SPRINGFIELD — Effingham County planned to run the ball against high-powered Bradwell Institute on Friday night. Jmere Doe-Davis and Jordan Mydell followed the offensive line and got the job done convincingly.

Doe-Davis and Mydell combined for 417 yards and five touchdowns, and the Rebels won a shootout over the Tigers, 55-36, at Rebel Field for their third straight win.

“We were going to keep running the ball until they stopped it,” said Doe-Davis, who carried 17 times for 204 yards and scored on runs of 11, 5 and 38 yards.

Mydell carried 33 times for 213 yards with touchdown runs of 2 and 46 yards.

“I had to come out and do what we needed to do to win,” Mydell said.

ECHS (3-2, 2-0 Region 1-6A) scored on eight of its nine full possessions and finished with 555 yards of total offense. The Rebels forced two punts and two turnovers to hold off the Tigers, who scored 54 points in their last outing against Glynn Academy.

“Styles make fights and the deal was to keep the ball away from (Bradwell’s playmakers),” ECHS coach John Ford said. “But to say you’re going to run the ball and control the clock, they have a lot to do with it. It wasn’t guaranteed.”

Rebels find their rhythm

The teams combined for 448 yards and 48 points in a high-scoring first half. ECHS forced the only punt, which seemed like a tennis player breaking his opponent’s serve.

A year ago, neither team punted in the Rebels’ 43-35 win.

This time, ECHS used a rushing one-two punch of Doe-Davis and Mydell to gain control, 28-20.

Doe-Davis, who also played safety, had 109 yards with TD runs of 11 and 5 yards. He also caught a two-point conversion.

“I was gassed,” Doe-Davis said. “I had a lot to do.”

Mydell ran for 85 yards and scored on a 6-yard run.

With 1:26 left in the half, quarterback Matthew Dillon connected with Trayvis Hunter in the back of the end zone for a 15-yard score.

Bradwell keeps pace

Bradwell scored less than two minutes into the game on Cameron Keeve’s 30-yard TD run. Four plays later, Doe-Davis capped a 60-yard drive with a scoring run. ECHS missed the extra point, and the Tigers held a 7-6 advantage after just three minutes had been played.

Keeve and Jah’barri Felix hooked up on a 35-yard TD pass to finish the next possession. Four of Bradwell’s first 10 plays went for 25 or more yards.

ECHS tied the game with Mydell as the featured back in an 11-play, 77-yard drive. Dillon’s hard count picked up a first down on third-and-3 from the BI 27 to keep the drive alive.

Doe-Davis scored on a 5-yard run four plays later. Dillon’s two-point conversion pass to Doe-Davis tied the game at 14.

Bradwell (3-2, 1-1 Region 1-6A) did a good job keeping up most of the night. Felix threw for 214 yards and four touchdowns — a 35-yarder to Keeve, a 22-yarder to Jacobi Pasley, a 3-yarder to Tyson Spears and a 54-yarder to Carlito Savea.

Defense makes stops

But ECHS’ defense made some key stops.

Parker Nelson recovered a fumble at the 1 to stop a Tiger second-half drive. Jernard Albright had an interception at the end of the first half.