BHS welcomes back good mix of
By GIL POUND
Blink and you might miss the 2020
Baldwin Braves out on the football field.
Baldwin High School head coach Jesse
Hicks, entering the fourth year of his
second tenure with the Braves, had some
high praise to offer when describing this
year’s group.
“I know that if we play this season,
someone’s going to have to deal with
Baldwin High School because of the talent
level we have and the way these kids are
working,” said Hicks. “I think we could be
the fastest team in Middle Georgia.”
The “if” in Hicks’ first sentence refers
to something that has been heavy on
his mind and heart since the COVID-19
pandemic hit. The veteran football coach
has been very outspoken these last few
months on his belief that the Georgia
High School Association (GHSA) should
take a wait-and-see approach for the
2020 season. Hicks also acknowledges,
though, that if the season does go on as
planned, he has players looking forward
to taking the field, so it’s his job to get
them ready.
Those preparations started much
later than usual as the Braves did not
report in-person for offseason workouts
until late summer due to the high level
of COVID spread in the Baldwin County
community. Many players did, however,
participate in “virtual” conditioning
monitored by the BHS coaching staff
through Zoom. Once they were told to
10 Football Preview 2020
show up it was
quickly learned
that they had
surpassed their
head coach’s
expectations.
“These guys
reported in
great shape,”
Hicks said.
“They have a
great mentality
and they
really want to
be good. They
understand
the Brave
standard, so
they knew they
couldn’t come
back in here
out of shape.
I thought the
first day we had
them run would be a travesty, but all the
coaches walked back into the office afterward
and talked about how in shape the
kids were. I was pleasantly surprised.”
Baldwin welcomes back 13 starters
from last year’s 5-7 team, six on offense
and seven on defense. The Braves went
just 4-6 through the 2019 regular season
after facing a murderers’ row schedule
early, but they did bounce back and finish
the back half 4-1. They were tied for first in
the region but dropped back to third based
on the tiebreaker selected by the regions’
coaches. That didn’t stop BHS from upsetting
Cairo on the road to open the postseason,
making it the third straight year the
program advanced at least into the second
round. There they fell to the eventual state
champion Blessed Trinity, who has won
the Class 4A state title three straight years
now. The players coming back from that
strong second-half run has Hicks more
than excited to lead his guys onto the field.
Despite losing two All-State caliber guys
at running back, the BHS head coach is
very optimistic about the players ready to
step up in the offensive backfield.
“That’s where we had our biggest losses,
but it’s also one of our bright spots right
now,” said Hicks. “Jeramiyah Scott is going
to pick that load up for us.”
Scott, a junior, is smaller than the typical
running back and the two guys he’s replacing
in Zaahir Salahuddin and Noah Hill,
but can make up for it with his quickness.
“He is a gamechanger,” Hicks said of
Scott. “What he’s doing at practice right
now from a leadership standpoint and
what he can do when he puts his foot in
the ground is huge. We’ve always had
bigger guys who could run hard but
weren’t always finishers when you talk
about toting the ball 70 yards. Jeramiyah
can put his foot in the ground and run
past anybody in the state of Georgia. Every
time he gets one step past the line of
scrimmage the other team’s going to be in
danger of him taking it to the house.”
No team has just one running back
they rely on full-time anymore due to
the toll the position takes, and the 2020
Braves will be no exception. A couple of
young backs are expected to help carry
the load with Scott to keep everyone fresh
and reduce the chance of injury. Hicks
doted on the program at Oak Hill Middle
School and its ability to groom players
for the next level as multiple guys beyond
the running backs could be called upon
to contribute at the varsity level immediately.
The Braves will have some continuity
at quarterback with junior Derrick Lewis
expected to handle the role this year. He
split time with classmate Gerald Kilgore
in 2019, but Kilgore has transferred to
Putnam County High School. Lewis got
his first varsity start as just a freshman.
He doesn’t have Kilgore’s athleticism but
has shown he has what it takes to lead the
offense.
“I’ve got all the confidence in the world
in him and love what he’s doing from a
leadership position,” Hicks said of his
junior QB. “It’s great to have him this year
and be able to say he’ll be back next year.”
Baldwin High School never has a
shortage of athletes, so finding guys to get
the ball to shouldn’t be a problem. On the
outside is a group of talented receivers,
including 6-foot-2 senior Kesean Parks,
who has impressed the head coach so far.
Helping out on offense will be tremendous
all-around athlete Javon Bullard.
Although primarily a defensive back, the
Baldwin coaches would be silly not to find
some creative ways to get the ball into his
hands a few times a game.
Flipping over to the defense, Bullard
heads up what Hicks believes will be
one of the more talented DB groups in
the state. Seven starters in all are back,