Bryan County’s football team got a much-needed open date this week, giving it time to heal up and get some much-needed prep time for its final regular season game next Friday at Metter.

The Redskins put together what was quite possibly their best half of football this season last Friday in rolling to a 35-14 win over favored Jenkins County. The War Eagles led 14-0 but Bryan County scored twice in the final minute of the first half to make it 14-13 at the break.

Anddreas McKinney then scored three second half touchdowns, one on a 61-yard run, to lead the Redskins rally and turn a close game into a rout.

Coach Cherard Freeman is hoping the game will give his team the shot in the arm it needs to garner a Region 3A-DII win at Meter that would earn it a spot in the state playoffs for the third time in the last four years.

“I told them football is three things and you’ve got to win two of the three if you want to win the game,” Freeman said. “Tonight, we won with two in the first half and with two in the second half.

“In the first half we didn’t play well offensively but the defense played well and special teams got us two touchdowns,” Freeman said. “In the second half we played well offensively and defensively. We had a lot of guys play well on defense.

“They played like they knew what was at stake tonight. We pulled the win out and that’s the most important thing going into the off week. They should come in Monday motivated knowing we need to get one more win to get into the playoffs.”

Metter, Jenkins County and McIntosh County Academy, like the Redskins (5-4, 4-3), all have three region losses. One of those teams will go by the wayside this weekend as Metter hosts Jenkins. MCA looks to be a lock for the playoffs with only Savannah and Portal remaining.

The Buccaneers appeared to be out of it but have salvaged their season the last two weeks with wins over Bryan County and Metter. Losing to McIntosh put the Redskins on life support which made it imperative to beat Jenkins which was ranked in the AJC’s top 10 midway through the season.

Freeman said the Redskins are going to have to play with more consistency at Metter and avoid a slow start which has plagued them all season.

Against Jenkins County the Redskins were able to score touchdowns on back-to-back plays, both by Ger’Bravion Collins, after recovering a fumbled punt to set up a 16-yard run by Collins who then caught a fumble in mid-air on the ensuing kickoff and carried it to the four. He scored on the next play.

“The coaches came in and made adjustments at halftime and they worked,” Freeman said after the dominant win. “The kids accepted the challenge and played some good football.

“Things didn’t go our way in the first half,” Freeman said. “We couldn’t block them up front and they did something a little different than they normally do.

“We showed how capable we are of playing. The challenge is to play that way at Metter.”