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Bryan County Soars to New Heights Under the Freeman Plan
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Bryan County, as a program, has only won as many as eight games in a season...
That’s the most-ever and they’ve done it twice... the 2013 season and, before that, all the way back in 1991. Both of those seasons led to playoff berths, but it was two first-round exits.
When Cherard Freeman took over leading into the 2020 season, the Redskins had won only once in the three previous years with a composite record of 1-26. In Freeman’s first season as head coach, the offense only scored 46 points while giving up 304 and they went 0-7.
Things have changed as the patience in Coach Freeman’s program will show you.
It has been a gradual turn from 0-7 to 3-7 in 2021 to 6-5 last year and a three-seed in Region 3A of Class A Division I. The season ended with a loss to Heard County, but that growth continues to show for this senior class in Pembroke, a small town about 35 miles west of Savannah. They’ve matched last season’s total in wins already after hanging on in a one-point win at Metter last week in their region opener.
“We played a great game, and our coaches had a great game plan put together,” Freeman tells me. “We had a 15-play drive for a touchdown, a 10-play drive for a touchdown, and a 12-play drive for a touchdown. In the first half, we held Metter to 12 total snaps on offense.”
It was 21-7 at the half, but halftime was not the standard 20 minutes plus three we’re used to having on a scoreboard.
“Every light in the stadium stopped working and when Metter came back out, they made adjustments for the second half. Halftime ended up being an hour and 15 minutes.”
There was the standard challenge of keeping the team up for that whole elongated halftime, but by the end of the game a missed extra point was the difference in the 21-20 win that improved the visitors to 6-1.
“Being 6-1 would not have been a goal for us at this point of the season,” Freeman admits. “We wanted to go undefeated going into region play. This group of seniors was my first group here at Bryan County. We played 16 freshmen in year one and took our lumps. We wanted to stick with our plan to change the culture here and everything attached to it.”
In those first three seasons, the team has committed to the time needed in the weight room and Freeman and his staff have seen their players grow.
“The community here has been great,” he says. “Some of them have been here since we hadn’t won any games in that first year. When I first got here, to give you an example, we could have a player wear one numbered jersey at home and a different numbered jersey on the road. The community raised the money necessary to get what we need as a program.
“The administration has been a huge help in turning the program around. They have invested in sleds and weights for that weight room. They’re investing to help grow a football program. They have taken our vision and it has been a true group effort from everyone.”
The follow-up in region play is the game against Screven County at home this week and it could go a long way to determine seeding for the teams trying to lock down a postseason berth. Freeman goes one step further in his assessment.
“It’s, probably, for the region championship,” he admits. “We’re a little banged up heading into this game so this week at practice we’re going to give more players quality reps getting ready for the game. We’ve got an open date next Friday to look forward to as well.”
And the Redskins are going to continue their progression with another test- getting closer and closer to setting new records and adding to the growth in only a few seasons time chasing after another marker...
A region title for the first time since 1991...
And we’ll be watching as they grow...
Play it safe, everyone... I’ll talk to you soon...
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