As a precursor to this week, last Friday night’s football jamboree at Bryan County was more than an hour late getting started due to the weather but when it was over Redskins Coach Cherard Freeman was a happy camper.
“I told you we would be okay,” said a smiling Freeman after his team had butted heads with Butler and Beach for two quarters. Claxton was the fourth team in the event and the Tigers faced off against Butler and Beach.
Coming off a Final Four season in which they went 12-2 the Redskins face what many see as a rebuilding season with the likes of Austin Clemons, Tanner Ennis, Sean Kelly Hill, John Good, Luke Holman, Kris Martin, etc., having graduated.
Freeman, however, doesn’t look at as being in a rebuilding process but rather believes that in his fifth season it’s a matter of reloading.
“I feel like we have a program here now,” Freeman said. “We lost a lot of good players but we’ve got a lot of good ones still here.”
The four teams combined to play what amounted to two full games with only Beach managing to score a touchdown. The Bulldogs got loose for a 60-yard catch and run play against the Redskins which was aided by a couple of missed tackles by freshmen.
Freeman, as is his custom, played a lot of younger players and looked at different combinations on both offense and defense.
“It was a good thing,” Freeman said of the outing. “We played a lot of young guys. We know we have a lot of older guys who can play but we wanted to see what some of our younger guys can do.
“We put a couple of freshmen, for example, in at tight end and at running back,” Freeman said. “We had a freshman at quarterback. We were just trying to get some guys on film.
“We were able to move the football a little bit and we’re excited about that.”
Gerbrae’vion Collins, a junior who has started the last two years at safety, started at quarterback but freshman Gunner Ennis got extensive playing time. A bevy of running backs led by Gaige Javis, Anddreas McKinny and Cooper Ennis ran behind an offensive line which was led by center Allen Williams.
Offensively the Redskins were at their best against Beach with Gunner Ennis at quarterback and Collins playing running back. Collins is a talented athlete with excellent speed and has a physical presence.
“The purpose of tonight was to get a look at some people,” Freeman said. “It’s a lot different going against someone else. Gunner is going to be okay. He’s a freshman and we’re very excited about him. He’s going to be a good player for us.”
Bryan County’s defense shone as it kept both Butler and Beach bottled up other than the one broken play by the Bulldogs.
“I liked our defense,” Freeman said. “Right now, our defense is ahead of our offense and this time of year that’s what you want: you want your defense to be farther along than your offense.
“I was pleased with our defense. I was pleased with the way we finished and how we went to the football. We played pretty basic defense tonight. We’ve got some kids with potential.”
The one thing he wanted to see, however, and didn’t, Freeman said, was the Redskins’ approach to the scrimmage in terms of attitude.
“I was disappointed we didn’t have more excitement,” Freeman said. “I didn’t feel that we played with excitement. I think that’s one thing we’ve got to get better at. We’ve got to play with excitement.”
The Redskins have until next Friday’s season opener against Johnson to rectify that issue and any other film study may reveal. Following the home opener they then go to Aquinas before opening an eight-game Region 3A-DII schedule.
Bryan County won Region 3A-DI last year but because of reclassification it finds itself in a new region this year. Claxton, Savannah High, Metter and Screven County are holdovers from last year but the Redskins have picked up Portal, ECI, McIntosh County Academy and Jenkins County as region opponents.