Around
By: Buck Blanz
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It is July 10th, and the Atlanta Braves (43-44) are playing the Miami Marlins (38-50).
Jazz Chisholm Jr. hits a ball into deep right field off Max Fried in the bottom of the 5th inning with Acuna Jr. tracking the ball in right field. Acuna leaps at the right field wall and lands awkwardly resulting in a season ending ACL tear for the Braves perennial MVP candidate.
I think I am speaking for all Braves fans when I say that the Acuna injury seemed to be the moment to write the Braves off for the 2021 season as they were struggling to stay at .500% in a less than thrilling NL East race.
However, Braves General Manager, Alex Anthopoulos, and the rest of the organization thought differently and it’s turning out to be one of the best developing MLB storylines of the season.
Just about the only positive thing about Acuna’s injury for the Braves was the fact it happened before the MLB trade deadline, allowing the Braves to revamp their struggling outfield.
The Braves began their acquisitions by getting Joc Pederson from the Cubs on July 16th and proceeded to add Jorge Soler from the Royals, Eddie Rosario from Cleveland, and retrieved Adam Duvall from the Marlins all on July 30th.
These trades looked good when they were made and are seemingly only appearing to get better as they’ve helped completely turn the Braves struggling season around.
Perhaps the best thing to come out of this was the fact that the Braves were able to make these moves without jeopardizing their future in salary space.
Bringing Adam Duvall back to Atlanta is proving to be one of the best moves of the year, not just at the deadline, as he currently leads the National League in RBIs.
Pederson, Rosario, and Soler have all put together many solid outings as well as making a few clutch plays late in games since arriving in Atlanta.
Not many people thought much of the Braves after the way the first half of the season looked, however, the main point of consistency throughout the season has been the Braves infield.
Freeman, Albies, Swanson, and Riley are each having career years, and each infielder has reached the 25+ home run mark on the season making them the second infield in MLB history to ever accomplish such a feat.
This new Braves outfield has helped this year’s injury riddled team turn the corner, turning a four-game division deficit into a division lead.
I have a feeling that this division title might be a little sweeter than years past and as we all know, anything can happen in the postseason.
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show w Brandon Derrick September 8
Brunswick High Pirates Coach’s Show w Sean Pender September 8
The Boys Are Back
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
College football is back and week one brought us some great games.
Seeing fans fill stadiums from Blacksburg to Charlotte to Madison, showing the love and passion for the game.
Not only did we see some of the top teams in the sport flex their muscles, but two teams from the same conference established themselves as favorites to win the College Football Playoffs.
There were some real surprises Saturday that will cause a domino effect with the College Football Playoffs.
Check out my top takeaways from what I saw on the gridiron this weekend.
1.The Georgia Bulldogs defense is very, very NASTY!
Coaches at every level preach 11 to the ball and on Saturday night it looked like 11 hungry Dawgs snapping at orange jerseys.
D.J. Uiagalelei was under siege for the entire contest. He attempted 37 passes and it felt like he was pressured on half of those throws. With good health and defensive play at this level, the Bulldogs should waltz into Atlanta 12-0 for the SEC Championship.
- The Alabama Crimson Tide seemed determined to defend their national title and preseason number one ranking by dismantling the Miami Hurricanes.
Even with Matt Jones, Jaylen Waddle, Najee Harris and Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith drafted to the NFL, Bryce Young set a school record for a starting debut with 344 yards and 4 touchdowns through the air.
Even more impressive, Young is rolling with a new offensive coordinator in Bill O’Brien.
- Never mind Notre Dame beating FSU in overtime, the hero of the game was McKenzie Milton.
Milton may provide the sports story of the year after just week one of the season. Just three years ago after leading UCF to a National Championship, Milton suffered one of the most gruesome knee injuries: dislocation, shredded ligaments and arterial damage.
Fast forward to Sunday night, Milton entered the game late in the fourth quarter trailing 38-28. All he did was lead the Seminoles to 10 consecutive points to send the game into overtime.
- First year UCF head coach Gus Malzahn; it took the Knights and Malzahn two days to beat Boise State 36-31.
Weather delayed the start time four hours, and the Gus Bus started the game with flat tires.
The Knights dug a 21-0 deficit against the Broncos. Transfer running back Isaiah Bowser and quarterback Dillon Gabriel led the offensive comeback, but the defensive unit controlled the game in the second half.
Also, news broke Friday that UCF along with BYU, Cincinnati and Houston are planning to join the Big 12 Conference.
- The ACC had an awful Week 1. Let’s recap: Clemson lost to Georgia, Miami was throttled by Alabama, Georgia Tech lost to Northern Illinois; a MAC team, and North Carolina was upset by Virginia Tech.
The top three teams in the ACC and the league’s best playoff hopes are now holding an L after one week. That’s not a good look.
- Emory Jones’ starting debut for the Florida Gators was not smooth.
After leading the Gators on consecutive touchdown drives in the first quarter, Jones didn’t look the same after throwing an interception.
He finished 17 for 27 with 113 yards and a pair of interceptions in a 34-14 win over FAU.
Redshirt freshman Anthony Richardson stole the show with a 74 yards touchdown run and a leap over a defender for a first down.
I’m not suggesting there is quarterback controversy in Gainesville, but keep a close eye on this situation for any developments to unfold.
As I reflect on an amazing Week 1 of college football. I can’t help but think that for the first time in a long time we stopped yelling at each other, and started yelling for each other; if you’re rooting for the same teams at least.
Camden County Wildcats Coach’s Show w Jeff Herron September 8
Unhorsed Knights
By: Jeff Doke
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Friday night was a case of “same David, different Goliath” for Frederica Academy.
Coming off an opening week victory over Valwood, Coach Brandon Derrick and the Knights hit the road to Savannah to take on their first GHSA opponent of the year, the Calvary Day School Cavaliers.
Last year, after keeping them to a 7-7 tie at halftime, Frederica wound up falling to the Cavaliers by a score of 27-7. Unfortunately, this year’s game would turn out to be quite different.
In 2020, the Frederica roster was famously 30 men in size. The “Dirty Thirty” was outmanned at almost every matchup, but still managed to notch a 7-3 regular season record en route to a state championship matchup.
This week, due to injuries to the already smaller roster, Frederica took a “Lean Eighteen” into battle against the 70-man roster of Calvary Day.
It would be safe to say that Cavaliers Head Coach Mark Stroud spent at least part of the week reminding his team of the quick start that Frederica was able to put together against them last year, because Calvary Day started fast and didn’t let up, scoring twice in the 1st quarter.
After the teams exchanged 3 & outs on their first drives, the Knights defense struggled early against the 2020 Final Four team, allowing touchdowns on two 50-yard drives.
With senior QB Thomas Veal out for three weeks with a broken non-throwing arm, WR Bryce Reilly moved under center for the week. To say it was a baptism by fire would be an understatement.
The Knights offensive line was unfortunately overpowered, and the extended time in the pocket that Veal enjoyed against Valwood the week before was nowhere to be seen.
Regardless, Reilly proved to be a more than capable backup, completing 4 out of 5 passes in the first half (most of which to fellow WR Blake Holloway) and adding 21 yards rushing.
The harassment didn’t stop with the backup Quarterback. Sophomore RB Jordan Triplett saw his share of difficulties against the Cavaliers D-Line as well.
After putting up 222 all-purpose yards the week before, Triplett felt the effects of being almost sole focus of the defense, getting stopped behind the line five times in the first half.
Down 27-0 in the final moments of the first half, the Knights were looking to finally get on the board with a 4th and goal play from the 1 yd line with :03 left on the clock.
As fate would have it, momentum again swung the other way after a bobbled snap resulted in a fumble and a Cavaliers scoop and score covering 99 yards to end the half at 34-0.
The third quarter wasn’t any better for the Knights, who were still unable to cross the goal line, while the Cavaliers added another two TDs. The goose egg on the scoreboard finally got cracked in the 4th with rushing TDs from both Triplett and Reilly.
Needless to say, this was a learning experience for the Knights, and Coach Derrick had praise for both teams.
“I thought the kids played hard, but we were just outmanned at every spot,” Derrick said after the game. “They’re a damn good football team, but here’s the thing; if we didn’t make a couple of mistakes, it could’ve been 21-14 at the half.”
When the dust settled, Reilly ended the night with around 100 yds in the air and another 50 on the ground. Triplett, despite Calvary’s best efforts, managed to put up in the neighborhood of 150 rushing as well.
Thankfully, the game was injury-free for all intents & purposes, and the Knights are back Under The Oaks at home next week against the 1-1 Tiftarea Academy Panthers, for what should be a much less biblically-lopsided matchup.
The Crystal Ball Of The SEC
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Labor Day weekend is upon us and that means the greatest game of all, College Football kicks off.
I love many sports, but college football is just special. In this part of the world, you have SEC football; which is the best brand in college athletics.
Others try and duplicate it, but they simply come up short.
Oklahoma and Texas are moving over probably next season instead of 2025. Some critics say conference expansion is bad using excuses like geography, and any other reason they can find.
We live in a generation of participation trophies as it relates to sports, and quite frankly the SEC has an ‘iron sharpens iron’ kind of mentality and that keeps them ahead of the rest in the college football world.
Here are my 2021 SEC Predictions:
Most Overrated Team: Texas A&M: The 2021 hype train has the Aggies picked by some to knock of Alabama to win the West.
I don’t think defensively A&M is there yet, and will Jimbo Fisher open up the offense to the Alabama and LSU levels of the past two seasons?
I don’t think the Aggies have those types of weapons and will come up short in the West. What happens if they lose at home to Alabama? Well, they are and I think they end up losing to Ole Miss and possibly LSU.
Most Underrated Team: Ole Miss: Ole Miss may end up having the best offense in the conference. So, when you line up against this team you better be prepared to score a lot of points.
Everyone harps on the Ole Miss defense, but I ask the question they can’t be worse than they were last year, right? I expect improvement out of the unit in 2021. This team could sneak up into the double-digit win category.
SEC West:
Alabama: Until someone knocks them off, they are the pick here.
Nick Saban is the best head coach in the history of the conference and he has the national championships to prove it in the playoff era of college football.
Ole Miss: This team is dangerous. Sleep on them if you want to.
Texas A&M: I’m just not buying the hype. This team is too conservative on offense, and do they have enough defense to be championship elite? The answer is no.
LSU: Coach O it is starting to slip away. Fix it in 2021 or your seat is going to get very hot.
Auburn: New coaching staff that wants to go from a spread offense to more of a pro type offense. Going to take some time Aubbies.
Arkansas: I love how the Hogs are building this roster, but you are in the best division of the best conference in college football.
Mississippi State: Not a terrible team, but you have six bowl teams ahead of you.
SEC East:
Georgia: This is an elite football program that gets the underachiever label by folks who don’t hold everyone to the same standard they judge UGA by.
Could it be they know UGA is about to knock the National Title door down in the near future and what that may mean? Cue the 1980 jokes haters.
Florida: Gators will be good, but a different kind of good. One that starts with better defensive play. Florida lost 6,600 yards and 79 TDs to the NFL draft from last year.
Missouri: A much improved Tiger squad could challenge for 2nd in the East.
Kentucky: Nope, I’m not buying what you are selling Cats. Your offense is like watching paint dry.
Tennessee: Vols are building back the roster. It is going to take a couple of years.
South Carolina: The Gamecocks are starting a Graduate Assistant at QB. Ouch!
Vanderbilt: We love the Dores during baseball season, but they are an instant win during the fall.
SEC Title game will be Alabama against Georgia.
Brunswick High Pirates Coach’s Show w Sean Pender September 1
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show w Brandon Derrick September 1
Camden County Wildcats Coach’s Show w Jeff Herron September 1
