Pembroke, GA -- The monkey on Bryan County’s back had become a gorilla as the Redskins carried a state high 24-game losing streak into last Friday night’s game with Butler.
The Redskins, who had not won since seating Long County, 28-14, in the second game of the 2018 season, scored on their first possession of the game and never looked back in posting a 38-12 win.
Coach Cherard Freeman’s team dominated in every phase of the game: offensively, defensively and special teams in avenging last year’s 34-6 loss to the Bulldogs.
Sophomore Austin Clemens scored three touchdowns while rushing for 145 yards to spearhead a ground game that piled up 327 yards. Fellow sophomore Jacari Carney added 105 yards and both helped anchor a defense which yielded only 182 yards.
It was the most points scored by Bryan County since it beat McIntosh County Academy 51-26 in 2014. The Redskins scored 46 points all of last season and only 33 in 2019.
Senior right tackle Chris Bell anchored an offensive line that dominated a much larger, but slower, Butler line that spent the night trying to figure out the Redskins Wing-T offense without coming up with an answer.
Despite its impressive performance Bryan County will be a big underdog Friday night when it plays at Lincoln County which has been one of the dominant Class A powers for decades with 11 state championships and 33 region titles to its credit. Freeman played on Lincoln County’s 1993 and 1995 state championship teams.
Bryan County set the tone from the outset when it held the Bulldogs to a three-and-out to start the game and then drove 68 yards on 17 plays to score while eating up 7:48 on the clock.
The only pass on the drive came when quarterback Sean Kelly Hill teamed up with Tanner Ennis on an 8-yard scoring strike. It was 16-6 at the half and Bryan County took the second half kickoff and marched to a score with Leggett scoring from 2-yards out.
Butler then scored but the Redskins answered with touchdowns on its next two possessions to cap the win.
“Our offensive line put in a lot of work all week,” said Bell, one of seven seniors on the team and who last played in a winning game in the second contest of the 2018 season. “It feels amazing.”
Despite the exhilaration of finally posting a win Bell, who last played in a winning game as a sophomore, made sure there was no wild celebration on the field at game’s end.
“I told them we would celebrate in the locker room,” Bell said. “You want to respect your opponent.”