Jeff Doke
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show w Brandon Derrick September 15
Conquested
By: Jeff Doke
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
After a tough loss last week to Calvary Day, the Frederica Knights were hoping some home cooking would be just what the doctor ordered.
Unfortunately, all the Tiftarea Panthers were ready to serve up was a taste of our own medicine.
Head Coach Brandon Derrick let it be known in the preseason not to expect the high-flying, seat-of-your-pants high-tempo offense of years past.
This year’s Knights squad will, out of necessity, be a very deliberate clock control type offense, milking the most out of every offensive series. While this strategy worked effectively against Valwood in the season-opening victory, it was not in the cards for the next who weeks.
Tiftarea employed the same philosophy against the Knights Friday night to the tune of a 29-7 final score. The Panthers put together long, extended drives all night starting with the opening drive.
Following the opening kickoff, Tiftarea put together a 72-yard, 12-play drive that ate up more than seven minutes of the opening frame and culminated in a designed QB scramble for the score.
“We knew where it was going 85% of the time in the first half,” said Coach Derrick. “They mixed it up a little in the second half. You’ve got what you’ve got.”
The Knights unfortunately answered the opening drive with a three & out series with short runs from RB Jordan Triplett and acting QB Bryce Reilly.
The senior WR filling in for the injured Thomas Veal would spend more time showing off his wheels than his arm all night. Reilly went 2-3 for 66 yards through the air and 12 carries for 48 yards.
Sophomore RB Jordan Triplett didn’t fare any better on the night. The Tiftarea defense focused on #4 all game, limiting him to 34 yards on 11 carries. The night was by far the worst of his so-far stellar career.
The lone offensive highlight of the evening came on the Knights second drive of the 2nd half. After the Knights turned the ball over on downs on the opening drive, Reilly lobbed a screen pass to Triplett to the short side of the field, which “The River” then turned into a 61-yard touchdown.
Late in the 4th, the Knights threatened to score again, evoking memories of late-game heroics from Knights squads past.
Reilly scrambled five times and was aided by a horsecollar penalty on a 16-yard run, which set the Knights up for a 1st & goal inside the 5-yard line. Unfortunately, Lady Luck failed to smile, and a bobbled handoff led to the only Knights turnover on the night, sealing the final score at 29-7.
Defensively, the night belonged to LB Jacob Aiken. The Player of the Game recipient notched a minimum of seven solo tackles (four on the opening drive alone) and numerous group efforts. After the game, he was adamant to share the credit for the performance with his teammates.
“There’s only 20 of us. We all rely on each other, we all fire each other up,” said the Senior. “It was Just as much the linemen as it was me. I need them, I need Jon Phillip (Spiers). We all need each other.”
The Knights are back on the road next two weeks for a pair of GHSA matchups, traveling to Nahunta to take on Frederica coaching alum Jeff Cannon and his Brantley County Herons, then to Ludowici to take on Long County.
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show w Brandon Derrick September 8
Unhorsed Knights
By: Jeff Doke
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Friday night was a case of “same David, different Goliath” for Frederica Academy.
Coming off an opening week victory over Valwood, Coach Brandon Derrick and the Knights hit the road to Savannah to take on their first GHSA opponent of the year, the Calvary Day School Cavaliers.
Last year, after keeping them to a 7-7 tie at halftime, Frederica wound up falling to the Cavaliers by a score of 27-7. Unfortunately, this year’s game would turn out to be quite different.
In 2020, the Frederica roster was famously 30 men in size. The “Dirty Thirty” was outmanned at almost every matchup, but still managed to notch a 7-3 regular season record en route to a state championship matchup.
This week, due to injuries to the already smaller roster, Frederica took a “Lean Eighteen” into battle against the 70-man roster of Calvary Day.
It would be safe to say that Cavaliers Head Coach Mark Stroud spent at least part of the week reminding his team of the quick start that Frederica was able to put together against them last year, because Calvary Day started fast and didn’t let up, scoring twice in the 1st quarter.
After the teams exchanged 3 & outs on their first drives, the Knights defense struggled early against the 2020 Final Four team, allowing touchdowns on two 50-yard drives.
With senior QB Thomas Veal out for three weeks with a broken non-throwing arm, WR Bryce Reilly moved under center for the week. To say it was a baptism by fire would be an understatement.
The Knights offensive line was unfortunately overpowered, and the extended time in the pocket that Veal enjoyed against Valwood the week before was nowhere to be seen.
Regardless, Reilly proved to be a more than capable backup, completing 4 out of 5 passes in the first half (most of which to fellow WR Blake Holloway) and adding 21 yards rushing.
The harassment didn’t stop with the backup Quarterback. Sophomore RB Jordan Triplett saw his share of difficulties against the Cavaliers D-Line as well.
After putting up 222 all-purpose yards the week before, Triplett felt the effects of being almost sole focus of the defense, getting stopped behind the line five times in the first half.
Down 27-0 in the final moments of the first half, the Knights were looking to finally get on the board with a 4th and goal play from the 1 yd line with :03 left on the clock.
As fate would have it, momentum again swung the other way after a bobbled snap resulted in a fumble and a Cavaliers scoop and score covering 99 yards to end the half at 34-0.
The third quarter wasn’t any better for the Knights, who were still unable to cross the goal line, while the Cavaliers added another two TDs. The goose egg on the scoreboard finally got cracked in the 4th with rushing TDs from both Triplett and Reilly.
Needless to say, this was a learning experience for the Knights, and Coach Derrick had praise for both teams.
“I thought the kids played hard, but we were just outmanned at every spot,” Derrick said after the game. “They’re a damn good football team, but here’s the thing; if we didn’t make a couple of mistakes, it could’ve been 21-14 at the half.”
When the dust settled, Reilly ended the night with around 100 yds in the air and another 50 on the ground. Triplett, despite Calvary’s best efforts, managed to put up in the neighborhood of 150 rushing as well.
Thankfully, the game was injury-free for all intents & purposes, and the Knights are back Under The Oaks at home next week against the 1-1 Tiftarea Academy Panthers, for what should be a much less biblically-lopsided matchup.
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show w Brandon Derrick September 1
Knight Run
By: Jeff Doke
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
To put it mildly, the 2021 season opener for the Frederica Knights was a mixed bag.
On the plus side, the Knights were victorious, defeating their longtime rivals, the Valwood Valiants to the tune of 27-6.
On the downside, the already short-staffed team suffered a significant injury with starting quarterback Thomas Veal breaking his non-throwing arm.
The game started with a long drive from the visiting Valiants. Their opening drive covered 46 yards, notched three first downs, and ate almost half of the quarter off the clock.
The Knights defense bent but didn’t break, and the drive ended on the first of several bad snaps going over the head of the Valwood quarterback.
WR/DB Bryce “Ice” Reilly, who gave the Frederica faithful a present playing on his birthday, made his presence known early & often on the opening drive with his first three tackles of the night. He would at least double that total by the end of the game, as well as tacking on a fumble recovery, an interception, and a touchdown reception. Happy birthday, indeed!
Momentum was difficult to establish early, with the two squads swapping 3 & out drives and a 2 & out from Frederica ending on an interception.
Valwood got on the board first with a 40-yard drive, culminating with a 3-yard QB sneak on the third play of the second quarter.
After that, it became the Jordan Triplett show.
After a solid 13 yd kick return from freshman Hayes Carter, Triplett broke off his first big run of the night, scampering 33 yards to set up a 23-yard touchdown pass four plays later on 4th down from Veal to Triplett, putting the Knights in the lead for good, 7-6
By the end of the half, “The River” Jordan had put up 88 yards on the ground, and Veal had thrown a TD and an INT. Sophomore DL Hamp Thompson evened the turnovers at one apiece with a strip sack in the final moments of the 2nd Quarter.
The first drive after the half saw the return of the “Cherokee & Apache” wildcat formations and a steady stream of Jordan Triplett runs. The 12-play drive would burn more than half of the quarter, Triplett would add another 40 yards to his total, and Veal tossed his second TD of the night, this time to Bryce Reilly.
The next two Valwood drives in the 3rd would end in fumbles, recovered by Reilly and Veal respectively.
To start the 4th, Valwood was stringing together their first extended drive since the 1st. An interception by Reilly and stacked penalties for unnecessary roughness & unsportsmanlike conduct ended that and set the Knights up at the Valwood 35-yard line.
Two runs from Veal and five from Triplett led to the final score of the night, a nimble 4-yard run thru traffic from #4.
Unofficially, Jordan Triplett had 176 yards on the ground with two TD runs and one TD reception for 23 yards.
Before the injury late in the 4th, Thomas Veal had thrown for two TDs on a mere 35 yards, and had added a fumble recovery on defense.
The injury to his non-throwing arm will be further assessed, but initial speculation is that it will cost the senior 6 weeks of recovery time. That, more than anything is the big takeaway from the night.
With Coach Derrick’s squad coming into the game with only 21 players dressed, the loss of Veal will be noticeable and how Coach Derrick and his staff adapt will be a challenge to say the least.
Albeit a challenge they have overcome before.
Hurricane Force
By: Jeff Doke
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Miami Hurricanes are never short on swagger. Could this be the year they back it up on the field?
Miami cruised thru most of their 2020 schedule (save for the lopsided mid-season loss at Clemson) before the wheels fell off at the end.
Their regular season finale was an embarrassing 36-point loss in a shootout to North Carolina, and a 3-point loss to Oklahoma State in their bowl game. That left the Hurricanes with an 8-3 record on the season.
In the months since, Miami has been one of the more successful programs in the transfer portal, adding DE Deandre Johnson from Tennessee and CB Tyrique Stevenson from Georgia on defense, as well as quite possibly the best name currently in college football on offense in WR Charleston Rambo from Oklahoma.
In addition to the transfers, Head Coach Manny Diaz has also managed to keep several upperclassmen from testing the waters in the NFL, most notably QB D’Eriq King.
The signal caller had already announced his intention to stay for a final year in college before he tore his ACL in the 2021 Cheez-It Bowl loss to Oklahoma State.
A Herculean rehab effort in the months between have landed King back among the ranks of the healthy, and back in the starting QB slot for the upcoming season.
He won’t have the luxury of easing into the season, though. The ‘Canes start off their 2021 campaign against the vaunted Alabama Crimson Tide.
The Miami faithful, however, are cautiously hopeful going into the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game against the defending National Champions, with many actually predicting an upset victory over the Tide. Their quarterback has a lot to do with that.
With the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to Covid, the sixth year senior King will arguably have an advantage over first year starter Bryce Young.
In addition to King, the ‘Canes also have a slew of returning talent on offense – RB Cam’Ron Harris, WRs Mike Harley and the previously mentioned Rambo, TE Will Mallory, and linemen Jarrid Williams, Navaughn Donaldson, and Center Corey Gaynor.
The Defensive side of the ball also seems to have reloaded effectively as well, with fourth year DBs Bubba Bolden and Gurvan Hall and CB DJ Ivey leading the way.
DTs Nesta Jade Silvera and Jon Ford are fourth year players as well, as are DEs Zach McCloud and Deandre Johnson.
In short, game experience is not something the 2021 Miami squad will be short on. Whether that experience will be enough to dethrone the champs in the season opener is yet to be seen, but should be entertaining at least.
After the season opener, the Hurricanes schedule looks to be manageable, thanks to the lack of quality competition in most of the rest of the ACC. Right now, the only games that the Hurricanes aren’t favored to win are North Carolina & Florida State.
The Tarheels will be a tough opponent again, and it would take a lot of things to go right for Miami to avenge their 62-26 loss.
Florida State, on the other hand, always seems to play down to their competition, especially against in-state rivals. If I had to pick an upset to go their way this year, the ‘Noles game would be the one.
While I would be giddy if Miami could knock off Bama in the season opener, I just don’t see it happening. My prediction for “The U” is to wrap up the regular season with a 10-2 record with losses to Alabama and North Carolina, and an upset victory against Florida State.
Whether this slight improvement over a less than impressive slate of opponents would be enough to put them in the National Championship discussion is doubtful. Starting the season 1-0 would go a long way towards improving those chances.
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show w Brandon Derrick August 25
Herons To Fly?
By: Jeff Doke
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
At first glance, the 2020 season for the Brantley County Herons looks like it was a painful one.
The lone victory in their 1-9 campaign was a region win, and was enough to give the Herons a spot in the playoffs – something that Head Coach Geoff Cannon is understandably proud of.
“Before I got to Brantley, they had only made the playoffs twice in 50 years,” Coach Cannon explains. “We’ve now made it twice in the last two years. We have to build on that.”
And build they will. The 2021 Herons squad will have a lot of the same names on the roster, but according to the Coach, they won’t look like the same team.
“We’re returning a lot of guys. We were really young up-front last year, and most of those kids are back. We’re bigger, stronger, we hit the nutrition campaign really hard and our offseason weight program went really well.”
Who will be leading the Brantley County team on offense is still somewhat up in the air. Two-way player Kellen Middleton will see most of the snaps on both sides of the ball for the Herons this year, but rising sophomore Kirkland Cannon looks to be in the mix at signal caller as well.
“Kellen is an extremely gifted athlete, but he can’t come off the field,” explains Coach Cannon. “He’s going to play every snap on defense, he’s going to return kicks, he’s going to cover kicks. Once we put the pads on and scrimmage Vidalia, that will tell us what kind of gains we’ve made at the quarterback position to whether Kellen can move to slot receiver or running back and let Kirkland do some things. It will be interesting to see how they’ve developed. They’ve both had an outstanding summer. Kellen’s going to be out there somehow. If he’s not taking snaps, we’ll be throwing it to him or handing it off to him.”
Also, in the mix at Running Back will be second year player Mason Thomas, as well as a highly anticipated freshman Kendall Wright.
“(Kendall) really has a chance to be something special,” says the Coach. “Kendall is one of a bunch of rising freshmen kids that are going to see a healthy amount of Friday night playing time this year.”
As far as Brantley’s receivers go, there’s “a handful of them that are really getting the job done.” Look for WR/DB Brian Hiott to be another player that won’t be coming off the field. Greysen Guy is another second-year receiver that has “looked really good this summer.”
In addition to the slot receivers, the tight end group should make an impact as well. Expect Garrison Chester to show some growth in both blocking and catching this year.
On defense, Ryan Ratliffe will line up as the starting ILB, along with 2-year All-Region selection RJ Bryan. Little Michael Conner will start at OLB, but according to Coach Cannon, he’ll be coming in on some short yardage plays at RB as well.
Other starters will most likely include senior Brian Brantley, Nathan Willis (who will play some linebacker, some defensive back), and Jojo Steedley, who is coming back at DE.
Another 9th grader with high expectations, Carson Jacobsen is set to get some time on the defensive line.
Special Teams look to be different for the Herons this year. Coach Cannon reports that Brian Hiott took over kicking duties during spring practices.
“I’m looking forward to taking some chances in the kicking game, making special teams a true third segment of the game.”
Overall, Coach Cannon expects 2021 to be a much different year for the Herons than 2020.
“This group of kids is a bunch of fun to be around. They like each other, they like football, and they are a lot of fun to coach.”
“We play a tough schedule, but we should be a lot more competitive than we were last year. As bad as we were, there were still some games we should have won. We hope that with the character of this team, we’ll come out on top in those kinds of games this year.”
Red Devils
By: Jeff Doke
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Glynn Academy Red Terrors finished the 2020 season on a down note.
After a lopsided home loss to Langston Hughes in the 2nd round of the GHSA Playoffs, Terrors Head Coach Rocky Hidalgo had some rather pointed words to some unnamed players and parents.
Seven months later, Coach Hidalgo feels much more positive about his team.
“This is a different football team than what we had last year,” according to Coach Hidalgo. “These kids have been great to work with. We don’t have a lot of the issues that we dealt with last year. “Last year, I was frustrated because I felt like there were some people pulling us in opposite directions from where we needed to go. I think we got some of that stuff corrected. Our kids and parents are ready to go.”
One of those “ready to go” players in particular is newly minted starting Quarterback Tyler Devlin.
“(Tyler) is going to be really good,” beams the Head Coach. “I think when the dust has settled, he looks like he’s going to be a really special player at Glynn Academy. He has the bearing of a leader, leading by example.”
The rising Junior’s targets look to be in good shape as well. WR David Prince is “going to be a really good player” per Coach Hidalgo, but he won’t be the only one.
“Tyson Rooks coming over from the basketball team has a chance to be really special, and Jordan Johnson & Daniel Smiley both had a really good offseason.”
As a coach who has a reputation as a “run first” coach, Coach Hidalgo seems to be leaning towards a committee approach at RB this season.
“We feel like John Moody did some good things for us last year, same thing for Zech Ellis. Jackson Wakeland (who took a year off to focus on wrestling) is back and is really going to help us in the backfield.”
Coach Rock doesn’t seem concerned about the apparent lack of an obvious RB1.
“I like our running backs,” he said without hesitation. “I don’t think we really have a bellcow like we’ve had in the past, but we have some good solid players in the backfield.”
On the defensive side, the biggest question seems to be in the Linebacker stable.
“We’ve got kids right now that are competing for playing time at MLB,” replied the Coach when asked about Da’Vontae Lang. “(Da’Vontae) is one of them, and he’s got a chance to be really, really good, but you could say the same for Colin Fox, Eriq Cash, Peyton Parker, and Cab Cabiness. We just have to see who’s going to step up & win those jobs.”
There’s somewhat less concern in the defensive backfield, but still room for development.
“We feel good about our Cornerback situation. Tate Rhodes & Kannum Warren played a bunch for us last year at Safety, we feel like we need to develop some depth.
JT Givens and DJ Riley will have a chance to get out on the field and do some good things. I feel good about everything but our depth.”
On Special Teams, “there’s going to be some competition with the Field Goal kicking role,” speculates the Coach.
“Jonathan Sasser is really accurate, whereas Kody Arnold has a really big leg. We like both of those guys, but we have some young kickers that are really good, too. There’s going to be some competition.”
Coach Hidalgo has set some pretty high expectations in his career at Glynn Academy, and those high expectations are ones he welcomes.
“If the expectation isn’t to win the region championship and win the state championship, what do you do this for? Our goal is to go out and win a region championship every year. We’ve been fortunate enough to do that five of the seven years I’ve been here. Our plan is to go out & do that again this year.”
