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Tide fall to Bacon County 33-7
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After dropping a heartbreaking game in Week 1 of the 2020 football season, the Blue Tide football team looked to pick up their first win when they hit the road on Friday, September 11. They headed to Alma to take on the Bacon County Red Raiders and despite a strong early drive, the Tide fell 33-7 to drop to 0-2 on the season. 

The Tide took the opening drive down across midfield and set up a third down play from the Bacon County 42. They came up just short of the first down and decided to punt and junior Dwayne Rowe booted an impressive ball that stopped inside the five. 

The Blue Tide defense could not come up with a safety but did force a punt after only giving up 15 yards on the first drive. The Tide offense took over at the Bacon 38 after a short punt. 

On a second down play from the 35, quarterback Brennan Lee found receiver Josiah Ansorena-Smith on a screen play near the Raiders sideline. Ansorena-Smith took one step and was off to the races. He was finally dragged down inside the 10 at the seven yard line. 

Two plays later, Lee kept the ball on an option play and walked into the endzone untouched. Orlando Tellez-Baltazar’s extra point was good to give the Tide an early 7-0 lead. 

The Tide defense took the field as the Raiders set up at their own 20 after a booming touchback kick by Chris Garcia, his third of the season. 

The Raiders took advantage of a blown coverage by the Tide on the first play of their second drive as quarterback Mason Mikell found receiver Aiden Wright wide open down the Tide sideline. He was brought down at the Tide 34 after a 46-yard gain. 

Two plays later, Raider do-it-all athlete Terriyon Moore made a move in the backfield and broke open a 26-yard run to make the score 7-6 after the missed extra point. 

The Tide went three and out on their ensuing drive and the Raiders took over at their own 34 after another great punt by Rowe. However, on the second play of their next drive, the Raiders’ broke open another long run, this time from Cameron Crawford. He raced 66 yards for the score and the Tide trailed 12-7 after the missed two-point conversion. 

Long County went for another three and out as the first quarter came to a close. The Tide punted back to the Raiders as they took over at their own 33. They were quickly back in business as Mikell found Moore down their sideline and he raced 56 yards down inside the Tide 20. 

Raiders’ running back Bruce Brown eventually found his way into the endzone from 10 yards out and the extra point made the score 19-7 late in the first half. 

Despite a late drive and forcing a turnover, the Blue Tide could not close the gap before halftime as they trailed by 12 at the end of the second quarter. Despite that, the Tide knew they had a chance to come back. 

The Raiders opened the second half with the ball and were able to drive down the field. They were inside the 10 before Wright took an outside handoff into the endzone for the touchdown, making the score 26-7 early in the second half. 

The Blue Tide never could get another good drive going in the second half as the Raiders added a fourth quarter score to bring the final to 33-7. 

With the loss, the Tide fall to 0-2 and will look to get their first win of the season as they host Charlton County, an old foe from the Region 2-AA days, on Friday, September 18. The Indians defeated the Tide’s fellow region rival Brantley County 39-0 to open the season on September 4 and were off last week. 

Friday’s game will kickoff at 7:30 from Veterans’ Stadium in Ludowici. 


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