The Long County High School football team travels to Appling County tonight to take on the Pirates.

The Pirates bring a 2-5 record into the game, having dropped their last three games, including a 33-7 loss to Tattnall County last Friday. The Tide has lost six straight games after opening the season with a victory over Bryan County.

In Region 2-AA Appling and Long are near the bottom of the standings. The Pirates sit at 1-3 and the Blue Tide are at 0-4.

Both squads have struggled this year on offense. Appling is averaging 16 points a game while Long County is putting up 8 points a game. On defense, the Pirates are giving up 28 points a night and the Blue Tide are allowing 32.

Though Long County hasn’t been able to put many points on the board, they have been able to move the ball consistently.

"One of our big problems has been in the red zone," Blue Tide head coach Kyle Wilson said. "It comes down to execution and we haven’t been able to punch it in and it has been killing us."

In four meetings between the schools, Long County has never defeated Appling. The Pirates won last year’s match 35-7.

The teams have faced three common opponents this year, and it appears the Pirates have a slight advantage. Wayne County shut out the Tide 41-0 and the Pirates 22-0. McIntosh County beat the Tide 40-7 and the Pirates 19-14. Appling defeated Brantley County 55-41, however, while the Tide lost 37-12 to the Herons.

Even as the underdog, though, Wilson said his team will fight until the end.

"We’ve been fighting, and we’ll keep fighting all year," he said.

One team will end its losing streak tonight. The game in Baxley is at 7:30.