The fourth annual Optim Orthopedics & Prep Sports Report Football Media Day on Saturday brought together representatives of Coastal Empire teams before the games start next week, including crosstown rivals Bradwell Institute and Liberty County.
Not that players from the Hinesville schools had a lot to say to each other while in close proximity at Enmarket Arena. Bradwell star wide receiver Tyon Jones said the silent treatment was appropriate given the timing. They host Liberty County in the season opener on Aug. 16.
“Because it’s the week of the game,” the senior said. “We don’t know who they are right now. Strangers.”
Liberty County senior receiver Ryan Golden was interviewed a short time later.
“We’re cool outside of all this, but when it comes to football, we’re not friends. It’s a different kind of mentality when you’re on the football field,” Golden said. “We don’t like to say too much. We like to show people what we’re made of.”
The head coaches are on speaking terms. In fact, Bradwell’s Deshon Brock noted that he worked with Liberty’s Tony Glazer at Long County High School. Players on both teams grew up with each other, Brock said.
“We try to keep it as professional as possible, but we live in a tight-knit community,” Brock said. “You’re going to interact. You’re going to see each other. Once we play on Friday, it’s no holds barred. We take the gloves off. After the game, we’ll be friends again. Up until then, we’re frenemies.”
It was a similar dynamic Saturday for cross-county rivals South Effingham and Effingham County, though their annual tussle isn’t until Sept. 20 at ECHS. The Rebels’ John Ford and the Mustangs’ second-year head coach Loren Purvis crossed paths when they each coached in Gwinnett County, and there is great mutual respect.
“Coach Purvis is a great guy,” Ford said. “I highly respect him as a man and a man of faith and how he goes about his day-to-day business. It’s 364 days out of the year where we can get along and one day a year, we’ll try to beat each other’s brains out and see what happens.”
It will be all business on Sept. 20, but Saturday the pair exchanged kind words, a handshake and pats on the back between interview sessions.
“(Ford is) a good guy. He does a really good job on the field,” Purvis said. “It’s one of those things, when we play that week, we don’t even refer to them by name. We call them Highway 119 High School. When that week comes around, we’re enemies. But until then, it’s a mutual respect, I believe. They’re good, man.”
Rebels senior Lamar Roberts said that while fans of both teams – civilians, he called them – may do a lot of talking in the rivalry, the players go about playing the game.
“We’re friends. We hang out. We’re cool,” said Roberts, a wide receiver and cornerback. “But when we meet head-to-head across that line, friendship goes out the window. We’re enemies until after the game. We shake hands. We’re back to friends.”
Mustangs senior linebacker Corbin McGuire said players on both rosters have been teammates on recreation and/or club teams in various sports.
“When we see each other in public, it’s always at a competitive standpoint because we’re trying to beat each other in everything that we do,” McGuire said, adding that media day was a final opportunity for preseason chatter.
“The talk has to stop and now we have a chance to play,” he said. “We have to back up everything we’ve said leading up to now.”
Here are more comments made about media day, which marked the transition from summer workouts and team practices to the regular season.
Bethesda Academy
Antwain Turner, who founded the program, had the best reason to talk up the Blazers after they won the first state football title in school history in 2023.
“It means a lot,” Turner said of media day. “It says that not only we’ve had success but we’re striving for success with this new group of guys. … There are a lot of people cheering and pulling for them, but we also have to put the work in. It means a lot to us.”
He told his players that Saturday was the last time they should wear their championship rings in public this year before putting them away for a while.
Junior Raleigh Wesley, a standout wide receiver and cornerback, said the message was “letting the past go. A new season is coming.”
Junior running back/cornerback Jordan Cheever added: “(Media day) reminded me that the season’s beginning, it’s time to lock in.”
St. Andrew’s School
The Lions’ new head coach, Wes Worthington, said media day was a great opportunity to bring attention to the program.
“We’re a small school,” Worthington said. “We’re just trying put our school on the map and really throw our hat in the ring as far as middle school athletes in the area as another place to consider when they’re looking at their future because of our high academics. We’re really trying to get our football program to be one of excellence.”
Liberty County
Panthers coach Tony Glazer noted the weekend schedule of a football scrimmage on Thursday night and the media day on Saturday, then on to “Bradwell week.”
“I told the boys on Thursday night, once we start playing games, the season flies,” Glazer said. “To me, media day is like the opener to everything. From here, going the next 12, 13 weeks, we’re going to go extremely fast. So enjoy the ride and keep working.”
Bradwell Institute
Tigers coach Deshon Brock said media day signaled that everything gets real with the start of the regular season.
“We also get these guys some exposure, get them noticed and recognized for all of the hard work they’ve been putting in over the summer,” Brock said.
Savannah Country Day
The Hornets’ new head coach, Roc Batten, experienced his first media day in Savannah, but for the veteran coach and former Vanderbilt player, it wasn’t new.
“It’s the kickoff to football,” Batten said. “It’s been going, but this is now when it gets real. This is game week for us. We’re in game mode. So any time you have a media day, you know it’s close to the real thing, and the things that you’ve worked for since the spring, and for these guys, probably since last year when the season ended, in terms of just being excited about the opportunity. It means it’s game time.”
Savannah Christian
The Raiders, who reached the GHSA Class 3A state title game in 2023, have many standout players returning, including at skill positions and on the defensive line.
So coach Baker Woodward is making a habit of bringing his offensive linemen to the annual media day. On Saturday, he was joined by senior center Luke Gunn, junior guard JT Howell and junior Davian Melton, who made the switch from D-line to O-line in the offseason.
“It’s the kickoff of the high school football season,” Woodward said. “It’s a lot of excitement in the air. I like to use this as a time to recognize our offensive linemen, the hard work that they put in. We have, obviously, a lot of stars on our team. But the guys that make it all run are right here today with us.”
Woodward also mentioned sophomore Jordan Dillon and freshman RJ Brown. The coach said the offensive line – with the five starters averaging 280 pounds, by his calculations -- is one of the strengths of the team.
“It’s an honor,” Howell said of attending media day. “We really don’t get in the spotlight like that. It’s really good to be out here and talk for our team, represent our team.”
Bryan County
Cherard Freeman is the Redskins’ head coach, and program builder should be part of his job title. Bryan County didn’t win a game his first season in 2020, then won three, six and 12 games over the next three campaigns.
The Redskins went 12-2 in 2023 and captured their first region title and playoff victory in program history and advanced to the GHSA Class A Division I semifinals.
Freeman said media day meant a lot to the program.
“It means a lot for the community to put our school out on social media, on the news,” the coach said. “It’s great to let (people) know that our school and our community is growing. It’s great for these kids to get their names out, to see Bryan County, to see the school brand out. It’s awesome.”
One of those kids is senior center and defensive end Allen Williams.
“I think it’s great that I get to come out to Savannah and talk about my team and represent my team,” Williams said. “It shows the progress we’ve made, the success we’ve had over these last four seasons. My freshman season, I would never have imagined I’d be doing anything like this.”
Calvary Day
Cavaliers offensive coordinator Jason Cameron sees media day as a showcase for the high quality of football in the Savannah area.
“I think the event shows the amount of talent that’s in this area that sometimes goes unrecognized,” said Cameron, a former head coach at Jenkins in Savannah and at Vidalia. “I’ve said it for many years, Savannah and the neighboring areas, there are a lot of good athletes, a lot of good coaches and a lot of good football programs.”
Cameron also said that Savannah is a special place because while the players are competitive with each other and battle in games, they also root for each other to succeed.
Sophomore Emerson Lewis agreed.
“Behind the football, we’re all brothers at the end of the day,” said Lewis, a wide receiver and defensive back. “It’s a little trash talk, love, fake mad at each other during the game week. At the end of the day, it’s all love.”
Memorial Day School
Zane Rowland has energy and enthusiasm that should help the Matadors make the transition to a new coach and to eight-man football for the next two seasons.
“Just trying to build the program back up,” said the first-year head coach. “We want to get that seventh state championship (in the school’s football history). We want to continue to build that buy-in in the school, build it in the community, make sure everyone’s bought in to what we’re selling and then take it one game at a time.”
Marshall Saradinski, a junior, certainly sounded ready if the next game was Saturday.
“We’ve already talked,” the running back/cornerback said. “We’ve already put in the work. We’re ready to get in there and go score and play some football. With the new people coming in, we’ve already formed bonds. We’ve got chemistry going on. We’re ready to play.”
Benedictine
Veteran coach Danny Britt is starting his 14th season at the helm of the Cadets, and he knows where media day fits in the process of preparing his team for the season.
“It’s officially started. Summer camp is over. The training, the practice for that is over. Now it’s time to get real,” Britt said.
The players, he said, are done with preseason talk.
“A lot of schoolwork, a lot of football, and the grind begins,” he said of what’s ahead.
The Cadets will have a new starting quarterback in junior Stephen Cannon, following a line of Division I talent in Holden Geriner (Auburn) and Luke Kromenhoek (Florida State), who had helped lead BC to GHSA Class 4A state titles in 2021 and 2022.
Cannon said Saturday that he understands that being interviewed, like at media day, goes with the territory and is something he’s getting used to.
So is playing a very difficult schedule at perennial state power Benedictine.
“It’s all business from here,” Cannon said. “We’re excited for the challenge. We’re not going to back down.”
Sports medicine
Dr. Thomas Alexander, who works in the sports medicine department at Optim Orthopedics, may be a familiar sight when he works high school football games at Savannah Country Day as well as other schools including St. Andrew’s School, Claxton and Pinewood Christian.
Alexander also may be spotted providing care at St. Vincent’s Academy, Savannah State University and for the Savannah Bananas baseball organization.
He hopes, of course, that his services aren’t needed at a game and no one gets hurt.
Optim Orthopedics has a role, he said, in contributing to the community. Sponsoring the annual football media day for Savannah-area teams is one way. Another way is providing after-hours orthopedic urgent care for anyone on weeknights and weekend mornings at its DeRenne Avenue facility.
“We realize sports is an integral part of the community,” Alexander said. “It brings joy, pleasure, competition, camaraderie and everything to the athletes, coaches and family members who get to participate.
“At Optim Orthopedics, we enjoy being a part of that. We want to be part of the community, even though we hope that people don’t have injuries and have to come see us,” he continued. “We want to be seen as more than just someone who can help when you have that bad injury.
“We want to be seen as a support system, whether it’s through physical therapy, injury prevention, as part of the community, because we do truly enjoy being involved with the whole community and with all of the positives brought to the athletes’ lives and the other people’s lives by participating in sports.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy Matt Gemmill Marketing Director at Optim Orthopedics
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Optim Orthopedics generously sponsors Prep Sports Report football coverage!
Optim Orthopedics is a familiar face on Savannah's prep sports scene, extending their support from the gridiron to the court. Their dedication to local athletes goes beyond logos, offering crucial medical support to nine powerhouse high schools:
- Dr. Don Aaron: Bryan County Middle/High School
- Dr. David Sedory: Benedictine Military, Bradwell Institute, Liberty County
- Dr. David Palmer: Calvary Day, Richmond Hill, South Effingham
- Dr. Thomas Alexander: Savannah Country Day, St. Vincent's
As Southeast leaders in fellowship-trained orthopedic surgery, Optim Orthopedics proudly sponsors the Prep Sports Report. Remember, Optim Orthopedics gets you back into the game!
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