At some point this season Ethan Trombly believes Bryan County High School’s football team will snap a losing streak dating back to the 2018 season.

Unfortunately, Trombly will only be able to cheer on his teammates from the sideline.

Trombly is one of several Redskins who took their lumps last year as freshmen. He was the backup quarterback behind Sean Kelly Hill and filled in admirably when called upon. Trombly also played wide receiver and defensive back.

This season Trombly, who was a member of Bryan County’s 4X100 relay team which qualified for the state track meet, was set to be a two-way starter at wide receiver and safety when fate intervened.

However, in a 7-on-7 session at Portal he suffered a torn ACL which has sidelined him for the season. Trombly is scheduled to undergo surgery on Aug. 27.

“At first I thought I had just twisted it,” Trombly said. “Then I tried to put pressure on it and couldn’t. I didn’t want to admit it but I knew what had happened.”

“He’s one of my favorite kids,” Coach Cherard Freeman said. “You hate to see this happen to any player but Ethan is one of our hardest workers. Anytime you lose a starter it’s hard but at least he does have two years left.”

The son of Jason and Rachel Trombly of Ellabell, he enjoys hunting and fishing and is hoping as the school adds sports it will consider forming a fishing team which is now a sanctioned GHSA sport.

“I keep waiting for them to start a team,” Trombly said. “You can fish with a torn ACL.”

SOFTBALL UNDER WAY

Bryan County and Richmond Hill had their scheduled game at Richmond Hill rained out last Friday. The two teams were scheduled to play at Hendrix Park on Wednesday evening.

The Redskins have gotten to a good start as they have rolled over Swainsboro, 16-0, and Toombs County, 5-2, behind the pitching of Hayden Joyner and hitting of Bekah Johnson.

Richmond Hill, meanwhile, has started slowly under first-year Coach Chris Jenkins as it has lost to Toombs County (11-2) and Tattnall (11-5) with a 5-2 win over Ware sandwiched in between.

The Wildcats got a tough break when Katie Rearley, expected to be the team’s No. 1 pitcher, suffered a recurrence of the shoulder injury that kept her out most of last season. It is not known when she will return.

Senior Allie Washington was the winning pitcher against Ware while freshman Addison Brooks took the losses against Toombs and Tattnall. Junior leftfielder Lucy Tuttle is off to a hot start at the plate as she is 5-for-9 with five stolen bases.

Hayden Joyner and Bekah Johnson have led the Redskins’ fast start. Joyner has struck out 20 in 10 innings in pushing her career wins total to 35. Johnson, the offensive player of the year last year in Region 3A, is 4-for-6 in the two games with three RBI.

NEW MIDDLE SCHOOL COACH

More than one person has visited Savannah on vacation and later found a reason to relocate to the area. County new Bryan County Middle School football coach Ryan Collier among that number.

Collier takes over the BCMS program after spending the last six years at Glenrock High School, the final two as head coach, in Glenrock, Wyo.

“Got tired of the snow,” Collier said of his long-distance move. “My wife Misty and I came to Savannah on vacation and loved it.”

After getting home and talking about it the Colliers decided to seek out job opportunities in the area. They wound up being hired in Bryan County. Ryan will coach football and teach social studies at the middle school and Misty is teaching at Bryan County Elementary School.

Collier was helping out coaching the varsity during pre-season practice and getting a quick fix on what offense and defense Coach Cherard Freeman wants the middle school to run.

Freeman is an advocate of running the football and that was Collier’s background at Glenrock where he was offensive coordinator for four years before taking over as head coach. Glenrock ran a double wing offense which emphasizes the running game.

Collier, who grew up in Denver where he attended Metropolitan State University, also has experience coaching a more wide-open version of football. He coached six-man football for 10 years, six as a head coach, before going to Glenrock which is about 15 miles from Laramie