Back to the drawing board.

After winning their first game since 2019 on Aug. 27, Long County Blue Tide football had a blowout 40-0 loss when they visited Charlton County on Sept. 3.

The Blue Tide were outmatched by over 300 yards, only being able to pick up 23 total yards for the entire game.

"Charlton was a very humbling experience for us," Head Coach Mike Pfiester said. "We really felt like we had a chance and played well the week before. We just didn't respond very in the road environment."

But all that is behind the Blue Tide (1-2) as they will host the Butler Bulldogs (0-2) from Augusta on Sept. 10.

The Bulldogs are coming off a 35-6 loss at Warren County last Friday.

When the Blue Tide and Bulldogs faced off a season ago, Butler prevailed 16-3.

This was before Pfiester's arrival.

"It was a close game last year," Pfiester said. "I know that we are much improved. So I think our kids feel really good about their opportunity on Friday. They just got to keep doing what they're coached to do and we'll have a very good chance."

The scoring advantage belongs to the Blue Tide who averages 16.7 points per game and had a 44-point performance on Aug. 27 when they defeated Bacon County.

The Bulldogs averages nine points per game with their season high being 12.

"We're functional but we still haven't really broke out offensively," Pfiester said. "We're close. We've got some guys that have been slow to get reps offensively because they're learning the new defense as well. There's no doubt that we have a chance to put some points on the board."

Both teams have experienced defensive struggles with the Blue Tide giving up an average of 34.3 points per game and Butler allowing 36.5 points per game.

"We have to keep the ball in front of us and eliminate the big plays," Pfiester said about his defensive plan. "Butler's quarterback does damage when he gets out of the pocket and runs around because he has the ability to find receivers down the field. If we can manage to keep him in the pocket, I think we have a chance to hopefully have a good defensive performance."

This matchup has the makings of being a shootout because of the hardships of the defenses or a struggle due to both teams not having a high offensive scoring rate.

Friday will be a non-region game.

"The biggest thing with non-region is to sort out some things," Pfiester said. "We can figure out who are going to be the guys you can count on come region play. At the end of the day, they're like preseason games. They count on your record and it would be great to win them. But we're just trying to prepare ourselves to find a way to win games."

It will kickoff at 7:30 at Veterans Stadium in Ludowici.