Impressive wins this season weren’t the first indicators for football coaches Danny Britt and Jason Cameron and flag football coach Brianna Brooker that their Savannah teams were capable of runs to GHSA state championship games.
How their teams handled rare losses showed the trio that their players had the right stuff to reach last week’s finals in Atlanta.
As all three – Britt’s Benedictine Cadets, Cameron’s Calvary Day Cavaliers, and Brooker’s Jenkins Warriors – fell just short in tight contests, those programs have all the motivation needed to compete for crowns in 2026.
“Everybody could ride high after a lot of wins and a lot of success,” Cameron said. “How you react when adversity sets in, I think, is what makes championship teams.”
Cameron, a veteran coach in his first season at the helm at Calvary Day, pointed to the Cavaliers’ lone regular-season loss, 41-33 on Sept. 19 to eventual Region 3-3A champion Jenkins as a turning point. A young team with few seniors, CDS was optimistic to make a postseason run, “or at least be a really, really tough out in the playoffs,” he said.
“It was actually after our loss to Jenkins, the way that they reacted and the way that they returned to practice and had this mindset of not wanting to feel that feeling again,” Cameron recalled. “I looked at our coaches and I said we’ve got something special here with this group.”
The Cavaliers won their next eight games before falling to defending champion Hebron Christian 28-21 on Dec. 17 in the GHSA Class A-3A Private final to finish 12-2.
The Cadets had played in four state championship games in Britt’s first 14 seasons and won them all (2014, 2016, 2021, 2022). This season’s schedule, as is now routine, opened with non-region games against larger elite programs to toughen them for the grind through the region and beyond. Colquitt County and Buford, the eventual unbeaten Class 6A state and MaxPreps national champion, were first up.
Britt liked his talented squad’s chances as a Class 4A state contender, even more so after a 27-24 opening loss to 6A Colquitt County.
“When we were playing against Colquitt, I felt like we could play anybody and beat anybody,” Britt said. “It definitely was early on in the season we felt like we could make that run.”
Benedictine (11-3, 5-0 Region 1-4A) won its next 11 games before losing to top-ranked and unbeaten Creekside 42-39 on Dec. 15.
Brooker actually points to a 46-0 playoff loss in the 2023 season – the Jenkins flag football program’s third in existence – as an impetus to a state title game appearance in 2025.
“… we made it to the Sweet 16 and ended up playing that juggernaut Southeast Bulloch in the second round,” Brooker recalled. “It was a shutout, but I knew then, with people we had before … we knew it was going to be special. We just had to learn. I had to learn the game of flag football, they had to learn how to convert their athleticism over to a new sport. But I knew then, (the current seniors’) sophomore year, that this was a championship-caliber team.”
The Warriors (22-2, 6-0 Division 2 Area 2) recorded 13 shutouts and outscored opponents 594-92 this season. The first Jenkins girls team in any sport to play for a state crown led 13-7 at halftime before falling 20-13 to now three-time champion Greenbrier in the GHSA Division 2 final on Dec. 15.
Jenkins improved and made deeper runs each season, to the semifinals in 2024 and the finals in 2025. That leaves the ultimate step in 2026.
“Finish the job, that was my message to them in the locker room,” Brooker said. “Of course, I let them know how proud of them I was, how much I loved them, how much I’m rooting for them on the next level. But for the ones returning, for them to finish the job. That’s the floor for us next year.
“We were two quarters away from sealing the deal,” she continued. “But for next year, it’s to be able to come out and finish the job. We lose a lot of firepower, but I think we’ve got enough in the tank.”
The Warriors, many of whom also play for Brooker’s girls basketball squad, graduate several seniors, including star wide receiver/linebacker A’Niyah Browner, who has offers from several colleges interested.
Iycess Scott, Malaysia Easley, Akeelah Younger, and Ke’Ara Jones have also been contributors to the program and were sophomores on that 2023 squad with Browner.
Coming back for Jenkins
Brooker calls the Class of 2026 “a very special group” that progressively improved while playing at a high level in two sports.
The Warriors have special players coming back, including rising senior quarterback I’Yarna “YaYa” Lee, a two-year starter who can run and pass well and also plays safety, the coach said.
“An incredible athlete,” Brooker said. “I don’t even think she realizes her talent, and that’s been our bout this season is for her to grasp how talented she is and for her to hone in on that and exploit all of her talents and see what her future can hold with that.”
Others to watch include rising seniors Angelique Fleming and Marley Taylor, rising juniors Skylar Spaulding and Samone Ray, and rising sophomore Ca’Niyah Williams.
Benedictine’s superlative seniors
Many in the Cadets’ current class of 2026 were in the football program when it won a state crown in 2022. They helped the current squad’s comeback in the state final from a 21-3 second-quarter deficit to lead Creekside 24-21 at halftime, and then nearly rally from a 42-24 gap after three quarters in the three-point loss.
“I’m super proud,” Britt said of the seniors, who had a four-year record of 44-11. “Obviously, we’re competing in a very tough division. In our non-region schedule, we’re competing against very tough people. Obviously, played the national champion (Buford) here at Memorial (Stadium). I’m very proud of them. They won three region championships and one state championship and one state runner-up. That’s a very solid four years.”
Among those graduating are Division I program signees Bubba Frazier (wide receiver, Notre Dame), Stephen Cannon (quarterback, Texas Tech), Kam Cody (defensive lineman, Clemson), Micah Williams (safety, Appalachian State), Carlton Hall (offensive lineman, Liberty) and LaDamion Guyton (edge rusher, Texas Tech), a five-star prospect who began the season as a junior and reclassified as a senior.
The 2026 Benedictine roster also will be without a host of other all-region players, such as first-team senior linebackers Larson Little and Jayden Houston, second-team receiver Joshua Washington, defensive backs JoJo Sutton and Wyatt Estabrook, and honorable mention kicker Parker Lewis and tight end Bennett Conaway.
Coming back for Benedictine
The Cadets have proven talent expected to return, including all-region first-team running back Stanley Smart Jr., wide receiver Eron Mallard, offensive lineman Collyn Ward, and defensive lineman Isaac Scott, all rising seniors.
Defensive back Jon Black, who intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble in the championship game, is a rising junior. He was an all-region second-team pick along with offensive linemen Noah Brainard (rising senior) and Reef Leonard (rising junior).
Among the Cadets making honorable mention is a player who again will be in the spotlight next season at quarterback. Omari Burse, who started at cornerback most of this year, played QB in 2024 and completed 62 of 100 passes for 988 yards, eight touchdowns, and four interceptions. He also rushed for two TDs in eight games.
“He replaced Stephen (Cannon) last year when Stephen was injured and did a very good job for us, won some big playoff games for us,” Britt said. “We’re excited for him and what he can do.
“He’s a very savvy player, very tough. He has a good arm, throws well,” the coach continued, noting that Burse recently committed to play baseball at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.
Calvary’s departures, returns
Perhaps the Cavaliers’ run to the 2025 state title game is a harbinger of more success, as only a small group of seniors will graduate.
“They’re a great group of kids,” Cameron said of the Class of 2026, which made at least the quarterfinal round all four seasons, including the Class 3A semifinals in 2023. “It was a small class but they played big. They will definitely be missed. You don’t replace guys like that. They were program kids that made us better all the way around.”
They include seniors, defensive back Scottie Walker, defensive lineman Jay Varner, offensive linemen Carson Dean, John Swindell, and Bryson Terry, and kicker Grady Shiver, whose great accuracy boosted the offense, and booming kickoffs for touchbacks helped the defense.
No opponents will feel sorry for the Cavaliers, whose great wealth of returning players includes standouts such as rising senior defensive back Emerson Lewis, defensive lineman Jeffrey McCormick, running back Ca’Den Jones, offensive lineman Lawson Bentley, linebackers Kenneth Baker, Gabriel Ausfeld, and Brexton Bell, and the Region 3-3A Player of the Year James Mobley IV.
The starting quarterback since his sophomore season, Mobley didn’t let the graduation of star receivers Thomas Blackshear (now at Georgia) and Doopah Coleman (Appalachian State) slow a potent offense by spreading passes to a group of talented receivers, including Jalen Hicks, Marlon Knight Jr., and Ty Pinckney.
Mobley, as a junior in 2025, passed for nearly 3,000 yards along with 28 touchdowns and ran for seven, but it’s about more than statistics.
“It’s his leadership, his understanding of the offense, our relationship,” Cameron said. “He’s a special one. As coaches, you don’t get to coach kids like this a lot. I’m lucky to have him with us for one more year.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy ProShot Media
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