BROOKLET - If a couple of breaks had gone a different way, Southeast Bulloch would likely have been celebrating a homecoming win on Friday night.

Unfortunately for the Yellow Jackets, the close calls went against them and SEB's comeback fell short as they were defeated by the Harlem Bulldogs, 28-14, at Fred Shaver Field.

With SEB trailing by seven early in the fourth quarter, Harlem (4-2, 2-0) quarterback Carter Smith dropped back to pass from the SEB 22. Coming untouched from his blindside was Aaden Peterson, who hit Smith as he was preparing to pass and the ball bounced forward and was scooped up by SEB with nothing but green grass in front of them.

However, the officials ruled the play to be an incomplete pass and, on the next play, Smith found Tobias Wynn on a slant for a 22-yard touchdown to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to 21-7.

“I didn’t see a correct call,” said SEB Head Coach Jason Anthony of that play. “I saw our defensive back, Aaden Peterson, knock the ball out and the ball went forward once (Peterson) hit him. The (official) on that said said he saw his arm going forward. I didn’t see that, but we’ll look at the film.

“They’re human. They make mistakes,” he said of the officials. “We just have to live with it. We can’t blame him for that. We gave up 28 points.”

The Yellow Jackets’ offense responded on their next possession, going 58 yards on eight plays, capped off on a critical fourth down pass from quarterback JK Small to Eli Reed for a 22-yard score to pull SEB (2-4, 0-2)  back within seven at 21-14 with 5:15 remaining in the fourth.

Unfortunately for the Yellow Jackets, they were unable to slow down the Bulldogs offense on their final drive, including giving up a 37-yard run down to the one-yard line. However, at the end of the play, the ball came loose in the endzone and SEB pounced on it for an apparent turnover, but the officials ruled the runner was down. 

Harlem would score one play later to put the game out of reach.

“That’s our fault for even letting them get down there,” Anthony said. “We shouldn’t depend on the referees to make a decision on that fumble or not. We should have made the tackle in the backfield and it would have set up third down for us right there.”

“I don’t know if it was a fumble or not. Again, they’re human. They make mistakes, if it was a mistake. But again, that was on us for not making the tackle initially to even get to that point.

The Yellow Jackets offense couldn’t convert any of their first half drives into points, but would get on the board late in the third quarter when Small lofted a pass to the endzone where only Reed could catch it. Reed made the catch and Owen Turner’s PAT cut the Harlem lead to 14-7 in the third.

Reed would finish the night with four catches for 77 yards and two scores and Small threw for 162 yards on 12 completions.

Stevie Padgett carried the Yellow Jackets’ ground game, running for 113 yards on 20 carries while Small added 56 yards on 12 carries. 

Neither team was able to do much in the first quarter, with the teams exchanging punts on the first three possessions of the game before Harlem took over at their own 23.

The Bulldogs failed to convert on a third and five from their own 40 and were flagged for holding. The Yellow Jackets elected to take the penalty to set up a third and 15 and Bulldogs would complete a pass to Tae Hudson for just enough for the first down.

Three plays later, Hudson would catch and run for 36 yards to set up first and goal at the SEB eight-yard line. Finn Martin would find space on the left side and make it to the endzone to give Harlem a 7-0 lead following the extra point.

“I’m beating myself up about that right now,” Anthony said of taking the penalty rather than declining it and putting Harlem into a punting situation. “I thought our defensive back would do a good job in terms of stopping the pass and giving our offense better field position. That didn’t work out. I thought about it the rest of the quarter thinking ‘I should have just taken it,’” he said. “It bit us in the end because they ended up scoring on that drive.

The teams would exchange punts on the next two possessions before SEB took over at their own 46. A long pass would set up the Yellow Jackets at the Harlem 28-yard line.

Two plays later, JK Small tried to hit a receiver on an out route to the right side, but Harlem’s Jax Stadler broke on the ball and intercepted the pass. He raced 70 yards, untouched, down the sideline to extend the Bulldogs lead to 14-0 with 4:44 remaining in the first half.

The Yellow Jackets were able to mount a late drive down to the Harlem 28 with four seconds remaining. Unfortunately for SEB, their 46-yard field goal attempt was a little short and wide as the Yellow Jackets went into the half trailing 14-0.

“Our guys kept battling. They kept fighting,” Anthony said. “This one’s tough. It hurts, but they kept battling and that’s all I can ask for from these guys. As a first-year head coach, you want a group of kids who are going to fight for you and that’s what they’re all doing right now.” 

Southeast Bulloch returns to action on Friday when they travel to take on Windsor Forest in another region matchup. Kickoff is set for 7:30.