CANEY BAY — Second-year head coach David Shores will see how far his program has improved when Brantley County scrimmages with Frederica Academy Friday.
The teams are familiar with each other having scrimmaged and played for keeps since 2020.
“I always love going against (coach) Brandon Derrick,” Shores said of his counterpart. “He does a great job over there.”
Derrick is beginning his 13th season at the St. Simons Island school, a GISA (Georgia Independent School Association) member.
The Knights, who went 5-6 a year ago, have 30 players on the roster.
Junior quarterback Stanton Beverly (6-foot-2, 175 lbs.) rushed for 835 yards and scored 14 touchdowns last season. He threw for 524 yards and six scores.
Classmate Jaylen Baldwin was second with 781 yards and seven touchdowns. A third junior, Jayden Gibson, was the leading receiver with 13 catches for 174 yards. Sophomore J.C. Wessel (6-6, 220) turned half of his eight receptions into touchdowns.
“I want to see us play with a lot of effort,” Shores said leading into the game. “We’re going to have missed tackles like every other team, but I want to see our guys playing at full speed and getting 11 hats to the ball. If we do that then that one missed tackle won’t hurt us.”
Senior outside linebacker Gavin Grantham (5-10, 180) is the leading returning tackler recording 67 stops last season with 41 being solo.
“Offensively, I’m looking for a clean game,” said Shores. “That means execution, eliminating mental errors and not turning the ball over. We just need to eliminate mistakes.
Shores said had good attitudes the first week in pad.
“Mentally they were there,” the coach said. “We physically challenged them. We also didn’t have any major injuries.”
There will be no live kicking game in Friday’s scrimmage. Offenses will start at their own 30 and punts will be marked where the ball is caught or stops rolling.
Defenses will not rush on punts, PATs or field goals.
