POOLER - It was another big game for the Long County Blue Tide football team when they rolled into Pooler to take on Savannah Christian Raiders in a region matchup.

It was also a short week for the Tide as the game was moved from the original date of Thursday to Wednesday, September 28 due to the impending effects from Hurricane Ian, which caused more than 150 games to be moved or rescheduled throughout the state.

The Tide knew they would be in for a challenge as the Raiders entered the game having just lost their first game of the season against Calvary Day a week prior and boasting one of the top scoring offenses in the state.

The Raiders ran for more than 460 yards and posted more than 600 yards of offense in a 54-20 win. Butthe first half did not paint this picture exactly as the Tide played tough for majority of the night. However, the game did not get started the way the Tide would have hoped.

The Raiders took the opening kickoff back 70 yards for a touchdown as sophomore Zo Smalls found room down the Tide sideline and eventually up the middle of the field to race for the 7-0 lead just 17 seconds in.

Ahmari Douglas rambled 38 yards up the middle to bring the Tide to within 7-6.

Christian Glenn recovered a fumbled Raider snap as SCPS got to the Tide 5-yard line.

A 2-yard Smalls touchdown run made the score 14-6 with 7:35 left in the first half.

With just 3:48 remaining in the half, the Tide had 93 yards to go. However, they only needed 27 seconds to pick it up.

On the second play of the drive, Douglas took the handoff from the 13 and raced 87 yards for the score, the longest play from scrimmage in the Coach Mike Pfiester era. The failed two-point conversion kept the score at 14-12 with 3:21 left in the half.

Kenry Wall’s 7-yard touchdown run gave the Raiders a 21-12 lead going into halftime.

Smalls scored again, from 9 yards out, to make it 27-12. The Tide had a third and short at the Raiders 35, but a second lost fumble of the half killed the drive.

Jayden Hester’s TD run from 17 yards out put the Raiders up 33-12 late in the third, and Hayden added a 12-yard touchdown run early in the fourth.

The Tide got into the endzone again on a long pass from Zion Ervin to Keshawn Smith to make the score 40-20.

Wall caught a 35-yard scoring pass from Paulus Zittrauer, and Blaise Thomas closed out the scoring with a 4-yard run.

With the loss, the Tide fall to 4-2 and 2-1 in the region. They will host the Beach Bulldogs on Friday, October 7 in another huge region game.