VIEW FROM THE TOP: No. 8 McIntosh County Academy outlasts No. 10 Emanuel County Institute in region showdown

Oct. 22—Not much went right for No. 8 McIntosh County Academy in the first half of Friday's showdown against No. 10 Emanuel County Institute.

The Buccaneers allowed 203 yards of total offense, only gained 102 yards themselves, tossed an interception, and had an inadvertent whistle wipe out a long scoring play. But MCA was still able to carry a 14-13 lead into the locker room, setting the stage for a dominant second-half and a 28-21 victory at The Ship.

McIntosh (8-1, 3-0 Region 3-A, Division II) took the best punch ECI (3-5, 1-1) had and responded with a haymaker of its own to stake a stranglehold on the program's first region championship since 2008.

"It's huge," said MCA head coach Bradley Warren. "These kids have worked hard, our kids have worked hard, couldn't be more proud of them.

"That was a good football team. They came out and absolutely hit us in the first half. We had to respond, and did. We changed up a lot of stuff offensively. Everything that was in our tackle box, we went at them tonight."

Playing just days after the accidental death of a player of the team, Emanuel County Institute sliced through the fourth-ranked scoring defense in the classification with relative ease, moving the ball downfield and into the red zone.

McIntosh County Academy managed to bow up and force a field goal attempt from the 11-yard line, the missed kick keeping the game even.

But after a quick Buccaneers three-and-out, the Bulldogs got right back to work, this time finding paydirt on a 25-yard pass on 3rd-and-long to go up 7-0.

Still struggling to find a rhythm, MCA only picked up two yards on its next three plays, setting up another punt, however this time the snap went directly to LaDerrious West, who picked up the first down, put his shoulder into a defender, and used his hand to stay upright so he could sprint the rest of the way to the end zone.

Unfortunately, during the play a referee accidentally blew his whistle, which brought the ball back toward near midfield following a long discussion.

Despite the setback, the Buccaneers drove down into scoring position until a holding call erased a third-down pass near the goal line. Once again, MCA dusted off the call, and on the ensuing play, Neo West found Jaylyn Ellison on a 29-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-7 with 6:28 in the second quarter.

But Emanuel County Institute wasn't going away. The Bulldogs matched the score with a 47-yard touchdown drive of its own to reclaim the lead with 2:39 in the half, though a missed extra point made the advantage just six points.

Looking to trim down the deficit again before halftime, McIntosh County Academy got the ball found itself at midfield before a deep throw by West was picked off.

However, in a reversal of fortune, the Buccaneers got the ball back in even better field position when a Bulldogs fumble was recovered at the 12-yard line. Two plays later, JaReese Campbell rumbled into the end zone — the extra point pushing MCA out front despite its struggles.

"We knew they were going to be physical on offense, we knew they were going to run at us; we had a hard time adjusting," Warren said. "He's got a good football team. They had a tragedy come up, and I know there's high emotions on that side. We just kept battling.

"We had the goal line stand, we had the forced fumble over here. We just kept playing and playing and playing. I was extremely proud of our effort. It was just a battle."

McIntosh County Academy knew it couldn't be satisfied with a slight lead, especially after an up-and-down first half. So the Buccaneers made some adjustments — the biggest of which was handing the keys to Campbell.

Campbell had just three carries for 11 yards and a score over the first two quarters, but lined up at quarterback, he took the first snap of the second half and carried the ball 43 yards. He added nine more on the ensuing play.

The Buccaneers widen their splits along the offensive line and let Campbell go to work, driving the team down inside the red zone. A fumbled exchange eventually ended the possession without points, but MCA had found something.

McIntosh forced an ECI three-and-out to get the ball back to its offense, which put the ball right back in Campbell's hands for four straight runs, setting up Deondray Bacon's 10-yard scoring run to extend the lead to 21-13 with 2:33 in the third quarter.

After exchanging punts back and forth, MCA went right back to the ground game, moving the ball 65 yards on 11 plays to find the end zone again, this time for a 28-13 lead with fewer than 90 seconds remaining in the contest.

To that point, the Buccaneers had outgained the Bulldogs 191-5 in the second half.

"The set we came out and drove down the field on, we haven't shown that all year," Warren said. "I just thought what a time to bring it out, and it worked.

"We've been running that offense on and off since June, and we've just been waiting to bring it out, waiting for the right time, and we just felt like now was it."

Emanuel County Institute cut McIntosh County Academy's lead to a single score when it moved down field and into the end zone in just two plays, but the Buccaneers recovered the onside kick with under a minute to play and ran out the clock on the program's biggest win since Warren returned to Darien in 2019.