The early-season hole the Bryan County football team has dug itself got a little deeper Friday night when unbeaten Islands played ball control to pull out a 14-7 win at Islands Stadium.

The game was a microcosm of the Redskins’ (0-3) first two games of the season in that the offense could not pick up yardage when needed and the defense could not get a stop when needed.

Coach Cherard Freeman was optimistic going into the season and was looking to come out of an opening three-game stretch with a 2-1 mark at worst. However, the Islands' loss followed losses to Treutlen County and Portal in Bryan County had issues on the line of scrimmage.

Those three teams were a combined 11-20 last year with Treutlen accounting for six of those wins. Portal had three and Islands one. In the early going this season, they are a combined 7-1.

The Sharks showed on the game’s opening drive how things were going to play out as they used up 7:28 on the clock going 73 yards on 11 plays, 10 of them on the ground. On the night, Islands had the ball for a shade under 30 minutes and had four possessions of six minutes or more.

“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board a little bit,” said Freeman, who could do little to hide his disappointment. “We’ll be open next week and that’ll give us a chance to work on some things.

“We’ll be a better football team coming back from the break,” Freeman said. “We’re 0-3 but there’s a lot of football left.”

After getting this Friday night off the Redskins will return to action against Windsor Forest (2-1) another team on the rebound.

The Knights are looking for their first winning season since 2017 under first-year head coach Mack Martin whose son Jayden plays quarterback. Young Martin, a junior, has already been offered by Wake Forest.

After quarterback Mason McLaughlin scored on a 6-yard run and Thomas Giovannini kicked the extra point, the Sharks limited Bryan County to a three-and-out and then used some trickery to expand the lead to 14-0 on the first play of the second quarter.

Taking over on their own 41, the Sharks were facing a fourth-and-five when the quarter came to a close. Trusting his defense in case the play didn’t work, Islands coach Rusty Perry called for a fake punt.

Unfortunately for the Redskins the play worked to perfection as punter Preston Allison lofted a pass down the right sideline to a wide-open Michael Cooler, who caught the ball at the Redskins 35 and coasted home on a 54-yard play.

Although stunned by the play, the Redskins wasted no time in getting back into it as they took the ensuing kickoff and went 84 yards in five plays with sophomore quarterback Jamariyan Cosey covering the final 65.

Cosey took the direct snap from center, hit a crease between left guard and left tackle, and was gone once he reached the second level. Cosey wound up with 90 yards on 11 carries. He also completed one of five passes for nine yards.

“He played well for the most part,” Freeman said of Cosey, “but he didn’t get any help from anybody else.”

The Redskins had their best offensive game of the season but it was far below Freeman’s standards. Bryan County had 129 yards rushing on 24 attempts to go with Cosey’s passing yardage.

“We can’t move the football right now and it’s very frustrating,” Freeman said, “both from averaging over 200 yards a game to barely getting 100. We’re going to be looking at everything.”

The inability to run the football was highlighted in the third quarter when Stephens Roderick came out of a scrum with the football at the Islands 27 following a fumbled punt with 8:37 on the clock.

Looking to tie the game, three running plays failed to gain a yard, and Cosey’s pass for Kmari Dixon in the end zone was off the mark.

The Redskins had the ball one more time and drove to the Sharks' 40, where Cosey picked up five yards on a 4th-and-10. Islands was flagged for a personal foul on the play, but officials ruled the foul came after the play and Islands got the ball at its own 20.

That came with 7: 04 to play and the Sharks methodically ran out the clock. On the night, the Sharks had 218 yards, 131 on the ground, led by fullback Jackson Tripp’s 70.

BRYAN COUNTY 0 7 0 0 -- 7

ISLANDS 7 7 0 0 --- 14

First Quarter

I: Mason McLaughlin 6 run (Thomas Giovannini kick)

Second Quarter

I: Michael Cooler 54 pass from Preston Allison (Giovannini kick)

BC: Jamariyan Cosey 65 run (JD Roberson kick)