Southern Sports Edition
Jason Bishop Show November 12 2026
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show With Brandon Derrick November 11 2026
Different Directions for Atlanta Falcons And Jacksonville Jaguars
By: Michael Spiers
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
If you’re a football fan in South Georgia, particularly one who follows both the Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons, it was an interesting week.
One franchise apparently believes it’s ready to make a serious run at a Super Bowl. The other looks like it’s already thinking about next season.
And for once, it’s the Jacksonville Jaguars who are making all the noise for the right reasons.
The Jaguars entered this week with a 6–2 record, sitting atop the AFC South and looking like legitimate contenders in the AFC. Apparently, that wasn’t good enough for Jacksonville’s front office, because the Jaguars went on a shopping spree Monday that would make a teenager with a new credit card jealous.
First came the acquisition of three-time All-Pro safety Jessie Bates III from the Atlanta Falcons. Jacksonville surrendered a second-round pick in 2027 and a fifth-round selection in 2028 to land one of the NFL’s most dependable defensive playmakers.
Bates has been one of Atlanta’s best players since arriving in 2023. He’s a tackling machine, a ball hawk, and the kind of veteran leader that championship teams love having in their secondary.
For Jacksonville, it’s an outstanding addition. For Atlanta fans, it’s another reason to wonder exactly where this franchise is headed.
But the Jaguars weren’t finished. Later, Jacksonville pulled off an even bigger blockbuster, acquiring former University of Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis from the Philadelphia Eagles.
And this one wasn’t cheap. The Jaguars gave up a first-round pick in 2027 and a second-round selection in 2029 to bring Davis to Jacksonville.
That’s a hefty price, but anyone who watched Davis dominate the defensive line during Georgia’s 2021 national championship season knows what kind of player Jacksonville is getting.
At 6-foot-6 and approximately 336 pounds, Davis is an absolute mountain of a human being. He’s the kind of defensive lineman who can make an offensive coordinator reconsider his entire game plan.
For Bulldog fans, there’s also something pretty exciting about seeing Davis reunited with former Georgia teammate Travon Walker, who was the first overall selection in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Those two were part of one of the greatest defenses in college football history. Now they’ll be lining up together again, this time wearing teal instead of red and black.
Jacksonville also added veteran defensive tackle Davon Godchaux from New Orleans, giving the Jaguars even more muscle in the middle of their defensive front.
Three defensive acquisitions in one day. That’s not a team content with simply making the playoffs. That’s a team trying to win the whole thing.
Of course, there’s considerable risk involved. Jacksonville has now surrendered some valuable future draft capital, and these moves will be judged by what happens over the next couple of months.
If the Jaguars make a deep playoff run, nobody will complain about those missing draft picks. But if they stumble in the opening round, the criticism will come quickly.
Meanwhile, the Falcons are heading in a very different direction. Trading Bates, one of their most talented and respected players, certainly suggests Atlanta is more interested in building for tomorrow than winning today.
And that’s a tough pill to swallow for a fan base that has spent far too many years hearing about rebuilding, restructuring, and promising futures.
At some point, Falcons fans would probably appreciate a little less talk about the future and a few more victories in the present.
What makes this particularly interesting is the contrast between the two franchises.
Jacksonville is aggressively pursuing a championship, while Atlanta appears willing to sacrifice a proven veteran for additional draft picks.
Only time will tell which approach pays off. Personally, I love what Jacksonville is doing. Championships aren’t guaranteed, but opportunities to compete for them don’t come around every season, either.
The Jaguars have decided their opportunity is right now. And if Jordan Davis and Travon Walker can help bring a championship to Jacksonville, there will be plenty of Georgia Bulldog fans celebrating right along with Duval County.
As for the Falcons? Well, there’s always next year. Haven’t we heard that somewhere before?
Camden County Wildcats Coach’s Show With Tucker Pruitt November 10 2026
PSR Got It Wrong
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
This is the first year that Georgia is using Postseason Rankings (PSR) instead of traditional region-only placement rules. Each classification from 7A to down to Class A and Private used this for the 32-team field.
I want to look at 7A to see if the rankings are correct. The playoffs will start this week.
Buford (10-0) was the #1 team in the state going into the playoffs and they’re ranked third nationally. The Wolves are the reigning Class 6A state and national champions but they are seeded 9th in Class 7A. They are the only No. 1-ranked team to be seeded outside the top 8 in the PSR in any bracket.
Buford’s first-round game is home against #24 Marietta (6-4). As the top ranked team, the Wolves should be No. 1 in the playoff bracket.
Wolves head coach Bryant Appling got his 100th victory as a coach last week and tied a state record held by Joey King (current Carrollton and former Cartersville coach) as the fastest to 100 (each with 100-8 records).
Valdosta (9-1) was ranked #6 in 7A and they are the top seed in the playoffs. The only loss came against arch-rival, #4 Lowndes 32-31. The Wildcats will host #32 West Forsyth (4-6).
Valdosta is looking to win their first state championship since 2016.
Newton (10-0) is #2 in PSR and #3 in state rankings. The Rams will host #31 Collins Hill (5-5). Newton has a lot of talent. I think they have the second-best roster behind Buford. The Eagles started the season with four losses before turning things around.
Carrolton (10-0) finished the season ranked second and they’re No. 3 in PSR. They will host #30 North Forsyth (5-5). This is a playoff rematch for these teams. The Trojans beat the Raiders 58-17 in the first-round last year in Class 6A.
Raiders coach Robert Craft said they will appreciate the extra time they have as they try to pull the huge upset.
“We’re excited for our team to earn a berth in the state playoffs,” Craft said. “We’re looking forward to the privilege of practicing on Monday.”
Brookwood (9-1) is #4 in PSR. The Broncos will host #29 Norcross (5-5). Brookwood has not won a state title since 2010.
Lowndes (9-1) is ranked fifth. They will host #28 South Forsyth (7-3). The Vikings only loss was in the season finale against #8 Colquitt County, 23-20. The last time Lowndes won a state championship was in 2007.
North Gwinnett (9-1) is No. 6 in the playoff brackets. They will play #27 North Atlanta (6-4). The lone loss was to Brookwood, 50-24. They ended the season by winning a nail biter against #14 Parkview (7-3), 57-55. The Bulldogs may still be tired from that game as they head into the playoffs. North Gwinnett has won one state title in 2017.
No. 7 Colquitt County (7-3) will host #26 Lambert (5-5). The Packers had a very tough schedule, only losing to ranked teams. They lost to #1 (6A) Thomas County Central (10-0), #3 (6A) Lee County (9-1) and Valdosta. Their last state championship was in 2015.
No. 8 North Cobb (8-2) will face #25 Archer (5-5). Both of the Warrior’s losses were by single digits. They lost to #4 (6A) Milton 30-29 (9-1) and 22-19 (OT) to #13 North Paulding (8-2).
So far, I’m not a huge fan of PSR. I think these rankings basically eliminate any chance of early round upsets. I also see teams that are less deserving ranked higher than some elite teams. Let’s see how this plays out.
The Right Group
By: Ron Reagin
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The discussion about PSR, Post Season Ranking, gets clearer when we separate those decisions. Did the right teams get a chance to play in the postseason? And were they seeded fairly once they got there?
We compared two seasons in Georgia’s highest classification. For 2025, we put the actual region-based playoff field against our simulation using today’s PSR rules. For 2026, we put the official PSR bracket against the teams that would have qualified under the old four-per-region system.
In each year, PSR and the old format selected the same 29 teams out of 32. This year, Peachtree Ridge, Richmond Hill and South Forsyth get opportunities the old format would have denied them. Douglas County, Dacula and Mill Creek would have qualified under the old rule but are out under PSR.
In both comparisons, the three additional qualifiers were fifth-place region finishers. No sixth-place teams got in. That means some third- and fourth-place teams were left out.
That gets to the heart of the change. The old format reserves four places for every region. PSR evaluates the full season and the schedules teams played.
That was a stated goal of many who supported changing the old system: the right 32 teams, not four places for every region regardless of what happened over the entire season.
That does not prove every choice is right, but it’s a better starting point than treating a region boundary as the end of the discussion.
Choosing the field is only half the job. The next question is how fairly those 32 teams are seeded.
This year’s Region 1 results show why there cannot always be a perfect head-to-head order. Valdosta beat Colquitt. Colquitt beat Lowndes. Lowndes beat Valdosta. Regardless of the seeding order, one of those teams will rank below a team it beat.
Last year’s Region 1 three-way tie shows the same thing from the other direction.
Valdosta won the tiebreaker and the region title, but under PSR the tiebreaker would only have decided the champion.
Seeds come from statewide PSR order. Lowndes would have been the 2 seed, Colquitt 6 and Valdosta 8, even though Valdosta beat Lowndes 23-14. This year it’s flipped, with Lowndes the region champ at 5 and Valdosta the runner-up at 1. Winning the region doesn’t automatically get you the highest seed.
Buford is another seeding debate worth noting. The defending state champions and national top-10 team is the official 7A No. 9 seed, in part because its out-of-state games get limited credit under PSR.
In a test that gave Buford full credit for those games, Buford moved to fourth. Some say that’s fair, others say they should be 1 based on national polls and previous years’ performance. That’s a whole other issue.
Region-champion protection raises another question. Denmark ranks 19th in the official raw PSR but is protected into the top 16. East Coweta ranks 16th raw and would have been at home without the adjustment.
Now East Coweta travels to Denmark for the first round. That is the reward for winning a region championship. It is not pure PSR order, and whether that produces the fairest seeding is a reasonable debate.
Then there are possible early region rematches. Some folks don’t want that. No one wants their season ending in the first round against a region rival before getting a shot at someone from elsewhere in the state.
Others embrace it. Rivals meeting with the season on the line brings back the atmosphere of those old region championship games.
The purpose is a fair chance to earn a spot in the postseason, then earn a trip to the final by winning this week and the next, until you lose or become champions. That is the standard any playoff format should strive to meet.
The field is set, so for 2026, the debate gets settled on the field, one week at a time. Come the off-season, PSR will get its review.
Whether that means changing how out-of-state games count or how region champs are protected, or schools giving PSR more weight when they schedule.
Year one gave everyone plenty to look at.
Brunswick High Pirates Coach’s Show With Byron Slack November 9 2026
Gator Attacks
By: Joseph Stuckey
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
This past Thursday night, the Bulloch Academy Gators defeated the Savannah Country Day Hornets 42-0 at home in The Swamp.
The Gators came into the game as the #2 seed in the GIAA 4-A playoffs; the Hornets were the #7 seed. This was Savannah Country Day’s first season in GIAA after coming over from GHSA.
The big story in this game was the Gator defense, which came into this game allowing only 11 points per game. In the 5 games leading up to this one, they have allowed only 14 points since 9/18.
To start the playoffs, the Gators were the #2 seed, which means they hosted on Thursday and will host the final four game as well. Their opponent will be the winner of the #3 vs #6 game between Brookstone and Strong Rock.
With a win in the semifinal game, they will head less than 5 miles across town to Paulson Stadium, home of the GSU Eagles for the State Championship.
The Gators have played a tough regular-season schedule where only 3 of their 10 opponents did not make the GIAA playoffs.
Four of their ten opponents were top-4 seeds and hosted at least an Elite Eight game. Three of their opponents were top-2 seeds and will host all the way to the state championship if they continue to advance.
The Gators played 3 reigning state champs this season (John Milledge Academy, Brentwood, and Robert Toombs Christian Academy), and there is a possibility they will have played 2 of this year’s state champs when it’s all said and done.
In AAA, JMA and Westfield are the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. In AA, Brentwood is the #2 seed. The Gators’ only loss this season was to JMA 35-23 back in early September.
JMA will be the #1 team in all of GIAA at the end of the year, and the Gators are hoping to be #2 in terms of MaxPreps power rankings.
Most of the starters for the Gators were impact players back on the 2024 State Championship team.
This group has also won 3 of 4 region titles during their time in high school. With the win over Savannah Country Day, this group moved to 42-5 overall for their high school career.
The Gators are 3-0 at Paulson Stadium (AKA “The Swamp South”) during the 2023-2025 span and will hopefully look to make that 4-0 in a couple of weeks.
McIntosh County Academy Buccaneers Coach’s Show with Bradley Warren November 5 2026
Jason Bishop Show November 5 2026
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