SPRINGFIELD – Effingham County won the coin toss Friday night against Bradwell Institute and Coach John Ford wanted the ball.
“I just wanted to land the first punch,” Ford said. “The thought process was to get out and be aggressive and show my team I had faith in them. Last week was on me. This week I wanted to put the outcome in their hands.”
Ford was right and the Rebels needed a barrage of punches before stopping Bradwell 43-35 on Homecoming at the Griff.
The two teams combined for 986 yards – 546 rushing, 440 passing and scored touchdowns on 11 of the 14 full possessions. Neither team punted in the game.
ECHS (2-2, 1-1 in Class 5A Region 1) landed the first punches, which provided an advantage that the Tigers never overcame, despite piling up 584 yards and scoring on their final five full possessions.
The Rebel rushing offense came from the two-fisted attack of Jmere Doe-Davis and JR McKenzie. Doe-Davis finished with 164 yards and three touchdowns (runs of 16, 2 and 28 yards) on 19 carries and McKenzie scored twice (runs of 21 and 22 yards) while getting 94 yards on 14 carries.
“It was a tough game. You just had to dig deep,” Doe-Davis said. “My O-line was giving me wide open holes, so I was just making the best of my opportunities.”
It was a deviation from ECHS’ high-powered, deep passing attack. The Rebels ripped Bradwell’s defense with short passes and mixed runs between the tackles.
ECHS quarterback Tucker Perkins finished with an efficient passing night, completing 11-of-14 passes for 159 yards and a 17-yard TD pass to Isaiah Brown.
Brown caught five passes for 74 yards. Trayvis Hunter had eight catches for 81 yards.
“The O-line, the tight end, the backs all did a great job and Tucker did a great job being the point guard taking what they were giving us,” Ford said. “It took patience to stick with it.”
The Rebels struggled offensively and defensively in a humbling 42-14 loss to Brunswick a week earlier, but this time had a strong start with two touchdowns on their first two drives against Bradwell.
Doe-Davis’ 16-yard TD run opened the scoring less than four minutes into the game and Perkins completed an 8-play, 74-yard drive with a scoring toss to Brown to make it 15-0.
ECHS’ defense bent but came up with big stops in the early going. Safety Jernard Albright’s pass breakup at the Rebel 4-yard line halted a 14-play, 76-yard drive – four plays after a Tiger holding penalty negated a touchdown run.
Bradwell (1-2, 1-1) was whistled 17 times for 162 penalty yards.
The Tigers, who clearly showed their upset win over Glynn Academy in their last outing was no fluke, never got closer than eight points, despite big games from quarterback Jah’Barri Felix (21-of-33, 281 yards, 3 TDs), wideouts Carlito Savea and Marlon Torres (both 7 catches for 101 yards and 1 TD) and running back Cameron Keeve (8 carries, 175 yards and 2 TDs).
Jacoby Pasley caught a 16-yard TD pass from Felix.
“I told the team I’ve been on the side of some quote unquote ‘pretty’ losses but I’ll take whatever it takes to get a win,” Ford said. “The guys battled and overcame a lot of adversity on the field.”