By: Jeff Doke

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

This fall, as Frederica Academy takes to the gridiron for their fifteenth season, Coach Brandon Derrick is preparing for his thirteenth at the helm of the Knights.

It’s a coaching history that many would be envious of, what with two appearances in the state championship game – one resulting in a title – and qualifying for the playoffs every year but one.

The numbers don’t tell the whole story, however…at least not the win/loss numbers. There’s a much more impactful number that has been the albatross of the Derrick regime more seasons than not: roster size. And this year will be no exception.

“We’re probably (a roster of) 28, maybe 30 kids,” Coach Derrick told me recently. “ We had some give it up in the offseason. Football’s tough. It’s the toughest sport there is in high school, so they decided to play other sports.”

At the conclusion of the 2024 season, the Knights were set to have 18 starters returning for this season. Now it looks more like 16 returning with some rotational players stepping up to starting roles, especially on defense.

“I think we’re going to roll Jaylen Baldwin out to cornerback with Jayden Gibson,” speculates the Coach, “we’ll roll Wyatt (Parton) and Braxton (Sykes) into Safety. They both spent some time playing that position last year.”

Outside Linebacker is another position that will see some new faces to replace last year’s starters. Trey Dunston, a new addition to the team, will take the place of the upperclassmen that decided to stick with baseball instead of football.

Coach Derrick predicts that there will be five more players to rotate into that position this year.

As far as the Defensive Line goes, Senior Defensive Tackle Fuller Wimberly will be holding the line, with heavy contributions from Junior Jack Tronolone and an increased defensive presence from JC Wessell.

Clay Sprole, as well as a new member of the team, 6’2” 260 lb. Eric Alford, will be counted on to contribute at Defensive End.

“We’ve got some younger kids that will need to figure it out and learn how to play,” said the Coach. “If we’ve just got 25 kids, we’ll get ‘em ready to be the toughest 25 kids out there.”

On the offensive side, things should pick up where they left off last year with some big contributions from some big young men.

“You’re going to see a lot of guys moving around more. JC (Wessell) is going to be an integral part of it, because he’s a 6’7” 230lb. Tight End that just ran a 4.08. He’s especially going to be moving around a lot. You’re going to have to go find him, but he won’t be hard to find since he’s 6’7”.”

Quarterback duties will continue to be handled primarily by rising Junior Stanton Beverly, with some rotational relief from second year multi-position player Braxton Sykes.

Sykes  will also contribute at Wide Receiver. Jayden Gibson will continue as starting Running Back, while WR Jordyn Rollins is still recovering from his major knee injury from last season. Rollins should be ready to go by the first of the season, and if so, will see a considerable uptick in touches from last year.

“If he’s healthy, he’ll be moved all over the place,” said Coach Derrick. “We’ve got to get him the ball 12-15 times a game. He’ll make a guy miss and has a chance every time to take it to the house.”

Coach Derrick continued with cautious confidence in the offense. “I think we’ve got a really set of skill set kids, the biggest challenge is going to be how we’ll rotate our offensive line and maintain a level of consistency. We’re one or two injuries away from it being catastrophic just because of our numbers. It is what it is.”

The Frederica Knights start their season ‘Under The Oaks’ against Savannah High School on August 15^th.  How ever many players suit up, you can be sure Brandon Derrick will have them ready.