Frustration, disappointment, exasperation, unhappy, dejected and any other adjective befitting a reaction to a painful loss could be found on Coach Cherard Freeman’s face as he walked off the McIntosh County Academy field Friday night.
Playing to put itself in a position to earn a state playoff berth, Bryan County could not come up with the big play it needed as it suffered a 7-0 loss to McIntosh County and now finds itself needing to win out against Jenkins and Metter to keep its chances alive.
The Buccaneers’ thrust themselves into the playoff mix, too, thanks to some other results on Friday that have turned the race for the coveted third and fourth-place finishes in Region 3A-DII into a survival of the fittest.
Emanuel County Institute (6-2, 6-0) and Screven County (7-0, 5-0) have the top two spots secured. They meet in the final game of the season to determine the championship. Although they have region games remaining with the likes of Claxton, Portal and Savannah they both should win out to set up the showdown.
From there it’s a jumble with Metter (4-3, 3-2), Jenkins County (4-3, 3-2), Bryan County (4-4, 3-3) and MCA (3-4, 2-3) all with a legitimate shot at earning one of those coveted spots.
The Redskins have their destiny in their own hands as they take on Jenkins County at home this Friday night. After an open date they finish at Metter which is in a bit of freefall after losing its last two games.
“Yeah, it hurts,” Freeman said of a game dominated by the two defenses. “We couldn’t move the ball. We just couldn’t block them up front. They were really good up front.
“This makes next Friday (Jenkins) a must win,” said Freeman. “I’ve got to watch the tape but just watching from the sideline they just beat us up front.”
The Buccaneers scored the game’s only touchdown with 19 seconds remaining in the first half when quarterback Mekhi Jackson completed a controversial 29-yard pass to Lorinzo Reed.
Before the ball was snapped Freeman and several of his assistants were shouting at the officials that “the tight end is covered up…he’s an ineligible receiver,” but nothing was called and the play resulted in the touchdown.
“It was a terrible (non) call,” Freeman said. “I told the guy (official) he was ineligible and he still went on.”
Unlike the non-call that resulted in the Bucs’ score a call was made when Bryan County scored what could have been the tying touchdown in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.
Ger’Bravion Collins, who had given the stagnant offense a boost while running out of the Wildcat formation, scored on a 12-yard run only to see the officials call holding on a Bryan County lineman.
Pushed back to the 22-yard line, Collins picked up 11 yards on a run up the middle and then on fourth-and-six the senior running back, needing to get the five-yard line, came up a yard-short. The Redskins never threatened after that.
“They were a little more hungry than we were,” Freeman said. “They knew tonight was a playoff type atmosphere game. We did not have a good week of practice and it showed tonight.”
The entire second half was played on McIntosh’s side of the field and despite starting each possession with good field position the Redskins offense, other than the one trip that was nullified by the penalty, could not threaten.
The Redskins were limited to 52 yards on 24 attempts in the second half. They had the ball for only 10 plays in the first half, gaining 49.
As stifling as the Bucs’ defense was in the second half the Bryan County defenders were even better as they held McIntosh to a minus 11 yards and no first downs. The Bucs finished with 138 yards.
Earnest McIntosh had 69 yards on 22 carries but Reed was sacked five times and wound up with minus 33 yards rushing while completing two of three passes for 37 yards.
Anddreas McKinney led Bryan County with 62 yards on 13 carries with Collins adding 36. Gerome Lee had 13.
Jenkins County is coming off an open date and one of its region wins was over McIntosh, 7-0, so that’s an indicator in what the Redskins will be facing on Senior Night.