Sports coverage is a big part of what we do at DouglasNow. I’ve said many times and I’ll say it many more – what we publish on the front page often highlights people’s failures. But what we publish on the sports page often highlights people’s successes. I’m going to do the same thing here that I did with the news stories – I’m going to list the top sports stories by the number of views on the DouglasNow website. But there is another story, one that website analytics don’t tell, that I’ll discuss after the main list. I’ll list the stories in reverse order, from #10 to #1.
Here goes.
10. Louisville running back Maurice Turner transfers to Tulane. Former Coffee Trojan Turner, the only Coffee alum playing in the FBS this season, left Louisville for Tulane right after the season ended. Turner spent three seasons with the Cardinals and had some strong performances, most notably when he blistered Cincinnati in the 2022 Wasabi Fenway Bowl for 160 yards on 31 carries. He scored his first touchdown in 2023 and looked poised for a breakout 2024 campaign. But an ankle injury cost him eight games and he decided to transfer. Things didn’t go much better for Turner this season. Before he could get going good, he injured his other ankle and missed significant playing time again. He did get into a few games late in the season, including getting on the field during Tulane’s first-round College Football Playoff game against Ole Miss. (1,672 views)
9. Former Coffee High head football coach Robby Pruitt enters the most exclusive club there is for a high school football coach. In September, Coach Pruitt, who was coaching at Williston High School near Gainesville, Fla., became the first coach in the country to win 200 games or more in two different states. When the Red Devils defeated the Trinity Catholic Celtics (Ocala) 49-21, the victory gave Coach Pruitt his 200th in Florida. He has 209 wins in Georgia, 83 of which came at Coffee. Pruitt has won seven state titles in Florida. He played for two in Georgia (in 2000 with Fitzgerald and 2017 at Coffee) but finished as runner-up both times. (1,688 views)
8. In June, Tyreek Hill ran the 100 meters at the Last Chance Sprint Series at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California. It was Hill’s first 100 meters since 2014. He ran a 10.15, a personal best. (1,705 views)
7. After a dreadful 2024-2025 season for the Miami Dolphins, wide receiver Tyreek Hill stated that he was going to be out of Miami. He had one of his worst years statistically and the Dolphins didn’t make the playoffs – the first time Hill hadn’t been in the postseason in his NFL career. This was the first of a series of bad things that took place during the offseason and into the regular season. Hill wasn’t out – he was with Miami on opening day but it didn’t last long. Hill suffered a catastrophic season-ending knee injury early in the year. (1,775 views)
6. Worth County brings the first of two state football championships to South Georgia. When the GHSA state championship games began last month at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, a few South Georgia teams had opportunities to win state titles. Two ultimately prevailed – Worth County and Thomas County Central. Worth, led by former Coffee High assistant Jeff Hammond, struck first, defeating Toombs 17-13. (2,174 views)
5. Former Trojans playing college football: All season long, we covered the former Trojans who were playing college football. We started off the season with an incomplete list but added players as the season progressed. The story we posted on September 1 generated the most views of the ones we posted. All played well and several had breakout years – Tyrese Woodgett made Second Team All-America at Georgia Military, Anthony Paulk was the conference Defensive Rookie of the Year at Charleston Southern, and Maurice Turner played in the College Football Playoff with Tulane. The players we followed were Woodgett, Paulk, Turner, Jayden Hancock (Charleston Southern), Jyarius Carter (West Georgia), Jaydon Vester (Clark Atlanta), David “Tug” Vaughn (Georgia Military), Jerzabeon Grant (Georgia Military), Skyler Smith (Georgia Military), Chris Reed (Reindhardt), Jackson Banks (Western Carolina), Larenzo Harvey (Fort Valley State), and BJ Reed (Point). (2,299 views)
4. Appling County hires Tucker Pruitt away from Fitzgerald. In April, Appling County hired Fitzgerald head football coach Tucker Pruitt, Robby Pruitt’s son and a former Coffee assistant when Robby was here, as its new head football coach. It was a bit of a surprise and a story that generated headlines across the state. (2,305 views)
3. The GHSA announces its realignments for 2026-2028. While Coffee moves up to 6A, competitively, the Trojans are in the same position they’ve been in. With the GHSA going back to seven classifications, Coffee is still in the next to highest classification with basically the same region opponents. One notable difference, though, is that Tift County has dropped down a class and is once again a region foe. (2,464 views)
2. Coffee High senior running back KJ Debruce and Georgia Military freshman Tyrese Woodgett announce where they will play football next year. Debruce plans to play at Georgia State while Woodgett, who had over a dozen offers from four-year schools, several of which were from FBS schools, is headed to Georgia Southern. (2,487 views)
1. Tyreek Hill occupies the #1 spot on our list of sports stories. But it’s not for the right reasons. From the minute last season ended, Hill was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. In addition to announcing his intention to leave Miami before the 2025 season began (which he didn’t do), news broke that Hill played with an injured wrist; he got into an altercation of some kind with his wife, Lakeeta Vaccaro, which led to a visit from police and a divorce filing by Lakeeta; and then in May, when he offered his opinions on the best quarterbacks in the NFL, he conveniently left out Tua Tagovailoa, his own quarterback. Things didn’t get much better for Hill after that – on September 29, he shredded his knee against the New York Jets, ending his season and putting his career in jeopardy. Hill played just four games this season, catching 21 passes for 265 yards and one touchdown. (3,945 views)
Now for the real sports story of 2025: Championships, championships, and more championships. Teams and individual athletes at South Georgia State College, Coffee High School, and Citizens Christian Academy won a variety of titles, both region and state. We covered all of these championships in one way or another but their individual views don’t tell the whole story. It’s a big deal when a school or athlete wins a region or state title and I certainly want to make sure we recognize these performances.
South Georgia State College Hawks: Two SGSC teams won conference championships in 2025. The basketball team won its third Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association championship in five years in March, advancing to the national tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas. The women’s soccer team won the conference title in October with a 5-1 win over the Gordon State College Highlanders. The win advanced SGSC to the district tournament in South Carolina.
CCA Patriots: The Patriots won two team titles in 2025, played for another, and had an individual state championship at the state track meet. The CCA men’s basketball team won region then advanced to the state finals before ultimately finishing as runner-up. The baseball team finished the school year with a state title, the second of the term for CCA (the softball team won state in October of 2024). Then, in October of this year, the Lady Patriots defended their softball title from last year, giving head coach Jeremy Coram three state titles in a 12-month period. Not to be outdone, Arabelle Roberts won an individual state title at the state track meet in the high jump last spring. She also plays softball, which means that from October of 2024 to October of 2025, she won three state titles.
Coffee High School: Across town at Coffee High, wrestler Arthur Reed won an individual state wrestling championship. The 2025 wrestling team also won a region dual team title and a traditional team championship. The following teams also won region titles in 2025: Lady Trojans basketball team, women’s swim team, men’s and women’s tennis teams, men’s and women’s golf teams, Lady Trojans softball team (co-region champions), and the women’s cross country team.
