By Donald Heath
Special for the Effingham Herald
SPRINGFIELD – Effingham County entered its spring football scrimmage with Richmond Hill on Thursday night looking to execute scripted scenarios.
Backup quarterback Kyzer DeLoach handled the unscripted one.
Getting reps with starter Tucker Perkins serving a school suspension, DeLoach directed four touchdown drives – including three scoring passes to Trayvis Hunter – to gain a 24-18 edge over the Wildcats at Rebel Field.
Perkins’ suspension was confirmed by two school officials. Coach John Ford wouldn’t elaborate, but expected Perkins to be back with the team for summer workouts.
Meanwhile, DeLoach reaffirmed his position as a solid backup, ready whenever there’s a call to the bullpen. He threw for 147 yards and led three touchdown drives against region champion Brunswick last season when Perkins suffered an injury on the second possession.
“(Kyzer’s) a great kid and he works hard,” Ford said. “He’d be ready if Tucker got hurt on the first play of the game. I’m not changing anything. I’m still going to get the ball to my playmakers regardless of who’s throwing the ball.”
DeLoach completed 8-of-14 passes for 74 yards in the structured workout with Richmond Hill. Hunter caught seven passes for 67 yards with touchdown catches of 25, 10 and 35 yards. Two of the receptions lost yardage.
“We didn’t change anything because (Perkins) was gone,” DeLoach said. “We stayed with the program. We trust each other. We work and we train. I felt a little more prepared and we executed.”
The offense had highlight moments when running back JR McKenzie finished a drive with a 7-yard TD run and, on the next play six seconds later, DeLoach and Hunter hooked up for a 25-yard score.
“He’s dynamic, he has great hands, get him the ball,” said Ford about his plans for his most experienced returning receiver. “He’s a great player, get him the ball.”
ECHS (6-5 a year ago) has a lot of question marks for the 2025 season after losing a productive senior class to graduation. Ford liked the play of Duff Davis, Noah King, John Baker, Jackson Eubanks and Xavier Mason on defense.
Davis, who tied Bryson Horton for the team-lead with 68 tackles last season, will move from inside linebacker to the outside.
Jmere Doe-Davis, an all-region performer at running back, saw some time at defensive back in the scrimmage and made one of the hardest legal hits of the night.
Highly-regarded safety/receiver Jernard Albright had the hardest hit, but was whistled for a personal foul and the penalty yards set up Richmond Hill’s eventual touchdown just before half.
“He needs to show more composure there. I do like the physicality of the effort,” Ford said.
Freshman and junior varsity players split the field and competed on opposite sides of the 50 during the fourth quarter.
During the first three quarters, ECHS gained its 24-18 edge on the scoreboard.
Ford said the score hardly mattered.
“(The spring game) gives us plenty of things to work on, for sure. We’ll (see) the film and we’ll see 10,000 things we need to fix on both sides of the ball,” he said.
The Rebels open the season Aug. 23 at home against Houston County.
