The Long County Blue Tide football team opened up Region 2-AAA play on Friday, Oct. 11 as they traveled to Baxley to face off against Appling County. The team was shut out for the fourth time this season as they fell to the Pirates 45-0.
The Blue Tide opened with the ball and it looked like they were going to be able to move down the field pretty well. They were faced with a third and long before Dominic Roschmann hit Trajan Weatherspoon for a big 26-yard gain.
The Tide neared midfield and faced another third and long. Roschmann’s pass to Calvin Fate was caught for a short gain, but a roughing the passer call on the Pirates gave the Tide another shot from the Appling 46. However, the Tide only gained a few yards and were forced to punt after nearly a six-minute drive to open the game.
The Pirates took over from their own 19 and drove down the field in just over five minutes to take an early 7-0 lead.
Cameryn Johnson got a nice return on the ensuing kickoff and took the ball across the 50. The Tide offense, however, gained just four yards and were forced to punt again. The Pirates took over inside their own 25 as the first quarter came to a close.
The second quarter was completely dominated by the Pirates as they scored 28 of their 45 points in the period. The Pirates went on another lengthy drive, holding the ball for over four minutes, before a 38-yard run on a jet sweep gave them a 14-0 lead.
The Tide were once again forced to punt after a three-and-out and a high snap led to disaster for the team. Joseph Cammack was able to make an athletic play to pull it down, but the Pirates were able to get a piece of the kick and the ball died at the Tide 30, where Appling County’s offense took over.
It took them just two plays to get into the endzone after the miscue on the punt as Appling County took the 21-0 lead over the Tide. It was much of the same for the Tide in the rest of the first half as they went into the locker room down 35-0.
The Tide opted for a running clock in the second half and the Pirates were able to add 10 more points in the third quarter to make the final score 45-0.
With the loss, Long County falls to 1-5 and 0-1 in the region. The team has yet to score while on the road, but return home next week. They will face off against another top team in the region in Pierce County on Friday, Oct. 18 then follow that up with their homecoming game against Liberty County on Friday, Oct. 25.