The Long County Blue Tide found themselves in a must-win situation when they welcomed in the Beach Bulldogs and it came down to the last play of the game for the second week in a row.
Dylan Tyler’s two-point conversion run after his 6-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds left in the game lifted the Tide to a 22-21 win over the Bulldogs.
With the thrilling win, the Tide move to 4-1 and 3-1 in region play as they hit the halfway mark of the season.
After blowing a 21-point lead against the Liberty County Panthers, the Tide knew they needed to rebound and avoid their second straight region defeat.
The lightning detector went off during warmups, pushing the kickoff back to past 8:30 p.m.
On their first drive, the Tide had three fourth-and-1s and Beach finally held at its own 2-yard line. Wesley Williams’ interception on the Bulldogs’ first possession led to Jehmiel Pettis’ 2-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
An unsportsmanlike conduct call on Beach’s kickoff return set them up at the Long County 34, and the Bulldogs turned that into a tying touchdown.
Long County’s defense preserved the 7-7 tie, thanks to a Katal Yancey interception in the endzone and junior linebacker SanDejago Wilson’s three tackles for losses.
Beach grabbed a 14-7 lead in the third quarter, and Long County tied as Pettis’ ended a 55-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run with 4:15 left in the game.
The Bulldogs went right back in front on a Jayvion Williams 76-yard touchdown pass with 3:01 remaining in the game.
A roughing the passer call on Beach on fourth down extended Long County’s ensuing drive. Pettis picked up 19 yards, Tyler his
On fourth down, Tyler’s pass deep to Williams was incomplete but a roughing the passer call kept the Tide’s drive alive.
Pettis picked up 19 yards on the ground before Tyler hit Tyrell Grayson for a 19-yard gain to the 4-yard line.
Tyler plunged his way into the endzone to make the score 21-20. The Tide decided to go for the win and avoid their second straight overtime contest. Tyler found blockers to his right as he pushed his way into the endzone to make the score 22-21 with 31 seconds left.
The Bulldogs got down inside the Tide 30 with four seconds left but were stopped there as the Tide held on.
They will have a week off to prepare for a big game against Calvary Day, who are coming off their first region loss since October 30, 2020 after falling to Jenkins 41-33 Friday.