The Southeast Bulloch flag football team took two more steps to an unprecedented fifth-straight state title. Thursday evening, they opened up the state playoff by knocking off Oconee County 20-0 and then clinched a spot in the quarterfinals with a 7-6 win over Starr’s Mill.
“We had some trouble getting on the same page tonight as far and our timing has been off,” said coach Marci Cochran. “The weather wasn’t great and we may not have played our best but great teams find a way to win.”
The Jackets struggled in the first half of game one against Oconee County and were unable to score until quarterback Emma Cate Barron connected with Natayla Odom for a 33-yard touchdown pass with 23 seconds left before the half. The extra point pass from Barron to Odom made it 7-0 at the half.
“It took us a while but I felt like Emma Cate finally got things going there towards the end of the half,” Cochran said. “That touchdown to Natayla was a nice play by both of them to give us a spark. I felt like we came out a little more relaxed in the second half and got a few more scores and our defense played great, especially Christiana Tisby. Kamile Johnson played a great first game and it was nice to see Kelsey Johnson back after her injury.”
In the second half the Jackets came out a little more relaxed. The defense played solid throughout and set up the offense early in the third quarter. Paige Nelson picked off a pass and gave the Jackets the ball inside the Oconee 20-yard line. A few plays later Nelson hit Chloe Cochran for a six-yard touchdown. The extra point conversion run was successful by Nelson to push the lead to 14-0.
In the fourth quarter Barron lofted a perfect pass that hit Laina Erickson in stride for a 20-yard score and the final points of the game.
Starr’s Mill advanced to the second round after a 12-6 win over Woodland in the second game of the night. With a steady rain coming down, the Jackets struggled to score in the first quarter once again in the second game against Starr’s Mill.
Barron helped light a spark in the second quarter coming up with an interception. She then hit Laina Erickson and Kayla Adams to get the ball deep into Starr’s Mill territory and Paige Nelson capped the drive with a three-yard run. The ensuing extra point proved crucial, as Barron connected with Odom to make it 7-0 at the half.
In the fourth quarter, Starr’s Mill inserted Raegan Collins at quarterback for the only time all night, and maybe they should have done that more. Collins proceeded to knife through the SEB defense, who missed a couple flag pulls, and went 54-yards for a touchdown. The extra point conversion was dropped, leaving the score, 7-6.
The Jacket offense was able to eat some clock with two Nelson first down runs and a pass to Chloe Cochran. The Panthers got the ball at their own 10-yard line with less than a minute to play, but went three-and-out and the Jackets had to only snap the ball and take a knee to escape with a victory.
“It shows how important an extra point can be,” Cochran said. “We played well enough to advance but we will have to step things up more next week with a short turnaround against a few teams that could be trouble.”
Up next the Jackets will host the state quarterfinals Monday and will open up against Warner Robins. The other two teams heading to Brooklet will be Long County and North Oconee who they played for the state championship two years ago.
