The historic season of the Long County Lady Blue Tide flag football team came to an end in the semifinal round Thursday.

Columbus scored three second-half touchdowns and earned a spot in Monday’s state championship game with a 19-6 win.

The Blue Devils were up first and picked up a first down but only got to their 27 before being forced to punt. The Lady Tide got their ball deep in their own territory at the 10, where they could not overcome the deep starting position and punted after a three and out.

A good return by Blue Devils star receiver Alexandria Lofton set them up at the Tide 22. They drove down to the Tide 10 before back-to-back incompletions set up a fourth and goal.

Senior Kelly Stokes came up with a big play as she intercepted the pass and set the Tide up at their own 8. The first quarter came to an end with a scoreless tie and the Tide facing a third and 3 at the 37.

The Tide got into Blue Devil territory before they were forced to punt. A great punt by Ciara O’Brien backed Columbus up to its own 4, and the Tide got it back on a punt after a three and out.

After the two minute warning, the Tide had a third and 16 from the Columbus 36, but an incomplete pass forced another punt.

O’Brien came up big again as her punt landed out of bounds just inside the 2. Kyndall Johnson intercepted Blue Devil quarterback Serenity Hickman’s deep pass and returned it down to the Blue Devil 5 with just over a minute left in the half.

Makinzie Moody scored from a yard out with 30 seconds left on the clock to put the Tide up 6-0.

The Blue Devils picked up 31 yards to the 35 before they called a timeout with 1.5 seconds left. A penalty against the Tide gave the Blue Devils 10 yards and one untimed down, but the Tide came up with a stop as they led 6-0 at the break.

The Tide started the second half with the ball but on first and 19 from the Columbus 39, the Blue Devils intercepted a Miley Maulden pass and took over at the Tide 33.

They picked up 10 yards on a Hickman run and another 15 on a pass to Lofton to the 1. Hickman followed with a touchdown run and tied the score at 6-6.

A roughing the passer call gave the Tide a first down but they eventually were forced to punt from their own 29.

The Blue Devils eventually drove down to the Tide 23 and faced a fourth and short, but a false start backed them up to the 28.

Hickman picked up 13 yards to the 15 but a holding call set them up at the Tide 8 on first and goal. Two plays later, Hickman threw to Harmony Franklin for the touchdown, and the Blue Devils got the conversion to go up 13-6 with 4:45 left in the game.

Three straight incompletions set up the Tide with fourth and 16 from the 24 before the two minute warning. The Tide could not pick up the first down and turned it over on downs with just under two minutes left in the game.

The Blue Devils picked up a first down to the 17 and a holding call gave them 10 more yards to the Tide 7. Two plays later, Lofton got into the endzone to make the score 19-6 with 50 seconds left on the clock.

The Lady Tide finished the season 20-3 and as the Area 2 champions. They are the first Blue Tide team to advance to the semifinals of the state playoffs since the baseball team did so in 1999.

Columbus will face Southeast Bulloch, a 27-0 winner over Dodge County in the other semifinal, Monday at 12 noon at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.