All things considered it wasn’t a bad opener for Bryan County.
Despite a two-hour weather delay the Redskins started and finished strong in posting a 21-6 win over Johnson last Friday night at Redskins Stadium behind a two-touchdown performance from senior Ger’bravion Collins and a 46-yard scoring run from sophomore Gerome Lee.
While Collins and Lee provided the offensive fireworks the defense turned in a solid performance marred only by an 83-yard run by Atomsmashers quarterback Shamari King in the fourth quarter.
Bryan County was a seven-point favorite entering the game and did as expected. It will face a sterner test this week as it hosts Aquinas (1-0) which is ranked No. 7 in the state in Class 3A-A Private. The Irish opened with a 52-35 win over then No. 8 Athens Academy.
The game did not start until after 9:30 p.m. and ended right at the stroke of midnight thanks to a strong defensive effort the Redskins were able to overcome five fumbles in beating Johnson in their opener for the second straight year.
After a scoreless opening quarter the Redskins scored twice in the second quarter when Lee hit a quick opener with 9:23 on the clock and Collins followed with a 9-yard run with 43 seconds left before halftime.
King’s jaunt came with 8:20 to play but Bryan County, thanks to a big play by offensive lineman Reese Smith, responded with a nine-play, 65-yard drive climaxed by Collins’ 2-yard run that sealed the win. Will Summerford, a newcomer from the soccer team playing his first year of football, kicked all three extra points.
Smith kept the drive alive when he somehow outwrestled two Johnson players to recover Eli Koskela’s fumble at the Atomsmashers 25 after an 18-yard run. It appeared Johnson had recovered the ball but when they unraveled the pile it was Smith who handed the ball to the official.
“The referee told me he couldn’t see the bottom of the pile but it looked like the Johnson boys gave up on the play and our boys kept fighting,” Freeman said. “That’s the attitude we want to have, to keep fighting.
“We call ourselves blue collar workers,” Freeman said. “We just get out there and want to get to work. We’ve got some linemen that want to do the dirty work. That’s our style of football.”
Bryan County led 14-0 at the half and got the ball to start the second half only to fumble the ball at the Atomsmashers 40. After holding on downs Bryan County immediately fumbled the ball away at the Johnson 40 on an errant pitch as it was looking to break the game open.
Following the second fumble the defense again came to the rescue. On the Atomsmashers’ first play Collins hammered King and Gunner Ennis covered the resultant fumble.
Ennis, a sophomore, had two fumble recoveries on the night as Bryan County forced six Atomsmashers miscues. Freshman defensive back Roderick Stephens had an interception in the second quarter to set up the drive which resulted in Collins’ first touchdown.
Lee finished the night with 68 yards while Collins had 61. Anddreas McKinny added 45 and Koskela had 32. Collins, Koskela and Zane Renteria had 10 tackles each.
“It was an ugly win,” Freeman said, “but we’ll take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day.
“I’m just excited that we played solid football,” Freeman said. “We wanted to pound it. We want to run the football and we want to get physical. That’s how we want to play.”
Freshman Jamariyan Cosey started and played the entire game at quarterback. He had a minus 14 yards rushing and failed to complete either of his passing attempts but Freeman said overall he was pleased with Cosey’s performance.
“We have a lot of confidence in Jamariyan,” Freeman said. “He’s coming along. He can throw the football. That’s something we work on every day. As wet as it was tonight, we did not want to put any pressure on him.”
In other games involving Region 3A-DII teams Screven County beat Jefferson County, 37-6; Jenkins County beat Glasscock County, 28-7; McIntosh County Academy beat Islands, 43-21; Savannah lost to Frederica Academy, 34-7; Portal lost to Bulloch Academy, 49-20, and ECI lost to Wilcox County, 28-21. Metter did not play.
