SPRINGFIELD — After losing a tremendous amount of firepower to graduation last year, the Effingham County Rebels are in need of some new sparkplugs. The Rebels are counting on a bevy of newcomers to replace Demario Gant (receiver), Zebrandon Gant (quarterback/running back/receiver) and Toot Johnson (running back), who accounted for the bulk of the team's yardage and points in 2017. Effingham County averaged 31 points per outing. Some untested weapons may give the Rebels the explosiveness they are seeking in an attack they hope will be balanced evenly between the run and pass. Junior wide receiver Randy Scott, who saw limited action last season, had an impressive showing during the summer. Head coach Buddy Holder believes the gifted wideout will be hard for defensive backs to defend. “He showed a lot of promise late in the year,” Holder said. “Randy is very disciplined. He runs really good routes and he runs really hard, and being a good route runner with his speed makes him look a lot faster. "He accelerates very good and typically high school receivers don’t spend a lot of time working on route running like he does, and that’s going to make him that much more of a threat because defensive backs don’t see a lot of that. And then when they see it, it’s another gear they have to keep up with.” Holder said another offensive threat is emerging. “Desmond House showed us something in the backfield at running back,” he said. “He’s going to be a good addition back there with Ashaud Roberson. He’s got really goodvision, he’s low to the ground and makes good cuts. He does a good job running our offense the way we want it to be run. "In the spring is when we really started noticing what a significant chance he was going to have a chance to play this year and, all through the summer, he’s continued to improve and we are really happy about that.” See the Aug. 15 edition of the Effingham Herald for more details.