By Derrick Davis
The Brunswick News
With the ball one yard from the end zone and three seconds left until halftime, Frederica Academy attempted to punch in a score, only for a fumble to result in a 101-yard touchdown in the other direction.
It was that kind of night in a 47-14 loss to No. 4 Calvary Day on Friday in Savannah.
“We had our opportunities early to keep it kind of close, but it’s a good team,” said Frederica head coach Brandon Derrick. “They’re going to wear on you and beat on you. They’re big, they’re physical. It teaches the kids that we need to do a lot better mechanically. It’s hard for us to get that look in practice — we don’t have enough kids.”
Facing off against a GHSA Class A-Private powerhouse coming off a semifinal appearance in Calvary Day, Frederica (1-1) did all it could to hang around throughout the first quarter despite the loss of quarterback Thomas Veal to injury last week.
With Veal out, Bryce Reilly got the start in the backfield alongside standout running back Jordan Triplett, but the Knights had a tough time getting much going against the Cavaliers.
Still, Frederica managed to keep the game scoreless until Calvary Day scored on a two-yard touchdown run from AJ Butts to take a 7-0 lead with 4:23 in the first quarter. The Cavaliers found the end zone again on a shovel pass taken 39 yards for a score, and 13-yard touchdown pass extended the lead to 21-0 with 6:39 remaining in the half.
Trailing by four scores, Frederica had the opportunity to put its first points on the board when a fumble went awry. Instead, the Knights went into the locker room trailing 34-0.
It was a tough, frustrating half of football, but Frederica didn’t hang their collective head. The Knights continued to fight, winning the second half by a score of 14-13 thanks to scores from Reilly and Triplett.
“They finished; we scored right there at the end too, driving down, doing what we need to do, and our kids execute,” Derrick said. “We knew we were going to have a tough time losing Thomas at quarterback, being able to get Bryce ready was a little bit of a challenge, but I thought our kids continued to battle, and we build off that. We build off effort and attitude.”
Despite the final score, the Knights accomplished the goal of their trip to M.C. Anderson Field.
“We got better,” Derrick said. “You play really good teams, you get better. You may not win, but I think you play those caliber teams — I don’t think we’ll play anybody as a good, as big, and as athletic as Calvary. You get that out of your system. You get that fear of big and athletic teams out of your system, so when you got to play everybody else, the kids are like, ‘Well, we’ve already played someone like this.’”
