It was a shot. A long shot. But nevertheless, a shot. Now, there’s no shot.

Thanks to the Post Season Rankings (PSR) system put in place by the GHSA this season to determine the 32 football playoff teams in all classifications Bryan County, despite a 0-7 record, held out a hope of qualifying for the Class 2A playoffs.

Going into Friday night’s Region 3AA game with also winless Metter (1-7, 1-2) the Redskins (0-8, 0-3) were No. 37 in the PSR rankings needing to win their last three games and then letting the chips fall where they may.

The Tigers used a big fourth quarter to erase those dreams, rallying behind the running of freshman Emerson Wright to pull off a 20-7 win at Redskins Stadium to put a damper on Bryan County’s Senior Night.

The objective now is to avoid a winless season and odds are the Redskins will need to beat winless Savannah in their season finale on Nov. 7 to accomplish that. Bryan County plays at Savannah Christian (4-4, 3-0) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and the Raiders will be a double-digit favorite.

Savannah Christian has won its last three games including a 31-22 win over Screven County last Friday. The Raiders play their home games at Pooler Stadium.

Metter and the Redskins first played one another in 1976, the initial year of football at Bryan County and the Tigers have dominated the series. They are now 33-8 against the Redskins.

For veteran Metter coach Lee Shaw, who led the Tigers to a region championship two years ago, it was his 196th career win. Shaw’s first head coaching job was at White County in 1995.

Metter wasted no time in jumping out to a 7-0 lead as it took the opening kickoff and marched 75 yards in only five plays. Sophomore Bates Harrison scored on a 22-yard catch and run play from Collins Shuman.

That, basically, was the extent of the Metter offense until the fourth quarter as the combination of Bryan County’s ball control offense and defense kept the Tigers off the field.

Following the touchdown the Tigers ran 12 more plays in the first quarter which netted them 64 yards but no points. In the second and third quarters it was a different story.

Metter had the ball for five plays and 19 yards in the second quarter and for five plays and 11 yards in the third.

Bryan County scored on its second possession when sophomore Kameron Joyner bolted 31 yards up the middle. The Redskins had gained possession at the Metter 32 following an 18-yard punt by Shuman. Joyner got a yard on first down and then scored on the next play.

J.D. Roberson’s extra point made it 7-7 and that was the way things stood until the fourth quarter as Bryan County ground out yardage between the 30s but couldn’t punch it in.

Metter looked like an entirely different team in the fourth quarter as it burned the Redskins for two touchdowns while gaining 169 yards. Wright had 125 yards on the night with 102 coming in the final 12 minutes.

Bryan County had the ball for nine minutes in the third quarter and for the first minute of the fourth before turning it over on downs at the Tiger 33.

Metter quickly broke the deadlock when Joel McCullough and Shuman teamed on a 67-yard scoring play on first down. On the ensuing possession Bryan County turned it over on second down when Jamariyan Cosey was intercepted at the Redskins 40.

Two plays later Wright bolted 27 yards up the middle for the touchdown to put it out of reach with 8:23 to play.

Bryan County then went four and out and never saw the ball again as Metter ran out the final 6:36 behind the running of Wright who carried it nine straight times to the Redskins 17 where the clock expired.

METTER 20, BRYAN COUNTY 7

METTER 7 0 0 13 – 20

BRYAN COUNTY 7 0 0 0 – 7

First Quarter

M: Bates Harrison 22 pass from Collins Shuman (Chris Bautista kick)

BC: Kameron Joyner 31 run (JD Roberson kick)

Fourth Quarter

M: Joel McCullough 67 pass from Shuman (kick failed)

M: Emerson Wright 27 run (Bautista kick)