Playing on only four days rest the Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets didn’t show too much rust as they jumped out to a 21-0 lead and went on to knock off Liberty County, 28-19, Tuesday night at Fred Shaver Field.
SEB improved to 5-2 overall and 4-2 in region play and earned head coach Jared Zito career victory number 100 in the process.
“Starting fast has been an issue for us and I thought we really started out great tonight,” Zito said. “We kind of wobbled a little in the second and third quarter, but we really showed our guts on defense and offense coming through in the fourth quarter."
The Jackets exploded for 21 points in the first quarter on a few big plays. Colby Smith took the opening kickoff 42 yards to the Liberty 41-yard line. Smith then capped the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run to give SEB a 7-0 lead.
After forcing Liberty to punt on their first possession, the Jackets took over at the 19-yard line. On the very first play from scrimmage, Jayden Murphy burst through the line and went 81-yards for the touchdown as the lead was extended to 14-0.
Liberty drove to the SEB five-yard line on their next series but the Jackets knocked the ball loose and Trenton Jones recovered. On their first play following the fumble, Colby Smith went 43 yards to the SEB 48-yard line. On the very next play, Murphy went 52 yards for his second score of the quarter. Both Murphy and Smith went over 100 yards rushing in the first quarter alone.
“We didn’t have any big plays last week, but Jayden and Colby gave us some big runs tonight,” Zito said. “Last week was the only game we didn’t have those kinds of big plays and in our offense, we have to have at least one or two of those a game to get points on the board.”
The Panther defense finally settled down and held the Jackets scoreless in the second quarter. Liberty got on the board as quarterback Jah’Barri Felix scored on a 10-yard keeper to cut the lead to 21-7 at the half.
The Liberty defense continued to play solid in the third, and the offense added a 0n3-yard Felix sneak to trim the lead to 21-13 as the extra point failed. Southeast Bulloch finally got back into the end zone in the fourth quarter as they went for it on fourth and four and Smith scored a 17-yard touchdown.
Liberty added a late score on a one-yard run by Brandon Roberts. Their ensuing on-side kick failed and the Jackets were able to run out the clock.
Southeast Bulloch athletic director Mark Oliver presented Zito with a plaque commemorating his 100th career victory. Zito was humbled by the honor and thanked those who helped make the milestone possible.
“Win number 100 is awesome but there are lots of kids and coaches and people who make this possible,” Zito said. “I am really happy but this is a team thing, I’ll take it but it’s really not me it is the people around me.”
Liberty falls to 3-4 overall and 3-3 in region play. Up next, the Panthers are at Beach next Friday. Up next for Southeast Bulloch, they will travel to Long County next Friday.
