LUDOWICI — The Long County Blue Tide esports teams are having a great start to their inaugural season. After the Super Smash team Splash Smash won their scrimmage 3-1 Wednesday, the Rocket League team Wave Racers took on George Walton Academy on Thursday, Feb. 17 and came away with a dramatic 3-2 series win.
Rocket League is a high-energy soccer simulation game that uses remote control cars in place of actual players. Teams of three take on each other in an arena setting in five-minute matches.
In competitive play, teams face off in a three-on-three best of five series.
The Wave Racers found themselves in a hole quickly as the Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead in the series, winning the first two games 3-2 and 2-1.
Senior Caleb Hargrove and sophomore Jonah Caines both scored for the Racers in Game 1 while junior Kaleb Driver scored the lone goal in Game 2.
It looked as though the Bulldogs would complete the three-game sweep as they went up three goals to none in the third matchup.
That’s when Driver got in the driver’s seat (pun completely intended).
Over the last two and a half minutes of the game, Driver scored three goals and recorded three saves to tie the game in the last thirty seconds and send the game to overtime.
Hargrove also helped with three saves in goal as the Racers looked to complete the comeback.
In Rocket League, overtime has no time limit as the clock counts as “extra time.” Overtime is played in a sudden death format with it continuing until a goal is scored.
Caines took this opportunity to be the hero as his only shot on goal in Game 3 was the deciding one. A leaping tip from the mid position sealed the 4-3 comeback win for the Racers.
Game 4 was a defensive struggle as Driver scored the only goal in the game and the Racers kept control of the ball, allowing only one shot on goal the entire match.
The Wave Racers completed the series comeback by winning Game 5 2-1 with Driver completing his impressive day with his sixth and seventh goals.
In the series win, Driver scored seven goals and had two assists and two saves. Caines scored two goals and had two assists. Hargrove proved his worth in goal with four saves, one goal and one assist. Senior Tyree Hughes played a backup role and had two saves in Game 2.
The Racers will officially kickoff the regular season next week as they will take on the Peachtree Ridge Lions.
