Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets
Pro Bowl Sting
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The NFL world flocked to Orlando last weekend to watch the game’s best in the 2025 Pro Bowl Games. The “game’s best” applies in a couple of different scenarios.
The obvious is that of Jared Goff, Fred Warner and Bijan Robinson, some of the best in the NFL, but also applies to the names Jaci Kitchings and Jadyn Williams.
Jaci and Jadyn are two seniors that wrapped up their careers at Southeast Bulloch with the school’s fourth consecutive state championship back in December but represented the NFC squad in the first NFL Girls Flag All-Star Game.
The inaugural event put on by the NFL saw thirty high school girls from all over the country (even two from Alaska) which included the two SEB Yellow Jackets competing in a flag football All-Star game to kick off the festivities on Sunday at the 2025 NFL Pro Bowl Games.
The NFL rolled out the red carpet for the Girls Flag Football All-Star Game participants including Kitchings and Williams.
The two Jacket players were flown down to Orlando on Friday before the Sunday afternoon game and not only got gear for the event, but the opportunity to take in some of the local attractions in Orlando and events with the NFL Pro Bowl players.
“They have had the best experience,” said SEB Head Flag Football Coach Marci Cochran. “What a great event by the NFL and I’m super excited they both got to participate.”
Jaci and Jadyn found out that they were named to the thirty-girl roster just before the semifinals of the GHSA state tournament and were ecstatic to get the news but had unfinished business to take care of.
They would find themselves in familiar ground on the stage in Atlanta after an overtime thriller having won their fourth consecutive state championship and capping off an 82-1 record in their SEB careers.
Southeast Bulloch Flag Football burst on the scene in 2021 when the program began (when Kitchings and Williams were freshmen) and have won the state championship each of the first four years of the program’s existence and winning 82 out of 83 games played in program history. The lone loss in program history came this year against the private school sector in Calvary Day out of Savannah.
I got to catch up with SEB Head Coach Marci Cochran as she watched Jadyn and Jaci play in the All-Star game in Orlando and looking back on the last four years she said “After starting four years ago and lost our first game this year which was devastating but in the long run it helped us win another state title. Four in a row which is more than any other team in the state of Georgia. We’re super excited about the growth of our program and adding a middle school program last year which helped us too.”
Coach Cochran has seen every snap that both Jadyn and Jaci have taken in their flag football careers and have become not only trendsetters on the national level at the Pro Bowl Games but also helped set the fantastic foundation of the SEB program.
“They’re the first seniors that have completed all four years, so they’re very special to us and we hate to be losing them,” Cochran said holding back tears. “Jaci has grown so much. Her development and dedication are awesome. Jadyn was always a really good player, but to watch her learn the game and understand the game is fun and to watch both of them grow from freshmen to seniors is really impressive.”
The NFL has made a concerted effort from the NFL League Office all the way down to the different teams investing in the sport of flag football at all levels, but especially at the high school level.
“For the sport as a whole, the Falcons itself sponsor a team in Alabama and there’s a couple other states that they’re starting to dive into to be able to start flag football there,” said Cochran. “Just the money and support they give for all these schools to be able to provide a flag football program without it having to come out of their own pocket is huge. It’s expensive to start a new sport, so their involvement in flag football has been awesome.”
While Kitchings and Williams will get to do it one more time as SEB heads to Canton, Ohio for the National Flag Football High School Tournament, the experience at the NFL Pro Bowl Games really put a nice bow on a historic career for these two and would have been hard to believe a couple years ago said Coach Cochran.
“To see them get to play down here (in Orlando) and see this opportunity. To be in this stadium, to have the game broadcasted on ESPN even with the Goodyear Blimp. Who would have ever thought that four years ago? So, it’s really special to be down here with them.”
Making The Grade?
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Hard to believe already but the regular season for high school football in Georgia is at the halfway point of the year.
Today we’ll take a look at the report card for the four Bulloch County high school football teams; Southeast Bulloch, Statesboro, Bulloch Academy, and Portal.
Southeast Bulloch (4-1; 3-1 Reg3-3A) | A-
Southeast Bulloch has been off to a great start to the season with the only blemish on the card being the road loss at Calvary Day School.
The Jackets offense has been steadily growing despite a couple of injuries and culminated three 100 yard rushing performances so far.
Jacket Country saw Jayden Murphy rush for 160 yards and two scores against the Atom Smashers and Colby Smith following up with 130 yards and a score in the contest against Johnson. Smith followed the Johnson game up with 124 rushing yards against Windsor Forest last weekend.
Sophomore Quarterback Rhett Morgan is growing up before Head Coach Jared Zito’s eyes with two passing scores on the year and 5 explosive plays the past two weeks thru the air.
The Jackets defense led by Senior Kyle O’Brien, and Sophomore Brant Horst at the linebacker spots have held their own only allowing just over 100 rushing yards per game on the year and forcing 12 turnovers in the first five games.
Statesboro (2-3; 1-2 Reg1-5A) | C+
Second year Head Coach Matt Dobson has had a tough go at through the first half of the year.
After falling to cross town rival SEB in the opener, the Blue Devils picked up their first victory against Veterans 21-10 in week 2.
SHS then dropped their first two region matchups against Greenbrier and Glynn Academy but picked up their first region win against Bradwell Institute last week 41-36.
Quarterback Beckham Jarrard has taken the boro by storm in his freshman season already with over 800 passing yards and completing 62% of his passes with Keon Childers the favorite target racking up 298 receiving yards and two scores.
Statesboro has a tough road ahead down the back stretch but look to build off an impressive game against Bradwell Institute.
Bulloch Academy (6-0) | A+
The Gators have come out hot as ever in 2024 ranking #1 in the GIAA rankings after the 6-0 start.
Head Coach Aaron Phillips builds off the state semifinal appearance last season with a march to continue the winning ways in 2024.
Shamar Jenkins has been a huge boost for the Gators on the offensive side both at running back and receiver while the BA Defense has been the huge linchpin for the Gators success.
BA looks poised to enter region play then take a march deep into the GIAA state playoffs that culminate at the end of November at Allen E. Paulson Stadium for the GIAA State Championships.
Portal (2-3; 1-2 Reg 3-1Ad2) | C
The Portal Panthers continue to find the new identity after losing a number of players from a year ago to graduation and are now playing on Saturdays.
A couple of those that have stepped up is senior running back Jaylon Strickland and Brian McQueen.
Strickland recorded his first 100+ rushing yard game in the victory over Byran County last week and has racked up 360 on the year with 2 scores.
McQueen who has made the shift from quarterback to receiver is accountable for five touchdowns on the year (2 rushing, 2 receiving, 1 passing).
Portal seems to be rounding into shape and looking to get back to the success they’ve shown in the past few years.
Jason Bishop Show May 30 2024
No ‘I’ In Team
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
What’s the Difference between a “Program” and a “Team”?
No matter what level sports, or what sport for that matter, the term “good program” gets thrown around as much as NIL.
The problem with this is just because a team is winning or performing well, doesn’t mean that it’s a good program.
Everybody knows what a good team looks like. Impressive stats, good players, and a lot of wins. But what does a good program look like? Is there a standard? Does it have something to do with Nick Saban’s “process”?
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you stop hearing the term “program” past the college level. Nobody would say that the Atlanta Falcons are a good “program”. Good Team? So far. Good Organization? Yes. Good Franchise? Yes….most would say yes. It’s mainly college and high school sports entities that people talk about being a “program”.
To me, in order to be labeled as a “good program” it’s about development. Developing young men and women into great athletes, yes, but also developing the whole person.
Since sports fans are looking at how many NFL players that college programs produce, or how many recruiting “stars” come out of a high school program, it gets lost that MAYBE 5% of the teams will be making that jump to the next level. What happens to the other 95%?
That’s where a “good program” comes into play. There are so many programs and resources that are at the hands of the student-athletes now to prepare them for when that inevitable final pitch, last basket, or career ending snap is taken.
Most (not all) college athletic departments have put in incentives in place to prepare student-athletes after sports. One example of these is right here in our own back yard.
Georgia Southern Director of Athletics Jared Benko has put a great emphasis on the APEX program. This is an outreach program that follows a curriculum through the career of the student-athlete that covers everything from financial literacy, teaching about taxes, job interview skills, and much more.
The student-athletes are also involved in community outreach, and sessions of needed skills that nobody thinks about like an emergency car care session to show athletes basic car maintenance, and emergency roadside tips.
This trickles down to the high school level too. Everybody wants to look at schools with a brand-new turf field, or a massive videoboard as good programs, and while that’s great, no discounting it at all, if you’re not invested in the people of your program, you’re just a good team…. if that.
Many times, at the high school level, some of these assets to the student athlete are open to all the students at the school and are spearheaded by coaches.
Take Southeast Bulloch for example. The last few years, Coaches Brent Osborne and Randy Lee have been building up the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) program at SEB that was dormant for over 20 years. Now up to about 65 members (many of them student-athletes for the Jackets), the FBLA hosts events for resume building, job interview skills, and other real-world experiences and skills that prepare the members and student-athletes in ways that many at other programs won’t have.
Don’t get me wrong, the “fancy” facilities don’t mean that a program is focusing more on the looks than the substance.
In addition to Randy Lee being RBs coach and Special teams coordinator for SEB Football, and Brent Osborne stepping away from on-field football coaching and moving to the broadcast booth this year, both Lee and Osborne are the Girls and Boys golf coaches for the Jackets and raised money to buy a state-of-the-art golf simulator for SEB golfers. Both can be done and are done well many places throughout the state.
So, what the heck does all this mean? It is just me going off on a soap box again? (maybe…) Just think next time you or you hear someone say, “man that’s a really good program”. Just think. Is it really a good program? Or is it just a good team?
Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch July 14
Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch May 5
Jason Bishop Show June 18
