By Jeff Moeller

Special to the Herald

            In its season opener against Richmond Hill, Effingham County’s football team was looking for some bliss.

Unfortunately, Richmond Hill found it with their own personal version.

Richmond Hill’s Nick Bliss was a one-man wrecking crew in the Wildcats’ 34-7 victory over the host Rebels.

Bliss scored three touchdowns in three different ways, as he scored on an opening 86-yard kickoff return, rambled 55 yards with a blocked punt, and added a four-yard scamper in the end zone that soured the majority of the crowd at Rebel Stadium.

The senior paced Richmond Hill with a team-high 58 yards rushing and caught three paces for 42 yards.

“He’s a dynamic kid,” boasted Richmond Hill head coach Matt LeZotte about Bliss. “He comes to work every day. His kickoff return really set the tone for us early, and he was able to do a lot of good things the rest of the way.”

In a game that was expected to be tighter then it was, the Rebels answered Bliss’s kickoff return when senior quarterback Nate Hayes Jr. found Jacques King downfield on a 53-yard completion. A few plays later, Hayes scored on a nifty 20-yard run in which he eluded several attempted tackles and scooted into the end zone to knot the game at 7-7 with 9:39 left in the opening quarter.

But the Rebels weren’t able to sustain any long drives the rest of the way, as they couldn’t find their rhythm and failed to take advantage of some opportunities.

            “We didn’t execute well,” said Rebels’ head coach John Ford. “I thought our defense played well, and they put us in a position to score. We didn’t answer the bell on offense. We need to do a better job.”

            Bliss struck again when he scooped up a punt blocked by teammate Cannon Kuryla and ran 55 yards for a 13-7 advantage with 4:20 left in the first quarter. Richmond Hill padded its lead when quarterback Kirk Scott found Andrew Matthews on a 32-yard scoring strike, and the Wildcats took a seemingly 20-7 lead with 30 seconds left in the first quarter.

           

Late in the second quarter, the Wildcats added their final score of the first half after they forced a fumble from Hayes. Scott then found Bliss, who made a diving catch at the Effingham five yard line. From there, Bliss took a Wildcat snap at quarterback and dashed into the end zone that gave his team a 27-7 advantage with three minutes before halftime.

            Effingham County also was plagued with five first-half penalties, and they had their share of mental and physical mistakes. Hayes completed eight of 23 attempts for 123 yards with an interception, and was the Rebels’ leading ground gainer with 51 yards on six carries.

            Ford realizes his team needs to regroup quickly. The Rebels will host Burke County, a 14-12 winner over Thomson last week, Aug. 26 for a 6 p.m. start

            “The kids played hard, but we made too many mistakes,” admitted Ford. “You can’t beat a 7A team from Region 1 making as many mistakes as we did. I liked our effort, but we got to clean up our mistakes.

            “We need to be sharp to face a very good Burke County team,” Ford added.