Maurice Freeman Gets Unwelcome November Night Off
Do you remember what you were doing around the middle of November in 2004? Chances are you probably don’t. For Maurice Freeman, that was the last time – until the 2022 season – that he didn’t coach in a second-round high school playoff game. He was with the Brunswick Pirates then. For 17 straight seasons since then, including the last 14 at Brooks County, Freeman had led his team to at least the second round of the state playoffs. That streak ended with a first-round playoff loss to Bleckley County, and the Trojans head football coach felt lost.
“It’s downright unpleasant,” Freeman said of his suddenly free Friday night. “It’s unpleasant, and it’s an uncomfortable situation. I feel so out of place right now.”
Freeman was speaking on the afternoon of Nov.r 18 when his Trojans typically would have been getting ready for a second-round playoff game. He would have been taking his troops through their customary pre-game meal, followed by a team devotional and final instructions before entering their last stages of preparation. But that was not the case on this particular Friday, and it carried a palpable sense of emptiness.
The Trojans head coach found himself in this strange situation after his team lost to Bleckley County in the opening round of the Class A-D1 playoffs, 14-10 margin. That playoff loss was indeed a rarity for Freeman since his return to Brooks County in 2008.
Beginning with that first season, he had not only guided his Trojans to the playoffs every year, they had always made it to at least the second round in each of those seasons. That’s 14 consecutive postseasons of playing at least twice, and in many of those seasons, the Trojans made it even further.
Late in the 2022 season, with the Trojans at 5-1 entering a game against Irwin County, Brooks County was looking to defeat their rival for the third consecutive time. They had defeated the Indians in the regular season in 2021, then again in the Class A Public state championship game.
With Brooks leading Irwin 7-6 in the third quarter, an injury to starting quarterback Jamal Sanders knocked the senior signal caller out of the game, not only affecting the outcome of that game, (a 19-7 win for Irwin County), but very likely altering the remaining path of the season. Sanders suffered a broken fibula, costing the standout quarterback the rest of his season, his career, and likely a fourth straight trip to the state finals for Brooks County.
While Freeman said he doesn’t like to make excuses, he does admit that losing Sanders was tough to overcome.
“Jamal was 50 percent of our offense,” Freeman said. “Anytime you have a guy that you run that much of your offense through, it’s going to be tough.”
So what was Freeman planning to do with his free Friday night? The Brooks County coach said the playoff loss gave him the opportunity to spent more time with his number one fan.
“I’m going to step out of character for the first time in a long time, and cater to my wife and do whatever she wants to do,” he said. “I’m going to show her how much she means to me and how much I appreciate her.”
