By Jeff Moeller

For the Effingham Herald

            Scoring forty-plus points in two consecutive weeks isn’t any easy task for any football team.

            After Effingham County began the season with a 1-3 mark, the Rebels pieced it all together to reel off 42-7 and 49-3 victories in consecutive weeks. Suddenly, Effingham went from a struggling team to a confident one with a .500 record.

            When the Rebels entered Grovetown last Friday night, they met a Grovetown team that entered the game with an overall 2-4 record. Yet, Effingham head coach John Ford wasn’t taking anything lightly regardless of his team’s two-game winning streak.

            Effingham staked itself to a 21-10 lead, and they held off a Grovetown flurry down the stretch for a 35-32 victory. With the victory, Effingham boosted its record to 3-0 in Class 6A Region 2, leaving them in first place.

            It was a fourth-quarter shootout, as both teams combined for 33 points with Grovetown accounting for 19 of them.

            “We knew they had athletes and we couldn’t let them loose,” said Ford. “We did too much of it.

“But we continue to improve each week. There are some things we have to clean up. We prepared well for them, and we are playing with confidence. Our guys up front are doing a great job, and we are creating holes for our running game.”

            The Rebels rushed for 247 yards (323 overall) on the ground, led by A. J. Butts, who had 104 yards rushing on 11 carries and scored a touchdown. Butts had a 56-yard scamper in the fourth quarter.

           

Jayden Evans added 71 yards, and he scored on six- and four-yard runs. Evans’ first touchdown gave the Rebels a 7-0 lead in the opening quarter, and Jmere Doe-Davis followed with a 43-yard dash into the end zone that increased their lead to 14-0 in the opening quarter.

            Effingham’s defense also answered the call when needed as Gary Cooper intercepted a pass in the end zone and rambled up the field with a 100-yard return. Javari Williams also ended a potential scoring drive when he snared a pass on Grovetown’s one-yard line.

            Overall, Ford viewed it as a solid, defensive performance.

            “Our guys as a unit played well,” added Ford. “Our defensive line and our linebackers had a great effort. They have been consistent for us all season. We’ll need to maintain our level of play.”

After his club had a close call with Grovetown, Ford expects another tussle at Evans Oct. 13. The Knights have won two straight, the latest a 16-5 win over Lakeside last week.

“Evans is very talented on both sides of the ball,” he said. “They have playmakers on both sides of the ball. We have to have a very good plan, and play mistake-free to have a chance to win.”