Northeast takes down Swainsboro 26-14 despite mental mistakes

The time for normal instruction and scolding was over.

Jeremy Wiggins had seen enough flags and heard enough woofing, and the Northeast head coach called for a huddle in the fourth quarter after having already lost his cool with some Raiders.

“You’ve got to stay level-headed,” Wiggins said. “We’ve got to do better at that part.”

The lack of discipline for four quarters wasn’t enough to overshadow a good start on offense and a solid night on defense in Northeast’s 26-14 win Friday night over Swainsboro in the second round of the GHSA Class A-Division I playoffs in Macon at Thompson Stadium.

The Raiders improved to 10-2 for the program’s second straight — and second all-time — 10-win season. Swainsboro finishes 9-3 with its second straight playoff loss to Northeast.

The Raiders will have to quickly focus and display more maturity. They will play on the road in the southeast against Toombs County in a rematch of last year’s state title game.

Toombs County, which beat Northeast 38-18 in that finale, came back in the fourth quarter to beat Thomasville 24-19 to advance.

“Hopefully we can tighten up and learn from this and be a whole lot more disciplined,” Wiggins said. “They get too emotional about everything. Let me fight the referees, let me talk to them.”

Northeast didn’t do enough to itself to overcome what it was doing to Swainsboro.

“I think we played hard,” Wiggins said. “The O-line played exceptionally good against a good front. Our skill guys are pretty good, and they can make plays with the ball.”

The first omen came at the start, when Northeast was flagged for a five-yard penalty on the first play of the game. Nearly a dozen flags followed.

The Raiders then showed some signs of sharpness.

After an illegal forward pass nullified a big gain, Northeast got 23 yards on a pass from Bam Glover to Kortnei Williams, setting up a 62-yard connection between the two — Williams was remarkably open as Glover rolled to his right and fired a strike — on third and nine for the Raiders’ first score.

Demonte Dunn’s kick made it 7-0 with 5:53 left in the first.

Northeast’s elite defense showed why it is elite after the ball was punched out from Williams on a punt return and the Tigers took over on Northeast’s 22-yard line.

On second and goal from the 1, Ja’Bois Smith lost a yard. On third and goal from the 1 after a second Northeast offside in less than a minute, Maurice Wilson wrapped up quarterback Joshua Gray trying to roll right for a 10-yard loss that led to a missed 28-yard field goal to start the second quarter.

The offense got going again, starting at its own 20-yard line.

A short pass to the right side went to Scottavian Thomas, who should’ve been stopped long before he tightroped down the sideline for a 25-yard gain.

Thomas then made a highlight-reel catch for 35 yards despite defensive pass interference, and Glover threw a sort of pop pass to Keundre Jackson for a 10-yard score and a 13-0 lead with 7:14 to go in the first half.

The night of inconsistency continued when Swainsboro finally got its third first down on an eight-play, 54-yard drive that included an 11-yard gain on fourth and 7. The Tigers scored on a 16-yard pass from Kason Edenfield to Shannon Benjamin, who added his own one-handed catch amid blanketed coverage.

That pulled Swainsboro within a score inside the final 31 seconds of the half.

In the third quarter, Northeast followed a Swainsboro three and out with a nifty 13-play, 90-yard drive sparked by Glover’s 46-yard run on which he also tiptoed down a sideline. Tailen Sampson finished it from 2 yards out with 4:42 left in the third.

On the first play after another Swainsboro three and out, Tavares Tinsley Jr. was inexplicably wide open and reeled in a pass from Glover for a 62-yard touchdown and a 26-7 lead at the 2:43 mark of the third quarter.

“I’m very confident now, getting my rhythm back,” said Glover, last year’s starting quarterback who took over when Jordan Wiggins went out against East Laurens with a shoulder injury, followed by shoulder surgery. “The game has really slowed down for me, so I know what’s going on out there.”

Northeast remained in control, despite coughing up 45 yards of 15-yard penalties on a fourth-quarter possession, only for Juju Miley to bail out his mates with an interception.

Another flag was enough, and Wiggins huddled up the Raiders.

“I think when I brought them up and talked to them, giving them perspective, that it was getting out of hand,” Wiggins said. “The refs didn’t come talk to me, and I told them if anything happens, just come talk to me.”

Since that apparently didn’t happen, Wiggins talked to his team.

“Some penalties, some unsportsmanlikes, some discipline stuff,” Wiggins said. “It’s an emotional game, but you can’t let your emotions of the game outweigh your play.”

Swainsboro added a score with six minutes left, but Northeast continued to control the line of scrimmage and stay in charge despite its other issues.

Northeast held Swainsboro to 103 rushing and 76 passing yards. Glover was 14 of 24 passing for 244 yards and led the 145-yard rush attack with 77 yards.

But it will be a tougher week of practice than usual.

“The mental stuff, Coach is going to get on us in practice bad,” Glover said. “We will probably be running until we … We’re gonna be in the best shape next week, for sure.”