For the first time in 350 days, the Long County Blue Tide football team finally got a chance to take the field at Veterans’ Stadium and its new turf field.

But visiting West Laurens spoiled the event, taking a 48-26 win over the Blue Tide in a Region 3-AAAA matchup.

With the loss, the Tide have dropped four straight games overall and their first three region contests.

The Raiders opened the game on Justin Blash’s 80-yard touchdown return of the opening kickoff.

The Blue Tide got within 7-6 on Markyl Allen’s 5-yard touchdown run with 7:20 left in the second quarter. West Laurens responded with quarterback Duggan Malone’s 27-yard touchdown run with 3:55 left in the half for a 14-6 lead.

West Laurens’ Kelsey Ashley ran back a fumble to the Blue Tide 1-yard line on the next series and Jace Williams turned that into another touchdown and a 21-6 advantage with 2:33 to go in the half.

Allen’s 34-yard run to the Raiders 11 set up Zachaeus Paxton’s 7-yard touchdown run to trim the deficit to 21-13.

West Laurens stretched the lead back to 15 on a score with 3:45 left in the third but Allen and the Tide quickly answered on his 69-yard scoring jaunt. Another failed two-point conversion left the Tide trailing by 28-19.

West Laurens widened the lead to 34-19 but Allen broke loose for an 82-yard TD run, bringing the Tide within a score at 34-26 with 7:13 to go.

The Raiders responded again, on Blash’s 62-yard burst, pushing their advantage to 41-26 with 4:28 remaining in the game.

After the Blue Tide were stopped on downs deep in their own territory, the Raiders sealed the win on Kaden Bloodsaw’s 15-yard run up the middle.

With the loss, the Tide fall to 1-6 on the season, locking in their first losing record since before Mike Pfiester took over in 2021.

The Tide will look to bounce back as they start their back half of the season on the road on Friday, October 23 against the New Hampstead Phoenix at Pooler Stadium.