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The Upson Beacon
Thursday, June 10, 2021
Page 3B
Upson Beacon’s 2020-2021 Female Athlete of the Year: Jakera Ellerbee
Jakera Ellerbee led her team under the pressure of an undefeated season. Photo by Jacob Stewart
By Jacob Stewart
sports@upsonbeacon.com
The 2020-2021 season
was filled with a great deal
of success from female ath
letics. Much history was
made and many memories
were made throughout the
process. One athlete that
stood in front of it all was
Jakera Ellerbee.
Returning to play her
senior season after averag
ing 13.9 points per game
and nine rebounds per
game the year before, El
lerbee was the centerpiece
of the Lady Knights’ plans
from the beginning. De
spite the pressure, Ellerbee
lived up to the challenge in
every way.
Ellerbee began the sea
son with a rare single-digit
scoring game. Following
that performance, she
scored 10 or more points
18 times in the next 21
games. She recorded 12
double-doubles and aver
aged 16.4 points along with
11 rebounds per game. El
lerbee tallied seven 20-
plus point games including
a career-high 29 point
game against Pike County
on Jan. 15.
The Lady Knights were
built on a strong rotation
of six players that all could
lead the team in scoring
each game. Ellerbee was
able to balance her scoring
ability with the rest of her
team, which ultimately led
to a great amount of suc
cess for the Lady Knights.
She mimicked her favorite
player, Lebron James, with
her pass-first mentality,
using her effort on the
glass to extend possessions
and score on second-
chance opportunities.
Ellerbee led her team
through Upson Lee’s first-
ever undefeated regular
season, region title, and a
trip to the Final Four.
Along the way, she col
lected many accolades. The
five-foot, 10-inch senior’s
361 total points last season
lifted her career total to
1,196, which stands as the
most points ever scored in
Lady Knights history.
She was named First
Team All-Region, Region
Co-Player of the Year, Sec
ond Team All-State by
Sandy’s Spiel, and named
to the GACA/GBCA All-
State Team.
Ellerbee will leave
Upson Lee as the most ac
complished female basket
ball player to wear purple
and black to this date. She
will continue her career at
Miles College in Fairfield,
Ala. She has set the bar
high for female athletes at
Upson Lee.
A Deeper Dive into the State
of 01 Football (As of Sprinol
The Knights secondary will be a major focus this offseason; they will have to rely on new
By Jacob Stewart
sports@upsonbeacon.com
A spring game is always
a perfect time to hover a
magnifying glass over a
football team. Although it
falls under the “way too
early” category, it is the only
glimpse of a game setting
the town gets to see of their
football team for the next
two and a half months.
So why not meddle in
the wonders that the spring
game has to offer?
Upson-Lee’s 33-7 win
over Howard High School
showcased many facets of
what Upson-Lee football
will be working with for the
next three to four years.
After losing many key
players from last season,
there are spots up for grabs
all around the field. Open
spots will provide competi
tion within the team, and
competition promotes suc
cess.
Iron sharpens iron.
The highlight story of
the offseason and possibly
some of the regular season
is the quarterback race.
Three names took snaps in
the victory over the
Huskies: Trent Young (Fr.),
Joshua Atwater (Jr.), and
Markese Collins (Sr.).
Atwater started the
game and played until the
second drive of the second
quarter. The Knights ran
the ball for the majority of
that time. Atwater com
pleted a touchdown pass on
a screen to Jerius Braswell.
He also showed off his abil
ity to be a dual-threat quar
terback by scrambling when
there were no options
downfield.
“The (quarterback can
didate) that has the best po
tential that could do more
than any of them is Josh,”
Coach Elder told The Upson
Beacon following the game.
Young took over in the
second quarter and made a
strong throw for a touch
down on his first drive at
the helm. Young had more
and returning players.
time sprinkled in through
out the rest of the evening,
and made impressive reads
on run plays, and was calm
in the pocket.
Collins only played one
drive at quarterback and
flexed his athleticism by
running in a touchdown. He
turned a broken play into
six points with his raw
speed and field vision.
Those two qualities make
him a great option at quar
terback; however, they also
make him a great option
pretty much anywhere else
on the field.
The Knights could bene
fit if Atwater or Young took
over the spot, and Collins
could be an additional
weapon as a receiver.
None of the three ran
away with the job in the
spring game, so the compe
tition will continue
throughout the summer.
Another area where the
Knights showed depth was
at running back. A combi
nation of Jaden Weems, Ja-
quan Bentley, Amari
Fletcher, and Keyston
Smith carried the rock for
the Knights in the 33-7 win
over the Huskies. All of
those names were physical
and played well.
Detravious Mathis will
likely be the primary back if
healthy. He will not play in
a live scrimmage until Au
gust since a broken knee in
the fifth game of the 2020
season ended his season all
too soon. Mathis rushed for
over 700 yards in five
games last year, so the
coaching staff is not in a
hurry to rush him back. He
is making a lot of progress
and doing light football ac
tivities at practice.
The running backs
would not have much luck
without the offensive line
pushing the freight and
Upson Lee will have a lot of
experience in the trenches.
Niterrian Walker, Andruw
Meyer, and Mason Thomas
have solidified the left side
of the line, leaving question
Photo by Jacob Stewart
marks at right tackle and
right guard. The Knights
will need bodies to step up
to shore up the right side
and provide depth for the
big men throughout the
year.
“We’re solid at center,
guard, and left tackle,” said
Elder. “It’s just right guard
and right tackle that have
got to come on... we’ve got
to do a good job at devel
oping what we’ve got.”
Defensively the Knights
looked good against a strug
gling pack of Huskies. The
line dominated up front,
and the Knights scheming
had Howard stifled all even
ing. Just as the rest of the
team, the defense is young
and will be tested in the rig
orous region schedule.
There is a lot of work to be
done to make up for the loss
of an all-region middle line
backer, Maddox Jackson,
and an all-state lineman,
Wesley Bentley.
All of the youth bring a
load of excitement to the
field.
“The speed we’ve got
and the toughness we’ve got
in our ninth and 10th
graders... in the near future
it’s going to be really excit
ing to see,” said Elder.
The Knights may be in
the midst of a rebuild, but
that only means that posi
tions are open for the best
players to show up and take
them. The 33-7 victory
proves that the Knights will
not be bowing out of any
games this season. It does
not prove that they are a
state championship con
tender or even a region con
tender, but all is not lost.
This season Knights
fans will do a lot of learning
about their team. High
school sports are a process
of developing new athletes,
and 2021 will be a year for
development on the football
field. The future is bright on
the gridiron, and this
summer/fall could point to
the possibilities ahead.
Photo by Jacob Stewart
Austin Hendricks did it all for the Knights and he did not go unrecognized.
Diamond Knights Earn Recognition
By Jacob Stewart
sports@upsonbeacon.com
Many of the Upson-Lee
Knights were awarded
honors when the Region 2-
AAA baseball awards were
announced. Austin Hen
dricks highlighted by earn
ing Co-Player of the Year
and first team all-region.
Jake Willis, Logan Spi
vey, Jordan Wainwright,
Jackson Blakely, and
Steven Marriage were also
named to the first team all
region squad.
Brooks Gulley was
named to second team all
region and Beau Ellington
earned an honorable men
tion.
Phillip Greene was
awarded the TP Strong
Knight Award by the
coaches at Upson-Lee.
Photo by Jacob Stewart
Trey Kelly earned his spot on the All-State team with his great performance at the state
championship.
Kelly Named to All-State Team
By Jacob Stewart
sports@upsonbeacon.com
Trey Kelly added
another item to his resume
last week as he was named
to the AAA All-State golf
team. Kelly finished sixth
place at the state champion
ship and won low medalist
at the Region 2-AAA Cham
pionship.
Kelly is the only golfer
from Upson Lee to receive
these honors. The now
graduated golfer will con
tinue his career at Colum
bus State University.
