Kipp Branch
Sean Pender Show Oct 25
Brunswick Outlasts Effingham
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When faced with adversity, there are only two outcomes. Either you beat it or it beats you.
Overcoming adversity does two things for athletes. It helps them grow as an athlete and as a person. Teams and individuals both have to learn to be resilient. As an individual athlete, you have to overcome things such as injuries or an emotional loss. As a team you may have to overcome a losing streak or slump. Resilience is how efficiently you recover from difficult circumstances.
One does not only face adversity once in life. Adversity comes and goes as does the obstacles that you face. It is said that the quickest path to get somewhere is in a straight line.
This is not the case with success however. In order to be successful, there will be many instances where you take “12 steps forward, then 13 steps back”. Failures happen. The most important part is that you keep going.
Friday night at Glynn County Stadium the injury riddled Pirates missing key players on defense faced the adversity of coming off an emotional loss to their arch rival and raced away from the Effingham County Rebels 49-28.
Sean Pender doing his best imitation of MASH star Alan Alda patched together a line up and game plan to get the Pirates in position to win a share of the region crown in Richmond Hill next Friday night in the most anticipated game in years for BHS.
Pirate Report Card: Offense: A. What a difference a week makes. Jamarius Stevens pretty much played on one leg and gutted his way to outstanding night running and throwing. Alonzo Brown had another great night receiving.
Ben McCloud gave the run game a spark in his first action of the season. Pender put in the “Wild Pirate” package and Shaq Robinson had a 52 yard TD run.
Offensive line mauled the Effingham defensive front. Great job by a unit that picked up its defensive unit who was banged up and patched up.
Defense: B. Yeah, the unit gave up yards and points but with no Frazier and no Ward at LB this unit gutted it out and bent a lot and did not break too much. Jaylen Jackson played like a champion with a school record 100-yard pick six and added a second interception right before the half. A third was called back due to penalty.
This was a gutty effort by the defense last night that does not show up on the stat sheet.
Special Teams: B. Kick coverage continues to be outstanding and punt protection was cleaned up this week. Dalton Thrift did a good job punting for the first time this season.
Coaching: A. Sean Pender had this banged up, patched up, left for dead team ready to play. Pender has his 5-2 Pirates in position to claim a share of the region championship in Richmond Hill in one week. Considering where the Pirates have been for 2 years this is quite an achievement.
Overall: A-. At the end of the day your job is to beat the guy on the other sidelines. No, it wasn’t pretty, but the heart of this team showed last night when the stars seemed aligned against them. Great rebound win and now a Region Championship is attainable.
See you in Richmond Hill Pirate nation. The Pirates are back in the mix. Nobody will give them a shot, but that is just the way they like it.
World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
“The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” has called Jacksonville home since 1933.
That is the unofficial official name of the rivalry between Georgia and Florida. I was born and raised in Georgia so it is called the Georgia/Florida game. Enough said about that.
On October 28th the teams will meet on the football field for the 96th time with Georgia holding a 50-43-2 lead in the series.
This game in Jacksonville makes sense for both schools economically and generates millions for Coastal Georgia as thousands of UGA fans usually spend their money on St. Simons and Jekyll Island for the long four day weekend. With UGA being 7-0 going into the game this year thousands of Dawg fans should flock to the Golden Isles.
Once Steve Spurrier became head coach of Florida back in 1990 the Gators took control of the series and won 7 straight contests from 1990 to 1996 with a two year hiatus from Jacksonville as what is EverBank Field today was built for the Jaguars debut in 1995.
The series went home and home in 1994 and 1995. Since 1990 the Gators are 19-6 in Jacksonville which has Generation Z and some Millennial Georgia fans and alumni complaining about the game still being played in Jacksonville.
Excuses you hear from young Dawg fans about the game being played in Jacksonville (remember the term young Dawg fans): Georgia is at a disadvantage playing in Florida. Georgia fans have to travel farther and spend more money. Gainesville is closer to Jacksonville than Athens. Florida players have the travel advantage.
I’m going to shoot holes in the three myths young UGA fans use to promote the home/home series argument with the annual cocktail party.
One thing you never hear is Florida fans promoting a home/home series with UGA. They are fine with the game in Jacksonville. Yeah, I know Generation Z folks will point out excuse number one listed above.
The fact of the matter is prior to 1990 UF had an overall record 21-37-1 against UGA in Jacksonville, but you never heard them whining about going to a home and home series.
Georgia leads the overall series 43-40-1 in games played in Jacksonville against the Gators. So, the reality is that UGA is not at a disadvantage playing in Jacksonville. Generation Z and some Millennial Dawg fans think their history is more important than overall history. Get over yourself.
Georgia fans have to travel farther and spend more money. Another myth. Miami is 350 miles from Jacksonville, and Pensacola is 359 miles away. Most Dawg fans live in the Atlanta metro area which is 350 miles from Jacksonville. Hotels and food in the Jacksonville cost the same for the Red and Black and Orange and Blue. Advantage to the local economies which favor the color Green.
Gainesville is closer to Jacksonville than Athens. Florida players have the travel advantage. Geographically true, but ok the facts are UF takes a one hour bus ride to Jacksonville and UGA takes a one hour flight to Jacksonville. Baby Boomers and Generation X Dawgs would take a one hour flight over a one hour bus ride any day of the week. Generation Z Dawgs have never ridden a bus in their life. Advantage UGA.
When you lose you make excuses like young UGA fans have for 27 years. UGA leads Florida in the football series and Kirby Smart is going to take control of the UF series once again.
Neutral site games seem to be becoming more popular again as many early season games now are moving to neutral sites to provide higher profile match ups.
The game in Jacksonville is booked through 2021. Tradition matters in college football. The decision also to allow both schools to wear their home colors at the game has gone over very well.
As a big fan of the pageantry and tradition that surrounds college football, I hope this game never leaves Jacksonville.
South Georgia UGA season ticket holders drive roughly 300 miles to every home football Saturday to Athens, Georgia. Just saying Generation Z.
If it matters you’ll always show up. Isn’t it funny that when your favorite team is doing well money is not an object?
Notre Dame Fans can attest to that with the Dawg invasion that took over South Bend in September.
Sean Pender Show Oct 18
Pirates Report Card Against Glynn
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
In the most anticipated City Championship game in years the Brunswick High Pirates dropped their 4th straight to the Glynn Academy Red Terrors 26-13.
The Pirates were whipped in every phase of the game. Brunswick came into the contest as the highest scoring team in their classification, and when the clock struck zero this senior class left as the first senior class since 1974 to not beat Glynn Academy in football during their high school career.
Pirate Report Card:
Special Teams: F. BHS had a punt blocked that set up the touchdown that put Glynn up 19-7.
Special Teams had been much improved in 2017 but in the biggest game of the year you can’t have kicks blocked and give a team like Glynn the ball on your 1 yard line. Maybe this grade is harsh, but the punt block was a major turning point in the game where you cannot afford any margin of error.
Defense: D. Who has the dang pitch man? Who has the pitch man? A question that was asked all night long by the Pirate nation.
Third down defense was not good as Glynn converted too many third down medium to long plays.
Coach Pender talked all week about the trick plays and Glynn used two to set up their first two TD’s. In the first half BHS struggled stopping the dive play. BHS struggled stopping the pitch man the entire game with Glynn’s read option.
The frustration also comes from the fact that Glynn only threw the ball maybe four times the entire game which means that they ran the ball right down the Pirates throat.
In a game where talent level is very similar for both teams it just means Glynn physically dominated BHS on the line of scrimmage. Who has the pitch man???
Offense: D. The highest scoring team in 6A football was held to 13 points. Nobody saw that coming.
The bright spots were Shaq Robinson, who sparked a TD drive right before the half to cut it to 12-7.
Alonzo Brown had another big game receiving. Jamarius Stevens was under pressure most of the night. Game plan was there but just not executed.
BHS dropped a wide open TD late in the game that could have been a huge. I’m not going to mention the kids name because I know he feels awful today. Give Glynn credit they kept everything in front of them and did not miss tackles. Very disappointed in the fact that this unit got shut down in this contest.
Coaching: C. I thought the game plan was solid and adjustments were made, but coaches can’t get on the field and make plays. When it came down to it Glynn players had the mental edge in the contest, which is why they control the series currently.
Overall: D. You can’t lay an egg in a game of this magnitude. Glynn continues to be the gold standard in this region and BHS just did not get it done last night. You can learn from this and get ready for a playoff run but these seniors will never have a chance to beat Glynn again in football.
The team fought hard and never gave up which is something the Pirate nation is proud of.
Up Next: Effingham. This game is a must win at home next Friday if BHS wants to host a playoff game.
Finally, as a former BHS football player it hurts to say Glynn flat out owns us in football, but got to give credit to GA for punching us right in the mouth for the fourth straight time.
Something that has not happened in over 40 years. When these seniors see their GA counterparts in the grocery store in 2047 they will understand and will think about this everyday of their lives.
Only thing left to say is GATA! Outstanding job Glynn Academy.
Still a lot to play for Pirates. BHS will not lose another game in the regular season.
Sean Pender Show Oct 12
Sean Pender Show Oct 4
Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch Sept 30
Sean Pender Show Sept 27
Pirates Sink South Effingham
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Something unexpected happened to the Brunswick High Pirates last night at Glynn County Stadium a Friday night kick-off. The 2017 All Weather Pirates played on a beautiful Friday night and routed the South Effingham Mustangs 44-13.
The Pirates jumped out to a 21-0 first quarter lead and never looked back.
Pirate Report Card:
Special Teams: B+. Dalton Thrift gets better every week. His 34-yard field goal at the halftime buzzer is something that BHS may need come playoff time.
Kick coverage has been solid all year. Only thing that kept this grade from being an A was a botched extra point attempt in the 3rd quarter. This area is much improved from 2016 where the kick-off coverage was terrible. Brunswick need this unit in a big game down the road.
Defense: A. This unit was solid all night long.
Jaylen King had a nice game. George Mincey continued his all-region play. Sean Ward and Kam Futch flew around all night long.
The coaching staff worked on some new blitz packages and caused a lot of issues for the Mustangs.
This unit is fast and causes problems for opposing teams with speed. BHS played some reserves in second half and gave up a few yards with a running clock in 4th quarter. It was the second straight game where this unit did not give up a first half point.
Offense: B+. Other than the pick 6 on a screen pass deep in Pirate territory, this unit did pretty much what they wanted to do all night long. The offensive line of Ty Hinson, TJ Kirkland, Brett Hall, John Cano, and Warren McClendon blew holes in the Mustang corral all night long.
It was also the Jamarius Stevens show on offense. The senior QB was 15-for-23, throwing for 244 yards and 3 touchdowns.
The senior also led the Pirates in rushing, rushing the rock 10 times for 118 yards and 3 touchdowns. Alonzo Brown had another 100-yard receiving day; his 4th in a row.
This unit worked on game plan type plays and did not take a real deep shot in passing game all night long.
Coaching: A. The game plan was solid with future games in mind and worked on consistently driving the football down field without going for quick strikes. No let down from the drought ending Camden win.
Overall: A-. Nice solid win over a team that you should beat 10 out of 10 times you play. The Pirates came out and took care of business.
Brunswick will have a bye week next week, then the undefeated Bradwell Tigers roll between the bricks on October 6th for region opener. The Pirates stand at 3-1 on the season.
