JESUP – The Bradwell Institute Tigers knew their first order of business was to stop standout Wayne County running back Matt Fuller.

Fuller, however, turned in one of the best performances of his career.

The Yellow Jackets senior ran for four touchdowns and 282 yards on just 13 carries as Wayne County opened the season Thursday night with a 49-20 win over Bradwell at Jaycee Stadium.

Backup Quez Shaw ran for 138 yards and two scores to power Wayne County’s offense.

Bradwell’s offense had its moments, too. Quarterback Christopher completed 18 passes for 270 yards, including a 29-yard scoring strike to Bryant Thomas. Wade Cobb added a 17-yard touchdown run as the Tigers rolled up 370 yards of offense.

The Tigers were stopped on downs three times in Yellow Jackets territory, twice inside the 25-yard line.

“We were inside the 20 four times and came away short,” Tigers coach DeShon Brock said. “You never want to leave points on the board. I felt we left points on the board. Some of that was due to Wayne County and their defense, but some of that was on us. I think we have to clean up our mistakes, our mental errors, and eliminate penalties.”

Penalties helped stall Bradwell’s first drive of the game. The Tigers got to the Jackets 33-yard line before getting called for consecutive false starts, leading to a third-and-18.

Thomas led Bradwell’s receivers with 100 yards on 10 catches. Tyon Jones had 92 yards on four receptions, all in the first half, including a dazzling 62-yard gain. Jones caught a pass behind the line of scrimmage, took off down the Wayne County sideline and cut back across the field before being hauled down at the Jackets’ 11-yard line. It set up Davyion Tillman’s 1-yard touchdown run.

The Yellow Jackets intercepted Garrett twice, but the Tigers defense held both times, once with a fumble recovery and also forcing an errant field goal attempt. Bradwell’s offense finished with three turnovers.

“It wasn’t all doom and gloom,” Brock said. “Fuller had a great night – he’s an exceptional player. But we also had glimpses of greatness on defense. We generated a couple of turnovers as well. It was good for our defense to learn from and grow upon. We look for more of that from our defense going forward.”

Wayne County was 5-of-7 on third-down conversions.

The Yellow Jackets went up 35-13 just before halftime on Jeb Craven’s 56-yard touchdown pass to Coleman Parmer. Craven finished 8-of-15 passing for 148 yards and an interception.

Bradwell makes the short trip to play crosstown rival Liberty County on August 25.