The Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets dominate the Islands High Sharks in a 42-7 win on Fred Shaver Field Friday, August 30, 2024.
The Yellowjackets drug the Sharks through deep waters from the start, opening the scoring with a safety early in the first quarter. The offense followed up with a pair of rushing touchdowns, the first being by #8 Colby Smith and the second by #31 Quentin Reed, building a solid lead by the end of the quarter. As soon as the ball was given back to the Sharks after the first touchdown, the Yellowjackets swarmed them and was able to recapture the ball within the first play. This was followed up by Mikell's 8 yard touchdown. #99 Thomas Edge kicked the first field goal for the extra point, with #8 Smith kicking the second field goal of the night. This ended first quarter 16-0.
The second quarter saw the Yellowjackets continue to extend their advantage, with #7 Chase Douglas intercepting a pass and returning it for a touchdown.
The student section roared through the crowd to start this quarter, and did it pay off. #36 Kylique Johnson was able to deliver a massive tackle in the beginning of the quarter. #99 Edge was able to get another good PAT in. #2 Jayden Murphy was able to pick up a huge play, running from the Yellowjacket 49 to the Sharks 10-yard line. On the verge of another touchdown, the Yellowjackets fumbled the ball, and the Sharks swam in to recover. This wouldn't last long, as Yellowjacket #0 Kyle Obrien recovered a fumble made by the Sharks on their 11-yard line and gained another touchdown. #99 Edge then wrapped the first half up with one more point. The defense held strong, and the offense kept piling on points, leading 30-0 at halftime.
Head Coach Jared Zito during the halftime spoke about how the team did a lot of things right during the first half, but there was always room for improvement. "We're playing good on all three phases, only thing that was disappointing is we put one on the ground out there. Right now we got a defensive score, got a defensive safety, drove the ball, made some good first downs. So no real complaints, just, we just got keep a hold on the football,"
The 3rd quarter began with the Sharks kicking off to the Yellowjackets. It wasn't long until #8 Kamerhon Wadley was able to revieve a catch and gain another Yellowjacket touchdown, followed by a point made by #99 Edge. The Yellowjackets kicked it back to the Sharks, just for #7 Douglas to intercept yet another pass from them.
This would lead over to the 4th quarter, where #3 Aiden Peterson was able to pick up a touchdown. While the Yellowjackets didn't get the extra point this time, its amazing how the field goal wasn't knocked over from the power of the kick.
The Sharks' #1 Jayden Sutton was able to pick up their first touchdown, showing that they still had bite in them, followed by a PAT point from #42 Sean Mcchesney.
Southeast Bulloch was able to hold on to the ball for the rest of the game, ending 43-7. In the post game interview, Coach Zito expressed his immediate thoughts,
Coach Zito: " We challenged our team tonight number one, we played to our standard. There was a lot we needed to clean up from the Statesboro game that we did tonight. Our defense didn't play up to standard two weeks ago, but we are better than that and had a shutout tonight." "Proud of our offensive tonight, they surged and we never had to punt the ball. There was a lot of clean stuff tonight,"
GC: During the fall sports preview, you said that you wanted the team to be more explosive. Did they show that tonight?
Coach Zito: "There were certain things that were explosive. You know, it's one of those things where we had a couple of explosive plays, but we really did more sustained drives tonight. We hit the one pass on play action, and then you get into a position in a game where you're up, and so throwing the football down the field maybe isn't always the best thing in terms of sportsmanship. So we didn't throw many passes and some sometimes that limits that. We took what they gave us. We did put the ball on the ground one time, which, you know, I prefer no times. But other than that, there's, at least, from the naked eye, not a whole lot to complain about. Now we'll nitpick the film, and we'll find ways to keep coaching them."
GC: After tonight's game, what are you looking at improving for next week's game against Calvary Day?
Coach Zito: "Well, I mean, you know, overall, I mean the big, the big thing, we got to get our minds set for another four-quarter war. Calvary Day is one of the top teams around, and we know that, and so we felt like they're one of the top teams in the region, and so we want to contend for Region championships and things of that nature. It's going to start next week, so it's going to be a little different than it was tonight. So that's the biggest thing, is getting our mind ready for that. And usually, those type of games come down to real small things, you know, turn over here, tackle, there a penalty. So we just got to continue to work on that. But we're gonna enjoy this one tonight and as players, they'll enjoy it till Monday, and we'll get to work on this weekend on Calvary Day.
GC: Lastly. if you had to pick one or two top plays from tonight's game, what would they be?
Coach Zito: The Chase Douglas pick 6 and Colby Smith's touchdown.
