After school cancellations due to possible effects from Hurricane Ian, the Blue Tide Rocket League and Mario Kart teams were not able to play their first games of the 2022 fall season.
But Thursday, Oct. 6, they got on the sticks and showed just how good they could be this year.
In the spring season, the Rocket League team fell just short of making the state playoffs as they finished ranked number 75 in the state, just 11 spots out of the playoffs. With a reloaded roster, they wanted to prove that this year was going to be much different.
Senior Kaleb Driver returned from his impressive campaign in the spring and immediately took up his player/coach role for the Wave Racers. Facing off against Southwest Macon, they were dominant from the start.
Driver along with newcomers senior Brendan Mosley, sophomore Ian Jones and freshmen Zeke Musa and Matthew Johnson, went to work and came out with a match win three games to none.
The Mario Kart team, also known as the Wave Drifters, were a new addition to the Blue Tide e-sports team this year, consisting of senior Jimmy Barreto, junior Janessa Pendleton, sophomore Carson Baker, and freshmen Austin Leming and Gabriel Aponte.
Against Fitzgerald, the team dominated. They won both sets 146-64 and 155-70. In all 12 races, either Barreto or Baker finished first each time with the other finishing either second or third each time.
Both teams are 1-0 on the season and will next be in action on Thursday, Oct. 20.
Tide Super Smash split games
The Long County Blue Tide e-sports team had a pretty successful inaugural season this past spring. With so much interest, the school decided to host two teams for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in its first fall season.
After both teams opened the season with dominant wins in Week 1, the teams faced tougher challenges on October 5. The Splash Smash team, made up of sophomores Patrick Mc-Clennon and Ben Stokes and senior Jimmy Barreto, faced off with Pickens County, while Smash B, made up of sophomores Carson Baker and Carter Whitehead and freshmen Dustin Seigler and Carter Whitehead, matched up with Walnut Grove.
Smash B suffered its first loss of the season as Whitehead lost both his games one stock to none and two stock to none using characters Diddy Kong from the Donkey Kong series and Villager from Animal Crossing. Maliki Reese took the controls next and also lost both games one stock to none using the character Hero from the Dragon Quest franchise.
McClennon was up first for Splash Smash. He selected Mario and proceeded to win both of his games two stocks to none.
Barreto stuck to his guns and won both his games one stock to none.
Splash Smash are now 2-0 on the season with a state ranking of 11. Smash B is now 1-1 on the year and is ranked number 34.
Both e-sports teams will return to action on Wednesday, October 19.