Led by a combined seven touchdowns from Vanda Vereen Jr. and Brendon Scott, the Long County High School football team on Friday decisively beat Jeff Davis High School, 47-14, in Ludowici.
With the region win, Long County improved its overall record to 2-6 and its Region 2-AA mark to 1-6. Jeff Davis fell to 1-7 overall and 1-6 in the region.    
Early in the first quarter Friday, Scott fielded a punt at his own 25 and raced 75 yards for a score. After Michael Abrams’ successful point-after kick, the home team led, 7-0.
On the Yellow Jackets’ next offensive series, Vereen Jr. picked off a deflected pass and brought it back to midfield.
On the ensuing drive, Scott took a handoff, slammed off the right tackle, hit the second level of the defense and was off to the races for a 42-yard touchdown.
After another Abrams PAT, Long County had a 14-0 lead.
Jeff Davis was forced to punt on its next drive. However, as the Yellow Jacket center snapped the ball to the punter, the Long County defense swarmed in and forced a fumble. Jeff Davis recovered, but Long County had the ball deep in Yellow Jacket territory. Moments later, Vereen rambled in for a 13-yard touchdown run. Abrams’ PAT was no good, but Long County still led 20-0 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Jeff Davis drove deep into Blue Tide territory, but faced fourth-and-11 inside the 15. The Yellow Jacket attempted a pass, but Long County defensive back Ramonie Farlow picked off the pass in the end zone.
Just prior to halftime, the Blue Tide had the ball at their own 34. Quarterback Dillon Stewart handed the ball to Vereen, who ran off left tackle and ran 66 yards for a touchdown. The PAT failed again, so Long County led, 26-0, at halftime.  
In the second half, Jeff Davis notched two touchdowns, but those points were countered by Vereen adding touchdown runs of 19 and 14 yards and Scott adding a 39-yard touchdown.
“It feels real good,” Blue Tide head coach Ron Flott said. “These kids worked their tails off. They’ve got a lot of character, integrity and a great work ethic. It’s great to see them get rewarded for all of their hard work.”
Flott said that his team played a solid game, and that there were several reasons why they were able to earn the victory.  
“We forced them into to making some errors and were then able to capitalize on them,” he said. “We also finished our drives tonight … our offensive line blocked well and Chip (Scott) and Vanda both had a heck of a night, both of them had over 100 yards rushing.”  
Flott also praised the effort of his defense in the game.
This Friday, the Blue Tide travel to Darien to face McIntosh County. Pick up a Friday Coastal Courier for a preview and also to find out who was selected as the player of the game for last week’s contest.