Newspaper Page Text
Former Local
Players
Succeed as
Head Coaches
By Jim Fowler
A couple of weeks ago, former
Upson-Lee grad Rusty Easom was
named the head football coach at
Griffin High School. This brought
to mind the number of former local
players who are now roaming the
sideline as head coaches in Georgia
high school football. Let’s look at
the ones I know about.
Easom will take over a talent-
rich and tradition-rich Griffin
Bears program after being the head
man at Rutland High School in
Macon for the past two seasons. He
had previously been the defensive
coordinator at Griffin and East
Coweta before going to Rutland.
He was the defensive coordinator
on the 2013 Griffin team that won
the AAA state championship.
Easom’s record at Rutland was
3-15 but it must be stated that he
took over a program at the Macon
school that had been winless be
fore he arrived. He initiated a new
culture and brought respect to
what had been a desolate program.
Former Upson-Lee head coach
Tommy Watson will begin his sec
ond year as the head man at Lam
bert High School in 2021. In his
only year at Lambert, Watson’s
Longhorn squad finished with a 5-
5 record after taking over a team
that had also been winless in the
previous season. His overall
record, including six years at
Upson-Lee from 2008-13, is 28-
43. After leaving Upson Lee, Wat
son spent six years as an assistant
coach at Valdosta and Lowndes
County High Schools.
Sheddrick Risper has been the
head coach at Macon’s Westside
High School for 12 years. The start
ing quarterback on Upson Lee’s
first team in 1992 has compiled an
overall career record of 91-45 with
the Seminole program. His teams
are always well-coached and very
competitive.
Clay Stephenson took over the
Calhoun High School program two
years ago and has put together a
19-6 record in that time. He re
placed the ultra-successful Hal
Lamb as the Yellow Jackets’ head
man. Stephenson is the son of
former Upson High School head
coach David Stephenson.
Probably the most successful of
the local head coaching products is
Steven Devoursney, who is pre
sently the head coach at Cairo High
School. He has been at Cairo for six
seasons after serving as head coach
at Griffin for 14 years. His overall
head coaching record is 165-64.
Devoursney’s 3013 Griffin team
finished with a 15-0 record and
won the AAA state title. During his
career he has had nine seasons
where his team won 10 or more
games and he has won five region
championships.
I feel that I would be remiss if I
didn’t mention the late Tommy
Parks, who saw his career suddenly
cut short by a heart attack in 2017.
Parks was the head coach at Harris
County for 10 years before coming
home to take over the Upson-Lee
program. His overall coaching
record was 76-65 and he had a 21-
11 mark in his three years at UL.
Risper, Watson, and Parks are
already members of the Thomas-
ton-Upson Sports Hall of Fame
and Devoursney will be inducted at
next year’s banquet.
I may have missed someone in
my listings of locally produced
head coaches, and if I did, I apolo
gize. It wasn’t intentional.
These men have made our local
football programs and our com
munity proud. I wish for all of
them great success in the 2021 sea
son.
lady Dragons Win State Title
On May 18, the Lady Dragons of
St. George’s Episcopal School won
their first GISA Class A State Cham
pionship in girls’ soccer, defeating
Oak Mountain Academy 2-0.
After an intense first half, Mady
Pye put the first goal in for the Lady
Dragons just 2:43 into the second
half, scoring off a deflected shot
from teammate Elizabeth Ham
mock. Pye led the team with 16
goals on the season.
The Lady Dragons added to the
lead with 12:34 left in the game
when Hammock was able to capital
ize on a penalty kick that sealed the
championship for the Lady
Dragons.
St. George’s finished the year
with a 9-1-1 overall record and 6-0
in region play. The team not only
won the GISA Class A State Cham
pionship, but also had eight players
named to the All-Region team and
six players named to the All-State
team.
The future is bright at St.
George’s as the middle school team
and junior varsity had very success
ful years as well. The junior varsity
team finished with a 3-0 record and
the middle school team finished 8-
o, outsourcing opponents 50-0.
Bowen Yarbrough, Grace
Mulder, Samantha Hammock,
Campbell English, Olivia Peters,
and Knoxie Burson are eighth
graders that played on all three
teams this season.
Photos Submitted
Front, from left: Grace Mulder, Elle Manley, Samantha Hammock, Natalie Hammock, Anna Takle, Campbell
English, Elizabeth Hammock, Gracyn Fuller, Ashlyn Jones, Isabella Hubbard, and Olivia Peters. Back, from left:
Head Coach Greg Hammock, Rylee Cook, Mady Pye, Bowen Yarbrough, Ellen Searcy, Lillee Key, McKenzie English,
Knoxie Burson, Lucy McDaniel, Asst. Coach Shane Hubbard, Riley Kate Thacker, and assistant coach Josh Adams.
Front, from left: Pressley Burson, Ella Doughtie, Bella Fuller, Addison English, Annie Wheaton, Brooklyn
Gilbert, Juli Copeland, Sophie Shapard, and Bonnie Kate Matthews. Back, from left: Coach Greg Hammock,
Perrin Boatright, Emma Ison, Hattie Stover, Samantha Hammock, Grace Mulder, Campbell English, Bowen
Yarbrough, Knoxie Burson, Olivia Peters, Kate Wheaton, and coach Shane Hubbard.
Upson Beacon’s Team of the Year: lady Knights Basketball
Photo by Jacob Stewart
The Lady Knights celebrate with their region championship trophy.
By Jacob Stewart
sports@upsonbeacon.com
Upson Lee athletics made his
tory across the entire program last
season. Teams broke barriers that
had stood for decades, and the tal
ented class of 2021 led the march
to many successful seasons.
However, one team proved the
most. Coach Stephanie Raines
and her Lady Knights dominated
on the court as they marched to
the Final Four with an undefeated
record.
The Lady Knights may have
had the most anticipation leading
up to their season; however, not
all the anticipation was built on
positive thinking. After many
players were suspended from the
team in the 2019-2020 season,
there was focus on how the team
would react when they reunited
on the court.
The Lady Knights needed to
prove themselves to their coach
and their community. They came
ready to work and did all that and
more.
“All gas, no brakes” was an an
them of almost every Upson Lee
team after Coach Hartsfield made
it a battle cry on the gridiron. He
brought the same energy to the
court for the Lady Knights, and
they rallied behind the mindset.
Upson Lee ran into a much
better Pike County team than
many expected in their opening
game of the season. After pulling
away and winning by 15, the Lady
Knights got on a roll and im
pressed in their two following
games. A 20-point win at Lamar
County and a 15-point win on the
road against the defending state
champion, Americus-Sumter Pan
thers, solidified that Upson Lee
was ready to contend.
Coach Raines used her six sen
iors to outwork each and every op
ponent. Rarely does a team come
along with two or three scorers
that can change the direction of a
game, but Upson Lee featured six,
making them a force that soon
climbed to the top spot in the
state. Jakera Ellerbee, Ty’Keria
Gieger, Tyla Zellner, Ariel Adder-
ton, Ja’Khia Parker, and Alonzea
Montgomery played with unri
valed chemistry that dazzled op
ponents and spectators.
Although the focus was on the
Super Six, other names stepped
up along the way. Tierney Ellerbee
had a huge performance against
Peach County that helped lift the
Lady Knights. Milea Caldwell and
Aziyah Perry also served as good
options off the bench.
The Lady Knights outscored
their opponents 1,447 to 991 on
the season and finished 13-0 in a
region that sent three out of four
qualifying teams to the Sweet 16.
The team featured a Region
Co-Player of the Year (Ellerbee),
two First Team All-Region
members (Parker and Montgom
ery), and a Second Team All-Re
gion member (Zellner).
As the Lady Knights embarked
on their historic stretch and
COVID-19 cases began to slow,
the community of Upson County
rallied behind the girls. The Castle
was buzzing every night as fans
knew they were witnessing history
once again.
Coach Raines’ team became
the first in Upson Lee history to
complete the regular season unde
feated, win the region, and ad
vance to the Final Four. The Lady
Knights finished 23-1, suffering
their only loss to Greater Atlanta
Christian in the Final Four.
Although the Lady Knights’
season ended two wins away from
a state title, they successfully
changed the culture around Lady
Knights basketball. They set the
bar high for teams to come and
showed what it takes to get there.
Flint Biver Academy Baseball Players Beceive Awards
On Monday, May 24, the Flint
River Academy baseball program
had its annual end of season ban
quet to celebrate the 2021 season.
While the 8-11 record was not what
the Cats were hoping for, the young
team looks to return all their
starters from this past season and
build upon some big late-season
victories; including its first playoff
win in four years.
Among those winning awards
at the banquet were: Chris Calla
han (Golden Glove Award), Brody
Howard (Coaches' Award), Raines
Foster (Blue Collar Award), and
Wyatt Walters (Workhorse Award).
Flint River also had four players
named to the GAPPS Division lA
Region 1 All-Region team: Beau
Britt, Andrew Brown, Ben Taylor,
and Lucas Martin.
The varsity team consisted of
R.J. Brent, Jackson McDaniel,
Cody Curtis, Hugh Barbee, Andrew
Brown, Beau Britt, Hughston
Brantley, Connor Blount, Cole Per
kins, Wyatt Walters, Raines Foster,
Brooks Keller, Lucas Martin, Chris
topher Callahan, Kenneth Chap
man, Tyler Pasley, Ben Taylor, and
Brody Howard.
The middle school team was
made up of Noah Hizel, Mason
Jones, Hayden Salter, Jet Collins,
Lee Sibille, Reese Johnson, Rocco
Barbee, Brack Spangler, Sullivan
Jones, Eli Perrin, Hunter Pike,
Adam Brooks, and J. Stanton Prit-
chard - Photos Submitted
GAPPS Division 1A Region 1 All-Region team members: Beau Britt, Andrew Brown,
Ben Taylor, and Lucas Martin stand with coaches.
Raines Foster received the Blue Collar Award and
Brody Howard received the Coaches Award.