By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald

GUYTON – South Effingham’s boys soccer coach DaKota Paradice doesn’t mind giving credit where credit is due.

The set pieces that seemingly produce a goal in every Mustang game? Thank Brody Corley, Paradice says.

Corley, who graduated from SEHS in 2022, played for Paradice and now contributes to the program as a statistician.

Corley can’t volunteer as a community coach because he isn’t 21 years old, but he has an analytical mind and he has the attention of Paradice who has incorporated several ideas into corner kicks and free kicks.

The Mustangs executed a set piece to perfection when Ronan Mock scored on a header off a corner kick from Jude Rowe in a 2-1 win over Statesboro on March 18.

A day earlier, South also scored on a set piece and beat Brunswick 2-1.

Against Effingham County, Rowe’s 50-yard free kick found Tim France for a tap-in goal in a 2-0 victory.

“(Glynn Academy coach) Bobby Brockman once told me if you want to make your coaching staff better, have one guy devoted to set pieces,” Paradice said. “Get good at set pieces.”

A set piece in soccer is a designed play after a stoppage in the action because of a penalty or a ball going out of bounds. Coaches set up plays, similar to basketball and football coaches arranging Xs and Os, that provide scoring opportunities. 

Executing the plays successfully have had an impact for the Mustangs. Six of SEHS’ nine games have been decided by one goal or in a shootout and the Mustangs have won five of those games en route to a 7-2 record.

South and Statesboro played fairly evenly for 80 minutes – the Mustangs had a 14-11 advantage in shots, the Blue Devils an 8-7 advantage in saves and 6-4 in corner kicks.

But the goal off the set piece tilted the game in SEHS’ favor. Mock’s goal gave SEHS a 1-0 lead at 22:21 in the first half.

Kirill Stavenchuk added a penalty kick – the Blue Devils goalie attempted to punch away a crossing pass in the penalty box but missed the ball and punched Stavenchuk drawing a yellow card and the PK – less than three minutes into the second half for a 2-0 advantage.

Goalie Demari Chermely came up big down the stretch and South held on.

The Mustangs took a four-game winning streak into their showdown with subregion leader Glynn Academy on March 25 in Guyton.

“Any time the coaches have synergy going on, you’ll start to see it in the players,” said Paradice, who has blended the new offensive ideas with strong defensive concepts as an inexperienced team continues to get better. “Right now, the players are buying in and it’s been fun.”

Before knocking off Statesboro, South was tested by Brunswick. The Pirates had a 1-0 lead until late in the second half.

“I think we took (2-9) Brunswick for granted,” Paradice said. “Before the game, I heard a player in the locker room saying before, “This is going to be my best game. We’re going to do good.” Usually, I like that confidence but I didn’t like the body language that came with it. It came from a comfort place and comfort is where winning goes to die.”

SEHS girls split two games

South Effingham defeated Brunswick 3-1 on March 17 but a day later fell to Statesboro 4-0.

With the win over Brunswick, the Mustangs (6-4, 4-2 Region 1-5A South) equaled their number of wins in 2024 and ensured at least a No. 3 seed in the upcoming region tournament.

This time, Statesboro jumped to a three-goal lead during the first 20 minutes. South out-shot the Devils 6-3 in the second half, but the visitors scored the only goal of the half in the final 11 minutes.