Kipp Branch
The Burning Questions
By: Kipp Branch
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
40 sports questions that need answers in our surrounding area:
Is the window really closing on the Georgia Bulldogs national title hopes or is it just media hype to stir up the Dawg nation?
Will Jake Fromm lead UGA to a National Title?
Will Zamir White return to five star form in 2019?
Will Kirby Smart pass Vince Dooley in career wins at UGA?
Will Georgia Tech be a factor in the ACC now that the Jackets have ditched that high school offense?
Will Georgia Tech focus on the Atlanta metro area and state of Georgia and be a factor in recruiting?
How long will Geoff Collins survive at Georgia Tech?
Will Alabama start to decline under Nick Saban?
Will Gus Malzahn get fired during or after the 2019 season?
Is Dabo Swinney now the best coach in college football?
Is the heat about to get turned up on Will Muschamp at South Carolina?
Will the Atlanta Hawks ever graduate from the NBA Draft Lottery?
Will the Atlanta Falcons ever get back to Super Bowl form?
Is Matty Ice still a top five QB in the NFL?
Has Julio Jones peaked or will he continue to put up huge numbers?
When will the Falcons be feared on defense again?
Will the Jacksonville Jaguars bring in Joe Flacco and draft Drew Lock in the 2019 draft and fix their QB woes?
Will the Brunswick High boys’ basketball team make another deep run in the state playoffs?
Will the Brunswick High Pirates bounce back and be a factor in the region football race this fall?
Will the Brunswick High baseball squad win the region title in 2019?
Will the Frederica Knights have a solid title defense in football in 2019?
Will the Baseball Knights get back to the state finals in baseball this year?
Will Glynn Academy win its fifth region title in a row in football in 2019?
Will the Terrors beat BHS in football for a sixth straight time in 2019?
Will the Terror soccer teams bring home a state championship this year?
Will the Lady Terror basketball squad make a region title run in 2019?
Is Rocky Hidalgo the greatest football coach in GA history?
Is Darius Slay the best football player ever to play in Glynn County?
Will the Miami Hurricanes ever give Dee Jay Dallas a shot at playing QB?
Will Randon Jernigan lead the SEC in stolen bases before his UGA career is complete?
Who was the better football team the 1964 Glynn Academy Red Terrors, 1999 Brunswick High Pirates, or 2018 Frederica Academy Knights?
Will the Atlanta Braves trade for a front line starter before the start of spring training?
Will Julio Tehran be the opening day starter again for the Braves?
Is Ronald Acuna Jr. a future NL MVP?
Will the Braves win a World Series before Freddie Freeman retires?
Who will play right field for the Braves in 2019?
Will Josh Donaldson play an entire season without going on the DL for Atlanta?
Will the Braves win the NL East in 2019?
Who is the greatest athlete to ever come out of the state of Georgia?
Who is the most followed sports team in the entire state of Georgia?
Have I given you enough to think about yet?
SEC Stock Report
By: Kipp Branch
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
My annual SEC football stock report? Let’s take a look at the SEC Football Stock report currently after the completion of the 2018 football season.
Alabama: Hold for now. Good historical producing stock that is one of the top investments out there. CEO was the best, but may have lost his fire. Been a top producer for over a decade now. After a hostile takeover by Clemson the stock may have peaked watch this one closely but hold for now.
Arkansas: Buy for now. Second year CEO at the helm with expansion into the Texas marketplace as his top priority. First full recruiting class was solid. This stock is worth a small investment.
Auburn: Dump it. This company has the most overpriced CEO in the business. Dump this stock now. This stock will bounce back under new leadership eventually. Once a new CEO is hired then buy it all. Watch how this stock implodes next fall. Don’t get caught holding this stock. Sentimental stock holders end up being broke.
Florida: Buy as much as you can. This stock is valuable once again. New CEO has built this brand back into a top tier stock. Still a year away, but buy now and watch your value increase over time. UCF tried to play hardball with this stock, but learned that this stock is the most prized in the Sunshine State and calls the shots.
Georgia: Buy it. This stock is one of the best in the business. Top producer that lost a little value over the holidays, but will peak in 2019, 2020, and beyond.
Kentucky: Sell. Other divisions are steady performers, but this football brand peaked in earnings last fall and will start dropping in value. Get what you can now for it and take a nice vacation. This stock booms every 30 or so years.
LSU: Hold. CEO performed better than expected in 2018. Traditional producing stock, but time will tell if this CEO has it in him to keep all stakeholders happy. Hold for now and gobble it up if this brand starts peaking next fall.
Mississippi State: Sell. This is a worthless penny stock that is a traditional loser. If you own this stock please don’t tell anyone and dump it quickly.
Ole Miss: Buy. This stock endured some tough times, but the forecast looks good in future. It’s a light snack, but will be a producer once again.
Mizzou: Buy. This stock was a producer in 2018 and the trend will continue in 2019 with a new field general with a terrific resume.
South Carolina: Dump it. This stock resides in tough marketplace where it looks up to top cat Clemson and rise in value looks bleak short term. Reminds me of Sears trying to compete with Walmart/Target/Amazon. You want it to do well but who in the hell is going to invest in it?
Texas A&M: Buy everything in sight. New CEO brought in at $75 million, and the cash reserves in this company are through the roof. New CEO turned a huge profit immediately and the stockholders are just plain giddy for what the future holds. I bought a few shares of this stock personally.
Tennessee: Hold. This stock has bottomed out and has nowhere else to go but up. This stock is showing signs of a huge rebound. The hope is that the new offensive coordinator doesn’t eat up the profits. Watch this stock closely. Be ready to buy at a moment’s notice.
Vanderbilt: Hold. This stock holds its value quite nicely. Hold what you have but don’t invest in more of it. One of the better CEO’s out there that gets the most he can out of this stock. You would love for this stock to spike through the roof just once before you die.
College football season goes by so quickly. Money never sleeps, however.
Sour Sugar Bowl
By: Kipp Branch
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
Georgia got whipped in the Sugar Bowl by a Texas team that had something to prove and the Longhorns came out and took it to Georgia; winning the Sugar Bowl 28-21. The Dawgs ended the season with two straight losses, but great lessons come from a little adversity.
Georgia went into the Sugar Bowl over-confident and it showed throughout the contest. Jake Fromm probably had his worst game in a UGA uniform. D’Andre Swift could not hold on to the football. JJ Holloman had a bad case of the drops. Richard LeCounte tackled like a Pop Warner league defensive back.
The only player that played like he wanted to be in New Orleans was Brian Herrien. UGA only had 69 yards rushing against a Longhorn defense that had leaked all season like a West Texas oil well.
Texas beat UGA at its own game, which was being physical at the point of attack. Texas is on its way back to being a national power. Great job Texas you earned the Sugar Bowl trophy.
What can UGA learn from this effort?
Social Media is not the place to vent your frustrations about not being selected for the college football playoff. Going into this game against the Longhorns’ T should have stood for Texas and not Twitter.
Take care of your business on the field and not put it in the hands of a committee. UGA lost by 20 in Baton Rouge and blew a two-touchdown lead against Alabama in the second half.
Notre Dame looked bad against Clemson, but Georgia players after the way UGA looked against LSU had no business blowing up social media after Clemson beat the Irish 30-3.
I told my wife Saturday night that UGA was in trouble against Texas. Georgia was not a focused football team in New Orleans.
You need to limit your distractions. Deandre Baker you are a DGD, but when you made the decision not to play in the Sugar Bowl then you became a former player getting ready for the NFL draft.
Best of luck to you, I and the rest of Dawgnation will be supporting you in the future. BTW, you didn’t come to UGA as a first round draft pick. Georgia helped prepare you for the NFL. You are an all-time UGA great and a favorite of mine.
Touchy subject matter here I know, but you made the wrong decision and as a leader of the football team your decision spoke volumes about how much the Sugar Bowl really mattered to the younger kids in the program.
All of those years of Outback, Citrus, Liberty, Belk, Taxslayer/Gator, and any other insignificant bowls; then this team wasn’t ready or motivated to play in the damn SUGAR Bowl.
Really? The Rose, Sugar, Orange and Cotton are the historic bowl games guys. Hines Ward, Champ Bailey, current UGA head coach, Kirby Smart, Robert Edwards, Todd Gurley, Rodney Hampton, Garrison Hearst, and the list goes on, would have loved an opportunity to play in the Sugar Bowl.
Deandre you should have followed your heart and played in the game. We still love you though #18 and always will.
Justin Fields. UGA does not hand out starting jobs. You did not beat out Jake Fromm for the QB position.
You played in 11 games as a freshman. If you don’t want to be in Athens then take your talents to another university. There are plenty of kids that are hungry for your spot.
Competition is everywhere in life. Get used to it Justin and best of luck to you. I hope you stay.
Now that my rant is over that Sugar Bowl loss could be a blessing in disguise for UGA.
With 88 players who are freshman or sophomores this team will learn from this, and will be a huge coaching point for Coach Smart and the staff.
Georgia has more talent than anyone in the country and a great head coach and staff are in place.
Georgia is in transition from being a good program and on the cusp of being a great program. The lessons learned from the last month will help define that greatness just on the horizon.
A Bowling We Go
By: Kipp Branch
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
It’s that time of year again where the cream rises to the top and the really good bowl games start.
The bowl season to date has been a huge disappointment. Georgia Southern won on the last play of its game and Georgia Tech looked like hot garbage in getting blown out by Minnesota in Paul Johnson’s retirement party.
Here goes my NY6 Predictions:
Saturday, December 29, 2018 – Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (Atlanta, GA): No. 7 Michigan (10–2) vs. No. 10 Florida (9–3).
The Gates led by Dan Mullen have a shot to win 10 games in what was considered a rebuilding year in Gainesville. Michigan with rumors swirling of Jim Harbaugh’s departure to the New York Jets are coming off getting 62 points hung on them by Ohio State.
Shame on the bowl system for not matching up Florida against UCF. Give me Michigan 24-20 in a close contest. Harbaugh ends up staying in Ann Arbor.
Saturday, December 29, 2018 – (CFP Semifinal) Capital One Orange Bowl (Miami Gardens, FL): No. 1 Alabama (13–0) vs. No. 4 Oklahoma (12–1).
Tua says he is at 80-85% for the contest with his injured ankle. Oklahoma has Kyler Murray the best player in college football, but a defense that can’t stopping a dripping faucet.
Alabama has Nick Saban, and a defense that is pretty solid and that should get past the Sooners 38-24 to advance to the title game.
Saturday, December 29, 2018 – (CFP Semifinal) Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (Arlington, TX): No. 2 Clemson (13–0) vs. No. 3 Notre Dame (12–0).
Clemson may be without some starters due to testing positive of a banned substance.
Doesn’t it seem like every time ND is involved in a big game the NCAA steps in and creates some controversy that will benefits the Irish?
I know ND is 12-0 and the record says they should be in the playoff, but this team played a weak schedule and struggled with Pitt, Vandy, and a 7 loss USC team. I think Clemson has more talent, better head coach, and a better QB.
Clemson beats ND 35-21 and plays Alabama for the national championship.
Tuesday, January 1, 2019 – PlayStation Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, AZ): No. 8 UCF (12–0) vs. No. 11 LSU (9–3).
UCF is another overrated 12-0 team that plays in a weak conference with the likes of Houston, and Memphis. Houston just had 70 hung on them by Army. LSU has a good defense, but they are not so great on offense. 25 game winning streak comes to an end when LSU whips UCF along the line of scrimmage and wins 34-17.
Tuesday, January 1, 2019 – Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual (Pasadena, CA): No. 6 Ohio State (12–1) vs. No. 9 Washington (10–3).
Big 10 Champ Ohio State got left out of the playoff and they will take it out on the Huskies in the Rose Bowl. Urban’s last game. Washington has no shot. OSU rolls 42-24.
Tuesday, January 1, 2019 – Allstate Sugar Bowl (New Orleans, LA): No. 5 Georgia (11–2) vs. No. 15 Texas (9–4).
Will the Dawgs have an SEC title game hangover? Will Justin Fields stay, go, or play in the Sugar Bowl.
Texas is on its way back. Georgia is a national power. Fromm, Holyfield, Swift, Godwin, Hardman, Ridley and company will provide too much firepower for the Horns to match. Dawgs win the Sugar Bowl 41-28.
Enjoy the NY6 Bowls everyone and Happy 2019.
Sugar Sweet For Dawgs?
By: Kipp Branch
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
It has been an interesting football season. Georgia won the SEC East and came up just short in the SEC title game against Alabama. Georgia led Alabama for 58 minutes and 51 seconds and just missed the college football playoff.
Texas has a proud football history, but has struggled as of late. Tom Herman is building the Longhorns back into a national brand. The Longhorns lost to Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game 39-27. Texas beat Oklahoma during the regular season.
The two blue bloods meet in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Night in New Orleans.
Georgia is coming into the game as a 13 point favorite against the 9-4 Longhorns. The last time the two teams matched up was the 1984 Cotton Bowl where Georgia beat Texas 10-9.
Both teams have just finished signing top 10 recruiting classes during the early signing period.
Georgia is led by QB Jake Fromm and a pair of 1,000 rushers in Swift and Holyfield. Will Georgia feel the effects of the SEC title game loss, or the saga of Justin Fields and his potential transfer?
Sam Ehlinger has given the Longhorns a consistent, quality player at quarterback for the first time in 8-10 years. He was responsible for 38 touchdowns. Only Longhorn legend Vince Young has produced more in a single season.
He’s smarter with the football (only five interceptions vs. seven last year) and he’s a great option in the run game, using his legs to get many key first downs.
Texas has two big-time receivers on the outside in Collin Johnson and Lil’Jordan Humphrey. They are two big, physical pass-catchers who have given opponents problems all season. It’s still on Ehlinger to get the ball to them, which he has done consistently.
Georgia is going to run the football in this contest and Texas, like most teams in their conference, struggles at time against the run. Georgia has the best defense Texas will see this season.
Texas is looking for its first 10-win season in almost a decade, and I think the Longhorns will come in highly motivated to show the country they belong in this contest. Texas is always going to have great athletes and UGA better come into this game expecting a 60-minute fight to the end.
Keys to the game: The Texas run defense. Can Texas slow down the power run game of UGA?
Georgia’s motivation. Will the Dawgs be motivated to play at peak level?
Can Texas exploit the Georgia secondary?
Will Georgia open up and attack the Longhorn secondary?
I think this will be a great contest that UGA wins 41-28 and finishes 12-2. This may set up a national championship run in 2019.
Texas is on its way back in being a national power. UGA is a national power. Enjoy these times Dawg Nation.
Blazing Toward A Championship
By: Kipp Branch
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
Valdosta State is a three-time national champion in football. Ferris State is seeking its first national title in football after making the title game for the first time. Ferris State lost in the semifinals twice in 1985 and 2016.
The two undefeated teams meet at 4 p.m. Saturday in McKinney, Texas, for the NCAA Division II Championship.
Ferris State is led by Ferris quarterback Jayru Campbell, who is one of the nine finalists for the 2018 Harlon Hill Trophy, presented to Division’s II top player. A dual-threat quarterback, Campbell is responsible for 47 touchdowns.
Campbell had some issues in high school that cost him a football scholarship to Michigan State University. Hel led Garden City Community College to a JUCO National Championship in 2016 before signing with Ferris State.
Campbell made first team All- American for the Bulldogs this fall. The Bulldogs hold the nation’s best record (60-7) over the past five years in Division II football.
Ferris has a talented roster that has some NFL prospects. The offense averages almost 40 points per game, which ranks in the top 20 nationally. The Bulldogs have had impressive playoff wins against Ouachita Baptist and Minnesota State and an impressive regular season win against Grand Valley State who finished 10-2 on the season.
Valdosta State, which was picked in the middle of the pack in the Gulf South Conference preseason poll, has taken the country by storm. The Blazers have gone undefeated and are averaging 52.2 points per game, which is the best in the country in Division II. The Blazers can score points in bunches and that puts a lot of pressure on opponents to match and forces turnovers.
Sophomore Rogan Wells leads the Blazers at QB. Wells was named second team All- American this fall.
Offensive Lineman Jeremy King, LaVonne Gauthney and DB Ravarius Rivers we named to the All-American squad also with King being named first team. Red Shirt Freshman Jamar Thompkins leads the Blazers with 1,257 yards rushing on the season.
The Blazers are peaking at the right time of the year, as they have put 66, 61, and 30 points on the board in their three playoff wins over Bowie State, Lenoir-Rhyne, and Notre Dame College (Ohio).
Third year head coach Kerwin Bell will probably win many national coach of the year honors once the season is complete.
The Bulldogs are currently a school all-time best and nation-leading 15-0 overall this season and claimed the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championship with an 8-0 mark.
The Blazers are currently 13-0 this season and won the Gulf South Conference (GSC) with an 8-0 mark. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
Saturday’s game will be carried live nationally by ESPNU and the Watch ESPN app at 4PM.
Prediction: I think the two QB’s put on an offensive clinic for each school. Both are finalists for the Harlon Hill Trophy. You may need a calculator to keep up with total offense in this contest. I think the Blazers championship experience could end up being a huge factor in the contest.
Valdosta State wins late 51-45 and the Blazers bring their 4th National Title back to Winnersville, USA or Title Town or whatever term you want to coin.
Valdosta is a city that produces champions. Here is something opposing coaches in the Gulf South Conference may not want to hear and that is win or lose on Saturday; Blazer QB Rogan Wells still has two years of eligibility left at VSU. The Blazers are set for a couple of years and will be in the championship mix.
If the Blazers score 21 points or more in the championship game Saturday, they will surpass 700 points on the season. Incredible statistic.
Luck Of The Irish
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Championship Saturday in College Football started and ended with questions regarding who would be in the top four when the college football playoff starts on December 29th. The semi-final matchups would in the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl to determine who will play for the National Championship the following week.
Going into Championship Saturday you had Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, and Georgia holding the top four spots. Alabama, Clemson, and Georgia all had to participate in conference championship games.
Notre Dame got to sit on the couch with a bye while everyone else in contention for a playoff spot Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio State, and even UCF had to win to stay alive in the playoff hunt.
Are conference championship games even needed anymore is the question? Alabama didn’t win the SEC in 2017 or even make the SEC championship game, but got selected as a playoff team and ended up winning the national championship.
The goal of the playoff is to select the best four teams correct? At least I thought it was. I just don’t think we are talking apples to apples unless Notre Dame is made to join a football conference.
Yes, the Irish play basketball in the ACC, but get the easy way out during football season by being an independent. Do you think an undefeated BYU playing Notre Dame’s schedule would have been selected as one of the top four teams in the country? Let me answer that for you, absolutely not.
Championship Saturday looked like this:
Clemson played a five loss Pitt team in the ACC title game and blew them out while Notre Dame sat home and was given a playoff spot. Now we get an ACC title game in Dallas with ND and Clemson in the Cotton Bowl. Clemson will beat ND by three TD’s.
Oklahoma played a three loss Texas team in the Big 12 title game and won by 12.
Ohio State played a four loss Northwestern team in the Big 10 title game and won by 21.
Then you had #1 Alabama and #4 Georgia in an epic SEC title game that Alabama, who was regarded by many as the greatest college football team ever, had to rally to overcome a 4th quarter deficit to pull out the game 35-28.
All of this went down as Notre Dame sits at the house with a bye and punches a ticket into the playoff.
Oklahoma, Georgia, and Ohio State are all better football teams than Notre Dame, but yet Georgia and Ohio State get left out all because Notre Dame gets the easy way out because they beat a six loss Vandy team 22-17, six loss Pitt team 19-14, and a seven loss USC team 24-17.
Don’t forget the Irish beat Michigan 24-17, a team Ohio State hung 62 points on the last week of the regular season. Georgia beat Vanderbilt 41-13, and Clemson beat Pitt 42-10.
The solutions are simple:
- Make Notre Dame commit to joining the ACC in football and win a conference championship game.
- Do away with conference title games all together and level the playing field with Notre Dame.
- Have an 8, 16, or 32 team playoff like all other college football divisions, and crown a real champion.
Georgia and Ohio State would be undefeated playing Notre Dame’s 2018 schedule. The playoff committee always says the goal is to get the four best teams, but it failed miserably in 2018. Notre Dame may not even be the best football team in Indiana.
So, we are stuck with Notre Dame with their weak slate. So, in 2018 we have the top 3 and Notre Dame.
Address the Notre Dame elephant in the room. The football playoff committee needs scrap this system for a true playoff like everyone else does or make Notre Dame join a conference.
There may be 3-4 teams in the SEC that would beat Notre Dame. Politics won the day on the playoff selection committee.
Balance Of Power
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Before the season started, all you heard is how dominant the SEC West was and that division carried the entire conference on its shoulders, while the SEC East was the weaker of the two.
Let me let you in on a little secret going into the final weekend of the season, the SEC East holds an 8-5 edge on the SEC West going into this weekend’s matchup with Arkansas and Missouri. If Missouri wins as expected then the east will win the crossover game series 9-5 in 2018. How can that be?
Is there a power shift occurring in the SEC? Let’s take a look at the state of the SEC East going into the last week of the season.
Georgia: Right now, UGA is king of the east and defending SEC Champions and most of their current roster is underclassmen.
The future is bright in Athens with Kirby Smart bringing five star athlete after five star athlete. Smart is building a monster in Athens and look for the Dawgs to be national power for some time to come.
Florida: The Gators under Dan Mullen have a chance to win 10 games in a season most experts wrote them off.
Mullen is a quality coach and the Gators are a QB away from being dangerous.
Florida may be the most fertile recruiting ground in the United States, and with both Miami and FSU struggling it could mean the Gators get all the way back really quickly.
Florida had a signature win at home this season against LSU, and a potential dream matchup with UCF in the Fiesta Bowl could shut up the smack talk coming out of Orlando once and for all.
Kentucky: The Wildcats are 8-3 and also have a chance to get their first ten win season since 1977. Yes, I said 1977.
Mark Stoops will be on top of many SEC coach of the year ballots. The Cats played UGA for the SEC East Championship on November 3rd, 2018. Kentucky football is ascending and Lexington will not be a fun road trip in the near future.
South Carolina: The Gamecocks are going to win seven games under Will Muschamp in 2018. Carolina was a dumpster fire after Steve Spurrier bailed on the program in 2015 in the middle of the season.
Muschamp is slowly building this program from the inside out. Be patient South Carolina fans, you have never been a great football program to begin with.
Missouri: The Tigers are 7-4 with with 2-9 Arkansas left on the schedule. A win by the Tigers means that every SEC East team will have beaten an SEC West Team in 2018.
Auburn, Arkansas, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State all failed to beat and SEC East teams in 2018. Barry Odom is doing a fine job in the Show Me State, but who is going to replace Drew Lock when Lock replaces Blake Bortles in Jacksonville?
Vanderbilt: The Commodores are sitting at 5-6 and should have probably beaten Missouri, Florida, and Notre Dame in South Bend. A win over Tennessee this week and Vandy goes bowling. This team is not a cupcake anymore.
Tennessee: The Vols went 0-8 in the SEC in 2017, but beat Auburn, and Kentucky in 2018. Pruitt needs two more recruiting cycles to get this team back to being Tennessee again, and when he does look out.
The SEC East went 3-11 against the West in 2017, and looks like they will turn that into 9-5 in 2018. If Georgia beats Alabama in Atlanta then you can say the balance of power has shifted in the SEC. Tua will have a huge say about that.
The Pirates Next Voyage
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2018 season ended for the Brunswick High Pirates before Halloween. No playoffs, and a final won loss record of 3-7.
The key factors for the disappointing season were youth and inexperience, and a defense that could stop opposing teams this fall.
Even the most optimistic Pirates like myself saw back before the season started that the season may be a struggle.
The Pirates opened with Coffee, Bartram Trail (Florida), and Camden in the first month of the season and got off to an expected 1-3 start after beating MCA 49-7 in Darien.
Brunswick then beat New Hampstead and Monroe in back to back weeks to even the slate at 3-3 going into region play. The Pirates hosted Richmond Hill in the region opener and got drilled 41-7. They never recovered from that loss and went on to drop region games to Effingham, Glynn, and Bradwell to finish out the season.
Pirate Season Report Card.
Offense: C-. The Pirates averaged 18.8 points a game in 2018 which was far below the record setting offense of the previous year.
This offense failed to score over 14 points in any region game and averaged right at 12 points a game against region rivals.
Jaylen Trimmings had a fine season running the football, but inconsistency at the QB position doomed the offense.
BHS turned the ball over too many times at key moments in contests to get any momentum in key region games down the stretch. Brunswick High loses only 4 starters on offense in 2019 so look for this unit to get back on track next season.
A lot of young skilled talent returns in 2019 most of which will be 10th and 11th graders next fall. BHS played a lot of youth at key positions in 2018.
Defense: D-. The Pirate defense gave up 36 points on average in region play and other than the city title game against Glynn, gave up over 40 points against to the rest of the region.
That won’t get it done on Altama Avenue. Look for some changes on that side of the ball for 2019. The good news is BHS returns 8-9 starters in 2019. Look for the unit to be much improved. BHS must find some size on the defensive line, but will be fine at LB and DB in 2019.
Special Teams: C. Special teams were about average in 2018. The unit did some good things and some not so good things. Consistent kicks into the end zone, which was a luxury every other team in the region had except BHS, are needed.
Coaching: C. With a 3-7 record you can’t give high marks, but game plans and schemes were solid, but execution was not all season.
BHS has a good coaching staff, but things did not go the programs way in 2018. Sean Pender and the BHS offense will be the most productive in Region 2 next fall, you heard it here first.
BHS will have a new attacking style scheme on defense and this season was just a blip on the radar screen.
Overall: D. Brunswick High went 3-7 and the program has not won more than 7 games in a season since 2010 which is also the last time BHS won a playoff game.
Final Thoughts: Sean Pender is building a football program and this was the season to pile it on BHS because roles will start reversing in 2019.
BHS started a freshman at RB, OL, and DB at various times in 2018. The Pirates also started a sophomore QB for most of the season.
The 2019 Pirates will bring back 15-17 kids that started a varsity football game in 2018.
And don’t think for one minute that this group will forget what the Effingham’s of the world did by throwing TD passes with under a minute left in the game up 38-14.
Effingham, Richmond Hill, and Bradwell coaches all know the young talent on the BHS roster, and they better not shed one tear when payback comes their way next fall.
Brunswick High Pirates Coach’s Show with Sean Pender October 30
