Savannah Country Day and host Bethesda Academy threw haymakers at each other Friday night, with four touchdown plays ranging from 35 to 80 yards
The game went down to the last play, with the Hornets breaking up a pass in the end zone to preserve a 20-16 road victory.
Savannah Country Day running back Thomas Holland carries the ball as Bethesda defenders close in Friday. The Hornets won, 20-16. Photo by JT Visuals.
“It could have gone either way, really,” Hornets junior quarterback/safety Devin Trawick said. “It was a battle. It was a fight. We love that, though.”
Trawick took the shortest path to the end zone all night, but it wasn’t easy when he returned his second interception of the game 17 yards, fighting his way across the goal line with 6:13 left in regulation.
Up four points, Savannah Country Day (2-5) went for a two-point conversion run, but bruising senior running back Thomas Holland (20 carries, 77 yards) immediately met a wall of Blazers to keep the score 20-16.
Trawick went 8-for-17 for 189 yards, including 35- and 72-yard touchdowns to sophomore wide receiver Amir Atkinson. Trawick also threw two interceptions – the latter coming with the Hornets down 16-14 and having driven to the Bethesda 22.
Two plays later, however, he delivered a big blow with his go-ahead Pick 6.
“It was just next-play mentality,” Trawick said of not letting thoughts linger about the turnover. “Just moving on and doing my job on the defensive side of the ball after making a mistake on offense. That was really it.”
Savannah Country Day quarterback/cornerback Devin Trawick runs with the ball against Bethesda Academy. Photo by JT Visuals.
Bethesda (3-1) had more than enough time to rally. Its quick-strike capability was evident in junior quarterback Jordan Turner’s TD runs of 56 and 80 yards – the latter a counterpunch coming on the first scrimmage play following Atkinson’s 72-yard TD in the third quarter.
Turner finished the game with 204 yards on 15 carries and was 9-of-22 passing for 85 yards and the two picks by Trawick.
Bethesda Academy quarterback Jordan Turner runs against Savannah Country Day. Turner scored on touchdown runs of 56 and 80 yards. Photo by JT Visuals.
The Blazers moved in their final drive from their 20 to within inches of the end zone on a mix of 12 pass and run plays. Turner faced second-and-goal at the 2 with 38 seconds left when he couldn’t handle the shotgun snap, picked up the ball and made a frantic dash around the right end.
Turner thought he had jabbed with the ball over the goal line, but game officials conferred and ruled him out of bounds a few inches shy.
“He reached in and he actually kicked the pylon, so he was already in,” said Bethesda coach Antwain Turner, also Jordan’s father. “You look at it on film: the ball was across and you’ll see the pylon knocked down.”
On third-and-inches with 26 seconds remaining, Jordan Turner ran a quarterback keeper over the left side of the line, and the Blazers celebrated a second time for what they thought was a touchdown.
A holding penalty, however, negated the score and moved the line of scrimmage back 10 yards.
“Not holding; he didn’t have time to hold,” Antwain Turner said. “It was on the 1-yard line. That was a touchdown.”
Now facing fourth-and-10-and-inches with 6.2 ticks on the clock, Jordan Turner was under heavy pressure and sprinted to the right, getting off a pass as he neared the right sideline.
In the Blazers’ previous game, a 32-28 win over Savannah Christian on Aug. 28, Jordan Turner completed a comeback with a similar roll to the right and a game-winning TD pass to the end zone with 26 seconds left.
This time, after the Hornets rushed off their goal-line “tank” defense of big bodies and swapped in more athletic defensive backs in a “nickel’ package, they were in position to knock down the pass as time expired.
“We’ve been consistently improving,” Savannah Country Day’s second-year coach Joey Blackmore said, noting a one-point loss and an overtime setback preceding the Hornets’ 21-10 win last week over rival Savannah Christian. “We’ve just been preaching find a way and believe. Our kids didn’t flinch. It was back and forth the whole game. It was an extremely fun game to be a part of.”
If the game was a boxing match, Bethesda would want a recount on the judges’ scorecards.
While the Hornets had what would have been Atkinson’s third TD reception negated by a holding penalty on running back Holland’s 41-yard toss with1:58 left in the third quarter, the Blazers disputed calls on three possible scoring plays.
Shawn Williams Jr. returned a punt for a touchdown that was called back by an illegal block with 10:54 remaining in the second quarter. Antwain Turner said after the game that it was “a bang-bang play” but a legal block.
The coach said he already had seen film and disagreed with the two rulings in the final seconds of the game that erased touchdowns.
“We never should have put ourselves in the position,” the coach said. “It’s frustrating sometimes. I don’t think (the officials) did it intentionally, but they definitely got this one wrong.
“For us, we teach our kids to be resilient,” he added. “We’re not going to blame the officials. But there are moments, as humans, we don’t always do our best, either.”
Turner added that while the team doesn’t want or like to lose, there are important lessons in defeat and handling how to lose as well as win. Bethesda – which had not played in September because one game was canceled by lightning and another was lost in a scheduling conflict – went 12-0 last season in capturing the SCISA Class 2A state championship.
The Blazers’ most recent setback was to Pee Dee Academy in the 2024 state title game, and their last home loss had been to Beaufort Academy on Oct. 28, 2022. Bethesda also won a state title in 2023, going 13-0.
“Tremendous respect for Coach Turner and that team and what they’ve done the last three years,” Blackmore said. “He is an incredible man and that’s an awesome team that we just beat.”
Blackmore also lauded the efforts of his players, including Trawick, Atkinson and Holland, who all played on both sides of the line. Savannah Country Day’s last defensive stand was made after leading tackler William Rhodes sustained a knee injury with 6:01 left, and the junior linebacker didn’t return.
Bethesda lost starting senior cornerback Mell Flowers to an ankle injury during the game. With 6-foot college prospect Shawn Williams Jr. at the other corner, the Hornets went after Flowers’ replacement, 5-8 sophomore Jaden Williams, with the 6-2 Atkinson.
Jaden Williams and Bethesda defensive back Sammy Childs III each recorded interceptions, with Williams’ coming when SCD was threatening to score with 6:59 remaining.
Bethesda defender bring down a Savannah Country ball carrier during the Hornets’ 20-16 win. Photo by JT Visuals.
“It was a very big play for (Jaden Williams) because they were picking on him …,” Antwain Turner said. “For him to get the interception, that’s what we’ve seen him do throughout the week. We’re very, very proud he stepped up big in that moment.”
SAVANNAH COUNTRY DAY 20, BETHESDA ACADEMY 16
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| SCDS | 0 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 20 |
| BA | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 16 |
First Quarter
BA—Jordan Turner 56-yard run (Turner run)
Second Quarter
SCD—Amir Atkinson 35 pass from Devin Trawick (Liam Murphy kick)
Third Quarter
SCD—Atkinson 72 pass from Trawick (Murphy kick)
BA—Turner 80 run (Dezrin Davis pass from Turner)
Fourth Quarter
SCD—Trawick 17 interception return (run failed)
Records—Savannah Country Day 2-5, Bethesda Academy 3-1.
WEEK 6 FINAL SCORES
Friday, Sept. 25
CLASS 7A
East Coweta 24, Richmond Hill 23
CLASS 6A
Effingham County 55, Bradwell 36 *
Grovetown 16, South Effingham 15*
CLASS 5A
Benedictine 52, Richmond Academy 47*
Jenkins 51, Groves 0 *
CLASS 4A
Liberty County 30, New Hampstead 14*
CLASS 3A
Beach 48, Islands 35 *
Tattnall County 24, Johnson 6*
GHSA/GIAA/SCISA NON-REGION
Warren County 21, Bryan County 0
Calvary Day 35, Rockdale County 10
Claxton 28, Savannah High 6
Savannah Country Day 20, Bethesda 16
Augusta Prep 29, St. Andrew's 14
* Region game.
PHOTO CREDIT: JT Visuals (Jadon Turner - Bethesda Academy)
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Optim Orthopedics presents Prep Sports Report's 2026 high school football coverage.
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Keeping Savannah-area athletes healthy and ready for game day all season long.
Team physicians include Dr. Don Aaron (Bryan County), Dr. David Sedory (Benedictine, Bradwell Institute, Liberty County), Dr. David Palmer (Calvary Day, Richmond Hill, South Effingham), and Dr. Thomas Alexander (Savannah Country Day, St. Vincent's Academy).
