Long County High School fell 34-21 to Bacon County on Friday during homecoming night in Alma.
But the Blue Tide had their chances.
 “The game went back and forth all night,” Long County coach Ron Flott said. “We had our chances to win and got down inside the 10-yard line twice, but couldn’t punch it in. Both teams made some mistakes, but we made a few more than they did and that led to the final score.”
The Raiders came out strong, scoring two touchdowns to take an early lead, but the Blue Tide charged right back to make two scores and a 2-point conversion to go up 15-14.
Bacon team added a score just before the half to take a 21-15 lead into the break.
In the second half, both teams continued to fight.
 “It was a good game that had a playoff atmosphere,” Flott said. “We had a good crowd go over there to watch us, and they had a lot of people in the stands supporting them.”
During the game, the Blue Tide lost three key players. Richard Mesa had neck spasms, Jeffery Hall got a concussion and Darius Francis with an ankle injury. They had to leave the game.
Flott said that with no game on the schedule for this week, he expects Mesa and Hall to be back for the Toombs County game in two weeks. He wasn’t sure about Francis.
“We are a little banged-up right now, like a lot of teams are, and we need the break to get back healthy,” Flott said.
With the loss, Long County dropped to 3-3 overall and 2-3 in Region 2-AA. The Red Raiders improved their overall record to 4-2 and their region mark to 4-1.
The Blue Tide’s next game is scheduled for Oct. 19 against Toombs County Bulldogs for homecoming.
Pick up a Friday Coastal Courier to read a mid-season report on the Blue Tide.