After a hard loss to defending state champs Benedictine and Hurricane Irma, the Southeast Bulloch Jackets were looking forward to finally getting to play a region game against Jenkins.
Hakeem Stevens and the rest of the Warriors were maybe even more excited as Stevens picked up 253 yards on the ground to lead his team to a 31-21 hard fought victory over Southeast Bulloch.
Coming in as the number 5 team in the state and having a 4-0 record, the Warriors moved right down the field for an easy seven. It looked as if it were going to be a long night for the 0-3 home team.
But after Tyler Thornton’s brilliant kickoff return, the Yellow Jackets had a short field to work with. And the power running back Chase Walker went to work for a quick, three play 39 yard touchdown drive to tie the game.
Coach Pennington planned for a strong run game. “They’re very quick on the perimeter (and) it’s very hard to get outside.”
So Southeast Bulloch stuck to the script and after a Jenkins interception, Walker took the ball right up the middle on a 27 yard run. The Warriors started to put another solid drive together towards the end of the first quarter. On a second and one play, Tyler Thornton intercepted Javonte Middleton and the Jackets had all the momentum in the world.
It was now the home team’s turn to string together a drive and they started to move deep into Warrior territory. Back to back penalties would move the Jackets back and would be forced to punt.
Finally, Jenkins was able to establish the run game with Middleton and Stevens combing for 66 yards on a 91 yard touchdown capped off by Stevens’ second of four touchdowns on the night.
Heading to the locker room it looked as if it were going to be a tie as the Warriors had the ball in their own 20. But, a near perfect 2-minute offense drive moved the ball down to set up a Michael Greco 40 yard field goal to take a lead to halftime.
Coming out of the locker room (after an incredibly entertaining pee wee football halftime show), the home team milked the clock for nearly seven minutes and ended the first drive of the second half with a 14 yard Chase Walker touchdown run.
Those would be the final points scored for the Yellow Jackets as the Warriors would get into a mesmerizing flow with the offensive line pushing around and making room for Stevens and Middleton to score another touchdown each.
“There’s no doubt in my mind (after tonight) that we took a step in the right direction,” Pennington admitted. “We had young players step up, players who stay on the field on both offense and defense, and exerted every ounce of energy they could.”
Jenkins certainly looked like a state championship contender and Coach Pennington gave credit to them and their players, but he also applauded his team’s persistence.
Southeast Bulloch is 0-4, but they’ve played four teams that are still undefeated.
“When you experience emotions, it drives you to persevere,” Pennington was hopeful.” Southeast Bulloch will be at home again next week to take on Islands and Jenkins will travel to Johnson.