Flag football is one of the rising girls sports in the country right now and the Long County Blue Tide are at the forefront of its appearance. The Long County Middle School team won the championship in its inaugural season on Saturday, April 20.

Long County Middle School started a flag football team for the spring season to help feed into the high school team. They defeated Southeast Bulloch Middle 20-7 and Richmond Hill Middle 7-0 on Saturday to clinch the region championship.

The team, led by head coach Clint Kennedy and assistant coach Cindy Mills, finished 7-1 on the season, with their only blemish being a 7-6 loss to Richmond Hill. One of the biggest steps the team took in their inaugural season was a win over Southeast Bulloch to open the season.

Southeast Bulloch High School has one of the best flag football programs in the country as they have gone 50-0 and won three state championships in their first three years of existence.

For the Tide to go undefeated against the Yellow Jackets is undoubtedly huge. Kennedy talked about the team’s success on the season.

“To come out in the first year and win the region championship against two schools that have girls that have competed in flag football for the past two years at the travel level was very impressive,” Kennedy said. “I was glad to see the growth that we made to be able to go out and win the championship against a very tough Richmond Hill team. I am excited to see these girls continue to grow in this sport that is quickly gaining popularity… We had a short practice window to teach a lot, but the girls picked it up quickly and were able to go out and be successful in games.”

Kennedy was also grateful to middle school principal Jamie Horne and Superintendent of Schools David Edwards for the opportunity to add the new sport and talked about “We were very thankful for Mr. Edwards and Mr. Horne for allowing us to start up the flag program here at the middle school,” Kennedy said. “We were one of the first middle schools to have a flag football program in the state. I thought that the season was very successful.”

At the high school level, the Blue Tide have had success in three seasons. The team has gone 39--11, finishing as the region runner-up in all three seasons and making the quarterfinals in the first two years.

Head coach Paul Austin said having a middle school team is huge for the high school program.

“They’re learning the game at an early age is crucial to our success in the future,” Austin said. “We have had amazing girls build our program. I see the same drive in the middle school girls. They are falling in love with this sport and want to continue to play and grow. I’m extremely excited for this group and I can’t wait to see what the future brings.”

The high school team has also made history as they became one of the nation’s first teams to have a player sign with a NCAA team to play flag football at the collegiate level.

Three-year starting quarterback Kyleigh Sizemore committed to play flag football at LaGrange College, an NCAA Division III program.

The middle school program will return for its second season next spring with more teams joining in the sport. The high school program will look to move forward with their fourth season in the fall.