State preview: Brooks County at Fitzgerald

History tells us that the results have been mixed for coaches returning to their alma maters.

Maurice Freeman has shown it can be done, not once, but twice. For the second time in his career, Freeman has returned home to coach his Brooks County Trojans, and the sequel may be as good as the original.

Entering Friday’s game against Fitzgerald, he has the Trojans 6-1, ranked No. 7 in Class AA, including a stunning 35-7 victory against Class AAAAA playoff contender Tift County. Quite a turnaround considering that the Trojans were 3-7 last year.

“I really thought I was going to stay at Brunswick,” said Freeman, who guided Brooks to its only state championship in 1994 in his first year as head coach before leaving four years later. “But the people here really wanted a coach who would stay and build a real program. And I wanted to find a stable place I could raise my kids, so it fell into place.”

Fitzgerald coach Robbie Pruitt, whose team is ranked No. 2 in Class AA, is happy for his colleague. He just wishes the Freeman factor had not been so dramatic.

“They have 23 seniors with 17 of those starters. That’s big for a double-A team,” said Pruitt who is 82-15 during his eight years at Fitzgerald. “They are huge and fast. We don’t have a single guy on our defense who weighs over 200 pounds. We just don’t have the bullets they have.”

But two of the smaller Brooks players have created the most headaches for opponents. In last week’s rout of Berrien, junior running back Martez Christopher turned his 10 carries into 225 yards, with touchdown runs of 68 and 65. Two of senior quarterback Jeremy Cody’s option-keepers resulted in scores from 67 and 40.

Meanwhile, Fitzgerald counts heavily upon senior safety Jemea Thomas (Georgia Tech commitment) and junior wingback Trenton Pruitt. Thomas is a big play waiting to happen, and Pruitt would like to build on his five-game stretch of averaging two touchdowns a game.

BROOKS COUNTY AT FITZGERALD

• When, where: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jaycee Stadium, Fitzgerald.

• Records, rankings: Brooks County is 6-1 overall, 4-0 in Region 1-AA and ranked No. 7. Fitzgerald is 7-0, 4-0 and No. 2.

Other top games

• Tift County at Northside-Warner Robins, 7:30 p.m. Friday : A showdown between teams tied with Coffee for second place in Region 1-AAAAA.

• Dalton at Rome, 8 p.m. Friday: Class AAAA No. 5 Rome can clinch Region 7-AAAA Div. A, but it will not be easy.

• Appling County at McIntosh County Institute, 7:30 p.m. Friday : No. 3 Appling County and No. 10 MCA battle for the Region 2-AA lead.