By Donald Heath
Special for the Effingham Herald
SPRINGFIELD – A game featuring more than 1,000 yards of offense and 88 points surprisingly came down to a defensive play for Effingham County on Friday night at Rebel Field.
Rebels linebacker Duff Davis was in the right place at the right time to fall on a fumble and thwart Glynn Academy’s potential game-winning drive in the final minute to save a wild 45-43 victory on Homecoming and clinch a spot in the Class 5A state football playoffs.
ECHS (5-4, 5-2 Region 1-5A) won for the fifth time in the last six games and made postseason play for the fourth straight season under Coach John Ford.
But it wasn’t easy.
“We tell our kids all the time you have to play for 48 minutes,” Ford said. “Sometimes games are decided before that but certainly not tonight. I’m grateful our kids kept fighting.”
Davis was one of the fighters refusing to give up despite seeing a 21-point lead whittled to two. The Rebels remained in good shape when Michael Deien drilled a 25-yard field goal to make it 45-36 with 4:36 to go.
But Glynn’s Da’Sean Howard scored on a 60-yard run to make it 45-43 and the Red Terrors recovered the ensuing onside kick. And with time ticking away, Glynn marched to the ECHS 20 with strong-legged kicker Tuck Tucker awaiting a chance to win it with a field goal.
Davis said Red Terrors’ Howard just lost the ball on a rush up the middle.
“The momentum went back and forth on every play and luckily it came out on top with us,” Davis said.
The Rebels seemingly pulled away in the second quarter after the third lead change of the game. Quarterback Tucker Perkins threw four touchdown passes during an 11-minute span that shot ECHS from a 21-14 deficit into a 42-21 lead.
Perkins completed 17-of-25 passes for 382 yards and five touchdowns. Six completions gained 33 or more yards.
“He’s an accurate passer and he’s having an outstanding season,” Ford said.
Perkins’ numbers could have been better, but a few key passes were dropped, and another potential touchdown pass was negated when a Glynn defender stripped an ECHS receiver of the ball just before entering the endzone after a 60-yard catch and run.
Lamar Roberts caught five balls for 132 yards and two TDs of 63 and 36 yards. Trayvis Hunter added five catches for 75 yards and a 43-yard score and Q King had three catches for 85 yards.
To complement the passing game, Doe-Davis, a sophomore, had 215 yards on 21 carries and had a 40-yard TD run.
ECHS finished with 615 offensive yards.
“There were a lot of little gaps I had to sliver and maneuver through,” Doe-Davis said. “I appreciate my linemen. They opened up a lot of holes and the offense really moved the ball, but this game shouldn’t have been so close.”
Mistakes, however, were an equalizer. The Rebels lost two fumbles and had an interception returned for a touchdown. The defense had a key interception negated because of a pass interference penalty. Special teams had an extra-point blocked, surrendered an onside kick and had a 13.5-yard punting average.
And Glynn had success running the football, carving up ECHS’ defense for 368 rushing yards. Howard had 167 yards and two TDs on 15 carries.
It was the fifth time this season, the Rebels gave up 40 or more points in a game.
ECHS finishes up the regular season at home Friday night and can clinch third place in the region standings with a win over Statesboro (4-4, 3-3 Region 1-5A) on Senior Night.
“We have a lot to work on,” Ford said.
