By Donald Heath
Special for the Effingham Herald
South Effingham football coach Loren Purvis said it’s time to go back to the drawing board on everything.
That’s what an 0-10 season demands.
“I’ll put everything under the microscope and look within, even at myself,” said Purvis, after seeing his team finish with the first winless season in school history.
South ended the season unceremoniously Friday night with a 56-0 setback at Greenbrier. It was a disappointing sendoff for a squad that had played better in recent weeks. The Mustangs scored 54 points in its last three previous games, including 20 against region champion Brunswick.
But South got overrun by the Wolfpack, which averaged nearly 10 yards a carry while piling up 411 yards on the ground.
“We definitely looked like we didn’t want to be there,” Purvis said. “I thought we’d show a little more fight.”
Ironically, the Mustangs hoped to be playing on Nov. 8 – the original date for the first round of the state playoffs – after posting a 6-4 record in 2023 and just missing postseason in Purvis’ first year.
But Nov. 8 signaled the end of this year’s regular season, prolonged by two weeks off because of the effects of Hurricane Milton in mid-October.
SEHS was overmatched by the powerful offenses of New Hampstead and Toombs County to begin the season. The Mustangs opened region play with Lakeside and Effingham County – the second-place and third-place teams in the region and a shattered confidence from four beatdowns never recovered.
Purvis said SEHS began the second half against Greenbrier with a couple of first downs before a turnover ended the drive.
The Mustangs trailed 35-0 by halftime and the game and the season finished in a heavy fog.
Purvis hopes for brighter days. He said his squad made 17 or 18 trips into the red zone during the season but failed to score.
“We’ll meet with the kids coming back and talk about stepping up and creating the culture we want,” Purvis said. “There are a lot of things we have to get better at. We have to figure out how to compete.”
South brought back only three starters on each side of the ball this season and missed experience and leadership. Finding those qualities will be paramount moving forward.
Purvis started six freshmen against Greenbrier.
“You find out what works for the kids you have,” he said. “We have good kids and I’m excited about the freshman and sophomore classes…
“We’ll get there.”
