It should be of no surprise to any Georgia High School flag football fan that the Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets are one of the state’s team to beat yet again.

Since the program’s inception in 2021, head coach Marci Cochran’s team has always hoisted a championship trophy at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in December.

Even more impressive, Cochran and company were late to the scene in the early days. The GHSA sanctioned the sport for its debut season in 2020, but it wasn’t until a year later that the Yellow Jackets suited up for the first time.

Since Southeast Bulloch’s first game – a 21-0 win over Savannah Country Day in October 2021 – the team has gone 85-1 with four state titles, an unprecedented feat that Cochran owes to several factors.

“First off, we’ve been very blessed with some great athletes at Southeast Bulloch,” Cochran said. “The players were very quick to pick up the game of football in the beginning, and that led to our success very early on. Second, our coaches know the game. I’m only as good as my coaches and I have a very good coaching staff. And then it’s the work ethic. They bought into what we were selling them from day one. We told the players that we’re here to win a championship and we can do it if you all just listen to us. They bought into that, and it’s been crazy to see what’s happened since.”

After the first loss in program history – a 7-0 defeat to Calvary Day in November of last season – Southeast Bulloch rattled off five straight wins, including a 13-6 overtime thriller in the state championship against Columbus.

With a new team, Cochran’s Yellow Jackets have the same goal as always – win the final game.

“We only lost two starters from last season, so we’re expecting big things from all of our returners,” Cochran said. “Jaci Kitchings was our corner and upback, and Paige Nelson has taken her spot there, and she’s very familiar with that position and has had a bunch of snaps at the varsity level. Natayla Odom, who was at safety last year, is moving back to corner, and then Emma Cate Barron, who is our quarterback, will be moving to safety. We have a lot of two-way starters, so that’s going to be challenging to balance both offense and defense, but we’re excited to see it happen.”

Through three games, Southeast Bulloch has breezed past Lakeside (Evans), Peach County and Warner Robins by a combined score of 109-6 – all without the help of its two-sport athletes that are also competing for the Yellow Jacket softball team.

For Cochran, a pair of games in November have been circled on the calendar all offseason, as the team gets to welcome two fellow powers to South Georgia football.

“We have Allatoona and Blessed Trinity coming down here to play us on November 8th,” Cochran added. “We’re getting to play them at our place, which is exciting for them to come south, because we always have to go north. Those will be two big games. They’re out of our division, a lot bigger than we are. We’re excited to see how we can match up against them.”

Southeast Bulloch will look to continue its dominance Monday against Evans and Thomas County Central.