The Bryan County High homecoming week of festivities ended on a celebratory note Friday as the football team defeated visiting Atkinson County 35-14.

The win improved the Redskins to 2-6 overall and 2-5 in Region 2-AA. It was also proof that persistence pays off, coach Mark Wilson said.

"This was a great team effort and I liked what I saw tonight. The kids have been working hard and have gone through some adversity, but we had a great week of practice and they played a great ballgame," he said. "This win goes to show you that if you never give up, good things can happen."

The Bryan County defense got the scoreboard lit up first when Desmond Byrd deflected a pass by Atkinson quarterback ,and Dashon Dixon pulled it down and raced 25 yards into the endzone for a touchdown.

Ty Wilson converted the first of four extra-points and put Bryan County up 7-0 at the 4:37 mark of first quarter.

Defensive end Todd Schaffer gave the Redskins’ defense a lift again in the early part of second quarter when he recovered an Atkinson fumble at the Bryan County 25-yard line. Four plays later the Bryan offense was in the endzone on a 2-yard run by Nick Scott and the scoreboard showed a 14-0 Redskin lead.

After another defensive stand by Bryan County, the Bryan offensive line opened a hole and Scott outran the defenders for a 50-yard touchdown to push the score to 21-0.

Scott, a junior running back, had a standout night as he churned out 186 yards on 22 attempts and knew who to thank after the game.

"Our offensive line did a lot for me tonight with the holes they were opening. We have been working on that at practice and tonight they came through for us. I just looked for a hole and hit it because they were opening up the holes for me to run." Scott said.

Atkinson County’s offense put together its first drive of the game late in the second quarter and scored on a 14-yard quarterback keeper to make it 21-7 after the extra point.

Bryan County received the second half kickoff and Paul Harris legged out a 50 -yard return that set up an eventual 19-yard touchdown run by Troy Robertson that put the score at 28-7.

Another Atkinson possession resulted in a punt following the touchdown, and the speedy Scott took the handoff on the next Redskin possession and scooted untouched into to the endzone on a 61-yard touchdown jaunt that put Bryan County in the comfort zone at 35-7 after the Wilson extra point.

Atkinson County was able to put their final points on the scoreboard at the 9:35 mark of fourth quarter with two long desperation passes that were caught for completions, and the Rebels pushed it in from the 3-yard line for a touchdown and the final score would be 35-14.

The Bryan County offense finished the night with an impressive 301 rushing yards behind the legs of Scott. Raekwon Love added 84 yards on nine attempts and Troy Robertson added 22 yards two 2 carries. Bryan County was 1-of-4 passing for 19 yards.

The Redskins host Metter Friday night in Pembroke.