PEMBROKE — It won’t count towards the regular season record, but that won’t stop Southeast Bulloch from feeling great about things.
    Coming off of two consecutive disappointing seasons, the Yellow Jackets looked much improved, defeating Bryan County in a scrimmage by a score of 14-3 Friday night in Pembroke in a scrimmage that was called off after just one quarter due to lightning in the area.
    In reality, only half of the starting squads got much of a workout.
    The SEB defense forced two turnovers and returned both for touchdowns, keeping the Redskin offense on the field for much of the quarter.
    On the second play of the night, David Johnson scooped up a fumble and returned it the whole way to put the Jackets on the scoreboard. Five plays later, Dee Odum hauled in an interception and raced 46 yards to the end zone.
    “Those big plays are nice,” said SEB coach Pat Collins. “Coach (Jack) Webb has done a great job with the defensive unit. Bryan came out in a no huddle that we weren’t expecting, but everyone looked calm on the field.”
    Bryan County was able to do a little better on its third possession, racking up three first downs and driving into the Yellow Jacket red zone. SEB was eventually able to hold and limited the Redskins to a 30 yard field goal off the foot of Ty Wilson.
    “There are definitely some things we need to do to improve,” said Collins. “We need to fix some things in run support, but we didn’t do anything to take away our confidence out there.”
    On offense, the Jackets were only able to get a quick glimpse of what the season may bring.
    SEB was able to run just four plays, but gained over 25 yards by way of the run.
    “There were only four plays, so we didn’t see much,” said Collins. “We got a couple of first downs. If we can get a first down every two plays, I would imagine that we’ll be fine.”
    Much like SEB, Bryan County was disappointed to have its night cut short.
    The Redskins also usher in a new coaching regime this season and were looking to see the new offensive and defensive schemes at work.
    “We struggled a little trying to run our offense tonight,” said Bryan coach Mark Wilson. “We’re going with a spread shotgun and have a bunch of young guys in there. We’ve looked good in practice so far. It would have been nice to get a little more time out there in a scrimmage situation.”
    The youth movement seems to be the direction that the Redskins have decided to go in order to turn around a program that has lingered near the bottom of the standings in recent seasons.
    “We’ve got five freshmen and six seniors starting for us,” said Wilson. “I think that will help us later on. Once we establish the system, it will be good having guys that have played 20 or 30 games instead of having to start with new guys. I’m also proud of this year’s seniors. They have really become leaders and worked hard to get things started in the new system.”
    With an abbreviated preseason in the books, both teams now look forward to the beginning of the regular season next Friday. SEB travels to Portal while Bryan County has an away date with Long County.

    Mike Anthony can be reached at (912) 489-9404.