GHSA Playoffs
Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch November 23
Brunswick High Pirates Coach’s Show w Sean Pender November 6
Playoff Terrors
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The GHSA playoffs kicked off on Friday night.
The Glynn Academy Red Terrors were matched up with the #4 seed from the Augusta Region, the Evan Knights.
Glynn earned home field for at least the first two rounds of the playoffs and hosted Evans at Glynn County Stadium.
Glynn finished up the regular season with a 7-3 mark, region champs and a #1 seed in the playoffs.
Evans came in with a 3-7 record and earned the #4 seed from the Augusta Region.
Both teams got off to slow starts. However, Evans would put a TD on the board midway through the 1st quarter for a 7-0 lead. The touchdown came on 3 plays that covered 95 yards.
They would not score again. The Evans 7-0 lead would through the remainder of the 1st quarter.
The Red Terrors would respond with a touchdown early in the second quarter going 80 yards to tie the game at 7-7. The score coming on a Nolan Grant 6-yard TD run.
The Terrors would take the lead on a 51-yard TD run by Quany Bostick midway through the 2nd quarter, 14-7. Glynn would add another TD from TJ Lewis, scoring on a 1-yard TD run. That would be good for a 21-7 Red Terror lead in the 2nd quarter. Glynn scored on 11 plays for 78 yards. That score would hold to halftime.
The Terrors defense would stop Evan offense on their first drive of the second half to get the ball back. Glynn would march the ball downfield to put the game away, scoring another touchdown for a 28-7 lead.
With about 5 minutes left in the game the Red Terrors would pour it on, running the ball down the throat of Evans for another touchdown for a 35-7 lead. With a minute and change Caden Hutchinson would push the ball into the endzone for another TD. Glynn would now lead 42-7 and that would be the final. The Red Terrors scored the final 42 points of the game.
With the win the Terrors improve their record to 8-3 for 2018.
The Red Terrors will host the Valdosta Wildcats in the second round of the playoffs at Glynn County Stadium. The Wildcats, a first round winner over Lovejoy, 63-21.
Glynn played Valdosta in the preseason scrimmage in which the Wildcats beat the Terrors handily.
The Red Terrors have advanced to at least the Elite 8 in every year Coach Rocky Hidalgo has been at the helm.
Playoff Bound
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
For the first time in five years, the Statesboro Blue Devils will have a spot waiting for them in the GHSA state football playoffs.
Facing a South Effingham squad that eliminated them from postseason contention on the final night of the 2017 regular season, Statesboro ground out an early touchdown and extended its lead with another late score to hang on for a 12-7 victory.
Only five teams compete in Region 2-AAAAA, with four being awarded spots in the state playoffs. That has been the case for the last three seasons, but the Blue Devils ended both 2016 and 2017 in last place and were forced to watch from the sidelines in the postseason.
Heading into Friday night’s game at Womack Field, the stakes were clear. South Effingham was playing its final game of the regular season and had lost its first three region games while Statesboro was 0-2 in region play with another game awaiting next week. A Statesboro win would guarantee a finish ahead of the Mustangs and a playoff berth.
The Blue Devils answered the call as Jaylin Roberson rushed for 218 yards and a pair of touchdowns while the SHS defense held tight throughout the night.
Roberson raced to the left side and turned the corner, stepping through a pair of tackles while tightrope walking the sideline on his way to a 46-yard touchdown to give the Devils an early 6-0 lead following a failed PAT.
Statesboro’s defense stifled South Effingham all night, allowing just 152 total yards. But the biggest defensive stop of the night may have come from the SHS offense.
The Devils drove inside the SEHS red zone late in the second quarter and threatened to extend the lead, only to see Davardrion Lipsey cough up the ball.
The fumble was scooped up by a Mustang defender and SHS linemen weren’t able to keep pace, but Roberson covered both the length and the width of the entire field to make a tackle at the SHS 3 yard line.
A pair of penalties backed the Mustangs farther from the end zone and Michael Dixon stepped in front of a Zach Taylor pass for an interception that maintained the SHS lead into halftime.
While the Devil defense continued to shut down the Mustangs in the second half, the lead remained at a precarious six points well into the final quarter.
Roberson once again rose to the occasion to seal the victory, ripping off a 63-yard run with under five minutes to play and finding the end zone once again three plays later.
South Effingham reached the end zone on its next possession. However, the score came with less than a minute remaining and the ensuing onside kick attempt bounced out of bounds, allowing the Devils to run out the final seconds.
The win guarantees the Devils of at least a fourth place finish in region play, but they could move to third with a win at New Hampstead in next week’s regular season finale.
Depending on their finish, the Devils will head to the South metro-Atlanta area to take on either Riverdale or Starr’s Mill in the first round of the Class AAAAA state playoffs in two weeks.
Northside Sink Pirates
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Brunswick High Pirates 2017 football season came to a heartbreaking end last night a 24-21 loss to Northside Warner Robins.
The Pirates drove 67 yards in 2 minutes and had their heart broken on the north end zone goal line with 16 seconds left as BHS threw an interception to end Sean Pender’s first season at BHS with a 7-3 record.
Northside will move on and play Tucker in the second round.
Pirate Report Card
Offense: B. It is playoff football against a traditional football power in the state of Georgia, and this group took it to Northside most of the night.
Passing game was very good and Pender said all week that BHS was going to have to throw it all night against the Northside defense who was very good against the run.
Offensive line was awesome all night in pass protection.
Shaq Robinson had a rushing and receiving TD. DJ Whitfield had his best game as a Pirate with 12 catches for 165 yards.
We come now to Jamarius Stevens, who had a great playoff game as he passed for 304 yards and a score. He rushed for 105 and a score. I will miss this kid and he will go down as one of my favorite Pirate QB’s of all time.
Pender told me on Friday night that if BHS scored 28 points they would move on to Tucker and said red zone offense would be the key. He was correct as BHS only got points on three out of six trips into the red zone.
A fumble on the first series that setup the short field for the Eagles first score and the season ending pick kept this grade from being an A.
Great playoff effort by the BHS offense.
Defense: B. This group played its guts out against a running football team. The Northside veer got some yards and the one pass Northside completed all night long was for a TD, but this unit flew around and made some plays.
Tevin Small played a great game at LB. Kam Futch, the captain of this defense, played his heart out.
BHS stopped the fullback in the veer all night long and contained the QB for the most part. The pitch guy made a few runs but the defense put up a very solid football effort against a brand name in Georgia High School football.
Very proud of the effort of this group.
Special Teams: C-. You can’t give up an 85 kickoff return for a TD in a playoff game against a team like Northside where points are at a premium.
BHS did some good things with Jaylen Jackson on punt returns, and only punted one time in the contest.
This area was one of the most improved aspects of BHS football in 2017.
Coaching: B+. Solid game plan. Pender showed confidence in his offense by going for it on fourth down from the two on the first drive.
The clock management was solid on the two minute offense at the end of the game. Team played inspired football all night long and great adjustments were made at the half.
Overall: B. BHS went toe to toe with Northside and came up 3 points short.
Nothing to hang your head about in reality. But, the reality is that this loss stings and will hurt for a long time because BHS was a better football team than Northside.
Sometimes in team sports the better team does not win and that is just life and you learn from it.
Terrors Tame Wildcats
By: Christian Goeckel
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
For the second time in two seasons, Glynn Academy welcomed the defending 6A State Champion to Glynn County Stadium. And for the second year in a row, they systematically dismantled that team.
Behind an unforgiving defensive performance, Glynn took down defending champ Valdosta 27-3.
This was the most complete performance, 1st quarter all the way through the 4th, of the season. At no point did Valdosta even sniff a chance of victory.
Offensively, Glynn attacked Valdosta the exact same way they do every other team; hard, downhill dives, and a triple option to get the ball to the boundaries.
The factor that was different in this game was Randon Jernigan.
Throughout the season, good teams have been able to smother the triple option attack. Not in this game.
Jernigan ran the option game as smoothly and aggressively as he has all year, including breaking an eighty-yard touchdown run on a keeper. It really seems like this portion of the offense is really finding itself at the right time.
A couple of recurring concerns do linger for the offense. Low snaps cost the Terrors yards twice and a fumble gave Valdosta a short field and their only points of the game.
Those kinds of mistakes can hurt you in the regular season, but they’re fatal in the knockout format of the playoffs.
Another concern must be the passing game. Granted, they didn’t need to throw, but when he was asked to Jernigan couldn’t complete the ball. The fact remains though, Jernigan is deadly running the ball. Anything you get past that is a bonus.
Defensively, Glynn pass rushers consistently used Valdosta’s quarterbacks like cheap piñatas. This defense has a ton of team speed, and that was more than obvious in this one.
On Valdosta’s first play from scrimmage the quarterback threw a bomb to a seemingly wide-open receiver only to watch Marvin Dallas cover 10 yards and come close to picking the ball off.
It was going to be that kind of night. Hunter Hall had his best game of the year. The senior inside linebacker didn’t miss a play or a tackle, and sealed the game with an interception.
Valdosta had absolutely no answer for Glynn’s pass rush. Every time a quarterback would drop, someone was hitting him before he could get rid of the ball.
This was absolutely the best performance of the year from the defense. The one time they were challenged (Valdosta received a short field after a fumble by Glynn) the defense pushed Valdosta back and forced the Wildcats to kick a long field goal.
All night, they forced Valdosta to be one dimensional, throwing the football, and then pinned their ears back and got after the quarterback.
This is a unit that this team can lean on moving deeper into the playoffs, and they’re peaking at exactly the right time.
On special teams, the Terrors had a very good night. The ball was kicked out of the endzone on kick offs, Glynn was able to pin Valdosta deep a couple of times on punts and besides one punt, they did a great job of keeping the ball out of Valdosta’s danger men’s hands.
2-2 on field goals was clutch and will be huge moving forward.
Speaking of moving forward, Glynn will next host Heritage High School out of Conyers.
The Patriots enter this match up as the number 3 seed in region 3 6A, and are coming off a big win over Stephenson 20-7.
Heritage enters the contest against Glynn at 7-4 on the year, and will be looking to pull a huge upset.
That means we need you to get out to Glynn County Stadium and support this team who has put its’ collective body and soul on the line and are playing some dang good football.
This team is turning into something special. Don’t miss your chance to see it.
Rocky Hidalgo Show Nov 7
Glynn Academy Terrors Beat Allatoona Buccaneers
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The rematch of last year’s state title game took place in the second round of the GHSA 6A playoffs.
The Allatoona Buccaneers, who beat the Glynn Academy Red Terrors last season in the Georgia Dome 10-6, took the five-hour trip from Acworth to Glynn County Stadium.
Most felt the Terrors were the better team this time around by far. However, the Bucs took the opening drive of the game right down the field and put themselves in field goal range. Allatoona lined up for the kick and that kick sailed left and no good. The game was over at that point.
Glynn opened up on offense and scored on a 47-yard TD pass by DeeJay Dallas to Quandre Mosely; a thing of beauty
By the half the Terrors had built a 20-0 advantage, which included a double pass for a touchdown; another thing of beauty. Dallas threw to Randon Jernigan behind the line of scrimmage and then went out a few yards for Jernigan to make a pass back across field to him. When Dallas caught the pass he had a convoy of blockers which lead him to the end zone for a 58-yard score.
Allatoona came out in the second half hoping to right the ship and get back into the game. Instead Glynn scored the first TD of the second half to give themselves a 27-0 lead. The Buccaneers then threw an interception on the ensuing possession and the Red Terrors punched that into the end zone and just like that it was 34-0 and at that point any hopes of a second half rally by Allatoona had ended.
Glynn had a 40-0 lead heading into the 4th quarter, which meant the defending state champs would be on a running clock in the 4th quarter; GHSA’s version of the mercy rule.
The Red Terrors had won 47-7 when the clock read 0:00 and eliminated the defending state champions.
Next up for Glynn Academy will the Northside Warner Robins Eagles, who are a perennial power house. As a matter fact, just two short years ago Northside won the state title and beat Glynn Academy in the Elite 8 on their way to the Georgia Dome.
The Eagles have beaten Grovetown and Langston Hughes to get to this point in the playoffs. Northside Warner Robins comes in with a 10-2 record and are no stranger to winning playoff games on the road, which they will have to do to advance against Glynn as the Terrors are the higher seed and will be at home in the friendly confines of Glynn County Stadium. Glynn Academy is undefeated at home this season.
It will be a great game. In my opinion, the winner of that game will be the team the limits the running game of the opposing offense the most as both teams are heavily run oriented teams.
Terrors Eyeing Playoffs
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Glynn Academy Red Terrors took another huge step in claiming their second region title in two years; knocking off the Effingham Rebels 48-0 last night at Glynn County Stadium.
The game was a make-up due to Hurricane Matthew and is the Terror’s 2nd game in 4 days. The other being a 57-27 win over Richmond Hill on Friday.
The Terrors came out and handled business. They jumped out to an early lead and lead 21-0 at the end of the 1st quarter and 34-0 lead at the half. The Rebels ended up on a running clock in the 4th quarter and could have been on a running clock in the 3rd but Coach Buddy Holder refused the option for Effingham.
Glynn is now 8-1 on the season and 3-0 in the region.
The Terrors will now head into an off week and recoup from the craziness of Hurricane Matthew.
Glynn Academy will wrap up the regular season on the fourth of November against Bradwell Institute. There is a chance that by the time that game is played the region will already be wrapped in a nice bow for the Red Terrors.
If Bradwell Institute falls to Effingham on Friday night Glynn Academy would clinch the region title before they ever took the field against Bradwell.
If the Terrors claim the number 1 seed in region 2-6A they would take on the #4 seed from region from 4-6A. A lot is still to be determined in that region, but the Terrors would draw either Drew, Jonesboro or Mt. Zion in the first round.
Glynn is going to make another deep playoff run. This is a playoff tested team who has been through the gauntlet before and did it last year mostly on the road. This year the Terrors’ run will mostly take place at Glynn County Stadium. That will be a huge advantage.
The version of the 2016 Red Terrors is actually a little different than the 2015 version. The 2015 Terrors hung their hat on defense and that is how they won most of their games. The 2016 version is still armed with a really good defense but also has the ability to score with anyone in the state if necessary.
So, are the Glynn Academy Red Terrors good enough to get back to the State Title game in the Georgia Dome? Not only are they good enough to get back, but they should be considered the favorite to win it.
Buckle in Red Terror fans, it is going to be a fun ride.
