The Long County Blue Tide football team has the opportunity to play in a Division I football stadium to open the 2026 season as it will play in the 15th annual Erk Russell Classic this upcoming football season.

The Blue Tide originally were scheduled to open the season at home against the McIntosh County Academy Buccaneers on August 21.

However, the team recently announced that the renewed rivalry game will now be played on Saturday, August 22 at Paulson Stadium, Georgia Southern University’s home field, in Statesboro.

In 2025, six teams faced off in the Classic. On Friday, Southeast Bulloch and Statesboro faced off in the lone night game. On Saturday, Calvary Day played Beach in the early game and Bulloch Academy took on Portal in the late game.

Long County has a storied history with McIntosh County Academy. The teams played each other every season from 2004-15 as a region game.

The Buccaneers held a 11-1 record against the Tide in that stretch with the Blue Tide’s lone victory coming in 2014, a 46-12 win.

The Buccaneers slid down to Class A going into the 2016 season while the Blue Tide moved up to AAA the same year. The teams began playing an annual scrimmage game with the arrival of head coach Mike Pfiester in 2021.

The Blue Tide and Buccaneers will play each other in the night game on Saturday with an approximate kickoff time of 8 p.m. Other teams are still being confirmed for the 2026 Classic with those teams to be announced at a later date.