SPRINGFIELD, Ga. — Mistakes, mistakes — you can’t make them against good football teams.

Effingham County is learning the lesson the hard way.

The Rebels had a punt blocked that set up a touchdown, and a penalty negated a touchdown.

The result: ECHS dropped its second straight game to start the season, falling to Tift County 25-22 in a non-region contest Friday night at Rebel Field.

“Mental errors are killing us right now,” ECHS coach John Ford said. “We have to stop beating ourselves first, especially against good football teams.”

Tift rallies to take control

Tift (2-0) fought back from two deficits, taking the lead for good on quarterback Ty Roberts’ 35-yard touchdown pass to tight end Phillip Bowen, making it 22-16 with 3:56 left in the third quarter.

David Olguin booted a 37-yard field goal at the start of the fourth quarter to give the visitors a 25-16 lead.

It ruined a solid night by the Rebels’ first-year starting quarterback, Matthew Dillon, who completed 22 of 28 passes for 226 yards and two scores.

Dillon hooked up with Trayvis Hunter for a 24-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter and had a 13-yarder to Parker Nelson in the third quarter.

After both scores, Dillon completed two-point conversion passes to Hunter and Isaiah Brown.

Brown finished with 10 catches for 101 yards. Jmere Doe-Davis carried 20 times for 71 yards.

Defense keeps the Rebels close

The Rebels’ defense allowed only 164 yards. Lineman RJ Brown had a key sack and recovered the subsequent fumble that set up a timely third-quarter score.

But the mistakes were costly.

A touchdown pass to Hunter was negated by a holding penalty. A blocked punt set up a short scoring drive. ECHS committed 11 penalties for 108 yards.

Special teams, a problem for Effingham County in last week’s loss to Richmond Hill, proved costly again in the first half against Tift.

Damieon Dixon blocked a Rebel punt late in the half. Two plays later, RJ Daniels found a big hole in the defense and sped 19 yards for a touchdown to put the Blue Devils ahead 14-8 at intermission.

Effingham held a 154-99 advantage in total yardage in the half but was stopped at the Tift 17- and 29-yard lines during two of its four possessions.

Daniels, a freshman running back, keyed Tift’s offense. He took a screen pass 37 yards for a touchdown on the first possession, about three minutes into the game.

Rebels answer before mistakes return

ECHS answered with a 17-play drive that took more than nine minutes. Doe-Davis picked up a first down on fourth-and-1 at the Tift 21, but a sack on the next set of downs stalled the drive.

A 28-yard punt return by Malik Letman set up the Rebels at the Devils’ 41 on the next series.

Three plays later, Dillon looked off the defense and found Hunter wide open in the middle of the field. Hunter sidestepped a defender and trotted 24 yards for the score.

ECHS elected to go for two after the touchdown, and Dillon hooked up with a wide-open Hunter in the corner of the end zone for an 8-7 lead with 9:57 to go in the half.

The defense forced Tift to punt, then the Devils forced a punt that was blocked, setting up the go-ahead score.

A week earlier, in a 22-21 loss to Richmond Hill, ECHS had an extra-point attempt blocked late in the game.

“We’ve played two close games against really good teams,” Ford said. “We’ve gone through some adversity and we’re going to get a reward for it on the other side.”

The Rebels will be back in action next Friday at home against New Hampstead.