Long County High School celebrated homecoming by beating Groves High School, 40-0, Friday.

“We kept our intensity up for the whole game and overall we played at a high level all night,” Blue Tide head coach Eric McNair said.

Long County took possession of the ball first and began at their own 35 yard line. On the first, quarterback Brendon Scott hit wide receiver Jack Lauver across the middle with a perfect pass. Lauver side stepped two Rebel defenders and raced for a 65-yard touchdown.

The conversion attempt failed.

Groves got the kickoff near mid-field. After three plays the visiting team had to punt and Long County had the ball deep in their own territory.

The Blue Tide drove down the field to the Rebel 12 yard line. Scott dropped back for a pass and threw toward the end zone, but a Groves defender picked the pass off, giving the visitors possession at their own 20. Again, the Blue Tide defense shut down the Rebels, forcing a punt.

The Rebel center snapped the ball over the punter. And Ioannis Watkins fell on fumbled ball, giving Long County possession deep in Groves’ territory.

Two plays later, Jaquarius Harrison took a handoff from Scott and punched a 3-yard touchdown. Elijah Wright tacked on the 2-point conversion and the home team led 14-0.

On Groves’ next possession, the Blue Tide’s Gerald Williams sacked the quarterback forcing another punt. Long County took possession at their own 24 yard line.  Scott found an open Lauver again, and this time the junior ran 58 yards to the Rebel 18 yard line. Three plays later Harrison hit pay dirt from the one yard line. After a successful 2-point conversion the Blue Tide was up by 22.

After the kickoff, Groves took possession of the ball at their own 36. But after two big sacks by Long County’s Jamin Davis and Kyree Coprick. the Rebels were punting again. The Blue Tide got the ball at their own 20.

The home team drove to the Groves’ 10 yard line. Scott once again found an open Lauver, who scored his second touchdown of the night. Wright’s PAT went wide to the right. The Blue Tide led 28-0 at the half.

In the second half, Long County continued to dominate with Harrison and Eric Crawford scoring two more touchdowns. The defense also continued to roll, forcing turnovers with Brett Blake nabbing an interception and Emil Wright recovering a fumble.

The defense picked up its first shutout of the year, and the offense scored on six of eight possessions.  

With the region win, Long County improved their 2-AA Region mark to 2-2 and their overall record to 3-4. Groves fell to 0-7 overall and 0-4 in the region.

This Friday, the Blue Tide play a big region game in Darien against McIntosh County (2-5) who is also 2-2 in the region. Pick up a Wednesday paper for a preview of this game.