CANEY BAY — With the season opener in the rearview mirror, Brantley County first-year head coach David Shores is ready for his team to learn from their mistakes.
The Herons (0-1) fell 61-13 to neighboring Charlton County last week. Brantley County was hampered by the turnover bug and mental mistakes. BCHS committed six turnovers throwing four interceptions and losing two fumbles. The mental were 10 penalties and numerous assignments missed on both sides of the ball.
“We made a lot of mental mistakes that hurt us,” said Shores. “All week we (coaches) were talking to the players about effort. That came from our performance in the scrimmage against Frederica Academy.
“We talked to the players about focusing on playing hard from whistle to whistle. We did that, but we mentally lost focus of executing on both sides of the ball.”
Shores also pointed out Brantley County has lost valuable practice time. The Herons have been on the practice field four times over the last three weeks because of the weather and heat.
“When you can’t get on the grass it really hurts,” he said. “There’s not a lot you can do inside (gym). It’s hard and the players suffer.”
To remedy the situation, the head coach is moving practices to early morning.
“We’re going to come in early and get our work in,” he said. “The storm really hurt us and then you can’t practice in the afternoons because of the heat. We’re (coaches) are making an adjustment in our practice schedule so we can get on the grass.”
As was the case with Charlton County, Shores has no video of this week’s opponent for the home opener - Windsor Forest - who is playing its first game. Neither team scrimmaged in the spring nor did either have scrimmage in August.
Just like the Indians, the Knights are under a new head coach. C.J. Fraizer worked the past three seasons as offensive coordinator at Ridgeland-Hardeeville in South Carolina.
“I have no game film on them (Knights),” said Shores. “We’re going into this week preparing for everything. We’re going to get back to basics with our practices this week.
“It’s back to the fundamentals of blocking and tackling, which we haven’t been able to do a lot of the last three weeks. We’ll work on techniques and just refocus on getting better.”
According to a post in the Savannah Morning News, Frazier said he has some standouts coming back in senior middle linebacker Markee Eason 5-foot-11, 250 lbs.) and senior running back/linebacker Izaiyah Cooper (6-foot, 215).
Frazier said his offensive will feature multiple styles. He has played the role of scout team quarterback in practices, bringing a strong energy to the program.
Senior Anthony Williams (5-11, 165) is expected to start at quarterback for the Knights.
