GUYTON — Every year, it’s one of the biggest football games in the Coastal Empire as crowds of up to 10,000 gather to see South Effingham face off with its rival Effingham County.
South Effingham quarterback Tyler Pullum and his senior teammates have experienced the atmosphere for the last three years, only to walk off the field with the frustration of a loss.
That finally changed Friday night as host South Effingham came from behind to beat Effingham County 17-14 in a Region 3-AAAAA matchup in front of another huge crowd.
It was the first win for the Mustangs over the Rebels since 2011, and the victory evened things up at 11-11 in the series.
The Mustangs (3-0, 1-0 in region) came back from a 14-3 deficit early in the second half. The winning touchdown came when Pullum found junior T.J. Williams alone in the left flat early in the fourth quarter. Williams got a couple great blocks, and stiff-armed a defender at midfield before sprinting down the left sideline for a 77-yard touchdown.
Pullum hit Travis Simmons in the back of the end zone for a two-point conversion and the Mustangs went up 17-14, with 10:07 left.
“This means everything to us,” said Pullum, who was 9 of 14 passing for 153 yards and two scores. “They can say they beat us three of four times, but we won in our senior year, and you can’t take that away from us for the rest of our lives.”
Effingham County quarterback Phillip Brown had another big game, rushing for 61 yards and a score, while completing 14 of 26 passes for 214 yards and a touchdown. His favorite target was sophomore DeMario Gant, who had a huge night with seven catches for 148 yards, including a 41-yard touchdown at the end of the first half as Effingham took a 7-3 lead at intermission.
The duo hooked up again on the first drive of the second half when Brown found Gant on a crossing pattern, which he broke up the center of the field for a 50-yard gain to the Mustang 2-yard line. Phillip Brown scored from there to put Effingham up 14-3.
South Effingham battled back at the end of the third quarter as Pullum went to work completing 4 of 4 passes on a 56-yard drive. He capped it by finding Marcus Boyd open in the end zone for an 8-yard score. Pullum’s 2-point conversion run fell short, and Effingham led 14-9.
“We had to fight to win this one and we grew a lot as a team,” Pullum said. “The touchdown to T.J. (Williams) was a great call.”
It was the only touch of the night for Williams, who made it count.
“It was a tunnel screen, and I got some great blocks from the line and our receivers,” Williams said. “We executed it perfectly. I knew I was going to score at about the 50-yard line, and I thought about my boys the whole way to the end zone.”
South Effingham scored first on a 17-play, 79-yard drive that bridged the first and second quarters. The big play came on a third down and 19 conversion when Pullum hit Orlando Jones down the left sideline for a gain of 20 yards. A horse collar penalty on the Rebels added half the distance to the goal as the Mustangs ended up on the Rebel 11-yard line.
The Rebel defense made a stand from there, forcing the Mustangs to settle for a field goal as senior James Hodges split the uprights from 23 yards out to give South Effingham a 3-0 lead with 10:36 left in the first half.
Effingham had one last chance as Dylan Neuharath lined up for a 46-yard field goal with three seconds left, but South Effingham’s Makenzy Newbill broke through the line and blocked the kick to end the game.
South Effingham’s Patrick Brown, who entered the game with 461 yards rushing, had 95 yards on 22 carries.
“We did what we needed to do to gut out this game,” South Effingham coach Donnie Revell said. “We had to finish, which we weren’t doing last year. They had the momentum and everything going their way, but our kids fought to win it. It’s going to be great to have the Bank of America Trophy back on our side for a year.
EC 0 7 7 0 - 14
SE 0 3 6 8 - 17
SE-James Hodges 23 FG
EC-DeMario Gant 41 pass from Phillip Brown (McKenzie Stewart kick)
EC-Phillip Brown 2 run (Stewart kick)
SE-Marcus Boyd 8 pass from Tyler Pullum (run failed)
SE-T.J. Williams 77 pass from Pullum (Travis Simmons pass from Pullum)