BROOKLET - In a game both teams needed to win to stay in the playoff race, New Hampstead jumped out to a huge first half lead and cruised to a 48-34 win in the Yellow Jackets home finale of 2026.
The Phoenixes (4-5, 3-2) scored on all five of their first half possessions and amassed more than 300 yards in the first half, including 191 yards passing and four touchdown passes to jump out to a 34-13 halftime lead.
“I feel like I’m saying the same thing over and over. They started out fast and we didn’t. In the second half we hunkered down,” said SEB Head Coach Jason Anthony following the game.
“Three of those (first half) touchdowns, we had guys running scot-free because of communication issues, but we cleaned those up in the second half,” he said. “As the game went on, I felt like we played the way we should be playing, but it was just too late.”
The Yellow Jackets (3-6, 1-4) struggled to slow down the speedy New Hampstead receivers as they connected on touchdown passes of 39, 43, and 34 yards in the first half as sophomore Antonio Benton spread the ball around to five different players.
The Yellow Jacket offense, meanwhile, totaled nearly 200 yards in the first half, but were unable to keep up with New Hampstead.
Sophomore Jordan Dawson opened the scoring for SEB on the Yellow Jackets’ second possession, capping off an 80 yard drive with a 25 yard run around the left side. A failed 2-point conversion left the Jackets trailing 7-6.
New Hampstead would score on back-to-back drives sandwiched around a Yellow Jacket three-and-out to extend their lead to 20-6. The second of those scores came on a fourth and four that the Phoenixes converted on a short slant that Layne Watkins was able to turn into a score.
Southeast Bulloch would answer back with a 68-yard drive taking more than five minutes off the clock. Aaden Peterson would find the endzone on a two yard run to trim the lead to 20-13.
The Phoenixes would, again, score consecutive touchdowns around an SEB three-and-out to cap off the first half scoring with the Yellow Jackets down 34-13.
The Yellow Jackets came out in the second half and forced a three-and-out of their own to start the half.
Following a New Hampstead punt, Peterson took an end around and weaved in and out of defenders, racing for a 77-yard touchdown run and the longest offensive play of the year for Southeast Bulloch to trim the lead to 34-20.
Peterson ended the night with 106 yards rushing and two scores on five carries while adding 44 yards receiving on five receptions to lead the Yellow Jackets in both categories.
JK Small threw for 117 yards as the Yellow Jackets finished the night with 355 total yards.
It appeared the Yellow Jackets may hold the Phoenixes again as they forced a fourth-and-21 from the SEB 26. Benton dropped back to pass and was pressured. He scrambled down the right sideline and pushed his way into the endzone to give New Hampstead a 41-20 lead with eight minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The Yellow Jackets would try to rally late, scoring twice in the final three minutes of the game with touchdown runs by Eli Reed and Gavin Rushing but it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit SEB found themselves in.
Following the postgame huddle, Anthony called his seniors for a talk with just them as the prepare for their final game of the year.
“I told those guys thank you for being a part of this program but also to stay with me. I’m going to need those guys more than anything next week to reel everybody in,” he said. “They don’t want to go out with a loss. They want to go out with a win, so we need to make sure they keep everybody on the same page.”
While the season hasn’t gone as he’d hoped, Anthony expressed his gratitude to the school administration and SEB community for their support.
“You might not see it right now, but I truly believe we’re building something here and it all starts with our foundation. Our foundation is those seniors who left it all on the field tonight.”
The Yellow Jackets will wrap up their season on Friday as they travel to face Long County.
