Sean Pender
BHS 2018 Season Recap
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Year one of the Sean Pender era at Brunswick High is in the books, and it marks a turnaround in a program that has been down for the last two football seasons.
BHS finished the season with a heartbreaking 24-21 loss to Northside Warner Robins, but the 7-3 final record almost matches the combined 8 wins in the previous two football seasons.
Pender who took over in February got Brunswick back in the state playoffs for the first time since 2014.
Season Grades:Offense: B+. This unit did a complete 360 in 2017. Here is the proof.
In region games the Pirates averaged 45. 5 points per game compared to 20.5 points per game in 2016.
The region record improved to 3-1 instead of 1-3 and missing the playoffs.
Pender is a QB guru and Jamarius Stevens had a record breaking year in offensive production with over 3000 yards in total offense and accounted for 38 TD’s.
Alonzo Brown and DJ Whitfield had all region years at WR. Brown, who was not used at all in 2016, set a school record for single season receiving yards, and Whitfield accumulated almost as much finishing the season with third most receiving yards in a single season in Pirate history.
The offensive line was the backbone of the football team led by seniors Ty Hinson and John Cano. Shaq Robinson had a great year at RB.
This unit scored over 40 points in seven out of ten games, 50 points twice, and 60 points twice in 2017.
Defense: B-. This unit was undersized up front but battled hard all season and held Northside to 213 total yards in the playoffs.
Kam Futch was the leader and captain of this unit and displayed those qualities in 2017.
Jaylen Jackson was the best all-around player in the region playing both ways and Jagaryon Marcus and Tevin Small were the unsung heroes of the defensive unit doing whatever they were asked to do on defense.
Special Teams: B. Dalton Thrift developed into a good kicker for BHS. Jaylen Jackson was dangerous in the return game, and Jagaryon Marcus led special teams in tackles. Huge turnaround for this unit in 2017.
Coaching: A. Pender turned this thing in one year and the three losses were to teams that are in the final 16 of the 6A playoffs currently. This team could easily have been 9-1 right and had played Tucker in the second round.
Overall: B+. The 7-3 record in the first year with a new head coach is the second best in the 50 year football history. Only the 2008 Pirates with NFL players Darius Slay and Justin Coleman finished with a better mark of 9-3 in Victor Floyd’s first season.
In conclusion, this sportswriter eats, drinks, and sleeps BHS football and I want to offer a sincere thank you to this senior class and to Coach Sean Pender and his staff.
Seniors, you turned this thing around in one season and you leave BHS as Co-Region Champions. This 2017 football team will always have a special place in my heart due to the fact that you kept working and fighting when most counted you out.
Ty Hinson, John Cano, Kam Futch, Jamarius Stevens, Ben McCloud, Shaq Robinson, Jaylen Jackson, Alonzo Brown, Tevin Small, Sean Ward, and the rest of this class thank you from a grateful Pirate nation for the hard work and dedication. You leave this football program on solid ground for the future and you leave the program better than you inherited it. You will be missed.
Sean Pender thank you for taking this job. You will lead BHS to great things as a football program.
The 2017 Pirates will be looked back on as the team that got BHS back on track.
Pirate Pride is a way of life and this football team showed that in 2017.
Northside Sink Pirates
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Brunswick High Pirates 2017 football season came to a heartbreaking end last night a 24-21 loss to Northside Warner Robins.
The Pirates drove 67 yards in 2 minutes and had their heart broken on the north end zone goal line with 16 seconds left as BHS threw an interception to end Sean Pender’s first season at BHS with a 7-3 record.
Northside will move on and play Tucker in the second round.
Pirate Report Card
Offense: B. It is playoff football against a traditional football power in the state of Georgia, and this group took it to Northside most of the night.
Passing game was very good and Pender said all week that BHS was going to have to throw it all night against the Northside defense who was very good against the run.
Offensive line was awesome all night in pass protection.
Shaq Robinson had a rushing and receiving TD. DJ Whitfield had his best game as a Pirate with 12 catches for 165 yards.
We come now to Jamarius Stevens, who had a great playoff game as he passed for 304 yards and a score. He rushed for 105 and a score. I will miss this kid and he will go down as one of my favorite Pirate QB’s of all time.
Pender told me on Friday night that if BHS scored 28 points they would move on to Tucker and said red zone offense would be the key. He was correct as BHS only got points on three out of six trips into the red zone.
A fumble on the first series that setup the short field for the Eagles first score and the season ending pick kept this grade from being an A.
Great playoff effort by the BHS offense.
Defense: B. This group played its guts out against a running football team. The Northside veer got some yards and the one pass Northside completed all night long was for a TD, but this unit flew around and made some plays.
Tevin Small played a great game at LB. Kam Futch, the captain of this defense, played his heart out.
BHS stopped the fullback in the veer all night long and contained the QB for the most part. The pitch guy made a few runs but the defense put up a very solid football effort against a brand name in Georgia High School football.
Very proud of the effort of this group.
Special Teams: C-. You can’t give up an 85 kickoff return for a TD in a playoff game against a team like Northside where points are at a premium.
BHS did some good things with Jaylen Jackson on punt returns, and only punted one time in the contest.
This area was one of the most improved aspects of BHS football in 2017.
Coaching: B+. Solid game plan. Pender showed confidence in his offense by going for it on fourth down from the two on the first drive.
The clock management was solid on the two minute offense at the end of the game. Team played inspired football all night long and great adjustments were made at the half.
Overall: B. BHS went toe to toe with Northside and came up 3 points short.
Nothing to hang your head about in reality. But, the reality is that this loss stings and will hurt for a long time because BHS was a better football team than Northside.
Sometimes in team sports the better team does not win and that is just life and you learn from it.
The Jason Bishop Show with Kipp Branch Nov 11
Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch Oct 28
Pirates Win Region
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Sean Pender in his first season on Altama Avenue and a senior class that has had three head coaches in four years won a share of the region championship with a 56-34 win at, previously undefeated, Richmond Hill.
It is the first region championship for BHS since 2009. A huge Pirate contingent traveled the 45 minutes north to Richmond Hill and were loud and proud all night long.
The 22-point win will give the Pirates the point differential tiebreaker against Glynn and Richmond Hill for the #1 playoff seed should Richmond Hill beat Effingham as expected next Friday night.
The heroes of the night for BHS were Jagaryon Marcus and Jaylen Jackson. These guys were all over the field all night long.
Pirate Report Card:
Offense: A+. 56 points on the road against a team that was undefeated and flying high.
Everyone and everything on the offensive side was clicking. The entire offensive line team photo should be hanging on the post office wall on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list because of the assault they laid on the Richmond Hill defensive front.
Robinson and McCloud ran like wild men all night long.
Alonzo Brown, DJ Whitfield, and Jaylen Jackson destroyed the Wildcats’ secondary.
And last but not least, Jamarius Stevens, still with the ankle issue, lead his team to a region title and cemented an all-region season at QB for the Pirates.
This unit was lights out.
Defense: B. This unit set the tone with the Marcus scoop and score on the first series to put the Pirates up 7-0.
Richmond Hill scored some points and got a couple of late TD’s but Kam Futch and company clamped down the Wildcats’ run game in second half. The Pirate defense made the Wildcats a one dimensional team.
The BHS defense with Sean Ward and a couple others gut checked its way to winning a tough football game. This unit laid the wood to Richmond Hill offensive players all night long.
Special Teams: B. Solid kick coverage that pinned the Wildcats on its own 1 yard line to start game and no big returns with the athletes on the talented Richmond Hill roster.
The kickoff coverage has been fantastic. DJ Whitfield set up a BHS TD right before the half with a 52 yard kick return.
Coaching: A+. Sean Pender said all week that BHS was going to beat Richmond Hill and that the Wildcats could not stop the Pirates.
The game plan was awesome and executed perfectly on offense.
The culture change is now complete as the 2017 Pirates under Pender win their 7th Region Football title and first since 2009.
Pender has to be the Region Coach of the Year after turning this team into champions after going 8-12 and no playoffs for last two years. The Pirates have a great shot at being a number one seed.
A happy Glynn County AD Steve Waters called me post game and said the Pirates would be receiving a Region Championship Trophy next Friday night on senior night prior to the Osborne game.
Pender for President in 2020. Pirates are relevant again.
Overall: A+. BHS is a football champion again. Enough said there.
Jaylen Jackson is a stud and any accolade you can come up with. That last TD catch and two-point conversion to get BHS the point differential points for region tiebreaker was the stuff of legends. Thank you, Mr. Jackson
Up next: Osborne. The Region Champs come home for an emotional senior night at Glynn County stadium.
The BHS Pirates Region 2-AAAAAA Football Champions. Print me up a size XXL.
Pirates Sink Bradwell
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Brunswick High Pirates arrived at Glynn County Stadium Friday night with high hopes on Homecoming and waiting on them at the 50 for the coin flip were the undefeated Bradwell Tigers.
Bradwell came in to the contest with a 6-0 record, feeling pretty good about themselves.
In fact, the Tigers were confident they were going come in and ruin the Pirates season much like they did in 2016 with a 21-18 win over BHS. That loss kept the Pirates out of the playoffs.
Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch Sept 23
Sean Pender Show September 6
Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch Sept 2
Sean Pender Show August 30
