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Let the record reflect: A new era of Savannah High football began at 8:31 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Friday, August 19. The Bluejackets hosted Josey High School at the brand new Savannah Chatham County Public School stadium on the campus of Savannah High for the season opener and plenty of Bluejacket faithful turned out to see the game, despite its starting an hour late after lightning strikes in the area delayed the game’s start.

Josey won 22-16 in triple overtime after a back-and-forth game came down to the wire.

The Eagles (1-0) scored first in the third overtime and the Josey defense held up on the final Savannah High (0-1) possession.

Josey, from Augusta, took a 16-8 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter, but Savannah High tied things back up at 16-16 when freshman Lamon Mitchell recovered his second fumble of the night and returned it 52 yards for the game-tying score.

Although SHS fell short of winning the game, there was an undeniable excitement around the program under head coach Michael Moore. A new stadium and a new sense of pride were equally visible and palpable from the parking lot.

Nyheem Biggins gobbled up a fumble coughed up by Josey at their own 43 yard line and the junior promptly rambled all the way to the endzone for the first ever score at Savannah High’s Bluejacket Stadium. Late in the first quarter, freshman Makeen Mervin picked off a pass from Josey’s Altravion Simpkins to give the SHS defense its second forced turnover of the first quarter.

SHS retained its 8-0 lead until early in the second quarter when Simpkins took a QB keeper 70 yards for the touchdown and Josey’s ensuing two-point attempt was successful to make it 8-8 heading into the locker rooms for halftime.

There were 11 penalties called (combined) in the first half. Savannah High turned it over three times in the first half, as did Josey.

With Josey knocking on the door of scoring midway through the third quarter and the game still tied at 8-8, Mitchell recovered another Eagles fumble four yards deep in the endzone before returning it over 75 yards into the redzone for the Bluejackets. Nothing came of Savannah High’s redzone possession, but it set a tone for the final quarter.

The Bluejackets are back at home next week hosting Richmond Academy. Kickoff for the August 26 game is set for 7:30 p.m.

JHS – 0 - 8 - 0 - 8 - 6 – 22

SHS – 8 - 0 - 0 - 8 - 0 – 16

HALF: Tied, 8-8.

RECORDS: JHS 1-0; SHS 0-1.

NEXT: SHS vs Richmond Academy (8/26).

FOLLOW Travis Jaudon on Twitter/Instagram @JaudonSports. Email him at travisLjaudon@gmail.com.