Jason Bishop
Swash-Buc-ling
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2021 McIntosh County Academy Buccaneers finished the 2021 campaign with a 6-5-1 record with a second-round loss in the GHSA playoffs to Manchester.
The Buccaneers were disappointed with the second-round loss. MCA was predicted to make a deep run last year and was a dark horse Final Four team.
This year’s Bucs squad will not only have high expectations again this season but will also be the favorite to win their region.
With reclassification, the Bucs find themselves in Region 3-A Division II. This includes MCA, Portal, Emanuel County Institute, Jenkins County, and Montgomery County. The region should come down to the winner of MCA and ECI. My belief is MCA will handle the Bulldogs of ECI and win their region.
Here is a look at MCA’s 2022 schedule.
August 19th: The Bucs will open at home at The Ship in Darien against the Savannah Blue Jackets. This should be a great way for the Bucs to get their feet wet.
August 25th: MCA will travel to Between the Bricks at Glynn County Stadium in Brunswick to take on the Glynn Academy Red Terrors. Last season the Bucs played the Red Terrors to a tie despite the Glynn being a 6A program.
September 8th: Coming off of a bye week, MCA will participate in the newly formed Border War Classic, where they will play a second straight game at Glynn County Stadium, this time against the West Nassau Warriors from Callahan, Florida
September 16th: The Bucs will return home to battle with the Lanier County Bulldogs from region 2-A.
September 23rd: MCA will again be at home at The Ship. The Bucs will host the 5A Bradwell Institute Tigers. This will be an interesting game as Bradwell is a much higher classification, but the Bucaneers will be looking to prove themselves as a Single A Title contender.
September 30th: MCA will head back to the road, this time against the Atkinson County Rebels. The Rebels are also from Region 2-A.
October 7th: Region play begins for the Bucs as they host the Jenkins County War Eagles.
October 14th: The second game of region play will take place on the road at the Montgomery County Eagles.
October 21st: The Bucs will host region rival ECI. This game against the Bulldogs will likely determine the winner of the region.
October 28th: MCA closes out the regular season on the road against the Portal Panthers.
My prediction for the 2022 MCA Buccaneers: 9-1 and a region championship. I also believe MCA is a legitimate state title contender in the reclassified A division.
Also look for big years from QB JaReese Campbell, LB Lake Linton, RB/LB Ladarrious West and OL Daniel Rush and Danny Thomas.
Cat Prowler
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Jake Lindsey has been playing organized football since the age of four. You can tell it on the football field. The current Camden County Wildcat star has ability that is instinctual and that cannot be taught.
Lindsey is entering into his senior year and his second year starting at safety for Jeff Herron’s Wildcats. Lindsey also started as a sophomore at safety at Coffee County before transferring to Camden County.
His family moved to Camden County as Lindsey’s father, Jon Lindsey was hired away from Coffee County and joined the Camden staff as the Defensive Coordinator.
Lindsey has had the privilege of playing for 2 high school football coaching legends in Jeff Herron and Robby Pruitt, that is pretty good coaching.
“Learning from both coaches has been great. They are pretty similar as far as they love to coach and are very organized.”
Lindsey was born in Dallas, GA, an Atlanta suburb in Cobb County and moved around a good bit growing up due to his father being a high school football coach.
He is the youngest of 3 and his two older sisters, Caroline and Jenna, have set some lofty expectations for their little brother. Caroline just recently graduated from Georgia and is currently at the University of Pittsburgh attending Law School. Jenna just graduated from Camden County High School and will be attending UGA in the fall.
“I have been blessed with the family I have. They have been so supportive and made sure responsibility was instilled in me. My mom, Melissa, is my biggest fan and my dad and I are very close.”
Lindsey also played QB in middle school and last season stepped in at RB for the Wildcats due to injuries. He rushed for over 200 yards against the Glynn Academy Red Terrors last season, not bad for a guy playing out of position.
“I look forward to playing safety. I love it. I love being out there with my team mates and being trusted by the coaches to be able to make adjustments on the field if necessary. But I would not mind working my way into the RB rotation either.”
Last season the Wildcats finished 4-7. “I felt like we were so close in a so many games. Those experiences will make us better and teach how to win those close games. Our goals for the season are win the region. We know we are good enough. We also want to beat Colquitt and Lowndes. We have not beaten those guys in a long time and the time is now. We just want to win.”
Lindsey has seen interest to play football at the next level from Georgia Southern, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, and Coastal Carolina, just to name a few. Currently, the standout safety has committed to the Army Black Knights.
NBA Newcomers
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The NBA Draft has come and gone for another season. In recent years the draft has not been very deep. In most scenarios if you do not hold one of the first three of four picks then you are not drafting a franchise-type player.
This draft was no different. Many experts believed the first four players taken were players that could change the fortunes of an organization but after that, such impact players did not exist.
There were no surprises at the top either. The Orlando Magic took Paolo Banchero number one overall.
Banchero was a star at forward for the Duke Blue Devils. The true freshman averaged over 17 points per game and over 7 rebounds per game.
Banchero is 6’10-250 pounds. He has great size and has a good NBA body. I think Banchero will find success in playing down low and being physical in the NBA, more than he will find with playing at the top of the key and being the main option.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Banchero will be a solid NBA player, but I don’t see him as a superstar; he is a good building block and will be a great core piece for the Magic.
The Atlanta Hawks had the 16th overall pick and with it selected another Duke F, AJ Griffin.
Griffin also has an NBA-ready frame, at 6’6 220 pounds. Griffin started slow for the Blue Devils but became crucial for Duke during their late season run.
Griffin has NBA pedigree as well. He is the son of NBA veteran and Toronto Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin. Griffin was also a McDonald’s All-American and was considered one of the top 15 players in last fall’s incoming freshman class.
Missing much of the preseason with a leg injury, the New York native got off to a slow start in his lone collegiate season. Griffin also made the ACC All-Rookie Team. He averaged over 10 points per game for Duke.
What I like the most about Griffin is the ability for him to create his own shot. This will help the Hawks if he can improve on his ball handling and quickness.
The Magic also took Caleb Houstan. Houstan was a F out of Michigan, 6-8 205 pounds. Houstan was the 32nd overall pick.
The Hawks would have had the 44th pick but it was traded to the Golden State Warriors.
The first 5 picks of the NBA Draft were as follows:
1.Paolo Banchero-Magic
2.Chet Holmgren-Thunder
3.Jabari Smith-Rockets
4.Keegan Murray-Kings
5.Jaden Ivey-Pistons
Swash-Buc-Ler
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
There are lofty expectations for the McIntosh County Academy Buccaneers for the upcoming 2022 football season.
Many believe a deep playoff run will be in the Bucs future come playoff time. A key piece of that equation will be rising Senior JaReese Campbell.
Campbell is expected to take over at QB for MCA. He played running back last season.
Campbell is a dual threat QB with dynamic playmaking ability.
JaReese Campbell knows the expectation his Bucs have on them. “We are pretty good and have a senior heavy team. We expect to make a deep playoff run. Losing in the second-round last year was hard. None of us want to repeat that. Our team is like a big family and we are a bunch of hard workers”
Campbell was born and raised in Darien and has been playing football since the age of seven. He will spend his entire high school career at MCA.
“My parents have been the most impactful people in my life. They have always made sure I had everything I needed to succeed at whatever I decided to take on. They taught me about hard work and have always been very supportive.”
JaReese has set some pretty high goals for himself with that support system in place. “I am still trying to figure out what I want to major in in college but I know I am going. I plan to play football at the college level as well”.
Campbell has gotten looks so far from Middle Tennessee State, Georgia State, East Tennessee State, Wofford, Alcorn State, Georgia Southern and Kennesaw State. As the season progresses, it is a given that more schools will be recruiting JaReese as well.
JaReese has set some personal goals for himself on the football field as well. “I feel like if I throw for 1,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards, we will have a great season. That will allow other talented guys on our team to shine too”.
The Bucs QB will not only be under center for MCA but will play on defense as well. Campbell will be the starting safety for the Bucs. This will be his second year starting at safety for MCA.
“I honestly like playing defense better than offense. On defense, I can be more aggressive and I like that”.
Campbell has some high praise for his coach, Bradley Warren too. “Coach Warren has come in here and made believers out of us. He has shown us what it takes to win. The environment at The Ship on Friday Nights has been really awesome since he got here”.
We will see how well the Bucs do this season, but don’t be shocked to see them have a monster year and to hear the name JaReese Campbell as a huge reason why.
A Red Terror
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Glynn Academy Red Terrors roll into the 2022 football season with some lofty expectations for senior QB, Tyler Devlin.
Devlin will be under center for his second season as the Red Terrors signal caller.
Tyler Devlin was born on November 5th 2004. He began playing football at 7 years old. However, the Glynn QB did not start as a quarterback. Devlin started out playing running back and linebacker.
By the 8th grade, he was developing into a very good QB. So much so that he transferred to Frederica Academy and started for the Knights as freshman at QB.
Devlin transferred to Glynn Academy after his freshman year. “I knew I would graduate as a Terror. I wanted to play against the best competition I could and Glynn was the best choice for me.”
Devlin was the backup QB his sophomore year to TJ Lewis, who went on to Louisville. “I looked up to TJ and learned how to be a leader from him. I just tried to replicate everything he did.”
Despite being the backup his sophomore, Devlin still found his way on the field for the Terrors as a 10th grader by playing safety.
The 2021 season saw Glynn go 4-6-1 and lose in the first round of the playoffs. I asked Devlin what the 2021 season was like….”Honestly, everyone was upbeat the whole season. The culture was the same as if we were 10-0. We expected to win. We knew we didn’t have the fastest guys, or the biggest but our team was full of heart and we fought every week.”
Devlin went on to talk about the 2021 season. “We didn’t get off to the best of starts. At the beginning of the season, we were young and didn’t let the game come to us. We played way better toward the end of the year once we got used to our offense and guys got into a rhythm. We had a whole new offense to learn.”
The Red Terrors signal caller tossed 12 touchdowns and threw for over 1,200 yards. Devlin took care of the ball as well, only throwing 3 interceptions during the regular season
Going into 2022 the Red Terrors are expected to be in the mix for a region title. “My goals for the 2022 season are to beat Brunswick High, win the region and then we can go from there.”
A few schools are showing interest Devlin as he is a great athlete. He is also the starting centerfielder for the Red Terror baseball team. “I would like to play both at the next level.”
The Red Terrors will be in good hands putting the offense in Tyler Devlin’s hands and with him going into his second year of Rocky Hidalgo’s offense, I am predicting Devlin to have a monster season.
Garrett Grady Press Conference
Ill Play There
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
National Early Signing Day has come and gone for college football and here is what the top 10 looked like:
1.Texas A&M
2.Alabama
3.Georgia
4.Ohio State
5.Texas
6.Penn State
7.Notre Dame
8.North Carolina
9.Michigan
10.Oklahoma
Here are some of my take aways from National Early Signing Day:
Texas A&M-This is Jimbo Fisher’s first #1 class, however A&M has consistently been in the top 10 over the last few years. This has not translated into being relevant in the National Championship picture or even in the SEC West.
Notre Dame and Oklahoma-Both of these programs did well to finish in the top 10, considering they both lost their head coaches weeks before National Early Signing Day.
North Carolina-The Tar Heels once again finished inside the Top 10, second straight year. Possibly a rising ACC power?
Kentucky-The Wildcats finished with the 11th class in the country. Yes, you read that right, 11th! Kentucky is making a case to replace Florida as the second-best team in the SEC East.
Florida State and Tennessee-Two blue bloods hoping to wake up the echoes. Their recruiting classes will help. FSU finished 13th and Tennessee 14th.
Clemson-The Tigers were a perennial Top 5 program when it came to recruiting for a decade. Looks like the guard is changing in the ACC as the Tigers finished 17th.
Georgia Tech-The Yellow Jackets have recruited well the last few years under Geoff Collins, without a lot of wins to show for it. Tech finished 25th last year, but dipped to 41 this season. A bad omen for Geoff Collins.
UCF and Cincinnati-These two soon-to-be Big 12 teams have been the flies in the ointment of the college football playoff and you would think that would translate to better recruiting classes, it hasn’t. Cincinnati finished 38th and UCF 42nd.
Vanderbilt-Something must be in the water in Nashville as the Commodores netted a top 40 class for the first time in… who knows how long. 38th
Florida-The Gators’ dumpster fire only gets worse. The mighty Gators ended up with the 50th ranked class in the country. New Hire Billy Napier was left with a mess. Recruit after recruit decommitted from the swamp. Good luck, Billy.
Miami-Another big mess to clean up in the state of Florida. Mario Cristobal will have his work cut out for him too. The Hurricanes finished 62nd.
USC-The mighty Trojans finished with only 6 commits. SIX! Good enough for 81st.
Georgia State-The Panthers must get credit. They cracked the top 100 with the 84th class. This program keeps getting better.
Georgia Southern-The Eagles must improve from being outside of the top 100 to compete. They reeled in the 109th class.
All Area Team
All-Area
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2021 season has come to an end for the coastal Georgia football teams and once again we there was a lot of talent on display on the field.
Here is my Coastal Georgia All-Area team consisting of players from Camden County, Glynn Academy, Brunswick High, McIntosh County Academy and Frederica Academy.
Offense
QB-Tyler Devlin (Glynn)
RB-Jordan Triplett (Frederica)
RB-Chuckobe Hill (Brunswick)
RB-Austin Crosby (MCA)
TE-Trey Elvine (Brunswick)
WR-Terry Mitchell (Brunswick)
WR-Bryce Reilly (Frederica)
OL-Jacob Aiken (Frederica)
OL-Noah Demeritt (Camden)
OL-Daniel Rush (MCA)
OL-Ashton Frankel (Frederica)
OL-Kanaya Charlton (Brunswick)
Defense
DL-Iman Davis (Camden)
DL-K’Shawn Thomas (Brunswick)
DL-DJ Clinch (Glynn)
DL-Will Jones (MCA)
LB-Will Dykstra (Camden)
LB-Devin Smith (Brunswick)
LB-Colton Seay (Glynn)
LB-Jadin Jones (Camden)
CB-Jayden Drayton (Brunswick)
CB-Jalen Rogers (MCA)
S-Zach Andreu (Camden)
S-Jake Lindsey (Camden)
Special Teams
K-McClain Fineran (Brunswick)
P-Adonis Coyle (Camden)
KR-Jamie Felix (Camden)
Coach Of The Year-Brandon Derrick (Frederica)
Camden County Wildcats Coach’s Show w Jeff Herron November 17
End of the Road
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The season is over for the Camden County Wildcats.
The Wildcats were eliminated in the first round of the GHSA state 7A playoffs at the hands of the North Cobb Warriors, 44-6.
North Cobb was the winner of region 3-7A and a #1 seed going into the 2021 playoffs. The only loss the Warriors suffered was to the Buford Wolves in the season opener. They are a very good football team and overmatched the Wildcats.
Camden ends the 2021 season with a 4-7 mark. It was a tough second half of the season for the Wildcats.
Camden came in with high expectations entering the 2021 campaign. This was mostly due to the second coming of Jeff Herron as Camden Coach; I like to refer to it as the Jeff Herron era 2.0.
Herron won three state titles in his first go around with the Wildcats and 12 straight region titles.
In fairness to Herron, he was trying to implement to complicated Wing-T offensive system to 17-18 year olds, who had never run it and were used to playing out of a spread offense. It was a tall order.
Not to mention the schedule was brutal. By far the Wildcats had the toughest schedule in the state. The Wildcats played games against Glynn Academy, Marietta, and Oakleaf in the first half season of season. The first half of Camden’s season saw them go 4-1 with blowout wins over both Glynn and Oakleaf.
The schedule in second half of the season got even more difficult. Camden had game @ Coffee County, Warner Robins, Colquitt, @ Tift and then at home against Lowndes.
Coffee made the playoffs, Warner Robins is the favorite to win the 5A state title, Colquitt was ranked 8th in the state, Tift had a new coach and new system and Lowndes was ranked #5 in the state. The second half schedule was brutal.
Despite that the Wildcats played tough in most of those games and had chances to win. Camden lost to Coffee 10-7 on a trick play and a 50-yard field goal. Then lost to Colquitt in over time. After that lost to Tift by a touchdown and then lost to Lowndes on a miracle play right at the end of regulation. The point is Camden could have very easily finished the regular season 8-2 with a region title and a #1 seed in the GHSA playoffs, instead of 4-6.
None the less, the season is over and the record is 4-7. Now the Wildcats look ahead to 2022.
Camden will lose QB Gray Loden, RB Jamie Felix, LB Jadin Jones, RB KK Albertie, DB Zach Andreu, LB Will Dykstra, DL Iman Davis, DL Demarion Davis, DL Quinton Pinkney, K Adonis Coyle, OL Noah Demeritt, OL Thomas Scholl, OL Tyler Yarborough just to name a few.
The question is now can Jeff Herron turn this program back into one that reloads instead of rebuilds, I feel the answer to that question is YES.
