NASHVILLE —
Ed Pilcher, who has won a string of titles in his long history as the head coach of three high school football programs, was hired Tuesday night as the new head coach of the Berrien Rebels, according to Berrien principal Angie Lovein.
Pilcher replaces Rob Armstrong, who resigned after a single season last month to take an assistant position with Clark Atlanta University.
Pilcher, who resigned from Bainbridge in late January after five seasons at the helm, has also been the head coach at Early County and Thomas County Central. He won five state championships at Central.
At Bainbridge, he went to the state playoffs in 2009, 2011 and 2012. Last year, the Bearcats went 7-4 and lost at Union Grove in the first round of the playoffs, breaking a string of four straight wins.
Pilcher has a career record of 241-94-1 in 28 seasons as a head coach.
Thomas County Central made the postseason every season that Pilcher was there, a span covering 1991-2007. The Yellow Jackets were dominant in the mid-1990s, winning Class AAA state championships in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1997. They were also state runners-up in Class AAAA in 2002 and made the semifinals in 2003 and 2007.
Before going to Thomas County Central, Pilcher was the head coach at Early County. After a rough start in 1986, the Bobcats went 5-5, then made three straight postseason appearances, including trips to the semifinals in 1988 and 1990.
Berrien will be a contrast. The Rebels last had a winning record in 1995 (5-4-1). They have made it to the postseason just six times in nearly 60 years, including a single appearance in the state tournament in 1991, when they defeated Seminole County in the first round before falling to Mary Persons in the quarterfinals. Their last playoff appearance came in 1993. Since that final appearance, they have gone through 10 head coaches, including three in the past three seasons.
Armstrong’s team went 3-7 in 2012, after two straight 1-9 campaigns. The Rebels won two of their first three games, and broke their string of 16 consecutive region losses.
Berrien plays in one of the most competitive regions in Class AA. Brooks County, Cook, Fitzgerald, Thomasville and Early County have all made at least one appearance in the state quarterfinals since 2006.
Pilcher is not totally unfamiliar with the Rebels. He served as an assistant coach under Berrien head coach Bill McCall from 1983-85, a span where Berrien went 16-13-1, including two consecutive winning seasons. He left Berrien to take the head coaching job at Early in 1986.
Local Sports
Pilcher headed to Berrien
Longtime football coach has won 241 games, five state championships
- Local Sports
-
-
VSU softball wins South Region, headed to nationals
For the third time in four years, and second in a row, Valdosta State’s softball team will play in the national championship tournament.
The Blazers won their third South Region championship Saturday, beating Alabama-Huntsville 8-3 in game three of the best-of-three series at Steel’s Diamond at Blazer Park. -
VSU baseball season comes to an end
Delta State scored seven unanswered runs to defeat Valdosta State 7-2 in an elimination game of the NCAA South Region Tournament at the UT Baseball Field Saturday afternoon.
-
Blazers take 1-0 series lead
Angela O’Connor launched a pinch-hit two-run home run over the left-field fence, tying the game against Alabama-Huntsville in the bottom of the sixth inning, and sparking the Blazers and their fans along the way.
-
Blazer baseball stays alive, beats Stillman
Valdosta State scored five runs in the first inning to defeat Stillman 6-2 in an elimination game of the NCAA South Region Tournament at UT Baseball Field Friday morning.
-
Lowndes’ Harwell, Wortham sign with Valdosta State
Lowndes’ Ty Harwell and David Wortham won’t have to go far to play college baseball.
-
Blazers host respected rival UAH in Super Regional
One would expect a matchup featuring two of the top softball programs in Division II to come in the national championship game.
Unfortunately for Valdosta State and Alabama-Huntsville, who have combined to appear in four straight national championship games, they won’t be meeting in title game on Memorial Day in Salem, Va. -
Pop Warner Football coming to Valdosta
Pop Warner Football is coming to Valdosta.
The nationally known organization that puts an emphasis on education and developing American youth has been established in the Valdosta area and will begin playing football this August. -
Blazers lose to Delta State, fall to loser’s bracket
If the Valdosta State baseball team is going to win the South Region Tournament, the Blazers going to have to do it from the loser’s bracket.
The Blazers (33-17) dropped their first game of the tournament Thursday, falling to Delta State 4-2 at UT Baseball Stadium.
VSU will face Stillman College, which lost to No. 1 seed and tournament host Tampa Thursday, Friday at 11 a.m. to advance to the weekend portion of the tournament. The loser will be eliminated. -
Lowndes’ Willis, Breit named Region 1 Coaches of the Year
The All-Region 1-AAAAAA soccer teams were announced Wednesday and Lowndes was well represented.
Lowndes coaches Chris Willis (girls) and Jordan Breit (boys) were named the Region Coaches of the Year, after leading the Lowndes teams to region championships and going undefeated in region play. -
Vikings commit 4 errors, fall to Roswell, 5-2
The small things matter in baseball, especially in a winner-take-all game three.
On Wednesday, Lowndes’ baseball team made too many mistakes on the little things. The Vikings committed four errors that led to five Roswell runs and were eliminated in the Class AAAAAA state playoffs with a 5-2 loss to the Hornets. - More Local Sports Headlines
-



