By: Christian Goeckel

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Glynn Academy’s week 3 loss to Tift County, 27-7, can be summarized into one word: Until.

The Terrors were moving the ball up and down the field, until they turned it over, when Randon Jernigan was strip sacked on Tift’s 29.

They had picked up a crucial third down, until they came up a yard short and failed on the fourth down conversion.

The defense held 4-star receiver Rashod Bateman in check, until they didn’t, when they seemingly forgot the Minnesota commit was on the field and he walked into to the endzone for an 80-yard score.

One thing remains true in football across all levels; When you face good teams, you can’t give up the ball. Glynn is a young team that is still trying to find its footing and it seems to have a propensity for coughing up the football. In an offense that puts the ball in a lot of people’s hands, like the option does, that’s catastrophic,

Tift County entered this game with a dominant defense (giving up 4.7 points per game). Much like Benedictine, Tift loaded the box all night. Glynn’s triple option, dominant last week against Ware, was held under 70 yards on the night. Caine Crews lead the way with 33 yards on 15 carries (2.2 ypc).

For the second week in a row, Glynn only completed two passes. One, a 60 yarder to Andrew Delaney, setup the Terrors’ only score.

If Glynn has any playoff aspirations they must find a passing game. Teams will continue to load the box until Jernigan can prove that he can beat them over the top. Jernigan shouldn’t shoulder all the blame, though. His line rarely gives him time to move off his first look, and his receivers can’t consistently beat their men.

Defensively, the team played well minus a couple of big plays. Tift quarterback Griffin Collier gashed the Terrors’ defense on the second play of the game for a 74-yard touchdown and found receiver Rashod Bateman for the aformentioned 80-yard bomb.

Tift had a clear game plan: Get up early and ride our defense. The Blue Devils, a pass heavy offense, threw the ball only 21 times for 198 yards. Tift felt they could shut down Glynn, so why get risky?

Glynn finds themselves at an interesting place. Again, it can’t be understated that this team is hurt, but they’re getting healthier every week.

Yet, every week the offense becomes more one dimensional. They must choose now if they open the offense up, or continue to pound the rock and trust the system.

We’ll get to see what they choose next week when they take on Camden County at Glynn County Stadium. Camden is coming off an extremely solid come from behind win at home against Fitzgerald and will look to improve their record to 3-1 when they take on the Terrors.

This is a tough match up for Glynn. Camden is another team that rides their great defense. In what should be a low scoring game, the difference will biggest factor will be Glynn’s ability or inability to hold on to the ball. Camden will pounce on any mistake you make.

Glynn is 1-2, and largely looking for consistency before region play begins. A win over a good team like Camden would not only bring the Terrors back to .500, it would be a huge confidence boost for a team that needs it.

Glynn Academy vs Camden County kicks off at 7:30 at Glynn County Stadium on Friday, September 8th.