BROOKLET — A football team’s biggest improvement comes between the first game of the season and the second game.
    That’s the old coaching adage and it certainly seemed to prove itself last Friday as Southeast Bulloch bounced back from a season opening loss to grab a 27-21 overtime win at Long County.
    “I saw a lot of areas where we played better than we did in our first game,” said SEB coach Pat Collins, who defeated the Blue Tide for the second time in as many years. “The offensive line played much better, we followed through on our assignments, and one of the biggest things is that we didn’t turn the ball over.”
    The biggest factor in the win for the Yellow Jackets (1-1) was the emergence of the offense.
    Kept off of the scoreboard and held to just 100 total yards in the Week 1 loss to Portal, SEB racked up 287 yards against Long County.
    Antonio McMillan continued his stellar running in his sophomore campaign with 147 yards on 27 carries and a touchdown on the ground, and another sophomore running back was also able to command some of the spotlight.
    After injuries forced him to the sidelines last season, Tyler Epps made up for some lost time, toting the ball 14 times for 111 yards and twice finding the end zone.
    “You’ll take as many good running backs as you can get,” said Collins. “Tyler isn’t the biggest guy, but he’s tough and runs low to the ground.”
    Though the Jackets performed much better in their second game, the Blue Tide didn’t make things easy for them.
    After scoring to trim the SEB lead to 21-19 just before the final gun, Long County’s two-point conversion attempt was backed up due to a penalty. Improbably, a wild scramble got the Tide 16 yards and a tie game, but the Jackets didn’t buckle.
    Given another chance in the extra period, SEB held the Tide off the scoreboard to seal the win.
    From the sidelines, Collins was pleased with how his team dealt with the adversity and refused to let one play alter the rest of the game.
    “Things aren’t always going to go your way or turn out like you think they should,” said Collins. “All that you can do in situations like that is just put it out of your mind and concentrate on what needs to be done on the next play.
    “That’s something that we’ve shown. Even in our loss to Portal, you could see that we continued to play hard and make big plays despite turnovers and miscues that hurt us. I believe that our team is filled with guys who expect to succeed and are going to keep playing with that kind of positive attitude, no matter what.”
    This week, the Jackets will need to continue to improve as they return to Fred Shaver Field to take on Bleckley County in their Region 3-AA opener.
    Last season, SEB entered the matchup at 2-0, but a few special teams miscues and turnovers made much of the difference in a 38-14 defeat at the hands of the Royals.
    “Bleckley is going to be good again,” said Collins. “They’re a very big team to have to contend with. The most important thing for us will be to continue to play sound football and stay away from turnovers and the other things that hurt us in our first game.”
   
    Mike Anthony can be reached at (912) 489-9404.