Bryan County football isn’t on life support by any stretch of the imagination after last Friday’s 30-16 loss to Emanuel County Institute but the Redskins can afford few missteps from here on out if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive.
“This is a MUST WIN game and you can quote me on that,” Coach Cherard Freeman said of Friday night’s Region 3A-DII game at Claxton. “We’ve got to go up there and take care of business.”
With games remaining against region powerhouses Metter, Screven County and Jenkins County the Redskins can ill afford to have slip ups against the likes of Claxton (0-5, 0-2).
Bryan County (3-2, 2-1) trailed the No 10 ranked Bulldogs (3-2, 3-0) 16-0 at the half before cutting it to 16-6 with 1:23 left in the third quarter when freshman quarterback Jamariyan Cosey teamed up with Ger’bravion Collins on a 14-yard scoring pass.
It was Cosey’s first career scoring pass and gave the Redskins new life after they had slept through the first half. However, that ray of hope was short-lived as the Bulldogs got a turnover three minutes later to set up an easy touchdown that gave the visitors some breathing room and a 23-6 lead with 9:54 to play.
The Redskins saw the game turn on two plays after the defense had forced a turnover on downs at their own 24-yard line. They were flagged for a dead ball unsportsmanlike conduct call which moved the ball back to the nine.
On first down the Bulldogs blitzed and stripped Cosey of the ball. On the next play Robert Reynolds scored on an 8-yard run. The series became magnified when on the first play following the ensuing kickoff Collins ran 63 yards for a touchdown.
The Bulldogs answered with a 54-yard drive with Reynolds going the final 31 on a power sweep to the left. Reynolds finished with 68 yards on five carries to help power a ground game that put up 233 yards, 103 by senior Tyler Foreman.
Quarterback Jackson Kennedy threw touchdown passes of 46 and 45 yards in the first half and he also kicked a 25-yard field goal at the buzzer to put his team in a commanding position at the intermission.
Freeman said he thought his team played much better in the second half against the bigger, more physical and experienced Bulldogs after adjustments at the intermission.
“[In] the second half we came out and played some better football,” Freeman said. “We made some plays. We came in and made some adjustments at halftime. I was proud of our kids tonight.
“I’m not making excuses—we never do that—but we’re a young football team,” Freeman said. “We’re getting better.
“It’s going to be nice around here again but right now we’re young and we’re making young mistakes. We get the momentum and turn the ball over, we fumble the ball, drop a snap. We’re just making young mistakes and we’ve got to get those things fixed and we will.”
ECI, Screven (4-0, 2-0) and Metter (3-1, 2-0) are unbeaten in region play followed by the Redskins and Jenkins County (3-2, 2-1). In other games this weekend Metter is at ECI, Savannah (0-3, 0-2) is at Portal (1-4, 0-3) and Jenkins County is at Screven. McIntosh County Academy (2-3, 1-2) is open.
Bryan County was limited to six plays in the fourth quarter and finished the game with 109 yards rushing on 22 attempts led by Collins’ 70 on six carries. Anddreas McKinny also had six attempts for 14 yards while Cosey completed 3-of-6 passes for 36 yards.
“We wore down a little and that’s the game we like to play, too,” Freeman said. “We like to wear people down in the fourth quarter. They were a little stronger, a little more physical. They were an older team and in the fourth quarter it showed up.”
ECI 0 16 0 14 – 30
BRYAN COUNTY 0 0 6 6 -- 12
Second Quarter
ECI: Davis Johnson 46 pass from Jackson Kennedy (Kennedy kick)
ECI: Tyler Foreman 45 pass from Kennedy (run failed)
ECI: Kennedy 25 field goal
Third Quarter
BC: Ger’bravion Collins 14 pass from Jamariyan Cosey (run failed)
Fourth Quarter
ECI: Robert Reynolds 8 run (Kennedy kick)
BC: Collins 63 run (run failed)
ECI: Reynolds 31 run (Kennedy kick)