If the first week of Savannah High School Football action didn’t scratch your itch, the Week 2 matchups surely will. Let’s not kid ourselves, Savannah’s high school football season doesn’t truly get underway until the city’s marquee program kicks off its season.
Benedictine opens Friday night at Memorial Stadium (6:30 p.m.) versus the largest private school in the state of Florida, and the 2019 Florida Class 8A state champions.
The Christopher Columbus Explorers went 5-0 last season in a modified South Florida season (COVID-19). Like BC, Columbus is an all-male catholic private school and the game is the first of two installments scheduled for the Riddell Classic. BC plays in Miami at Columbus to return the favor in 2022.
In Savannah Chatham County Public School action this week, Islands and Windsor Forest will start the slate Thursday (Aug. 26) at Memorial Stadium when the Sharks open their season playing the Knights (lost to New Hampstead last week) in a crosstown, non-region contest.
Islands has Langston Lewis out wide for his senior season. The receiver is committed to Central Michigan. It’s the second season for IHS head coach DeShawn Printup after the Sharks made a historic playoff run in Year 1 last season.
Jenkins is 1-0 and set to take on Beach (0-0) in a non-region matchup at Garden City Stadium. Last week, HVJ rushed for over 230 yards in new head coach Tony Welch’s option offense. The Bulldogs’ head coach Michael Thompson is coaching in his first season as the Beach head man.
New Hampstead (1-0) looked mighty impressive against Windsor Forest last week in the Phoenix’ win over Windsor Forest. Quarterback Pauly Seely and wide receiver Toriano Bias join with tight end Kaden Sonnabend this week against a stingy Johnson secondary which had four interceptions last week in a 28-21 loss at Augusta Christian. SCJ (0-1) is the home team in the game at Islands Stadium.
Savannah Country Day (1-0) travels to take on ECI (1-0) in an interesting Class A matchup of public versus private. The Bulldogs knocked off No. 6 Savannah Christian last week in ECI, but that was Game 1 for a new SCPS quarterback. Seniors Barry Kleinpeter and Kenny Odom have experience to match ECI, and the Hornets are likely to use Kleinpeter early and often in the running game. SCDS is unranked in every poll except one this week -- 680 The Fan in Atlanta has the Hornets at No. 7 in A Private.
Here is an in-depth look at the game of the week.
COLUMBUS (MIAMI) at BENEDICTINE (6:30 pm) Memorial Stadium
It would be tough to script a more enticing season-opening matchup than that of Christopher Columbus Miami vs Benedictine. It’s the first of two games in the Riddell Catholic School Challenge series scheduled between the squads beginning this season at Memorial Stadium before the Cadets visit South Beach in 2022.
Each team has championship pedigree, and each has a dynamic, future college quarterback at its disposal. Senior signal-caller Holden Geriner (Auburn commit) leads the way for the Cadets while Columbus has its senior quarterback in Fernando Mendoza (Yale).
Geriner threw for 2,770 yards and 25 touchdowns on 179-of-264 passing in 2020.
MaxPreps computer rankings list Columbus as the No. 4 team in Class 8A and the same rankings have Benedictine listed as No. 4 in Class 4A across Georgia. Head Coach Danny Britt’s Cadets are ranked as high as No. 2 in the Class 4A polls this week while their lowest ranking comes at No. 5 from Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB). They are the consensus (all polls combined) No. 3 team in 4A.
The Explorers, coached by Dave Dunn, have a record of 33-5 over their previous three seasons playing in Florida's highest classification.
It’s a matchup of offense versus defense. BC averaged 38.9 points per game last season while CC Miami held opponents to an average of just 6.71 points per game.
It’s the first of two straight out-of-state games for BC to open the 2021 campaign. The Cadets play Beaufort (SC) in Game 3. Friday’s game can be heard on ESPN Coastal (104.3 fm in Savannah) or anywhere through the streaming website at www.espncoastal.com.
Week 2 Schedule
AUG. 26, THURSDAY
Islands at Windsor Forest (MS) 7 pm
AUG. 27, Friday
Bethesda Academy at St. Andrew's School
Beaufort at Effingham County
South Effingham at Metter
Christopher Columbus (FL) at Benedictine, 6:30 p.m.
Groves at Josey (cancelled)
Jenkins at Beach (GC)
New Hampstead at Johnson (I)
Bryan County at Lincoln County
Calvary Day at Bulloch Academy
Savannah Country Day at Emanuel County Institute
Georgia School for Innovation & Classics at Savannah High (Daffin Park)
STADIUM KEY
MS — Memorial Stadium; P — Pooler Stadium; I — Islands; GC — Garden City Stadium.
Times: Thursday and Saturday games are 7 p.m.; all other kickoffs are 7:30 p.m. unless
Follow Travis Jaudon on Twitter/Instagram @JaudonSports. Email him at travisLjaudon@gmail.com.
Optim Orthopedics supports Benedictine Military School and Savannah Country Day School athletics. Benedictine Military School's team doctor is Dr. David Sedory. The team doctor for Savannah Country Day School athletics is Dr. Thomas Alexander . Remember, Optim Orthopedics gets you back into the game!
