Banged-up Bulldogs fall on the road

Published 11:53 pm Friday, August 16, 2024

PEARSON, Ga. — A 15-game losing streak dating back to the middle of the 2022 season ended in south Georgia Friday.

The Atkinson County Rebels toted that skid into the 2024 opener against the GMC Prep Bulldogs, and put an end to it with a 35-16 victory.

New GMC Prep head coach Gavin Tierce will have to wait at least one more week for his first win. Despite the result, he saw some things he liked in his regular season debut in the lead role.

“We’re so young and inexperienced,” Tierce said in a postgame phone interview. “We’ve got eight sophomores starting, but the whole team showed me some toughness tonight. Even when the game got away from us in the last five minutes, they never quit. We’ve got some tough kids that want to get better. You cannot break them. That’s what I learned tonight.

“Hats off to AtCo. It’s been over a year since they had won a game, but they’re on the right track for sure. They play a physical, physical brand of football. They’re going to have a lot of success doing that to people this year.”

The contest was close throughout, with both teams throwing and taking punches. The pull away point came in the final minutes. Leading 21-16 about midway through the fourth, the Rebels found a fumble on the ground deep in GMC Prep’s territory. That turnover turned into points, and another late touchdown brought the score to its final tally.

The Bulldogs were far from 100% in the loss, playing without expected second-year starting quarterback Logan McMillan, a senior. He was ruled out indefinitely with an elbow injury heading in to Friday, so in stepped freshman Matthew Webster. The youngster made a good impression on his head coach.

“I cannot say enough about Matthew Webster,” said Tierce. “He stepped up to the plate. He completed eight passes, took some licks, got right back up, and managed our offense as well as anybody could have. I’m so proud of him.”

The 0-1 Bulldogs will see if the toughness they showed manifests in a win during their week two matchup at Crawford County next Friday.