CANEY BAY — Brantley County first-year head coach David Shores and his staff are having to deal with a tragedy and Hurricane Debby as the Herons prepare for a home scrimmage Friday night.
The tragedy was the death of 17-year-old Talan Tanner, who touched the lives of many players on the squad. The team attended the funeral service Monday afternoon on the BCHS campus after an early morning practice session.
The outer bands of Hurricane Debby have drenched southeast Georgia with more rain to come over the next few days limiting practice.
The third item is with school cancelled, Shores is following suit hoping to get his guys back Wednesday and Thursday with the scrimmage looming Friday night a 7:30 p.m., or perhaps being moved to Saturday.
“It has been a hectic last few days,” Shores said Monday night. “Last week ended well for us, but the storm and the death have put a damper on things.”
Shores brought in his squad Monday morning to lift, watch some film and get in a little practice in the gym ahead of the funeral service which was scheduled at 2 p.m. With Tuesday’s first official day of school cancelled, the new coach opted not to bring his team with the heaviest of rain predicted. “I hope to meet with the team Wednesday afternoon,” said Shores. “I don’t know if we will have practice in the gym or outside. The weather report is for rain and thunder storms.
“I’m looking to be on the field Thursday if it’s not under water. It’s just been crazy trying to get ready and implementing a regular practice week.
“We’re going to try and play Friday night if possible. It could be moved to Saturday. That decision would be made at the latest Friday morning.”
The Herons follow the scrimmage with their season opener August 16 in Folkston against Charlton County.
Shores said Friday’s scrimmage with the Knights will feature live kicking.
“That’s good because we need to work on our special teams play,” he said.
Frederica Academy has already scrimmaged knocking off visiting Bethesda Academy 7-0 last Friday. The Blazers won the Class 2A South Carolina Independent Schools Association championship last year posting an unbeaten season.
“I thought our defense played really well and our front line (offensive and defensive line) did really good,” said head coach Brandon Derrick of his young squad. “I thought they did a really good job of controlling the line of scrimmage pretty much the whole night. We are youthful, so we made some mistakes on offense and if we don’t turn the ball over a couple of times.”
The Knights’ option attack offensive scheme will be directed by sophomore quarterback Stanton Beverly. Jordyn Rollins and Hayes Carter are the running backs with the departure of four-year starter Jordan Triplett, who is now attending the Air Force Academy. Triplett finished his career as the state’s all-time leading rushinger with 9,028 yards and third in touchdowns with 115 trailing ECI’s Washaun Ealey’s mark of 133 and ELCA’s Keaton Mitchell’s total of 118.
