In their five years of playing flag football, the Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets have won 100 games. Monday night they were one point away from having a chance at winning number 101, but a failed extra point late in the fourth quarter snapped their undefeated playoff streak and with it ended any chance of them being able to win their fifth straight state championship and they fell to North Oconee, 21-20.
“We fought hard. We never gave up and that's what matters at the end,” Jackets head coach Marci Cochran said. “They kept fighting until the very end and we just came up one point short.”
In their quarterfinal matchup to start the night, Southeast Bulloch easily won against the host team Northside Warner Robins, 41-0. Emma Cate Barron threw for two scores and rushed for a touchdown. Paige Nelson scored a short TD run and the defense added a pair of touchdowns on interceptions by Natayla Odom and Kelsey Johnson.
Cochran knew her squad would have their hands full with a very tall and athletic North Oconee (22-3) team in the semifinal matchup who came in averaging over 28 points per game. The Jackets beat the Titans 14-0 for the state championship in 2023.
The two teams traded touchdowns in the first quarter, with the Jackets scoring on a 27-yar touchdown pass from Barron to Odom and the Titans on a pass from Catherine Cooper to Elizabeth Patterson. The Titans added a score in the second to take a 14-7 halftime lead. North Oconee added another score in the third to go up 21-7.
Trailing by two scores, Paige Nelson scored on a 2-yard-run. The extra point from Nelson to Chloe Cochran was good to cut the lead to 21-14.
With 3:10 left in the game, Emma Cate Barron threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Kayla Adams. The extra point pass from Barron was intercepted in the end zone.
Southeast Bulloch got one final chance as they took over with 30 seconds to go in the game. They managed to get the ball to midfield, but the clock ran out.
The 21 points they gave up Monday night was the most they’ve given up in a game in their five-year history.
“Just shows how much our girls fought and never gave up and how much they wanted to win,” Cochran said. “You go down 21-7 it might have been easy to kind of pack it in and say ‘hey, this is not our night,’ but we're never going to give up. Southeast Bulloch flag football – keep fighting till the last buzzer sounds.”
“We're the two best teams in the state, no doubt. Whoever won tonight was going to win the state championship. So, to come one point away from it, it’s tough when you've won four in a row and we're looking for a fifth but, we've had some great times in our program. Our program is one of the best in the state.”
Southeast Bulloch is now 100-3 in five seasons with four state titles.
