JOSEPH BATROUS Briarwood Academy junior Joseph Batrous recently collected awards for both football and basketball in the same week.

Batrous, along with Washington players Blake Stitcher, Corey Davidson, and Chase Walker, played key roles in this year’s successful football season, according to Head Coach Jimmy Barnett, whose team ended the season as GISA Region 1AA runner-up.

Batrous, the son of Vicki and Joe Batrous of Thomson and the grandson of Vernon and Jackie Adams of Washington, received the Coaches Award for the 2005 football Buccaneers from Coach Barnett at the Fall Sports Banquet recently and then later in the week was named to the All Tournament team for the preseason Garden City Classic basketball tournament in Augusta.

“He’s just a great athlete,” Barnett says. “He’s a team player. He’s the kind of player every coach wants. You just look at him and tell him what to do, and he goes and does it. You could tell him to go paint the goal post in the fourth quarter, and he’d say, ‘yes, sir,’ and go do it.”

Batrous received the Coaches Award for the football team from Barnett for being “a composite of everything you want in a football player.

“You wish you had 11 of him,” Barnett said. “He has a lot of skill, and he uses it well. He’s just a pleasure to coach.”

Batrous gained yards in every way possible for the Bucs, and he was “all over the field” while playing safety on defense. Batrous gained 422 yards on kick returns, 363 yards rushing on 58 carries, and caught 15 passes for 355 yards, an average of 23.5 yards per pass.

Blake Stitcher, the son of Melanie Stitcher of Washington and Cliff Stitcher of Macon and the grandson of Roy and Jane Stitcher of Washington and Lucille and Jimmy Blakey of Lincolnton, came out for football the first time his junior year and worked his way in two years to a starting position on the varsity.

“It was just pure hard work,” Barnett said of Stitcher’s accomplishments. “He kept playing and fighting, and he became a starter on our special teams, and then, out of the clear blue sky, he wanted to kick. By the end of the season, he was our starting kicker.”

Stitcher also played tight end for the Bucs.

Freshman Chase Walker, the son of Clay and Midge Walker and grandson of Bobby Walker, all of Rayle, has “the magic touch.”

“He’s got the ability to throw the football,” Barnett says.

The Bucs started the season with four quarterbacks, and freshman Walker was at the bottom of the list.

“By the time the third game rolled around, he was our back-up,” Barnett said. “Not only can he throw the football, he’s got a cool head on him. He played a lot in critical situations.”

In a key region game with Gatewood School in Eatonton, the Bucs starting quarterback went down with the Bucs on the Gators’ nine-yard line, no timeouts and ten seconds on the clock.

“I turned around and said, ‘Chase, go in there and throw a TD pass to Dave Joesbury, and he did, with no time left on the clock,’” Barnett enthused. “I think that’s what broke Gatewood’s back.”

If there’s a problem with Corey (Davidson), it’s that “he’s too shy. He doesn’t say very much,” Barnett says of his other prize freshman. “He’s got a bright future. He’s had an excellent year this year, especially as a freshman.

“I didn’t have to play freshmen,” he said. “They’re (Davidson and Walker) just that good.”

Davidson has “good size and good speed, and is going to be an excellent receiver” for the Bucs, Barnett said.

Davidson is the son of Scott and Diedre Davidson of Washington.