Bryan County is down to one last chance to avoid a winless season after the Redskins lost to Savannah Christian, 49-13, last Friday night at Pooler Stadium.
Despite the double-digit loss to the playoff-bound Raiders in the Region 3-2A game the Redskins (0-9, 0-3) had one shining moment with an electrifying 80-yard touchdown on the first play of the game.
Fans arriving a few minutes late missed one of the best plays of the season by the Bryan County offense as sophomore quarterback Jamariyan Cosey teamed up with senior tight end Jonah Broce on a catch-and-run pass that caught Savannah Christian defenders flat-footed.
The Redskins are not known for throwing the football and with the Raiders defense lined up tight for the expectant run Cosey found the wide-open Broce near the 50-yard line. Broce was able to catch the perfectly thrown spiral without breaking stride, evaded a couple of would-be tacklers and streaked down the right sideline to score untouched.
The entire play covered 12 seconds and when on the ensuing kickoff the Redskins forced the Raiders into a three-and-out and things were suddenly looking up for Bryan County which was a 33-point underdog per the Maxwell ratings.
It was all downhill from there as the Redskins had trouble stopping a Savannah Christian offense with big play capabilities. Savannah Christian racked up 409 yards, 254 through the air, and had 16 plays of 10 or more yards.
The Raiders grabbed the lead for good on their second possession when, facing a 3rd-and-20 from their own 12, quarterback Caden Godbee found William Bucey for 27 yards. Six plays later Bucey scored on a 5-yard catch.
Bryan County will, however, be favorited to get its first win of the season Friday night when it hosts winless Savannah High (0-9, 0-3) in the final home game for seniors Broce, Corey Collier, Reese Smith, Alex Wells, JD Roberson, Eli Koskela and Jacob Lewis.
This will be the fifth all-time meeting between Bryan County and Savannah and the Redskins have won all four games. There are two other winless teams in Class AA in Amuchee and Gordon Central, both of whom will be heavy underdogs in their season finale Friday night.
In addition to Broce’s score the Redskins also got a 1-yard touchdown run from sophomore Davion Butler in the fourth quarter to cap a time consuming 21-play drive covering 80 yards.
Starting on their own 20 with 4:28 left in the third quarter after Raiders kicker Karson Leake put his fifth kickoff in the end zone the Redskins, down 35-6 at this point, kept it on the ground with Cosey throwing only three passes, one of which netted a pass interference call.
When Butler finally made his way into the end zone and Roberson kicked the extra point 5:27 remained in the game.
Savannah Christian made good use of the remaining time with substitutes putting two more scores on the board.
“I still believe we’re a good football team,” Coach Cherard Freeman said. “This has been a really frustrating, disappointing year. We’re a young football team with only seven seniors and six juniors. Right now, we can’t overcome our mistakes.
“That team (Savannah Christian) is a good team, but that final score is not indicative of how we played. They’re not that much better than us.”
In addition to the first quarter score the Raiders tacked on two touchdowns in each of the next three quarters. Godbee finished his night with three touchdown passes, completing 9 of 15 attempts for 190 yards. Cam Yeldell caught four passes for 110 yards and completed one for 30.
Bryan County had one of its better offensive nights of the season as it chalked up 223 yards rushing and added another 93 through the air, all by Cosey.
Cosey also led Bryan County in rushing with nine carries for 66 yards. He had runs of 19 and 17 yards. Butler had 61 yards on 24 attempts and freshman Kameron Joyner added 45.
SCPS 49, BRYAN COUNTY 13
BRYAN COUNTY 6 0 0 7 -- 13
SAVANNAH CHRISTIAN 7 14 14 14 -- 49
First Quarter
BC; Jonah Broce 80 pass from Jamariyan Cosey (kick failed)
SC: William Bucey 9 pass from Caden Godbee (Karson Leake kick)
Second Quarter
SC: Landon Tyson 5 run (Leake kick)
SC: Cain Tomlin 17 run (Leake kick)
Third Quarter
SC: Bucey 22 pass from Godbee (Leake kick)
SC: Cam Yeldell 41 pass from Godbee (Leake kick)
Fourth Quarter
BC: Davion Butler 1 run (JD Roberson kick)
SC: Ryan Shawl 16 pass from Jim Massey (Cole Valdez kick)
SC: Chance Thomas 20 run (Valdez kick)