Brandon Derrick
The Knights’ Crusade
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Brandon Derrick enters his 8th season as head football coach of the Frederica Academy Knights this fall.
Derrick has built Frederica into one of the elite programs in the Georgia Independent School Association (GISA) by winning the State Championship in 2018.
The Knights finished 4-6 in 2019 as they rebuilt from losing so many seniors from the championship team, but made the playoffs and lost in the first round to Southland Academy.
The 2020 Knights have 14 starters returning from last season and are experienced across the offensive and defensive lines of scrimmage.
Depth could be an issue because the Knights have a total of 31 players on the entire roster. Derrick says “We have a chance to develop and be good if we can avoid injuries”.
Garrett Squires will anchor the offensive line. Derrick says he is versatile and is a team leader in the locker room.
Jacob Triplett will play plug in at right tackle. The defensive line has experience with Will Thompson and Will Counts returning. Counts is a three-year starter at nose guard.
The Knights will run a spread offense that will be more run based. Thomas Veal looks to be the QB and looked good in limited reps in 2019 after he returned late in the season from a preseason injury.
Kyle Perez is up to 185 lbs. and will get the bulk of carries at running back. Watch for Jordan Triplett to break on to the scene this fall at WR/RB.
Josh Meadows and Josh Elliott will lead an experienced linebacker position. Jayden Rose will be one of the better corners in the region.
The schedule/My Predictions/ * Region Game
9/11 @ Valwood: Valwood might as well be the third public school in Lowndes County.
The Valiants cherry pick Valdosta and Lowndes and that makes them a state title contender every season. These two schools have developed a great rivalry over the past 4-5 seasons.
Beating Valwood on the road will be very tough. The Knights play well but fall short 27-20 to go 0-1 on the season, but could see Valwood again in the postseason.
9/18 Calvary: Calvary always has one or two very talented players, but in the home opener Frederica gets it done 28-22 to even its record to 1-1 on the season.
9/25 @Tiftarea: The Knights travel to Chula, which is 10 miles north of Tifton to play the Panthers who went 8-4 in 2019.
This could be another playoff preview game for Frederica. The Knights come up a little short in this one 17-14 to fall to 1-2 on the season.
10/2 Brantley County: The Herons come to St. Simons to play football instead of the entire county coming over for 4th of July Fireworks. Highly anticipated matchup between the schools.
The public school Herons take the private school Knights for granted and get beat 24-18. The Knights go to 2-2 on the season.
10/16: Long County: Long is awful in football. FA wins 27-14 to go to 3-2
10/23: Memorial Day: The Matadors roll to SSI and get blistered 34-6. FA goes to 4-2 on the season.
10/30 @ Bulloch Academy *: The Gators, I’m told, have been recruited hard by Benedictine and lost key players.
The Knights find a way to win the region opener on the road 28-26 to set up a battle with Pinewood for the region crown in two weeks. FA goes to 5-2.
11/6 St. Andrews *: The Knights handle the Lions 34-16 to go to 6-2 and 2-0
11/13 @ Pinewood: The Patriots are loaded and the Knights gave the game away to them in 2019.
FA can win this game in Bellville, which is near Claxton. Due to factors out of their control, if you get my drift, the Knights fall short 27-23 and go to at 6-3 and 2-1 in region play.
11/20: Trinity Christian: The Crusaders roll into St. Simons and crusade out with a 28-14 loss. FA finishes the regular season with a 7-3 record and finish 3-1 in the region.
Frederica is a solid playoff team barring a rash of injuries in 2020.
Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch January 18
Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch November 23
Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch November 1
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show w Brandon Derrick September 25
Back To Back?
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Let me go on record and say I have always respected Frederica Academy Head Football coach Brandon Derrick for his coaching abilities, but I have a new found respect for the man because he is an educator of young people to prepare them for life.
The man teaches 5 classes a day and I’m not talking PE classes, I’m talking college prep World History and Government courses on top of his role as head football coach.
The man’s plate is full and he has a passion for developing young people which is evident when you talk to him.
As for the 2019 football season the defending state champs have some big shoes to fill with departures.
But the coach says “I feel pretty good about the experience we have returning this fall. We played a lot of kids last year and we’ll be solid on the lines of scrimmage, running back and linebacker. We have Denver Anthony, Deke Jernigan, who are really good players coming back and we just need to stay consistent because we know what it takes to win and that is an intangible that mentally we have over other programs”.
Schedule/My Predictions:
08/23 at Charlton County: The Knights let the Indians off the hook on St. Simons last fall. Charlton has a new head coach. I have said all off season that I didn’t think Frederica would go down to Folkston and win. I have changed my mind Frederica beats Charlton 21-20 to go 1-0 on the season.
08/30 at Valwood: Frederica continues the brutal road slate with a trip to Valdosta to play a loaded Valwood team that has stocked the roster with Valdosta and Lowndes players that entered the transfer portal.
I think you get my drift here. This will be a tall task for the Knights and they fall early in the season 34-22 to Valwood to go 1-1 on the season. These teams will probably meet up again in the GISA State Playoffs.
09/06 vs Tiftarea Academy: The Panthers, a final four team in 2018, roll into St. Simons probably ranked in the top 5 in State.
The opening three games are brutal for the Knights. Frederica wins their home opener 28-24 to end this brutal opening stretch 2-1.
09/13 at Bethlehem Christian Academy: The Knights hung 62 on Bethlehem last season and will hang 50 on them in 2019. Knights 52-12 to go to 3-1 on the season.
09/20 vs Augusta Prep Day: Frederica dominates Augusta Prep 49-7 to go to 4-1 on the season.
10/04 vs Pinewood Christian: Will Pinewood be much improved in 2019? Maybe, but not that much improved. Frederica rolls 35-20 to go to 5-1 on the season.
10/11 at Westfield: This trip to Perry worries me for the Knights. Westfield is said to be improved in 2019. Westfield was a playoff team last season. Knights pull out a win late 24-21 to go to 6-1 on the season and 2-0 in the region.
10/18 at Trinity Christian: Trap game in Dublin for the Knights. The Crusaders went 7-5 in 2018. Frederica can’t get caught looking ahead to JMA and Bulloch. Frederica struggles, but wins an ugly 14-7 to go to 7-1 and set up a region title showdown with Bulloch Academy in two weeks.
11/01 at John Milledge Academy: Knights travel for the third straight week to Milledgeville to play the team many are picking to win the State Title in 2019.
The Knights blew out John Milledge for the title in 2018. JMA handles the Knights 28-21. Frederica drops to 7-2 on the season.
11/08 vs Bulloch Academy: Rivalry game. An angry set of Knights coming off a tough loss rebound and handle Bulloch Academy easy 31-10.
Not much love between Frederica and Bulloch Academy. Frederica wins another region championship and finishes 8-2 on the season.
Opposing Team view on Frederica: “I thought the Anthony kid was the best player on the field when we played them last year. They flat out put one on us, and we have them circled this year.
Brandon has done a fantastic job there, but I wonder about their feeder system and how long they can keep that thing going over there.
They won a State Championship last year and you have to think they will take a step back this year. That road schedule is brutal.
They will be battle tested and will be a tough out in the playoffs because of the winning culture they have there. This is one of the better GISA programs in the state. They have tremendous financial support there.”
Barring key injuries this team can make another deep playoff run.
Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch May 25
Gator Call
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Franklin Stephens left Ware County and headed to the Cobb County school system last week. By doing so he left Ware looking for a football coach pretty late in the game.
While everyone else in the state is getting ready for spring football practice, Ware County has to hire a new football coach.
When a job like Ware opens up the rumor mill starts churning. Rumors fly left and right about who has applied and who might apply.
Another rumor is Ware has had 60 people apply for the opening in the past week. The internet is buzzing with big name coach sightings in Waycross.
What is special about the Ware County job? I had a retired school administrator tell me that the Ware job is the best job in southeast Georgia. Let’s take a look at the reasons why:
1.Talent: Ware County is loaded with talented athletes. Football is king in the County and Ware for the last 20 years has been a consistent winner making it to the state title game twice, many deep playoff runs, and is always a region title contender.
A new coach comes into a stacked roster with a generational player at QB, who is a rising sophomore. The Gators have speed and size everywhere. Not many jobs have the talent pool of Ware.
2.Pay: The Ware job is one of the top paying jobs in this area. The assistants are paid above scale, and football is a priority. Football pays the bills and it is invested in heavily.
3.Support: The Gators have a dedicated fan base, a renovation taking place in a historic 10,000 seat stadium and an active booster club that raises a lot of funds that support the football program.
4.Location: Ware County is within one hour of the beach, major airport and metropolitan center in Jacksonville. The Gators are in a region alignment that sets them up to win big every season.
Now let’s have some fun with speculating who would be a good candidate for this job from our area. Keep in mind I am SPECULATING here folks.
Brandon Derrick/Frederica Academy: Fresh off of a state title, Derrick can’t do much more on St. Simons Island.
The challenge at Frederica is bringing in football players to keep the numbers up.
Derrick would have JaShawn Sheffield and Jaylin Simpson type talent, or better coming through the Ware program every year. He is a good coach, who needs to land a big job like Ware. Thomas County Central hired their head man from Valwood. The precedent is there. He needs his shot.
Sean Pender/Brunswick High: The Air Raid offense in Waycross is scary to think about. The Gators put up record numbers, that still stand today, from his stint as offensive coordinator in the late 1990’s.
Ware is a one-school county and you don’t have to worry about the talent in the county being divided between three schools.
Pender knows how Ware County operates better than anyone. Mrs. Pender loves the Golden Isles however.
Rocky Hidalgo/Glynn Academy: If you can’t beat them hire them, right? The Rock is 4-2 against Ware and physically beat up the Gators in those 4 wins.
The man can coach and hires assistants better than anyone. Ware could match the money or give him a pay raise.
He would have elite talent at his disposal annually. Could he be lured away from the coast? If so, in 15 years he could have a statue of him outside of Memorial Stadium.
Jason Strickland/Pierce County: It is only a 10-mile drive to Waycross from Blackshear. The job would be a step up in classification and money for Strickland. He would be a great hire.
Pierce plays in the worst AAA region in the state, so the third-round trip in the playoffs last season could be the high-water mark there.
Tucker Pruitt/Fitzgerald: Pruitt is a good coach who could step in and win big right away at Ware. There is better talent and more money in Waycross than Fitzgerald. This could be a dream job for someone like Pruitt.
The Ware County job outside of Camden County may be the best job in South Georgia. Ware has the applicants to prove it.
Jason Bishop Show with Kipp Branch November 17
Knights Claim Another Region Title
By: Rich Bontrager
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
In an epic game between two bitter rivals, the Frederica Knights surprised many fans and sports reporters with a spectacular win against Bulloch Academy, 49-12.
Coming into this Region Championship matchup, the series between these two powerhouses stood at 2-2. In each of those four games, the home team had prevailed. This season, the Knights would arrive in Statesboro, GA and dominate in most all areas of the game.
What made the victory extra unique was that Frederica had 6 players not suited up due to injury and Jashawn Sheffield (SR. WR/Safety) was limited to only offensive plays due to a minor injury from last week’s John Milledge loss.
The Knights won the coin toss and elected to start on defense, as they have done all but one game this season. Coach Brandon Derrick trusted his defense to set the tone of the game and create short field position for his offensive squad. The defense did just that.
The Knights would score 14 unanswered points in the first half. First on a 3-yard rushing TD by Jaylin Simpson (Sr. QB) and then again on a 13-yard run by Isaiah Jackson (Sr. RB). Both extra-point kicks were good by Logan Bauer (Sr. K).
In fact, Bauer would kick a perfect game and go 7 for 7, something he had never done all season.
The Knight’s defensive gave Bulloch’s offense moments of frustration. Several times the Gators carried the ball into the “red zone” only to turn the ball over on downs, or miss a field goal.
The Knight’s defense gave up plenty of rushing yards, but always found a way to shut down Bulloch’s offensive machine. Including a big first half-sack by Will Counts (So., DL).
While the Knights would miss yet another scoring opportunity just before halftime, they scored on the first offensive play of the second half as Denver Anthony (Jr., RB) scored on a 60-yard rushing play.
A few plays later, Harry Veal (Sr., LB) recovered a bad lateral by Don Aarons of the Gators. Moments later, Denver Anthony ran for his second TD (16 yds) in less than 2 minutes of the third quarter play. Those scores put Frederica up 28-0.
The defense continued to set up the offense well as Josh Meadow’s made a big 4th down stop on Bulloch and Will Thompson would sack QB Don Aarons.
In total the Knights scored 21 points in the third quarter, and an additional 14 in the fourth.
One of the of most significant factors in getting such a disproportionate win over such
an intense rival like Bulloch was the “team’s unity”, said Coach Brandon Derrick after the game. “Yes, we made mental mistakes late in the game, but our team played extremely well as a unit, and for one another”, he said.
With the Region Championship title, Frederica will enjoy a bye week before beginning playoff action at home on, Friday, November, 16th.
The Knights will have home field advantage throughout the regional play. Along with home field advantage, Frederica will be able to get the six injured and sick players healed up as the “March to Mercer” officially gets underway.
With this win, the Knights conclude the regular season with a record of 7-3, and 4-0 in region play.
