Pinewood PAtriots
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show With Brandon Derrick August 26 2026
South Georgia Friday Night Lights
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The High School Football season is now in full tilt. Both the GISA and GHSA are fully underway for the 2026 season.
Some games this past weekend that caught my eye are the following:
Calvary Day @ Glynn Academy: Despite Calvary Day being a AA team and Glynn Academy residing in 6A most experts thought that Calvary Day would come out victorious.
However, the Red Terrors led the Cavaliers 22-7 with under 2 minutes to go in the first half and had really stymied Calvary Day’s high powered offense to that point.
The Cavaliers put up a touchdown right before the half and the Red Terrors carried a 22-13 lead into the locker room at the half.
However, from that point on it would be all Calvary Day. The Cavaliers outscored the Terrors in the second half 36-0 and closed with 42 unanswered points on their way to a 49-22 defeat of the Glynn Academy in the opener for both teams.
Frederica Academy @ Pinewood: Both the Knights and Patriots entered week 2 of the GISA season with blowout losses from the previous week.
Frederica was dropped at home by Bethesda 55-7 and Pinewood fell to Bulloch Academy 44-6 on the road.
The Knights traveled to Bellville to take on the Patriots with both hoping to get their season back on track. It was Frederica that succeeded in that getting a big performance from several key players to blow out the Patriots 42-6.
Camden @ Brunswick High: The Pirates and Wildcats took the field Friday Night in a premier game in south Georgia.
Both programs debuted new coaches and new quarterbacks. Tucker Pruitt took over as the head man for Camden and Byron Slack took over for the Pirates.
The game was postponed early in the 2nd quarter due to lightning and both teams had to come back to Glynn County Stadium to finish the game on Saturday morning.
The Wildcats led at stoppage of play 14-7 with 11:35 left in the 2nd quarter.
When play resumed on Saturday morning the Pirates tied the game at 14-14. With the game tied at 21, the Wildcats scored the last 14 points giving Tucker Pruitt his first win as Camden County Head Coach 35-21.
Some other interesting results from across the state were as follows:
The Coffee County Trojans traveled up to Atlanta to play the Parkview Panthers and completely dominated the Panthers 49-14.
The Toombs County Bulldogs took the trip to Savannah to take on the Benedictine Cadets. Despite the Cadets being a 5A school and Toombs only being 3A, Toombs pulled away from Benedictine for a convincing 58-21 victory.
One of the premier games of the night saw Thomas County Central hosting the Colquitt County Packers. Both are power houses and everyone expected a very competitive game. This was not the case.
The Yellow Jackets blasted the Packers 57-21 in game that was never really close.
The Pierce County Bears took a trip over to Alabama to take on the Coosa Christian Conquerors. Most expected a very tight game between these two power houses. However, the Bears woodshedded the Conquerors 55-0.
Gators Are For Real
By: Joseph Stuckey
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
To start off the 2026 football season, the Bulloch Academy Gators took on the Jenkins County War Eagles in a scrimmage game in Millen, GA, on Friday, 8/7.
Jenkins County is a GHSA school that plays in 1-A Region 5 against teams like Johnson County and Twiggs County.
I always like to use the term “watered-down” when talking about a scrimmage game because plays are normally scripted, coaches are sometimes on the field, most of the key players don’t play the entire game, and there are some odd elements in the kicking game.
There were a few minor things the Gators may need to sharpen as we head into the regular season, but for the most part it was business as usual.
Quarterback Sam Hubbard hit Georgia Southern commit Billy Crider for a long touchdown pass, as it looks like the Gators may try to slip in a few more passing plays than in years past.
Running back Danye Garvin has graduated out and is now a part of the Wingate University football team. So, one of the big questions this offseason was who would be taking the lead role running the ball in the Gators’ Wing-T offense.
B.J. Smart answered that question as he looked like a strong and capable running back to carry the ball for the Gators this season.
I expect the running game to take center stage again this year as we look to have a very solid offensive line consisting of: James Lee, Griff Sumner, Bo Crider, Slayton Roberts, and Bryce Parrish. A strong offensive line is very crucial for the Gators to do what they want to do on offense this season.
On the defensive side of the ball, a few names stood out to me; of course, Collin Grooms and Kennesaw State commit Braylon Cone were a part of several big stops for the Gators.
Whitt Oliff made his presence known throughout the scrimmage, and Nick Eason Jr. displayed his speed chasing down a ball carrier, thus saving a touchdown. Billy Crider also took some snaps as an edge rusher and looked very solid.
The Gators also have quite a few very versatile guys that you will see making plays in several different aspects of the game, including: Cannon Vickery, Jace Farmer, Rhett Morgan, Maddox Lee, J.B. Roach, and Rocco Reiss.
Overall, I think the Gators are really going to make a run at the GIAA 4-A State Title this year, but now their attention must turn to the Battle for I-16. The Pinewood Patriots will make their way to the Swamp on Friday 8/14, where regular season play will kick off under the lights in Statesboro.
Normally this matchup takes place at the end of the year during region play, but with Pinewood moving down to GIAA 2-A, these two teams will no longer be region opponents.
Anytime a team comes down from a larger classification, they always have to get other teams’ attention, so I would not be surprised if Pinewood makes a playoff push later this season and finds themselves on the 2-A playoff bracket.
The Gators have been the better team for the last couple of years, winning both at home and on the road in Bellville. However, the BA/Pinewood games always come down to the wire, and I don’t expect this year’s matchup to be any different.
GIAA Powers
By: Joseph Stuckey
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
With the high-school football season right around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to examine the state of GIAA teams across the area.
GIAA stands for Georgia Independent Athletic Association, otherwise known as the private school league here in Georgia.
I follow GIAA sports very closely as I am the play-by-play broadcaster for the Bulloch Academy Gators football team.
One thing I became aware of last year, with the Gators making several trips up Interstate 16, is that there is a belief among football fans in that area that you have to beat out the Middle Georgia teams to win a GIAA state title.
What I mean by this is that you can always count on a Middle Georgia area team making a push into the Final Four and State Championship game of the GIAA playoff brackets.
Last year, 3 of the 4 state titles went home to Middle Georgia teams. Brentwood Academy in Sandersville brought home the AA title for the second straight season. John Milledge Academy added another trophy to its very large trophy case. And finally, Stratford Academy won the big prize of the AAAA state title, even though they did lose to John Milledge handily in the regular season, 51-13.
Another powerhouse in the Macon area is First Presbyterian Day, which reached the final four in 2025 and lost to Bulloch Academy in the State Championship in 2024.
Also, there is Strong Rock Christian, which is in Locust Grove, that made the elite eight the past 2 seasons.
So, as you can see, there is some backing to the claim of having to beat out Middle Georgia teams to win a GIAA state title.
Southeast Georgia was able to claim 1 of the 4 titles this past season, with Robert Toombs in Lyons winning the A State Championship.
Robert Toombs beat Edmund Burke Academy in the rematch of the 2024 State Championship, which Edmund Burke won.
Right down the road, there is Pinewood Christian Academy in Bellville, which made the elite eight in 2025.
Then, finally, there is the premier GIAA region in Southeast Georgia, which consists of Frederica Academy, Bulloch Academy, St. Andrews, and the newest addition from GHSA, Savannah Country Day.
Pinewood has been in this region in years past, but they are moving down to an A/AA region starting this season. This region consists of AAA/AAAA teams, and the last 3 champions have been Frederica Academy (2025), Bulloch Academy (2024), and Bulloch (2023).
Not only did Frederica win the region last year, but they also reached the Final Four in the AAA playoffs before losing to John Milledge.
Bulloch Academy is celebrating 3 straight seasons of reaching the Elite Eight or beyond (2023-Final 4, 2024-State Championship, 2025-Elite 8) and has its sights set on another State Championship run in AAAA with a loaded senior class.
The unknown in this region is Savannah Country Day, which is coming from GHSA after going 4-7 last season.
Anytime a GIAA school plays a GHSA school, most would think it would be a tough victory. However, GIAA schools have been holding their own; Frederica beat Savannah High School last season 34-7, and Bulloch Academy has gone 4-0 against GHSA schools over the last 2 seasons.
So, with all of that being said, this should be a very exciting year of GIAA High School Football!
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show w Brandon Derrick Oct 22 2025
Another Conquest
By: Jeff Doke
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
For the first time since 2022, the Frederica Academy Knights are Region Champions in the GIAA AAAA/AAA Region 2.
After convincing back-to-back wins against long-time rivals Bulloch Academy and Pinewood Christian Academy, Coach Brandon Derrick’s Knights have secured the region crown regardless of the outcome of their final region game against St. Andrews this Friday night.
Opening region play against the Gators on October 9th, the Knights were looking to even some scores against their most heated rivals.
With their 2024 shutout victory in Statesboro, Bulloch Academy tied the all-time record between the two schools at 6 wins apiece and handed the Knights their first shut-out loss since the 2020 State Championship game loss to John Milledge Academy.
This year would be a different story. The Knights would take a 7-3 lead into the halftime locker room before opening things up in the second half, closing the night with a 35-20 victory.
The highlight play of the night was arguably the 90-yard halfback option passing touchdown to WR Braxton Sykes from RB Jaylen Baldwin. Baldwin also had both a rushing touchdown and receiving touchdown on the night.
Frederica followed up the 2025 region debut with a matchup against another long-time adversary, Pinewood Christian Academy.
The Knights had battled back against the Patriots to a 7-7 tie in the all-time matchup after starting 0-5 in the early days of the rivalry.
For the second week in a row, Coach Derrick’s team would break the all-time tie and extend their winning streak to four games against the boys from Bellville, notching their second region win to the tune of 28-14.
While Jaylen Baldwin once again had two touchdowns on the night, the play of the game – if not the season – came in the 2nd quarter when 6’7” 225 lb. Sophomore TE JC Wessel caught a 4th down pass on the 10 yard line and carried four Pinewood defenders from there into the endzone.
Region play wraps up for Frederica on October 24 with a trip to Savannah to take on St. Andrews.
The Lions – currently playing at Daffin Park next to Historic Greyson Stadium due to field upgrades at their Wilmington Island campus – come into the matchup with a 3-6 record but winless in region play.
St Andrews has never beaten Frederica, with the 7-0 loss in 2020 the only match that was within three scores.
To be bluntly realistic, the chances that coach Derrick’s squad doesn’t end the week with an undefeated Region Championship are very, very low.
That being said, the outlook for the playoffs is promising, but less than perfect. The GIAA uses MaxPreps rankings to seed their playoff brackets.
This puts Frederica at the #5 position in the Division, just behind Valwood and ahead of Tiftarea Academy.
If this ranking stays the same after this weekend’s matches, it means Frederica will get a 1st Round bye but will not get a home playoff game.
One thing that may affect the ranking is the final decision in regard to the weather-shortened 14-7 loss to West Nassau High in Week 2.
Lightning in the area suspended play with about a minute left in the 1st quarter and never resumed.
If the two coaches can agree to wipe the “game” from the site, it might be enough to vault Frederica into the #4 seed, however the head-to-head loss against Valwood in Week 3 will more than likely complicate the matter.
More than likely, if the seeding does not change, the Knights will be making a 2nd round road trip to either Westfield or Valwood.
The Knights are 2-0 all-time versus Westfield (two lopsided wins in 2018 & 2019) but are currently on a five-game losing streak to Valwood after going 4-5 against the Valiants in their first nine matchups.
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show w Brandon Derrick October 23 2024
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s w Brandon Derrick November 1
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show w Brandon Derrick October 25
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show w Brandon Derrick November 2
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