Football Player of the Week

  By Kevin Price

912 Sports will name a Coastal Pines Technical College Player of the Week each week during the 2020

high school football season.

Meet the winner of this week’s award:

Daytin Baker

Junior, Safety

Pierce County

No one who calls Pierce County home will ever forget the significance of Dec. 30, 2020. And,

Daytin Baker will certainly always remember what he was doing on that day.

Baker will quickly be able to tell anyone who doesn’t know what that date means to the folks in

Blackshear that he was helping the community’s high school football team win its first-ever state

championship on the next-to-last day of                          the calendar year.

Baker, a junior safety for the Bears, intercepted a pass on the first play of overtime which led to

the game-winning touchdown by Pierce on the very next play to send the Bears to a dramatic 13-

7 victory over Oconee County which was followed by a jubilant celebration among all those who

made the trek from South Georgia to Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta in hopes of

seeing their Bears capture the Class AAA state crown.

The interception by Baker in overtime was his second one of the afternoon. He also picked off a

pass by Oconee quarterback Jacob Wright at the Pierce County 42-yard line late in the second

quarter which helped keep the game scoreless at halftime.

In the opening quarter, Baker also tipped a pass which was intercepted by teammate Allen

Boatright to stop an early scoring threat by the Warriors.

Baker also was credited with two solo tackles, three assists and a quarterback hurry in the victory.

For his overall performance and key plays made, Baker has been chosen as the Coastal Pines

        Technical College Player of the Week presented              by 912 Sports.

“He’s made plays all year and been close to making a lot more,” said Pierce County head coach

Ryan Herring who just completed his second season with the Bears. “He’s grown up so much. I’m

just so proud of him. He’s such a great kid which makes what he did in the state championship

game so much sweeter for me.”

The Player of the Week award was presented to an outstanding player in the 912 Sports

coverage area each week this season for 17 straight weeks from the opening games through the

state finals last week.

Pierce County players won the last three awards as the Bears made their march to the state

championship. Senior quarterback Jermaine Brewton won the honor for his performance in the

team’s quarterfinal win and senior linebacker Austin Jernigan was named for the award after

returning a fumble for a late game-winning touchdown in the semifinals against Crisp County.

Both the Bears and Warriors took high-scoring offenses into their championship confrontiation,

but both teams also brought seriously strong defenses to the battle, too. Herring was actually

anticipating a low-scoring game with the defenses controlling the action for the most part and he

was spot on as it turned out.

Oconee’s defense was giving up 9.8 points per game going into the title contest while the Bears

were allowing only 9.9.

The Bears finished with 265 total net yards against the Warriors which was well below their

342.5 season average while the Warriors managed only 164 yards against Pierce after averaging

just over 308 yards a game going into the state final. The Bears picked up 10 first downs on the

afternoon while the Warriors finished with eight.

Neither team allowed a point through three quarters . Oconee broke the scoreless tie less than

two minutes into the fourth period on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Wright to Jacob Johnson

and added the extra-point for the 7-0 lead.

Pierce answered the Oconee score on its next offensive series, driving 80 yards in seven plays

and tying the game with 7:23 left on a 5-yard run by D.J. Bell. The drive’s key play was a 45-yard

pass from Brewton to Zay Plummer on on third-and-13 that kept the series alive and moved the

ball from the Pierce 17 to the Oconee 38.

Bell had the biggest day by anyone playing offense as he carried 29 times for 158 yards for the

Bears. He ran for 45 of the Bears’ 68 yards in the first half before running 17 more times for 113

                yards after halftime while taking direct                        snaps from center.

Bell scored from the 15-yard line on the Bears’ first offensive play in overtime following Baker’s

interception, looking to go inside before bouncing outside and racing around the left end and

into the end zone for the winning score.

And Baker set up the touchdown by playing perfect defense when Oconee attempted to throw

toward the end zone on the very first snap of the overtime period.

The Warriors set up on offense first after Pierce won the coin toss and elected to play defense to

start. Wright, their quarterback, was in the shotgun, and the Warriors sent their lone running

back in motion to empty the backfield.

They used Johnson, their 6-foot-6 tight end, as a decoy on the play, sending him up the field from

the left side of the formation. Running what football folks like to call a Rub route, the Warriors

brought another receiver underneath Johnson and wanted to throw a pass to him over the

middle for a possible touchdown.

Pierce was ready for that very play, though. Defensive coordinator Swane Morris drew up the

play for the Bears during pregame, and the Bears were prepared when they pulled it out of the

playbook to start the extra frame.

Baker, knowing it was his assignment to cover the intended receiver, baited the Oconee

quarterback into throwing the ball, came underneath his man, and left his feet to intercept the

ball at the 3-yard line.

“Daytin didn’t fall for the eye-candy,” Herring said. “He undercut his guy and made the play. It’s a

touchdown if he’s not there.”

It was fitting that Baker was there for the Bears who then needed either a field goal or a

touchdown to walk off with the state championship trophy after the junior safety’s interception.

“His biggest asset is that he’s coachable,” Herring said of Baker. “He’s always eager to learn and

do what it takes to win. That’s part of why we won it all. We have a bunch of kids that want to

win. We don’t have the tangibles that some of the other teams have, but we have the

intangibles, things you don’t always see. He’s a perfect example of that.”

Something people might not have seen after the championship game was the photo on social

media that showed Baker wearing his father’s old No. 9 jersey, the one he wore when he played

football at Ware County.

Baker’s dad lost his life in a motorcycle accident, but Baker had his jersey and would always carry

it with him to games. Baker wore No. 9 for the Bears for the first time this season.

And the No. 9 in White last Wednesday is a big reason why the Bears can proudly proclaim they

are No. 1 today.

Players of Week

(Regular Season)

Week 1 - Shaquan Brooks (Richmond Hill)

Week 2 - Thomas Castellanos (Ware County)

Week 3 - Tony Cobb (Charlton County)

Week 4 - Trent Johnson (McIntosh County Academy)

Week 5 - Mason Mikell (Bacon County)

Week 6 - Tyrease Jones (Brunswick)

Week 7 - Bryson Benton (Appling County)

Week 8 - Jeremy Butler (Ware County)

Week 9 - Nathan Vickers (Richmond Hill)

Week 10 - Ryan Seay (Glynn Academy)

Week 11 - Jordan Triplett (Frederica Academy)

Week 12 - TJ Lewis (Glynn Academy)

(State Playoffs)

First Round - Trevin Wallace (Wayne County)

Second Round - Thomas Castellanos (Ware County)

Quarterfinals - Jermaine Brewton (Pierce County)

Semifinals - Austin Jernigan (Pierce County)

State Finals - Daytin Baker (Pierce County)

       By Kevin Price

Bailey Holland committed to play collegiate softball at Georgia Southern University back in early

September, and that announcement was certainly a big moment for the Vidalia standout and her family.

But the rest of the 2020 season had more memorable moments for Holland who also figures to be

headed for a big senior season next fall with the Lady                                                                                               Indians before going on to play for the                       Eagles in Statesboro.

Helping Vidalia to a huge season this fall that included a berth in the Class AA Final Four, Holland was

named the Region 2-AA Player of the Year following the 2020 campaign. And this week, 912 Sports

has chosen the Vidalia junior for its Coastal Pines Technical College Female Athlete of the Week honor

in recognition of the big season Holland had with the Indians this fall.

“Bailey is exceptional player and an even better teammate,” said Vidalia head coach Brad Thompson.

“Not only is she region player of the year, she has stats to make an argument for player of the year in

(Class) AA. She is the epitome of Indian Pride and scores very high on our Core Values test. Her

presence played a huge role in our success this season.”

In the pitching circle, Bailey was dominant for the Lady Indians. She posted a perfect 6-0 record while

recording a .427 ERA. She struck out 167 batters and walked only 23 in 114 innings while also giving

up just 23 runs and 53 hits on the season. Opponents batted .131 against her for the season.

At the plate, Holland swung a bit bat for the Lady Indians, too. She batted .413 with 45 hits in 109 at-

bats. Holland had 10 extra-base its, scored 30 runs and drove in 28 runs for the Lady Indians.

Vidalia, which won the Region 2-AA championship, finished the season with a 32-6 overall record that

included a 14-1 mark in the league. The Lady Indians swept Lamar County, Jefferson County and

Banks County to win each of their first three best-of-3 state series at home to earn a trip to Columbus

as one of the last four teams standing in Class AA.

The Lady Indians toppled Bremen 8-3 in their opening game in Columbus before falling 3-2 to Heard

County and then 2-0 to Lovett which eliminated them from the state title chase. Heard ended up

beating Lovett for the state crown.

Holland was one of seven Vidalia players who made the all-region team. Thompson was also named

Coach of the Year for the region.

The state players of the year and all-state teams will be named in early December.

Athletes of Week

Week 1 - Avien Trull (Ware County, Softball)

Week 2 - Cheyenne Ryan, Tyler Phillips (South Effingham, Cross Country)

Week 3 - Rebecca DeLoach (Pierce County, Softball)

Week 4 - D’Najah Boyd (Ware County, Volleyball)

Week 5 - Kamari Strozier (Bacon County, Softball)

Week 6 - Natalie Herrin (Pierce County, Softball)

Week 7 - Lily Hidalgo (Glynn Academy, Volleyball)

Week 8 - Savannah Jeffers (Ware County, Softball)

Week 9 - Paige Carter (Jeff Davis, Softball)

Week 10 - Zoie Marchant (Jeff Davis, Cross Country)

Week 11 - Candace Kieffer (Effingham, Cross Country)

Week 12 - Bailey Holland (Vidalia, Softball)