DEA Football to get back to Basics

It will be a back to the basics approach for David Emanuel Academy as they began with the first official day of football practice on Monday morning. Second year Coach Jimmy Barnett welcomed 21 players for the two-a-day workouts that will focus on conditioning and fundamentals.
“We are going to get in better shape and we are going to do a lot of teaching,” said Barnett. “We made some progress last year but we didn’t finish where I wanted to. This year it will be a simple plan and a much different tempo.”
The practice schedule for the week will be 8:30 AM to 11:30 and 1:30 to 4:30 in the afternoon. With the heat index expected to soar, the weather conditions will be closely monitored. “We have a policy in place for extreme heat” said athletic director Andy Callaway. “We want our guys to be conditioned to play but we will go by the chart put safety first when the situation calls for it.”
The Eagles improved to 4-6 in 2010 after a 1-9 mark the year before. DEA, looking to make their first playoff appearance since 2005, was in the hunt until week eleven before losing out to Curtis Baptist in the regular season finale.
DEA graduated mostly size on the line and experience at other key positions. The Eagles main experience is in the skill positions with depth on the line being the biggest concern.
The Eagles will have their first pre-season scrimmage on August 16 at 5:30 in Sparta versus Thomas Jefferson Academy as part of the Bob Peck Kickoff Classic. The 2011 regular season begins on Thursday August 25 when DEA hosts Bulloch Academy.

Sills to Head Varsity Softball Team

When the 2011 softball season begins next week, the David Emanuel Academy Lady Eagles will be under new leadership as Pat Sills was elevated to Head Coach over the summer. Sills, a top assistant coach for the past four seasons, takes over after the departure of Travis Motes who left to accept a position at Portal High School.
Sills inherits a team that lost four starters, including two college signees in Jessica Wimberly (Darton) and Laura Cardell (East Georgia). Among the returning players is All-Region and All-State player Jordan Brett, a junior, who will handle the catching duties this year. Other returning starters include senior All-Region player Madison Mercer, a senior, along with juniors Jerica Burnett, and Macy Wiggins and sophomore McLean Sullivan. Team newcomers Brooke Peebles and Coty Garrettt are expected to contribute also along with pitcher Alie Canady who transferred to DEA during the past school year and outfielder Alexis Morris who enrolled this spring.
Sills calls his style of play “run and gun” and thinks the talent he has is suited to that brand. “We may not have the power hitting or the experience we had a year ago but we have some good athletes and some girls that can run so we will be very aggressive on the bases” said Sills.
Filling out the 2011 varsity roster are five freshman players. Jessica Brett and Logan Faircloth both played varsity as eighth graders and are ready to play when needed. Suzanne Durden is a candidate to start in leftfield and Tori Hilliard could play infield or outfield. Natalie Turner is new to the game and should get playing time in the outfield. Juniors Lauren Williams and Caitlyn Wheeler both have experience in the outfield also.
Michelle Norton joins the varsity staff this year and will fill Sills’ former role as assistant coach.
The Lady Eagles will open the season on Tuesday August 2 when they travel to Bellville to play Pinewood Christian for at 4:30 contest. The home opener will be August 4 as DEA hosts Nathanael Greene Academy. DEA will play a 20 game schedule plus participate in the Bulloch Bash tournament on August 12 and 13.

DEA finishes second in Athletic Excellence

David Emanuel Academy finished tied for second in the GISA Class A overall athletic excellence competition for the 2010-11 school year. DEA, and arch rival Thomas Jefferson both accumulated 48 points to finish behind Westwood who came in with 71 points, earning them the Dr. Michael Drake Athletic Excellence Award in Class A.
The award is given to the top athletic program in each of the three GISA classifications based on a system of points awarded for and based on the order of finish in 20 different state competitions. (10 points for first, eight points for second, six points for third, four points for fourth, two points for fifth and one point for sixth). The awards will be presented on Wednesday July 13 by the GISA Coaches Association at the annual Awards Banquet at the Best Western Inn on St Simon’s Island.
The award is named in honor of Dr. Michael Drake who has spent his entire life involved with independent education. From being a student; to a teacher; to a coach; to an administrator; to the Executive Directorship of the Georgia Independent School Association, he has championed the athletic strivings of the student-athletes and coaches of the GISA throughout his entire career. Dr Drake is currently the interim Head of School at Tattnall Square Academy in Macon.
DEA’s point total was led by the boys tennis team that earned 10 points for winning the GISA Class A state title. The runner-up girls tennis team picked up eight more points with their second place finish. Andy Sutton, who coached both DEA tennis teams this past season, will be recognized as the Class A boys tennis Coach of the Year at the Banquet on Wednesday night.
The girls basketball team, the golf team and the girls track and field team at DEA all collected six points each to the total by finishing third in the state in their respective sports. Softball, boys basketball and baseball, all picked up four points each to complete to overall point total.
“Overall I’m proud of the success we had in athletics during the past year” said DEA Athletic Director Andy Callaway. “Eight of our 13 varsity athletic competition teams advanced to the state playoffs and all of them advanced further than the first round. We had one state champion, one runner-up and four other teams finish in the top four. We also had individuals in other sports like cross country, boys track and field and wrestling that did well at the state level but their efforts were not reflected in the point total as only team results were considered.”
Westwood School from Camilla ran away with the top award in single A by winning state championships in football, girls tennis, boys track and field and girls track and field. The Wildcats were also state runner-up in girls basketball, boys tennis and baseball. The rest of the field behind DEA and Thomas Jefferson were: Oak Mountain Academy (38), Georgia Christian School (31), Randolph Southern School (30), Memorial Day School (27), Crisp Academy (25), Westminster Christian Academy (20), Lafayette Christian (18), Nat Greene Academy (15), Dawson Street Christian (10), John Hancock (10), Twiggs Academy (6), Solid Rock Christian (4), Heritage Christian (4), Brandon Hall (4) Heirway Christian (2), New Birth Christian (2), and Providence Christian (2).
Frederica Academy of St Simons won the Dr Michael Drake Athletic Excellence Award in Class AA with 70 points while Mt de Sales of Macon won the award in Class AAA with 89 points.