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Rebels, Mustangs each win twice at volleyball play date
South Effingham Valleyball
South Effingham's Emma Pierson (No. 4), Bri Coffee (No. 2), Lexi Gipson (No. 6), Clara Vorel (No. 17) and Kylie Aquino (No.16) celebrate after a point against Grovetown at the volleyball play date at Effingham County High School Sept. 9. The Mustangs beat Grovetown 2-1 to win two of three matches on the day. (Donald Heath for the Effingham Herald.)
Published: Sep 13, 2023, 6:34 PM

By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald

SPRINGFIELD – Effingham County and South Effingham each defeated two of their three Augusta-area volleyball opponents at the region play date Sept. 9.

But it was evident at ECHS' gym there's still a sizable gap between undefeated Lakeside and the Rebels, Mustangs and the rest of Region 2-6A.

ECHS and SEHS had similar efforts in losing 2-0 to the Panthers, leaving today's (Sept. 13) Rebels-Mustangs region matchup at South Effingham most likely a battle for third-place in the region standings.

The final standings become the seedings for the double-elimination region tournament which will be held Oct. 14 at Grovetown High School.

"I think last year we learned anything can happen (at the region tournament)," Mustangs coach Heywood Ellison said. "We went in thinking no one was going to beat Lakeside (after the Panthers went undefeated in region play) and they finished third."

Both ECHS and SEHS needed a Saturday sweep of the play date to be in the running for a No. 1 seed. The play date allowed the Augusta-area schools – Lakeside, Evans and Grovetown – an opportunity to play all their region games with South Effingham, Effingham County, Glynn Academy and Brunswick at a centralized location, cutting down travel expenses.

Both the Mustangs and Rebels lost region matches with Glynn Academy on Aug. 22 so the Red Terrors entered Saturday's play atop the region standings.

But Lakeside beat Glynn 2-0 – 25-6 in the second set – to set the tone for the play date.

Locally, South had the first shot at Lakeside. The Mustangs fell behind the powerful hitting Panthers 13-5 in the first set. They made a small push to close within 17-12 but Lakeside never let the Mustangs get closer in a 25-14 first-set win.

South led the second set 4-2 and was tied at 10 before Lakeside went on an 8-1 run to close out the match 25-13.

"Once (Lakeside) got into a groove, they became hard to slow down," Ellison said.

SEHS (9-9, 2-2 Region 2-6A) defeated Evans 2-0 in its first match of the day and ended with a hard-fought 2-1 (15-11 third set) win over Grovetown.

"I thought we could have played better, but we beat the two teams we should have beaten," Ellison said. "Now we've seen all the teams (in the region). Nothing should be a surprise (in the region tournament)."

Effingham County (10-6, 2-2 Region 2-6A) beat Grovetown and Evans 2-0 before its showdown with Lakeside. The Rebels benefitted from the Panthers' hiccup at the region tournament last year en route to its first region championship since 2016.

ECHS Volleyball
Effingham County Lady Rebels prepare to defend against an attack by Grovetown. (Submitted photo.)
Saturday, ECHS led Lakeside 7-2 after Bella Teston's kill and still held an 11-8 advantage before the Panthers struck for six straight points to go ahead. The visitors scored the final eight points to win Set 1, 25-14.

"We started with all the energy, but we made some errors and we started to play scared," Rebels coach Brittany Lein said. "We had some miscommunication and just couldn't figure out how to come back. I think some of our fight was gone.

"Lakeside was a good team. They're undefeated for a reason."

In the second set, the Rebels were tied 8-8 after Anaysia Williams' kill, but again the Panthers broke away at mid-set, making a 13-11 lead insurmountable with six straight points before winning set 2, 25-14.

Lakeside raised its record to 24-0, 4-0 in region play. The Panthers have lost only three sets this season.

"We have a month before we see all these teams again," Lein said. "If you look at what happened last year, we were all seeded going into the region tournament and we all came out differently.

All we can do as a team is get better for October. We know what we need to work on. We have to work hard and take practice seriously to get better."

 
Effingham County Falls 34-33 to Clarke Central in Playoffs
Effingham County football
Jmere Doe-Davis rushed 194 yards on 26 carries, but Effingham County fell 34-33 to Clarke Central, marking the Rebels’ fifth straight first-round playoff loss. (Mark Lastinger / Effingham Herald)
Donald Heath
Updated: Nov 15, 2025, 4:54 AM
Published: Nov 15, 2025, 4:35 AM

SPRINGFIELD, Ga. — Effingham County watched a 16-point second-half lead disintegrate in a heartbreaking 34-33 loss to Clarke Central in the first round of the Class 5A state tournament Friday night at The Griff.

The Gladiators’ Tristan Thomas hauled in a 55-yard touchdown pass with 3:04 remaining, and quarterback Kamron Lawrence followed with a two-point conversion run to end the Rebels’ season.

It marked the fifth straight first-round playoff exit for ECHS in the last five seasons.

But this one hurt more than most.

“It’s terrible. You don’t get this time in your life back,” senior linebacker Duff Davis said. “I didn’t know tonight would be the last time taking off the pads, but you have to cherish it and enjoy every moment you get a chance to play.”

The Rebels (8-3), the No. 2 seed from Region 1, had every reason to believe another game awaited them. Even after Clarke Central rallied to tie the game in the fourth quarter, ECHS surged back in front, 33-26, on Jmere Doe-Davis’ 9-yard touchdown run with 3:41 left.

Doe-Davis finished with 194 yards on 26 carries. He handled the ball 11 times on the Rebels’ 12-play, 89-yard go-ahead drive.

But 37 seconds later, ECHS was behind for good.

“It’s a team loss. We played our hearts out. We just didn’t get the outcome we wanted,” Doe-Davis said. “We just didn’t execute at the same level we did at the beginning of the game. We came out flat in the second half.”

Effingham County football
Effingham County’s Duff Davis (27) and Marshawn Monroe (95) chase Clarke Central quarterback Kamron Lawrence during the Rebels’ 34-33 first-round playoff loss Friday. “It’s terrible. You don’t get this time in your life back,” Davis said after the game. (Mark Lastinger / Effingham Herald)

Rebels dominate late first half

After taking a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter, the game quickly slipped away from the Gladiators. Doe-Davis and the Rebels pounded Clarke Central’s three-man front for 78 rushing yards on the next possession — all but one yard from Doe-Davis — setting up Jackson Wilhoite’s second field goal, a 29-yarder, to cut the deficit to 7-6.

ECHS appeared to force a punt from the Gladiators’ 23 with less than three minutes left in the half. Central showed a fake but called timeout.

The Gladiators returned with the same fake — and this time were stopped. Collin McIntosh was dropped for a three-yard loss, giving the Rebels the ball at the 20.

Two plays later, quarterback Tucker Perkins found Noah Reese for a 14-yard touchdown, and Wilhoite’s PAT pushed ECHS ahead 13-7.

Things only worsened for Clarke Central. Lawrence fumbled on the next possession, and linebacker John Baker recovered at the Central 29.

Six plays later, Jernard Albright scored on a 2-yard run out of the wildcat with eight seconds left in the half, giving the Rebels a 19-7 lead.

Effingham County football
Jernard Albright (7) scores on a 2-yard run out of the wildcat formation, capping a key drive that showcased Effingham County’s balanced rushing attack against Clarke Central. (Mark Lastinger / Effingham Herald)

Clarke Central mounts a furious comeback

Clarke Central opened the second-half scoring with a field goal, but ECHS responded with Perkins’ 19-yard touchdown pass to Malik Letman to build a 26-10 advantage.

Perkins completed 20 of 28 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns.

But the Gladiators kept swinging. Two touchdown runs by Nuhsi Valenti and a pair of two-point conversions pulled Clarke Central even. The second conversion came on a halfback reverse and throwback to Lawrence to tie the game at 26.

“They made adjustments. We were ready for it, but we didn’t execute like we should have,” Davis said.

Effingham County football
Noah Reese dives into the end zone for a touchdown, finishing off a 14-yard connection from quarterback Tucker Perkins. (Mark Lastinger / Effingham Herald)