ATLANTA - The Long County Lady Blue Tide flag football team had two vastly different games in the first two rounds of the state playoffs, but they ended up with victories in both.
The Tide denied a potential game-tying two-point conversion against South Atlanta, preserving a 21-19 win and earning them a spot in the quarterfinals.
With the win over South Atlanta – and a 39-0 rout of Druid Hills in the first round game – the Tide will be in the state quarterfinals for the fourth time in five seasons. They will take on North Oconee, state runner-up in Division 2 last year and runner-up in Division 1 in 2023, on Monday at Northside-Warner Robins.
The winner of that game will face the winner of the Northside-Warner Robins and Southeast Bulloch – the four-time defending state champs – later that night in the state semifinals.
The Tide downed the host Hornets, who won their region, in their final game Thursday.
The Tide struck first on Mallory Skipper’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Rilyn Williams for a 7-0 lead.
Jersi Lester, returning from an injury, picked off a Hornet pass but the ensuing Tide possession end on downs.
The Tide cashed in Lester’s second interception, as Long County took over its from own 35-yard line. Mallory Skipper connected with twin sister Alyssa Skipper for a 24-yard gain and then hit Williams for a 20-yard pickup to the South Atlanta 1-yard line.
Catherine Sikes caught Mallory Skipper’s 1-yard pass for the touchdown, giving the Tide a 14-0 lead late in the first half.
The Hornets roared back, getting a 68-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 14-6 and then get within 14-13 on a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown.
The Hornets got a big swing though. They went the length of the field in one play as they hit a 66-yard touchdown pass to make the score 14-6 at the half.
Mallory Skipper threw her third touchdown pass of the game, connecting with Hollie Filkins, at the end of the third quarter to give the Tide a 21-13 lead.
Lester’s third interception of the game stopped another South Atlanta drive, but the Hornets got one last chance with 1:45 left in the game. A 40-yard run set them up at the Tide 13, and a 5-yard touchdown with 45 seconds to go brought them to within 21-19. But the two-point conversion pass fell incomplete, and the Tide held on.
South Atlanta edged Houston County 14-13 to reach the final game of the night, and Long County had no problem with Druid Hills in its opener.
Mallory Skipper hit Macey Higgason over the middle for a short touchdown and the 7-0 lead and after a long pass to Williams, found Higgason for a second score and a 14-0 lead.
Sikes came up with an interception on the next drive and returned it to the Red Devils 35. Skipper then hit Sikes for a 24-yard gain to the 11 before hitting Williams for the score to make it 21-0.
Sikes again made another big play for the Tide as she came down with another interception with less than two minutes until halftime.
Skipper then hit her twin sister Alyssa from 58 yards out to make the score 27-0 going into the half.
In the third, the Tide took over from the Red Devils 33 after a penalty on the punt return. Skipper hit Sikes with a 25-yard pass to the Druid Hills 8. From there, Skipper found Filkins, who flipped it back to Miley Maulden, who then scored to make it 33-0.
Higgason came down with an interception on the next drive as they set up at the Red Devils 16. Two plays later, Skipper hit Higgason for their third touchdown connection of the night for a 39-0 lead going into the fourth quarter.