AUGUSTA - For the last five years, the Long County Blue Tide football team has been in the state playoffs and been searching for their first playoff win. For the last five years, they have gotten closer to that win and this year’s game was the closest they have been.
The team entered the playoffs as the number 23 seed in the state and traveled to take on the tenth-ranked Westside Augusta Patriots. It was a back-and-forth battle from the start but the Patriots came away with a 42-35 win.
Tyrell Grayson’s 9-yard touchdown run less than two minutes into the game put the Tide up 7-0. The Patriots answered quickly, as Jaylen Stone hit a wide-open Elliott Jackson for a 72-yard touchdown pass on their first play from scrimmage.
Westside turned a Tide fumble into points, with Stone’s 15-yard touchdown pass across the middle to Joshua Crawford capping a 75-yard drive. That gave the Patriots a 14-7 lead with 4:03 remaining in the first quarter.
After Dylan Tyler’s punt pinned the Patriots at their own 5, Manny Peralta fell on a Westside fumble in the end zone, tying the game 14-14 with 10 minutes left in the first half.
Following a fourth-down stop, the Tide took over at their own 49, and Cortney Charles scored from 21 yards out on a fourth-and-6 play, putting the Tide back in front 21-14.
The ensuing kickoff return set up the Patriots at the Tide 35 and two plays later, Stone found Jackson again from 35 yards out, tying the game at 21-21 with 2:34 left in the half.
The Patriots were able to answer quickly once again as a good kickoff return set them up from the Tide 35. On the second play, Stone found Jackson again from 35 yards out as they tied the game at 21 with 2:34 left in the half.
The next three possessions in the game ended in turnovers before the Patriots got one final shot with no time on the clock, the result of a pass interference call that put them at the Tide 40.
Stone hooked up with Jackson one more time as he fell into the endzone to make the score 28-21 at the half.
Another pass interference call wiped out Wesley Williams’ interception on third-and-21 and gave the Patriots another chance. Stone turned that into his fourth touchdown pass of the game, a 35-yard connection with Jackson for a 35-21 lead.
Tyler’s interception stopped another Patriots drive late in the third quarter, and he found Ethan Miller from 9 yards out to cut the lead to 35-28.
Stone’s 41-yard completion on third-and-8 from the 46 led to Tamari Curry’s touchdown run with 8:36 left in the game.
Tyler found Charles down the Tide sideline for 34 yards on a fourth-and-5, and Tyler’s 1-yard run with 2:36 to go brought the Tide within 42-35.
Long County could not recover the onside kick and an offsides call helped the Patriots convert a third-and-4, allowing them to run out the clock.
The Tide finish the season 7-4 for the second year in a row. With 17 seniors, the Tide will look to reload with a fresh look in their new region and the 4A classification in 2026.