Tropical Storm Lee was the real winner as the weather system pounded the Escambia County Blue Devils and B.C. Rain Red Raiders with wind and rain in Saturday night’s region game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

The Blue Devils and Red Raiders faced off in less than favorable conditions as rain poured for four quarters, but at the final whistle, Escambia County escaped the game and the storm with an 8-2 victory.

Once the game was over, Blue Devils head football Coach Mark Heaton said his team was thankful for the win.

“Just happy and thankful for the win,” he said. “We are blessed that God helped us get to the end zone right there at the beginning of the third quarter, and we are just thrilled to come out of this with a win.”

Play was ugly on both sides as neither team could establish any sort of momentum due to the constant downpour, which caused several turnovers for both teams.

Even with the bad weather, Heaton said his team had good moments, but could have had better execution.

“It takes away from what we game plan for,” he said. “At times, we still played well when we lined up correctly. We had so many penalties and missed assignments that it hurt us. What hurt us was not so much the rain, but the mental aspect of everything.”

The effects of the weather on ECHS was seen in the first quarter when Blue Devils quarterback Chris Johnson lost control of the football on a run and it bounced all the way back to the end zone where another Blue Devil pounced on it to prevent the Red Raiders from an easy touchdown. With the safety, the Red Raiders pulled out to a 2-0 lead.

As the rain continued to pound the field, the teams traded field position for the rest of the first and second quarters with B.C. Rain still leading 2-0 at half.

At half time, Heaton’s message to his team was to gain control on their first possession of the second half and get a touchdown.

When the third quarter started, the Blue Devils took Heaton’s message and made it into reality as they drove down the field with Chris Johnson making several big plays including a 24-yard scramble. Two plays later, Johnson pushed into the end zone from two yards out to give the Blue Devils a 6-2 lead. The Blue Devils elected to go for two on the point after try and Johnson again pushed into the end zone to put ECHS ahead 8-2.

Following the Blue Devils’ touchdown, the two teams dug in and traded punts and failed fourth down conversions for the rest of the game to give the Blue Devils their first win of the season.

The Blue Devils will now prepare to play UMS-Wright in Atmore this Friday.

Practice time will be spent on team evaluation as well as the Bulldogs, Heaton said.

“We are going to give the kids Sunday off,” he said. “We just need to evalutate ourselves and then look at what they do. They are a great football team, so we need to be ready for a tough task.”

The Blue Devils and Bulldogs kick off at 7 p.m. on Friday at Herbert Barnes Stadium.