The Seminole County Indians wrapped up the regular season this past Friday night
by hosting the Bacon County Red Raiders with the winner moving on to the state playoffs. The Indians had previously
defeated the Red Raiders in Alma earlier in the year 46-12. The Indians won the coin toss and deferred to the second
half. The visitors, who represented region 1A-A as the #3 seed, could get nothing going and were forced to punt the
ball away. The Indian offense took to the field and midway through the first quarter Tamichael Fedd sprinted through
the Raider defense to paydirt for a 34 yard touchdown. Jeffery Croom added the PAT and the Indians captured a lead they
would never relinquish, 7-0. Bacon County put the ball on the turf on their next possession setting the Indians up at
the Red Raider 20 yard line. Antwan Buggs called his own number twice, once gaining 19 yards and the other plunging
through on a QB sneak to add to the Seminole County tally. This wound up the scoring in the first period with the Indians
taking a 14-0 lead into the 2nd quarter. The Indians tapped Tamichael Fedd again capping off a ten play drive of 79
yards with a 2 yard dash to the end zone. The PAT attempt turned into a 2 point conversion with Dee Virgin completing
a shovel pass to Fedd to up the lead to 22-0. The Raiders then took their next possession to the house with Danky Anderson
finding Michael McCarty for a 76 yard touchdown strike. The PAT was good and the Raiders avoided the shutout.
After an unsuccessful onside kick attempt, the Indians had outstanding field position and moved the ball 57 yards for another
Indian touchdown. Antwan Buggs found Jaquan Johnson from 20 yards out for the score. Croom PAT was blocked and
the score rose to 28-7 in favor of the homestanding Indians. The next possession for the Raiders, although not impacting
the final outcome of the game, was controversial to say the least. After two rushes and two failed passes, the
referee crew appeared to allow a 5th down which Anderson passed to McCarty who then fumbled with another Raider picking it
up. End result, a 52 yard gain. A few plays later Danky Anderson took it in from 5 yards out. Their two
point conversion failed and the lead was 28-13. Another failed onside kick attempt proved to be a misstep for the visitors,
as Chris Brown plowed through the Raider defense, appearing to be down twice, but ending up scoring on a 30 yard run.
Croom added another PAT and the score was lifted to 35-13 Seminole County. Bacon County, with under two minutes to play
in the first half, was determined not to go down without a fight. On a third down with the clock stopped at 19.9 seconds
remaining in the opening half, Anderson rolled left and fired the ball just out of the reach of McCarty and the clock stopped
again. This time at 19.2 seconds. After waking up the EOC (electronic clock operator), three seconds were removed
from the clock. The Raiders then punched the ball in from the 1 yard line and after a failed conversion attempt headed
for the locker room down 35-19.
The SCHS Green Machine Marching Band then took to the field in possibly the
seniors last performance at Seminole Stadium. They played, they danced, they marched. They simply put on the usual
outstanding performance Seminole County fans have become accustomed to viewing. Drum major C.J. Jackson played to the
crowd during the song 'Thriller' by showing off his dancing prowess all while directing the band. Several tunes new
to the halftime show were added to the enjoyment of the fans attending the game. The varsity cheerleaders kept the crowd
pumped up throughout the entire ballgame as they have done the entire year. Through the skillful guidance of
cheer coaches Crystal Milner and Felicia Odom and the outstanding leadership of captain Savannah Downing and co-captain Holley
Zachery kept these fine young ladies in tip tip shape and full of energy.
The second half opened with the Indians receiving the ball. Chris Brown
provided a little insurance with a 55 yard TD run with Croom tacking on the extra point. Chris later added an 8 yard
run for a score capping off his night with 3 touchdowns and 201 yards on the ground. This brings Chris's total rushing
yards for the season to 1294 yards with 14 rushing TD's. Tyrone Cunningham added one final nail in the coffin and the
Indians rolled to a 56-19 victory. The Indians amassed their largest rushing total of the season gaining a massive 425
yards rushing all while adding 60 yards of passing offense. Although the Red Raiders passed for 215 yards in the first
half, the Indians secondary tightened their belts by not allowing a single yard through the air in the second half.
The win gains the Indians entry to the state playoff tournament as the #3 seed
from region 1. They take to the road to Cusseta, GA to face the Chattahoochee County Panthers this Friday. The
Panthers wrapped up their season with an 8-1 record falling only to region 4 champion Greenville. Greenville will host
the Pelham Hornets who enter the playoffs for the first time since 2001. In the battle for region 1 supremacy, the Clinch
County Panthers sought revenge against the Miller County Pirates for the shutout handed to them earlier this year. In
a thriller of a game, the Panthers scored with under 2 minutes remaining on the game clock and held the Pirate offense to
capture the region crown by a score of 25-20. Clinch County will host Marion County while the Pirates host the Brookstone
Cougars in the opening round of the GHSA state playoffs.
