Benedictine Military School showed Long County why the Cadets are the No. 1 AA football team in the state Friday.

Playing in Ludowici, the Cadets beat the Blue Tide 56-20.

The Cadets received the ball first and began their first offensive possession at their own 34 yard line. On the very first offensive play of the night, halfback Tyleek Collins took a handoff and swept to the right for a 66-yard touchdown. Jake Karesh’s extra point was good.

That first play from scrimmage was a sign of another bad outing for the Blue Tide defense. The Cadets scored on their first four possessions of the game to go up 29-0.

In the first half, the Long County offense was able to move the ball, but it wasn’t until the fourth possession that they were able to find the end zone when Brendon Scott scampered in for a 14-yard touchdown. Tripp Stapleton’s extra point kick was good.

After this series, the Blue Tide did force the Cadets to fumble. A Long County player fell on it at the Tide’s own 30 yard line. Scott rolled out to the left and tossed a screen pass back to the other side of the field where Jaquarius Harrison was open. The tailback found an open lane and raced 70 yards for a score. Stapleton’s extra point attempt was blocked. The score stood at 29-13.  

That score put the Blue Tide’s heart back into the contest, but the Cadets were just too talented.

Harrison would put one more touchdown on the board, but Benedictine would counter that with four of their own. With his talented offensive line, Collins finished with four touchdowns, leading the Cadets to their 10th win of the season and seventh in Region 2-AA.

The Blue Tide ended the season with 3-7 overall record and 2-5 mark in the region.

Long County now looks to 2016. The team will lose 14 seniors. Many of them, like Scott and Harrison, will be hard to replace. Fortunately, the Blue Tide have 19 juniors who should be back, and they also have several sophomores who saw varsity time this year and who will be looking to start as juniors.