By: Christian Goeckel

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

This one hurts. That’s ok, it’s supposed to. When a senior class means as much as this one has to this community, a loss like Friday night’s is going to sting for a long time.

Glynn Academy fell to Lee County, 42-38, in a game in which the Terrors held leads of 31-6 and 38-21.

Glynn dominated the first half, busting big plays consistently and leaving the home Lee crowd stunned and the traveling Terror Nation at a fever pitch.

The domination reached its pinnacle when Glynn had Lee backed up at their 15 on 3^rd down, trailing the Terrors 24-6. Hunter Hall intercepted Jase Orndoff’s pass and set up the Terrors inside Lee’s 10. Caine Crews punched it in for his third touchdown of the first half and the blowout was on.

Give Lee credit, you don’t get to 12-1 without being a very good team. Down 31-6, the Trojans flew down the field in three plays and tossed a touchdown to end the first half down 31-14.

Lee received the ball to start the second half and scored bringing the score to within 10, but Glynn answered with a long drive of their own, putting the Terrors up 38-21 going into the 4^th.

That’s when the wheels fell off for Glynn. The Terror’s gave up 21 straight points off of fumbles on three consecutive drives. With Lee up 42-38, the Terror’s had a hundred and eighty seconds left on the clock to get into the endzone, and avoid the collapse.

First and second down were stuffed, and Jernigan had to exit the game for third. Back up Sam Wagner entered the game, and was subsequently sacked and injured on third down.

That left a 4^th and 10 for Glynn to continue their season. Credit this team for not giving up. A banged up Jernigan rolled right, bringing the whole defense with him and threw a strike to a wide open Andrew Delaney streaking down the left side of the field on a delay route.

The long play quieted the home crowd, and set up Glynn at the Lee 15 with 90 seconds left on the clock. The Terrors controlled their own destiny. Get into the endzone and advance. Randon Jernigan busted up the left side for a gain of 8, setting up Glynn with 2^nd and 2 from the 7.

And that’s when the Terrors lost a fumble for the fourth straight possession. Jernigan and Crews fumbled the ball at the mesh point of their read option, and Lee recovered to seal the game.

In a game in which Caine Crews rushed for 280 yards and three touchdowns, all he will remember are the fumbles.

Randon Jernigan, who lead this powerful option attack, will be kicking himself for not pulling the ball on the last play.

Hunter Hall, with a huge interception in the first half and countless tackles, will only wonder what he could’ve done.

What we will remember is them. The seniors who were the first class to spend all four years under Coach Hidalgo. The guys who have been the building blocks for what is now the premier high school football program in South East Georgia.

It has been an absolute joy to watch these guys play football for the Red and White, and that’s why this hurts so much.

The somber realization that it’s over. When spring practice kicks off names like Dallas, Hall, Jernigan, Crews, Fulton, McClellan, Delaney, and Podlesny will all be headed off to college.

What won’t be gone is what they’ve built under Rocky Hidalgo. This program is here to stay, and it’s these seniors we have to thank for it