Well, it’s finally here — the first football game of the season for Long County High School. Tonight the Blue Tide travel over to Pembroke to take on Bryan County High School for the first game with coach Ronald Flott at the helm.
Tonight’s game should be a good matchup.
The two high schools have played each other seven times, and Bryan County holds a 4-3 series lead.
In last week’s game, Long County played relatively solid defense early on, holding the Red Raiders to 13 points in the first half. However, in the second half, the team allowed too many mistakes in the secondary, which resulted in too many big plays being allowed in the air and on the ground. Two players who need to step it up in tonight’s game for the defense to be successful are defensive back Deonte Ellis and defensive tackle Tyler Smith. Last week, Jeffery Hall didn’t play due to an injured shoulder, and that hurt both the defense and the offense.
If Hall is back on the field tonight, that will really help on the defensive side of the ball.
With Flott focusing on the run, the offensive line is going to have to open more holes against Bryan than it did against Bacon County.
In addition to that, the Blue Tide will need to hold on to the ball and try to keep a short field. When quarterback Jacob Turner does go to the air, he will need to get the ball into the hands of wide receivers Luke Golden and Jermaine Gibbs to consistently move the chains.
Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. in Pembroke.