Coffee Trojans
Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch March 31
The Border War
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
On Thursday September 8th the first annual Border War Classic will kick off at Glynn County Stadium.
Glynn County Athletic Director said in a press conference to announce the event, “this had been a dream of mine since I became Athletic Director in 2012.”
Fourteen teams will participate in the inaugural event, seven school from Georgia and seven from Mary’s Florida.
Baker Sports and Under Armor have gotten on board to sponsor the event and all games will be streamed live by WJXT out of Jacksonville, FL.
Here are the games:
September 8th 5p: MCA Buccaneers v. West Nassau Warriors The MCA Buccaneers from Darien, GA reside in Region 3-A Public. The Bucs finished last season 6-5-1 and lost in the second round of the GHSA A playoffs.
The West Nassau Warriors from Callahan, FL reside in 2S District 5. The Warriors finished last season’s campaign at 5-5.
September 8th 8p: Glynn Academy Red Terrors v. Creekside Knights The Glynn Academy Red Terrors from Brunswick, GA call Region 3-6A home. Last season the Red Terrors finished 4-6-1 and lost in the 1st round of the GHSA 6A playoffs.
The Creekside Knights are located in 4S District 3. In 2021 the Knights went 8-3 with a loss in the first round of the FHSAA 4S playoffs.
September 9th 5p: Charlton County Indians v. University Christian Christians The Charlton County Indians from Folkston, GA play in Region 2-A. The Indians finished the 2021 campaign with a 7-4 record and made the playoffs.
The University Christian Christians from Jacksonville, FL play in 1M District 1. The Christians went 7-5 in 2021 and made the second round of the playoffs.
September 9th 8p: Brunswick High Pirates v. Bolles Bulldogs The Brunswick High Pirates from Brunswick, GA finished last season with an 11-1 mark. The Pirates made the second round of the GHSA playoffs and play in region 3-6A.
The Bolles Bulldogs from Jacksonville, FL plays in 2M District 2. The Bulldogs made the 3rd round of the playoffs and had a record of 8-3.
September 10th 2p: Fitzgerald Purple Hurricane v. Madison County Cowboys The Purple Hurricane from Fitzgerald, GA won the 2A State Title in 2021, going 13-2.
The Madison County Cowboys from Madison, FL also won a state title in 2021 going 11-3 on their way. The Cowboys play in 1A Region 2 District.
This is the only game that will pit state champions against each other.
September 10th 5p: Coffee County Trojans v. St. Augustine Yellow Jackets The Coffee County Trojans from Douglas, GA play in Region 1 5-A. The Trojans went 7-3 in 2021, making the playoffs.
The St. Augustine Yellow Jackets from St. Augustine, FL are from 3S District 4. The Yellow Jackets went 6-3 last season.
September 10th 8p: Richmond Hill Wildcats v. Baker County Wildcats The Richmond Hill Wildcats from Richmond Hill, GA play in region 1-7A. Last year the Wildcats went 4-6 last season in 6A and made the playoffs.
The Baker County Wildcats from Glen St. Marys, FL made the FHSAA Final Four and finished 11-3 in 5A. Baker County plays in 5A District 2.
Round of 16
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The second round of High School Football playoffs approaches this week. Here are previews for the games this round for our area teams in southeast Georgia.
Coffee County Trojans @ Mays Raiders: Coffee County finished with the number 3 seed from the vaunted 1-6A region. That region includes Valdosta, Lee, Houston and Northside Warner Robins.
The Trojans enter the second round at 8-3 and looking to get a shot at the winner of Stephenson and Allatoona in the round of 8.
However, in order to do that Coffee will have to get through Mays, no easy task.
Mays is 10-1 and the region champ from region 5-6A. This game will also be played in Atlanta as Coffee is a 3 seed and Mays is a 1 seed. The Raiders have wins against Creekside, South Paulding and Northgate on the season.
Despite the fact Mays is a region champ, I think the Trojans will win this game and move on to the Elite 8. This will be a war.
Lanier Longhorns @ Richmond Hill Wildcats: Richmond Hill won region 2-6A and carries a one seed. Most did not expect the Wildcats to win the region, but they did.
Richmond Hill is 7-3 on the season after the first-round win over 4 seed ML King. The Wildcats best win is probably against region foe Glynn Academy, who also is still playing.
Lanier is the 2 seed from region 8-6A. The only loss of the season for the Longhorns is to powerhouse and region champ Dacula.
Lanier’s best win probably came last week against a 6-5 Sprayberry team. The Longhorns schedule was very soft this season. They are currently 10-1. Lanier will be heading to Richmond Hill from Sugar Hill, not a short trip.
This might be closer than most think, but I will take Lanier to move on.
Glynn Academy Red Terrors @ Dacula Falcons: By most standards, Glynn has had a subpar season. The Terrors finished the season 5-4 and a 2 seed in region 2-6A.
The Red Terrors have come to expect region championships and deep playoff runs under head coach Rocky Hidalgo.
The Red Terrors dominated a tough Tucker team in the first round 31-7 at Glynn County Stadium.
Now Glynn will head up to Atlanta to battle with the number 1 seed from region 8-6A, the Dacula Falcons.
The Falcons are currently unbeaten (11-0), and have beaten Lanier, Dalton, and 7A playoff team Mill Creek.
This is tough test for Glynn. Plus, the Red Terrors will have to venture up to Atlanta for this game. I will take Dacula in a close game.
Brunswick High Pirates @ Harrison Hoyas: The Pirates got off to tough start this season, but rebounded and made the playoffs as the 3 seed from region 2-6A. The Pirates are 6-5 on the season and won their first playoff game since 2010 last week against Morrow, 34-13.
This week Brunswick will head to Kennesaw to take on undefeated Harrison (11-0).
The Hoyas are the number one seed from region 6-6A. Harrison is currently enjoying a stretch of success that dates back to when Justin Fields was their QB.
Harrison has beaten Sprayberry, Dalton, Allatoona and last week ended the season of Winder-Barrow.
The Pirates best win of the season came last week with the Morrow win.
This is going to be tough one for the Pirates. I will take Harrison to move on.
Buford Wolves @ Ware County Gators: Ware comes into this game 8-3 and the number one seed from region 2-5A.
The Gators rebounded from a tough start to the season and went through region play to win the region.
Last week Ware struggled with 4 seed Ola but pulled away late to advance. Waiting for them is powerhouse Buford.
Buford is 10-1. That loss was to Clarke County Central, which lost the region for the Wolves. Buford, instead, earned a 2 seed and will be heading to the Swamp in Waycross to take on the Gators.
The wins the Wolves have season reads as a “Who’s who” of high school powers in North Georgia. That list includes Milton, Newton, Archer, Cedar Shoals, and Decatur.
Ware’s best win is Wayne County. Ware may be overmatched here.
I will take Buford to move on to the Elite 8.
Wayne County Yellow Jackets @ Clarke County Central Gladiators: The Yellow Jackets have been a tough team to figure out this season.
Certain weeks they have looked like a serious state title contender and others weeks not so much.
Wayne is 8-2 on the season and ended up with the 2 seed from region 2-5A.
The Yellow Jackets took down Stockbridge last week in a game I gave them no chance of winning. Yet, they did and moved on the round of 16.
Waiting for them is the number one seed from region 8-6A, Clarke County Central. The Gladiators are 8-3 on the season and beat Lithia Springs last week, 63-34.
Clarke Central will be a tough out for Wayne, but is beatable. This should be a tough, tight game.
The Yellow Jackets will have to go to Athens to play this game and that could be the difference. I will take Clarke Central in a nail biter.
Friday Night Lights Come On
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
High School Football finally kicked off on Friday night. There were several key games from around the area.
Frederica Knights @ Charlton County Indians: The game of the week pitted the defending GISA AAA state champion Frederica Knights against perennial power Charlton County.
The Knights almost knocked off the Indians last season on St. Simons but fell by a touchdown.
This time the Knights headed down to swamp in Folkston and turned the ball over 4 times and could never make that one big play against the Indians defense to get things rolling. Charlton walked away with a 20-7 victory over the Knights.
Rockledge @ Ware County: The Ware County Gators came in with expectations for 2019. However, the Gators dropped their opener at home to Rockledge from Florida 19-7. Rockledge was a 5A semi-finalist in the state Florida last season.
The Jason Strickland era has begun in Ware.
Coffee @ Brunswick: The evening started with the Home Broadcast Booth being dedicated to long time Brunswick High broadcaster, Teddy Bishop. That would be the biggest highlight of the night for Brunswick.
The Coffee County Trojans have dominated the Pirates over the last several years and this game would not end that trend. Coffee went to Glynn County Stadium and put 38 points on the board en route to a 38-21 win over the Pirates.
The Pirates are hoping to rebound from a 3-7 2018 season.
MCA @ Pierce: The MCA Buccaneers scored the first touchdown of the night but it would be the last one they scored. Pierce would score 49 unanswered points to take the win 49-7.
The Bucs did show some signs of improvement. Don’t forget MCA is a rebuilding program.
Camden @ West Forsythe: The Camden County Wildcats beat West Forsythe last season and was hoping for the same result. That result would be accomplished as the Wildcats barraged the Wolverines. The Wildcats put up a touchdown, in what seemed to be every few minutes.
Camden starts off on the right foot downing West Forsythe in impressive fashion 44-6.
Glynn @ Fort Dorchester: The Red Terrors come into the 2019 season with high expectations, but the offense struggled in this contest.
Glynn made the long trip to Charleston, SC and was only able to muster 6 points against Fort Dorchester and went down to the Patriots 31-6.
Brunswick Ship Off To Slow Start
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The BHS season opener against Coffee County got delayed by 24 hours because of a terrible lightning storm that rolled through Douglas on Friday night, the kickoff was moved back to Saturday evening and when it was all said and done the Pirates fell to the Coffee Trojans 30-13.
The Pirates did some good things and some not so good things in the game. Here is you’re the first Pirate report card for the 2017 season:
Defense B-: Coffee is very good football team, let me just say that.
They had a 230-pound running back that ran down hill like a grown man. In the first half, the Pirates struggled on run defense as the Trojans ran right at the middle of this defense.
Three long drives in the first half were given up mostly on the ground. Nice adjustments were made at the half and the defense bailed out the team early in the third quarter when the offense turned the ball over on two straight possessions inside their own 35-yard line and did not allow a point off those turnovers.
Sean Ward played well in the middle. Kam Futch had a huge sack in the first half and Sharrod Frazier was all over the field. George Mincey had a couple of nice plays on the DL, but Brunswick needs more folks to step up on the DL.
This group played as well as could be expected in the second half against a ranked team. The offense turned it over 5 times and this unit stayed on the field too much and gave up some points in the 4th quarter. This unit will get better as it just played the best team it will see during the regular season.
Offense C-: This grade may seem harsh because this group moved the football against a quality defense up and down the field all night long, but you just can’t beat quality teams when you turn the ball over 5 times.
The offense was in the red zone 5 times and only came away with 13 points. This really must be eating at Coach Pender this morning, but these are things that can get fixed. The positive is that we saw the potential of this offense.
Jamaruis Stevens did some good things and some not so good things. The arm talent is there but he forced the ball into a couple of windows and got picked twice, one of which was in the end zone.
He will be a solid QB in this offense. Shaq Robinson ran the ball well. Alonzo Brown is a beast at WR and we must get him the ball more. The OL did a pretty good job against a good defensive line.
This unit will improve and the Air Raid offense will be a force to be dealt with in 2017.
Special Teams D: Kickoff coverage was fine. A missed XP and 27-yard field goal cost BHS 4 points. The turning point in the game, in my opinion, was being down 10-7 in second quarter and forcing Coffee to punt on 4th and 3 around mid-field the Pirates lined up offsides on a punt and gave Coffee a first down and they go in and make it 17-7.
Coaching B: The plan was in place to beat Coffee. It was a pretty good game plan developed by Pender and his staff, but five turnovers will kill any game plan.
Overall C: Typical opening type game with mistakes. This is a good football team that will get better each game. Don’t be surprised if Coffee and Brunswick meet again in 2017.
Up Next: Cook County in the home opener at Glynn County Stadium on September 1st.
Sean Pender Show August 23
