BROOKLET —Southeast Bulloch just ran out of time.
    The Yellow Jackets dominated the second half, holding Telfair County to only two possessions, and outscored the Trojans, 14-0, in the final two periods. But a 21-point second quarter was enough for TCHS as it escaped Fred Shaver Field with a 28-21 win on Friday.
    “They’re a very gifted team with regards to their perimeter speed,” SEB coach Pat Collins said of Telfair County. “They’ve got some guys that can run and run. I was proud of our guys’ effort. I thought we played with tremendous effort. Their team just made a few more plays than our team made. I’m proud of the effort with which our boys played. I’m heartbroken — completely heartbroken — we did not win the game. They made a few more plays, and we probably had a few more mistakes than they did.”
    Trailing 28-6 at halftime, Southeast Bulloch (2-1) scored on both second-half possessions to make it a one-score contest.
    Collins recalled a game when he was coaching at Screven County, when the Gamecocks overcame a 20-point deficit against East Laurens. He used that game as a motivation for his halftime speech to the Yellow Jackets.
    “I told the boys, ‘We will stick to the plan. We won’t deviate, and we’ll beat them. It will take all night, but we’ll beat them, as we did that night.’ Tonight, we just fell a little short,” Collins said.
    On the third quarter’s first drive, the Jackets needed only five plays to close the gap. The drive ended with a 46-yard run by Antonio McMillan and a two-point conversion on a pass from Keagan Carter to James Coto.
    McMillan led all rushers with 10 carries for 133 yards.
    “Antonio did a fine job for us,” Collins said. “He works hard, he’s a weapon, and he made some plays. We’re glad he’s on our team.”
    Telfair (3-1) took 8 minutes, 51 seconds on its next drive and ran out the remainder of the third quarter before missing a 37-yard field goal after a Jacob Stansell sack left the Trojans in fourth-and-15.
    The Yellow Jackets marched down the field again, on a drive that was extended by a 37-yard pass from quarterback Cole Carter to Matthew McBride. The drive ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by Tyler Epps.
    Telfair used its next drive to drain the entire 5:54 that was left on the clock.
    On the last play of the game, with TCHS quarterback Brett Myers stepping backward in an attempt to run out the clock before taking a knee, he was sacked by Stansell. The play caused a skirmish that resulted in offsetting personal fouls for both teams, though the tackle was not flagged as the ball was in play.
    “When that occurred,” Collins said, “we had loss of composure by high school players on both sides. That bothers me that either school would do that because it takes away from what otherwise was a fine high school football game that unfortunately we fell a little short in. Congratulations to Telfair County — they won the football game.”
    Telfair opened the scoring with a 7-yard touchdown run by Rashawn Mackey (14-98, 2 TDs), but the Trojans turned it over on their next two possessions. A TCHS pass that was tipped by SEB’s Devin Todd was intercepted by Keagan Carter, and Corey McCollum recovered a fumble.
    The Jackets cut it to 7-6 on a 9-yard pass to the back of the end zone from Cole Carter to McMillan.
Telfair extended its lead to 14-6 on a 43-yard hitch-and-go from Kevin Clark to Justin Dayhoff.
    Abraham Freeman (7-98) had a 77-yard run to help set up another touchdown after an SEB punt pinned the Trojans at the 5-yard line. The extra point made it 21-6.
    The Jackets fumbled on the ensuing kickoff to set up the final TCHS score of the game with 3:50 left in the half — a 10-yard run by Mackey.
    Southeast Bulloch returns to action Friday when it opens region play at home against Johnson at 7:30 p.m.

    Matt Yogus may be reached at (912) 489-9408.