The Long County Blue Tide and Bradwell Institute Tigers football teams met up Friday night at Olvey Field. The Tigers, who were hosting the Tide for their homecoming, were victorious in the game, winning 34-0 after taking a commanding lead in the second quarter.
The Tide seemed to put a decent drive together on the ground to open the game with running back Tony Phillps leading the way. But a few penalties really hurt them as they neared midfield and they were forced to punt to the Tigers.
The Tigers took over inside their own 30 yard line and quarterback Dariuse Cooper went to work. Cooper took the ball on a designed run and raced into Tide territory before getting knocked out of bounds.
Long County held strong on defense and forced the Tigers into a fourth and long. They called on senior kicker Kenneth Lockhart to try a 48-yard field goal. His kick was true as Bradwell took a 3-0 lead early in the first quarter.
The Tide were pinned down deep in their own territory and really could not move the ball. On third and long, quarterback Dominic Roschmann’s throw was just out off the reach of receiver Trajan Weatherspoon and they punted back to Bradwell.
The short punt set Cooper and the Tigers up inside Tide territory already and they went back to work. Running back Donte Jones found room to run up the middle and took the ball down inside the Tide 35 yard line.
The Tide defense made the Tigers work for every inch they got, but Cooper finally broke open a big run. He dropped back to pass but took off up the middle and got into the endzone from 20 yards out, giving his team a 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Tigers took back over after another Tide three-and-out and Cooper wasted little time getting his team back in the endzone. He hit receiver Tristian Pullins on a screen and he made a move to get down the Bradwell sideline and run 63 yards for the score and giving his team a 17-0 lead.
After another three-and-out, the Tide wanted to avoid the Tigers getting back into the endzone and running away with the game. The Tigers had the ball at around midfield, but Cooper fumbled and the ball was recovered by the Tide, giving their offense a chance to get on the board.
The Tide took a lot of time off the board and worked their way to midfield after a few penalties pulled them out of Tiger territory. They faced a third and long and Roschmann dropped back to pass. However, Tiger defensive end Mikah Perry sacked Roschmann, setting up yet another punt for Long County.
The Tigers faced a fourth and long and it seemed the Tide were going to get the ball back in great field position as Bradwell lined up to go for it. However, Cooper rolled out to his left and found Pullins across the middle, who got into Tide territory for the first down.
Bradwell’s Corrie Walker took a jet sweep handoff and raced down inside the Tide 30-yard line. Cooper took the ball on the next play and he nearly scored from 28 yards out, but he fumbled down near the goal line. Fortunately for the Tigers, they were able to recover and Jones punched it in on the next play to give Bradwell a 24-0 halftime lead.
All week, the Tide and Tigers had been competing in a friendly competition at Chick-Fil-A. On Thursday, the Tide defeated Bradwell in a chicken nugget eating contest and a lemon squeezing contest at the restaurant.
During halftime, Long County High School was presented with a check for $1000 for the school receiving more receipts throughout the week. Long County received 415 while Bradwell received 327.
The Tigers got the second half kickoff and they got back into the endzone in no time. From their own 25, Cooper dropped back and found Walker down the middle of the field. The receiver raced 75 yards for the touchdown, giving his team the 31-0 lead.
Going into the fourth quarter, neither the Tide and Tigers were able to get anything going on offense. The Tigers finally got some work as they were able to get down inside the 20-yard line. They settled for a 35-yard field goal from Lockhart, which he made to bring the score to 34-0, the eventual final.
The Tide fall to 1-4 as they wrap up non-region play and the Tigers improve to 2-2. Long County will have next week off before traveling to Baxley to open region play against Appling County on Friday, October 11 while the Tigers will travel to Wayne County to face off against the Yellow Jackets Friday, October 4.