To say the 2019 football season has not started the way the Long County Blue Tide would have liked would be an understatement. After the team took some big steps in their opening game against South Effingham, early mistakes doomed them on the road against Wayne County.

The Tide were looking to avenge a 49-0 loss to the Yellow Jackets from last year when they traveled to Jesup to take on their 5A opponents Friday night. However, the team was down by two scores before they could even think.

The Yellow Jackets took the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown for the early 7-0 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, the Tide fumbled the pooch kick and the Yellow Jackets recovered inside the Tide 30 yard line. The Yellow Jackets put it in the endzone again to take a 14-0 lead with 11:30 left on the clock.

In the opening game against South Effingham, Tide running back Tony Phillips went for nearly 200 yards on the ground. He did not have a bad game against Wayne County, but the Tide’s opening possession went three and out and they were forced to punt.

The Yellow Jackets went on a lengthy drive before finally putting it into the endzone from just a few yards out. Wayne County was eventually up 28-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The Tide missed some open shots down the field later in the game and could not get much going in the game. Defensively, injuries seemed to put the Tide in a bad spot and they could not hold the Yellow Jackets as Wayne County moved on to a 42-0 win.

Long County falls to 0-2 on the year, but has now gotten out of arguably the toughest part of their 2019 schedule. They will host the Bryan County Redskins, who defeated the Tide 28-14 last year in one of the team’s most exciting games, on Friday, September 6 with a 7:30 kickoff.