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 By Kevin Price

Photo by Dwayne Culpepper

Isaiah White has a hard time deciding on a favorite sport. 

He jokes that it’s the one that’s always in season for him, whether that’s football, basketball or baseball. White plays all three at Ware County. 

“I go back and forth. I really like all three,” says White, who is presently playing quarterback for the Gators football team. 

Next up for Ware’s multi-sport star will be basketball this winter and then baseball this coming spring as the senior closes out his high-school career in Waycross. 

For White, our featured MVP athlete in this edition of 912 Sports Magazine, there is never really an offseason. He goes from one sport to the next and just keeps playing. The ball might change, along with his uniform and the equipment, too. But, that’s really it. 

White isn’t just occupying a roster spot in any of the three sports, either. He’s a standout on the football and baseball fields and also the basketball court, and thus is a vital piece of the puzzle for all three teams at Ware County. 

“You don’t see a lot of three-sport athletes this day and time,” says Ware head football coach Jason Strickland, “and you definitely don’t see someone excel at all three like Isaiah does. He’s not just good at all three sports. He’s fantastic at all three.”

White, who is listed at 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds on Ware’s football roster this fall, plays guard for the Gators basketball team. 

Last season, White averaged 10 points and five rebounds a game for a Ware team that won a region championship while posting a 26-4 record which is the best in school history. He was named second-team all-region after the season. 

“Basketball, I grew up playing it and have stayed with it. I like playing with my friends, plus I’ve got a good little shot. I can get hot,” said White, who had to be coaxed into bragging about himself. 

White is the starting shortstop for the Ware baseball team. He can also pitch as well. 

As a batter, he hits for average and has good power, too. 

This past spring, White batted .301 and posted a .407 on-base percentage. He banged out seven doubles, two triples and also had two home runs while driving in 15 runs and stealing 13 bases in 24 games.

He only pitched eight innings for the Gators, but was fairly effective. He struck out seven and allowed six hits. 

“I’m pretty good all-around,” he says about baseball. “I’m a pretty good fielder and hitter.”

His football numbers are quite good as well. Last year as the starting quarterback for the first time for the Gators, White threw for 1,940 yards and 13 touchdowns for a 9-3 team which advanced to the second round of the Class AAAA state playoffs before falling to eventual state champion Creekside in the second round. 

White also ran for another seven touchdowns while operating the Ware offense which has been blessed with a string of good quarterbacks the last several years. 

This season, White only had one game under his belt when this story was written for deadline. White helped Ware to a 22-21 win at Bainbridge in the season opener as he threw for 123 yards and two touchdowns. One of his touchdown passes was a 56-yard bomb in the rain. 

“He can make all the throws,” Strickland says. “He’s got every throw in his tool box. He’s got a strong arm, but he’s also got great touch on the underneath throws.”

His arm strength and accuracy certainly stand out on film, but there’s way more than those two components that make White an outstanding quarterback who can play beyond high school, according to his coach. 

Strickland describes White as a “film junkie” who watches more tape than the typical prep player to analyze himself and also to get a leg up on opposing defenses. 

“He also wants to know everything we are doing and why we are doing it,” Strickland explained. 

Because of his knowledge of the game and the team’s offense, the Gators give White a lot of liberties other high-school teams don’t necessarily give their quarterbacks. The coaches call the plays, but White has the green light to audible to something different at the line of scrimmage. 

“He has the keys to the car,” Strickland noted. “He probably changes 70 percent of what’s called in a game. It might be something like a route, a protection or a motion.”

There is more to White than his physical talents and mental capabilities as well. He’s also a natural leader who demands respect and gets it from the other players around him.

“He’s like another coach, but when he tells another kid something or gets onto them about something, they know he’s right,” Strickland said. 

White felt like he was more than ready to take command of the Ware offense last year when he stepped into the starting role for the first time. As someone who was always used to being on the field growing up, he had a hard time watching from the sidelines when he wasn’t the No. 1 quarterback. 

But, he admits now that watching and learning during games was the best thing for him and his overall development at the quarterback spot. 

“I learned a lot by paying attention and taking more reps,” White said. “I played behind Luke Hooks and owe a lot to him as well. He taught me a lot.”

Strickland feels strongly that White will get a chance to play college football, though he didn’t have any concrete scholarship offers coming into his senior season. 

“He’s gonna land somewhere,” the coach pointed out. “I’ve told coaches already if you don’t take him he’s gonna wind up beating you.”

White agrees that football is probably his best chance to play a sport beyond high school and says he isn’t too worried right now about what the future holds in that regard. 

“God knows what is gonna happen, so I’ve got to let that go and let Him control that,” he says. 

In the meantime, White plans to rock on like he has in previous years. When this football season is done, he will lace up his high-tops and play basketball once again for the Gators. When that’s over, his plan is to grab his bat and glove and do his thing on the baseball diamond one final time. 

“I’m not always gonna be able to play all three, so I am going to enjoy them while I can,” White said. 

In what little time he has away from sports and school, White doesn’t sit idle. He holds down a job as well to earn spending money. 

When he has free time, White may spend that fishing. That’s something he enjoys, but he admits he’s not quite the fisherman that he is the ballplayer.

“I might need a little more practice,” he said about his fishing talents. “My dad always says I might catch something, but it might not be a fish.”

He could probably cook up a mess a fish, though, if he could ever catch enough for a family meal.

White says his skills in the kitchen rival those he has on the football field. 

“I love to cook. I do it all the time,” he said. “I can definitely cook pork chops, bake ‘em or in the fryer. I can do seafood a little bit. My dad cooks it all the time.”

  By Kevin Price

Photo by Michael Brinson

Cooper Reiss likes working with numbers, so it’s not surprising that his favorite subject in school is math. 

“I like solving problems, and that’s what math is,” said the Glynn Academy football standout. “I enjoy fixing things and figuring out the problems.”

Reiss happens to be a top-notch student who excels in the classroom across a wide range of classes and not just those related to math. 

Our featured scholar-athlete in this football-focused edition of 912 Sports Magazine, the senior linebacker is also one of the top defensive players here in Southeast Georgia. He’s coming off a 2025 season in which he was chosen as the Region 1-AAAAA Defensive Player of the Year by the league coaches. He began this year as one of 11 defensive players named to the All-912 Preseason Football Team. 

“He’s a really good player, he really is,” said GA head coach Rocky Hidalgo. “He’s probably one of the top three or four linebackers I have ever coached.”

Reiss has started at linebacker for the Glynn defense since his sophomore season. Two years ago, he totaled 82 tackles, seven tackles for loss, a sack and also forced two fumbles while recovering a fumble as well. 

Last season, he produced similar statistics, notching 80 tackles, four for loss, three sacks and also two interceptions. 

“He’s a really physical box-fitter. He does a great job of running through people,” Hidalgo said. “The thing he has really improved is his ability to stretch the field on the plays he makes. His foot-speed has improved, his ability to open his hips and get under things and track balls down on the perimeter has really improved. He looks more comfortable tackling out there in space as well. 

“He’s always been a physical kid. The physicality has always been there with him. He’s worked really hard over the last two years on his athleticism and his fluidity. I’m really proud of him for that.”

Reiss said he weighed 220 pounds when he started for the first time as a sophomore and noted that his weight remains the same today. 

Thing is, he’s much stronger now. So, when he hits the player with the ball, it might not feel very good for the other guy. 

“I was a little chunky back then,” Reiss says, thinking back to his sophomore season. “I’ve gradually gotten stronger, but I made major improvements in the weight room this offseason.”

Reiss always seems to be around the ball on Friday nights. He’s one of those players who has that nose for the football you often hear about. 

Hidalgo said that knack for getting to the ball comes with certain innate abilities, but also an understanding of the game. 

“Some guys just naturally have a nose for the ball and some guys watch film and train themselves to understand where the ball is gonna go,” the coach said. 

“You need to be able to do all that. Instincts are one thing, but you also have to have an understanding about where the defensive front is moving and where the ball could be run. 

“I think he does a good job understanding what we are doing in front of him and also making sure he’s in a good position to tackle somebody when he gets a chance.”

Reiss has played football for as long as he can remember. He spent the first part of his childhood in Tennessee before moving with his family to Georgia at age 8 when his father accepted a job at the Federal Law Enforement Training Center in Brunswick. (Yes, Reiss does cheer for the Tennessee Volunteers, if you’re wondering.)

He recalls coming home from school as a kid and grabbing a football sometimes before he even grabbed an afternoon snack. Reiss said his mother used to get aggravated with him because he wouldn’t even come home to check in with her before he started playing. 

“I’d get off the bus and go right to a friend’s house and play football in the front yard,” Reiss explained. 

At Glynn, Reiss is a two-sport athlete. He also is one of the top wrestlers for the Red Terrors who have put together one of the best programs in Southeast Georgia which has been in the running for state championships recently as well. 

Reiss finished sixth in the state in his weight class as a sophomore and finished fifth overall last winter as a junior. He says he might go up a weight class this year and compete as a heavyweight. 

Wrestling hasn’t always been easy for him, Reiss noted. 

“I used to get beat up almost everyday in practice,” he says. “Toward the end of my sophomore year, things started to click. And last year, things turned around.”

Reiss does indeed thrive on contact, be it meeting a running back coming through a hole or battling a fellow competitor one-on-one in the middle of the wrestling mat. He draws on his experiences in both sports to help him out in the other one. 

“They go hand-in-hand,” Reiss says. “Both involve taking a person down to the ground. The ability to tackle someone, come off a block, it’s just like taking someone down in wrestling.”

Reiss tackles his book work with serious force, too. He carries a 4.4 grade-point average and has taken eight Advanced Placement courses to earn credits toward college. Reiss said he is taking two more this year. 

Reiss would like to earn a college scholarship for football, but will definitely factor academics into his future college choice. He’s drawn interest from Division 1 schools, but also some non-scholarship schools at the NCAA Division III level and also some NAIA schools. 

“I’d like to study engineering. I’m leaning more toward mechanical or civil engineering,” Reiss said. 

One of his favorite things to do outside of school is hang out with his buddies. He spent a lot of time this summer on the beach, but he also ventured onto the pickleball courts on St. Simons Island a good bit. 

“I’m really into pickleball, love it,” Reiss said. “It’s a lot of fun.”