Two and 0, that sounds pretty good to Coach Kyle Wilson, and his Long County Blue Tide football team. The team is undefeated, but they barely were able to escape with a win Friday, as they won a nail-biter 41-40 over the Bryan County Redskins.
The game started out with a bang for the Blue Tide, when on Bryan County’s first possession, they fumbled on their own 44- yard line, giving the Long County team a short field to work with. After a first down, and then two short gains, quarterback Justin Boyd was sacked for an 11-yard loss, giving the Tide a difficult third and 15 situation.
But on the next play Boyd threw a slant pass to wide receiver Ricky Rivera, who picked up the first down. After two more plays, the Tide had a first and goal, on the Redskin one-yard line, and on the next play, tailback Prince Moody punched it in for the score. After a failed conversion attempt, the score was 6-0 Long County.
On the next couple of series, both the Blue Tide and the Redskins made mistakes and couldn’t hold onto the ball. First, on their next series of downs, Bryan County couldn’t pick up a first down, so they lined up to punt the ball. But after a bad snap, the punter couldn’t get the punt off and was sacked, giving the Long County team a first down on the Redskin 26- yard line. Once again having a short field, Wilson had his sophomore quarterback go to the air but a Bryan County defensive back picked off the ball, and the Skins had the ball on their own 12- yard line.
After two plays netted only four yards, the Redskin coach called for the his running back, Ivey Mutcherson, to go off tackle. Mutcherson hit the hole, and ran the length of the field for an 85-yard touchdown. After a two-point conversion the visitors were up 8-6.
Over the remainder of the first half, it was evident, that the Blue Tide team was both quicker and faster than their larger opponents, but the opponents had a back in Mutcherson, who could hit the hole hard, and get into the secondary as quick, as anybody on the field.
With both teams committing turnovers, and neither being able to put the other away, the score at the half was Long County 21 and Bryan County 14.
The Redskins had to kick-off to start the second half, and they caught the Blue Tide sleeping, when they kicked the on-sides kick and recovered the ball on the Long County forty-four yard line.
They then drove the ball down the field, getting as deep as the twenty-eight yard line, but after a sack and a had a back in Mutcherson, who could hit the hole hard and get into the secondary as quick as anybody on the field.
With both teams committing turnovers and neither being able to put the other away the score at the half was Long County 21 and Bryan County 14.
The Redskins had to kick-off to start the second half, and they caught the Blue Tide sleeping, when they kicked on-sides and recovered the ball on the Long County 44- yard line.
They then drove the ball down the field, getting as deep as the 28- yard line, but after a sack and a big holding penalty, the Tide got the ball back.
Over the third period both teams were able to move the ball, but Long County was able to capitalize on turnovers, resulting in the score being 35-20 going into the final quarter.
The speed and quickness of the Long County team had been evident earlier in the game, but in the fourth period it was evident that the Redskin offensive line was larger than the Long County defense, and the defense was wearing down. Over the final period, the Bryan County team pounded the ball up the middle, and scored two touchdowns over the first nine minutes of the quarter, narrowing the score to 35-34 with less than three minutes left in the game.
When Long County got the ball for their last possession of the half, Wilson went to senior Prince Moody, who carried the ball for runs of 30- yards and 15- yards, before running in a 12-yard touchdown with 2:40 left in the game. On the attempted extra point conversion, the Redskins committed a penalty, and the ball was moved to the one-yard line. With this extra yard, Wilson decided to go for the two-point conversion, which would have put the game away, giving Long County a nine-point lead. But the Bryan County team stopped the conversion and the score was Long County 41 and Bryan County 34.
Over the next two and one half minutes the Redskins pounded the ball down to the Blue Tide 10-yard line, but faced a 4th down with .01 second left on the game clock. On the fourth down play, Bryan County’s Deandre Walker ran in for the touchdown as the time expired, making the score 41-40.
All the Redskins had to do now was run over the tired, smaller defensive line, and they would have a 42 to 41 victory. But the Long County defense hunkered down, and when Walker attempted to run up the middle, he was denied pay dirt. The Blue Tide team and all their fans celebrated a victory, which will go down as one of the greatest in their short history.
“We knew they had that big offensive line, and they had some good backs, but our offense picked it up, and put points on the board. Our defense gave up some plays, but they made the play when they had too,” said Wilson. “We’ve got to stay humble and stay hungry a game like this will help us as we go into next week’s game.”
In the game Long County’s Justin Boyd had three touchdowns including one for 39-yards, while Prince Moody also hit the end zone three times.
On the other side of the field Bryan County’s Ivey Matchurson also had three touchdowns, one for 85, another for 56 and his final one for 54-yards.
With the win, the Long County team is now 2-0, and is sure to be the favorite this Friday when they take on the Wheeler County Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are 0-1 coming off a 24-27 loss to Jenkins County. The game will be in Ludowici at Veteran’s Stadium, and kickoff is 7:30 p.m.
The game started out with a bang for the Blue Tide, when on Bryan County’s first possession, they fumbled on their own 44- yard line, giving the Long County team a short field to work with. After a first down, and then two short gains, quarterback Justin Boyd was sacked for an 11-yard loss, giving the Tide a difficult third and 15 situation.
But on the next play Boyd threw a slant pass to wide receiver Ricky Rivera, who picked up the first down. After two more plays, the Tide had a first and goal, on the Redskin one-yard line, and on the next play, tailback Prince Moody punched it in for the score. After a failed conversion attempt, the score was 6-0 Long County.
On the next couple of series, both the Blue Tide and the Redskins made mistakes and couldn’t hold onto the ball. First, on their next series of downs, Bryan County couldn’t pick up a first down, so they lined up to punt the ball. But after a bad snap, the punter couldn’t get the punt off and was sacked, giving the Long County team a first down on the Redskin 26- yard line. Once again having a short field, Wilson had his sophomore quarterback go to the air but a Bryan County defensive back picked off the ball, and the Skins had the ball on their own 12- yard line.
After two plays netted only four yards, the Redskin coach called for the his running back, Ivey Mutcherson, to go off tackle. Mutcherson hit the hole, and ran the length of the field for an 85-yard touchdown. After a two-point conversion the visitors were up 8-6.
Over the remainder of the first half, it was evident, that the Blue Tide team was both quicker and faster than their larger opponents, but the opponents had a back in Mutcherson, who could hit the hole hard, and get into the secondary as quick, as anybody on the field.
With both teams committing turnovers, and neither being able to put the other away, the score at the half was Long County 21 and Bryan County 14.
The Redskins had to kick-off to start the second half, and they caught the Blue Tide sleeping, when they kicked the on-sides kick and recovered the ball on the Long County forty-four yard line.
They then drove the ball down the field, getting as deep as the twenty-eight yard line, but after a sack and a had a back in Mutcherson, who could hit the hole hard and get into the secondary as quick as anybody on the field.
With both teams committing turnovers and neither being able to put the other away the score at the half was Long County 21 and Bryan County 14.
The Redskins had to kick-off to start the second half, and they caught the Blue Tide sleeping, when they kicked on-sides and recovered the ball on the Long County 44- yard line.
They then drove the ball down the field, getting as deep as the 28- yard line, but after a sack and a big holding penalty, the Tide got the ball back.
Over the third period both teams were able to move the ball, but Long County was able to capitalize on turnovers, resulting in the score being 35-20 going into the final quarter.
The speed and quickness of the Long County team had been evident earlier in the game, but in the fourth period it was evident that the Redskin offensive line was larger than the Long County defense, and the defense was wearing down. Over the final period, the Bryan County team pounded the ball up the middle, and scored two touchdowns over the first nine minutes of the quarter, narrowing the score to 35-34 with less than three minutes left in the game.
When Long County got the ball for their last possession of the half, Wilson went to senior Prince Moody, who carried the ball for runs of 30- yards and 15- yards, before running in a 12-yard touchdown with 2:40 left in the game. On the attempted extra point conversion, the Redskins committed a penalty, and the ball was moved to the one-yard line. With this extra yard, Wilson decided to go for the two-point conversion, which would have put the game away, giving Long County a nine-point lead. But the Bryan County team stopped the conversion and the score was Long County 41 and Bryan County 34.
Over the next two and one half minutes the Redskins pounded the ball down to the Blue Tide 10-yard line, but faced a 4th down with .01 second left on the game clock. On the fourth down play, Bryan County’s Deandre Walker ran in for the touchdown as the time expired, making the score 41-40.
All the Redskins had to do now was run over the tired, smaller defensive line, and they would have a 42 to 41 victory. But the Long County defense hunkered down, and when Walker attempted to run up the middle, he was denied pay dirt. The Blue Tide team and all their fans celebrated a victory, which will go down as one of the greatest in their short history.
“We knew they had that big offensive line, and they had some good backs, but our offense picked it up, and put points on the board. Our defense gave up some plays, but they made the play when they had too,” said Wilson. “We’ve got to stay humble and stay hungry a game like this will help us as we go into next week’s game.”
In the game Long County’s Justin Boyd had three touchdowns including one for 39-yards, while Prince Moody also hit the end zone three times.
On the other side of the field Bryan County’s Ivey Matchurson also had three touchdowns, one for 85, another for 56 and his final one for 54-yards.
With the win, the Long County team is now 2-0, and is sure to be the favorite this Friday when they take on the Wheeler County Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are 0-1 coming off a 24-27 loss to Jenkins County. The game will be in Ludowici at Veteran’s Stadium, and kickoff is 7:30 p.m.