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The 2024 Bainbridge High School football program held its final gathering on Wednesday, February 5, for their annual banquet. This event honored the 2024 Bearcats season as well as their senior class and looked forward to the program’s future. Bert Hines, President of the Bearcats Touchdown Club, opened his remarks by addressing players and families about the character, adversity, resilience, commitment to the town, and perseverance that defined this year’s Bearcats football team.

Hines referenced Romans 5:3-5, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” 

The Bearcats welcomed a special guest speaker, Kezarrick ‘Kez’ McCorvey, a former professional wide receiver who was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the 1995 NFL Draft. McCorvey had a stellar career with the Florida State Seminoles, earning all-ACC honors from 1992-1994, he became an All-American in 1993 and 1994 and was a semifinalist for the 1994 Fred Biletnikoff Award. He was inducted into the Florida State Football Hall of Fame in 2005.

McCorvey has known Bainbridge Bearcats Head Coach Jay Walls for around 20 years and graciously spoke to players and families inside the Bearcat Cafe about his personal journey, recounting overcoming adversity and the importance of never quitting, as exemplified by a pivotal game at Florida State against the Florida Gators completing the greatest comeback in NCAA history. He stressed the role of encouragement and resilience in achieving success. McCorvey’s time on the microphone concluded with gratitude for the coaches’ dedication and a call to embrace challenges as opportunities for growth.      

McCorvey used football as a metaphor for life, emphasizing the importance of resilience and determination. He highlights the challenges and opportunities in football and how they mirror life’s challenges.

After a round of applause, Head Coach Jay Walls began to recognize the Bainbridge High School football team as having a successful first semester with 79 players maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or higher and 44 players attending every summer workout, earning them membership in the Order of the Gold.

“Everybody that did that this year is going to get a gold certificate,” Walls said. “Anybody that does it two years in a row is going to get a gold medal. Anybody that does it three years in a row is going to get something better than a gold medal. Anybody that does it four years in a row, will be better than that. It’s something we’re going to build on.”

Bearcat football players were recognized for their achievements, including those on the All-Region team and honorable mention, with eight players acknowledged overall: Bowen Smith, Camryn Scott, Brooks Hines, Tyrese Jones, Bryce Olds, Chance Stubbs, Noah Stutler, and Kennedy Washington.   

“But then when you vote, you can’t vote for your own players, only the other coaches,” Walls said. “ So, anybody that hangs up on the all-region team is because of our opponent; other coaches recognize your special play. It really means something.” 

The Bearcats had five players named on the Second-Team All-Region: Vontrey Willingham, Messiah Handsford, Samuel Blyth, Truman Butler, and Jahbarri Smith. 

“Region 1-3A, we got the Defensive Player of the Year,” Walls said. Referring to Amarion Donaldson. 

Additionally, Braylon Phillips and Donaldson received a college scholarship in football from Charleston Southern and Georgia Military College, respectively. Coach Walls praised the players’ dependability and thanked the support staff for their contributions.

“I wanted to recognize that although we went through a tough year, there were some special things to achieve,” Walls said. “And you gotta love these young men. I know I do. You gotta love them for their dependability. You gotta love them for their hard work through adversity. But more character is revealed when you go through adverse times, and you guys did a great job as far as staying the course. You didn’t quit because you had adversity.”

Walls mentioned the creation of a plaque that will be displayed in the field house hallway, listing each player’s name annually. The plaque is intended to be a lasting tribute, with the first class of recipients being the current seniors for perfect attendance: Blyth, Brayden Cooper, Donaldson, John Harris, Randy Johnson, Phillips, and Scott. 

Offensive lineman and long snapper Michael Sammons received the cumulative GPA award with a 97.136, and Graham Beckham earned an academic award with a 96.517.  Sammons was also awarded the Junior Academic Award, Charlie Smith and Logan Marzoff were awarded the Freshman Academic Award for their cumulative GPA achievements in the classroom. 

The recognition ceremony at Bainbridge High School continued with Walls celebrating his players’ successes, listing all-region honors for various positions that included seven players making first-team All-Region. 

That included No. 2 senior linebacker, Donaldson, No. 8 outside linebacker, Phillips, No. 33 senior defensive lineman, Beckham, No. 10 junior safety, Peyton Sheppard,  No. 21 sophomore wide receiver Ja’veen Breedlove, No. 53 junior long-snapper Sammons, and No. 37 junior punter Riggs Rentz. 

Positional coaches then presented leader plaques, beginning with offensive line coach Justin Palmer giving the Top Chef honor for pancake and knockdown blocks to No. 61 Blyth. Running backs coach Larry Cosby gave the Peace Boat honor to sophomore No. 21 “Flip” Breedlove, who excelled on the field. 

The Honeyman Award presented by Coach Cecil was awarded to sophomore No. 3 Willingham. 

“I’ve been in Bainbridge for 12 years now,” Cecil said. “I’ve been very fortunate being around amazing athletes who went on to do great things. And we can obviously tell it will continue with this student-athlete.”    

The utility player, known for being coachable and willing to play any position, was recognized as the Swiss Army Knife for his contributions across multiple roles, playing quarterback, wide receiver, returning kicks, and punts: Scott. 

The Lieutenant Tommy L. Smith Jr. Award was presented by defensive line coach Roman Harrison and selected by coaches to first-team All-Region defensive lineman Beckham. The Lt. Tommy L. Smith Jr. Award is named in his honor and is the highest honor a Bearcat football player can receive.

Thomas Livingston Smith Jr. was a former Bearcat football player and Navy Lieutenant Junior Grade who tragically died on November 27, 1961. He heroically stayed with his plummeting disabled aircraft to steer it away from a densely populated area near the Naval Air Station in Atsugi, Japan. 

The last award(s) given out for the night was the Permanent Offensive Captain Award handed out by offensive coordinator Blake Cecil and awarded to a junior quarterback embodying pride, passion, toughness, effort, motivation, trustworthiness, and a competitive spirit: Brooks Hines. The Permanent Defensive Captain Award was given to a player who has shown resilience and leadership: Donaldson. 

The Permanent Special Teams Captain Award was presented by linebackers coach Colt Gardner, recognizing a player for their unique skills and contributions: Rentz. The Permanent Bearcat Captain Award, selected by coaches, honored a senior for leadership and significant contributions to the team: Phillips.