EVANS — It was a victory delayed, but not denied, for the Effingham County Rebels on Friday night.

The Rebels weathered a weather delay at the start of the game and another in the second quarter to beat the Greenbrier Wolfpack 24-7. With the win, Effingham improved to 2-1 on the season and more importantly, 2-0 in
Region 3-AAAA.

Greenbrier struck first, as Nick Richards scored on a 1- yard sneak with 5:30 remaining in the first quarter. From there, the Rebels’ defense and punishing ground game took over.

Michael Johnson tied the game on a 35-yard run, powering through four Wolfpack tacklers, in the first quarter.

Darryl Wright blocked a punt to set up the Rebels in terrific field position, and Effingham County quarterback Chris
Hamilton turned it into a 12-yard run touchdown run with 8:38 to play before halftime.

The lead stayed 14-7 until the fourth quarter, when the special teams again paid big dividends. The Wolfpack mishandled a Rebel punt at their own 8 and Caleb Rich recovered for the Rebels. That led to Jackie Chen’s 20-yard field goal and a 17-7 Effingham County lead with 6:30 to go.

Raymond Hines added the final tally, a 32-yard scamper with 2:08 to play to put the game out of reach.

Steven Tarpley led all Rebels with 100 yards on 16 carries. Johnson added 58 yards on 10
carries, Hines ran three times for 34 yards, Hamilton ran nine times for 42 yards and Craig Moore added one yard on his single attempt. In all, the Rebels ran 39 times for 235 yards.

Hamilton attempted only one pass.

Richards threw for 137 yards in the loss. Brian Andrews ran 16 times for 71 yards for the Wolfpack.

The Rebels play host to Ware County on Friday night.