What happened when former Georgia Southern teammates met as coaches of Country Day and Beach

Savannah Country Day has been playing football since 1955, and Beach High has been at it since 1950. The schools are only 7 miles apart, but have met on the gridiron only twice before SCD hosted the Bulldogs on Wednesday night.

It was a night of firsts at Bill Saunders Field as the Hornets beat Beach for the first time, coming away with a 35-21 victory in a GHSA Region 3-3A matchup. The game was one of many rescheduled from this Friday because of the impact of Hurricane Ian.

Beach had won the two previous meetings against SCD in 1984 and 1985, but the Hornets took control early on and broke a three-game losing streak with a solid performance on both sides of the ball.

It was the first meeting between head coaches John Mohring of SCD and Michael Thompson of Beach, who are good friends dating back to their college days as defensive teammates at Georgia Southern.

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Highly-touted SCD freshman Josh Washington, who picked up an offer from Georgia Southern before playing a down of high school football, had his best game with seven receptions for 129 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

SCD has less than 30 players on its roster, and Mohring said there are several underclassmen making big impacts for the Hornets — including freshmen Anders Elizalde, Boone Wiesner and Najee Young, along with sophomore quarterback Barton Mixon and his classmate Brooks Kleinpeter at tight end.

"We've got a lot of young guys making big-time contributions, and Josh (Washington) is one of those — he's a talented athlete," Mohring said. "I thought we came out playing fast and aggressive tonight; we just need to clean up some of those mistakes and penalties."

Mixon played well at quarterback as the sophomore completed 12 of 20 passes for 237 and two touchdowns, while running for 46 yards on eight carries.

Senior running back Michael Grandy rushed for 67 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 10 carries, and KJ James added 31 yards and a score on 11 carries, with three catches for 76 yards.

The player of the game for SCD was junior lineman Rooster Bing, who had three sacks, several pass deflections and double-digit tackles, while doubling up as a game- changing offensive lineman.

"We came out with a different mindset tonight after losing three in a row," Washington said. "We played our game and stopped worrying about the other team. We love Rooster (Bing). Whenever we need a play, on defense or offense, we know he's going to make it."

Beach freshman Demetrius Holloway showed glimpses of his potential as he completed 11 of 26 passes for 180 yards with touchdown passes to Ryan Lovett and Desmond Burchett.

"I thought Demetrius played well tonight," Thompson said. "He took a lot of shots, but he kept delivering the ball. I have to give credit to Savannah Country Day. They played well and deserved to win because of their physicality tonight."

Savannah Christian 55, Long County 20

Sophomore Zo Smalls set the tone by running the opening kickoff back for a touchdown as Savannah Christian improved to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in Region 3-3A play with an impressive win over visiting Long County at Pooler Stadium.

Smalls added a pair of rushing touchdown for the Raiders as he ran for 114 yards and 19 carries, with four catches for 31 yards. His classmate, Kenry Wall, had another big game with 117 yards rushing and a touchdown on nine carries and three catches for 86 yards and a score.

Senior Jayden Hester added a pair of rushing touchdowns for the Raiders, picking up 112 yards on nine carries.

Senior quarterback Paulus Zittrauer continued his excellent play by completing 9 of 14 passes for 112 yards and a score, while rushing for 62 yards on three carries.

Tyler Penrose helped lead a stellar defensive effort with 11 tackles, two caused fumbles and a fumble recovery. Sophomore Logan Brooking had 13 stops, including four for losses and Akeem Lane added eight tackles. Sophomore lineman Elijah Griffin had nine tackles and freshman Isaiah Redmond had 10 tackles, including two for losses, for the Raiders, who are set to play on the road against Johnson on Oct. 7.

St. Andrew's 28, Robert Toombs Academy 21

The Lions won their third in a row with a road victory over Robert Toombs.

It was the Edwards brothers doing most of the damage offensively once again for St. Andrew's (3-3).

Senior Zyere Edwards had a pair of short touchdown runs and broke way for a 65-yard rushing score for the Lions, while his younger brother, sophomore quarterback Zayden Edward, also had a rushing touchdown.

The Lions defense came up big with junior Rakari Harrison recording a pair of sacks and Andrew Bacon coming up with a huge sack to end the game. Kicker Gordon Standing connected on all four of his extra points for the Lions, who host Trinity Christian on Oct. 7.

Bryan County 28, Montgomery County 7

Bryan County improved to 4-2 on the season with a strong performance on the road to take down Montgomery County (3-3).

The Redskins were coming off a 36-20 loss to Telfair County and have been battling injuries as they lost star junior Austin Clemons for the season to a knee injury. Standout safety Tanner Ennis and running back/defensive back Jacari Carney were also out with injuries this week.

Sophomore quarterback Trevor Lanier had a 5-yard touchdown run, and Sean Kelly Hill had a scoring run of about the same length for Bryan County. Senior Jordan Flannell, playing in his second varsity game, added a 6-yard touchdown run.

The defense had a strong showing, with freshman Anddreas McKinney returning a fumble for a score, Bryan County coach Cherard Freeman said.

"We were harping on the guys for a lack of leadership last week with key players out with injuries, and I was impressed with the way they responded," Freeman said. "Sean Kelly Hill and Konner Leggett stepped up as leaders, and I was really proud of how the young guys played."

Freeman said freshman Ger'bravion Collins had an interception he nearly returned for a touchdown.

Bryan County is set to open Region 3A-A Division I play next week in a game that has region title implications as it hosts Metter (3-3, 0-0).

Effingham County 31, Glynn Academy 14

The Rebels opened things up with a bang as quarterback Nate Hayes hit senior Keion Wallace with an 80-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage, the Effingham Herald reported.

Hayes, a junior in his first year as the starting quarterback, had an impressive night -- running for 98 yards and two touchdowns and completing 13 of 21 passes for 221 yards and the score.

Jayden Evans had 108 yards rushing and a score on 20 carries, and Jonah Strickland hit a 42-yard field goal. The Rebels had three interceptions, with Wallace picking off a pass and Messiah Bacon adding a pair, the Effingham Herald reported.

It was the fourth win in a row for the Rebels (4-2, 2-0 in Region 2-6A play), who are set to host Grovetown in a region matchup next week.

Other scores

Liberty County 34, Groves 0

Southeast Bulloch 34, Islands 7

Tattnall County 35, Windsor Forest 0

Edmund Burke 53, Memorial Day 0

Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Big football wins for Savannah Country Day and Savannah Christian