FA Knightly News (9.27.21)

Message from the Athletic Director

In the world of athletics, there are some phrases that are spoken by coaches to their teams: "One half doesn't make a good team," "There is no such thing as a moral victory," "Winning is not a sometime thing, it's an all the time thing," and of course the famous quote by Vince Lombardi, "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." I think at this point I've heard them all and have used a few of them myself.

When I watched our boys out on the football field this past Friday, I couldn't help but think in a way our team doesn't need to be affirmed with quotes. To be a good football team, they just need to play like they love playing the game of football. It was obvious to those of us who were able to attend the game that we played two very different halves. In fact, it almost seemed like two different football teams. There is no doubt our boys began to play like they enjoyed football, and the mental and physical toughness came through during the second half.

We have been close in most of our games of overcoming the obstacles that are before them each Friday night. Despite the outcome, it was fun to watch. Yes, our coaches wanted to win just like we all did, but I do believe they saw a light at the end of the tunnel. I hope the players did as well. We can compete against anyone we play, we can beat anyone we play, and we can be proud of these coaches and this team when they strap it up every Friday night and represent Knights Nation with a ton of pride and resolve.

I can't be prouder of a set of coaches and players, especially Coach Derrick for his "never-fold" mentality. He's a winner and deserves a lot of our thanks for teaching our boys that they are winners, too, and that they must pay a price each and every practice and game to be a winner. I guess if I had a quote for this team, it would be by my favorite coach Jim Valvano, "Don't give up, don't ever give up." They showed that last Friday night.

Go Knights!

Coach Carl Nash

Athletic Director

This Week's FA Athletics

Monday @ 5:00 PM

MS Volleyball @ St. Francis

Masks Required for Spectators

Tuesday @ 5:00 PM

Varsity Volleyball

@ Memorial Day School

Wednesday @ 4:00 PM

MS Tennis @ Camden MS

Thursday

Varsity Cross Country

@ Wayne County

Boys @ 4:30 PM

Girls @ 5:00 PM

Thursday @ 5:00 PM

MS Football @ Home

vs. Pinewood Christian

Thursday @ 5:00 PM

MS Cross Country

@ Coastal College of Georgia

Varsity Volleyball

Tuesday vs. Valwood (Senior Night)

Tuesday night, we celebrated our only senior, Madison Morgan, against Valwood at our last home game of the season! Although the game did not end the way we hoped, we were so happy to give our love and support to Madison. The highlight of the night was when she served two aces against one of the best teams in our conference. Thank you to Madison for being a great team captain and senior for this team!

Go Knights!

Coach Brittany Griffin

Photos

Varsity Football

Well, it was a story of two halves, we gave up four big plays in the first half that put us behind 32-19, but we responded in the second with a great surge of energy and almost pulled out the victory.

On the night, Long County scored first on the second play from scrimmage and put us behind 8-0. We responded and drove the field to make the score 8-6 on a Bryce Reilly run of 2 yards. However, on the next three possessions Long County would score on runs of 43, 30, and a pass of 65 yards to score 32 points. We scored on a 67 yard jet pass to TJ Jackson from Jordan Triplett, and as time expired in the half Bryce connected with TJ on a 43 yard touchdown strike to make the score 32-19 at the half.

In the second half, Long County struck first scoring on a 33 yard touchdown run to push the score to 38-19. We answered with a 15 play drive on a 5 yard screen pass from Bryce to Jordan to make the score 38-26. Our defense did not surrender another first down on the night. The next possession Bryce connected again with Jordan on another screen pass for a 60 yard play in which Jordan plunged in from the one yard line to make the score 38-33. We would get the ball back one last time, but our drive stalled on an interception with one minute to play.

The guys gave great effort in the second half and played with determination. It definitely has given us something to build on for the second half of the season.

Go Knights!

Coach Brandon Derrick

Photos

Middle School Cross Country

Middle School Cross Country had its second meet on Thursday at Blythe Island. The team competed against Glynn Middle, Jane Macon, amongst others. For most of our runners it was their first official 5k race. FA was led in the 5k race by Rowan Kirkbride and Luke Smith who finished 14th and 16th place overall respectively. John Quincy Evans (29th), Connor Floyd (43) and Jack Hoover (50) rounded out the Knight's top five runners. In the girls race, Lyla Partin finished 14th overall and Isabella Speight finished 32nd overall. The MSXC Knights' next race is Thursday at Coastal College of Georgia.

Go Knights!

Coach James Oberlies

Middle School Football

The Knights beat Bethesda 41-8. Colt Howes had two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown, as well as a receiving touchdown thrown by Grant Moore. Grant had two touchdowns, one rushing and one passing. On the defensive side of the ball, the Knights forced three fumble recoveries. One fumble, caused by Grant Prokop, was picked up by Jack Tronolone. Mary Ford Fitzjurls was 6/7 on extra point kicks with one of them being blocked. Overall, the Knights kept their foot on the gas pedal and ran away with a well fought victory.

Go Knights!

Coach Ryan Lawless

Middle School Tennis

Unfortunately, Middle School Tennis had two matches rained out this past week. We are looking forward to our away match against Camden Middle this Wednesday!

Go Knights!

Coach Brian Wyrick

Middle School Volleyball

We played Saint Simons Christian at The Club Wednesday evening. The score of the games was 12-25 and 16-25. We lost both games, but the girls fought for every point. It was difficult for us to get a momentum going at first due to the other team having very experienced hitting and serving. Amelia McGlaughlin had five aces in the second game, drawing the score to 13-16. I was very proud of my girls; they played extremely hard, defending a lot of hits that were difficult to return. We won a third game to 15, allowing our younger girls to play for experience on the court. Braylee Chism served 5 points in a row with some great returns over the net. The best part about this year’s team is their enthusiasm and motivation to win.

Go Knights!

Coach Erin Madray