South Effingham High School

Mustangs seek to take next step of improvement tonight

Groves High School at South Effingham High School

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The South Effingham Mustangs hope there is truth to the old football adage that a team improves the most from its first game to its second game.

The Mustangs (0-1) will host Groves tonight at The Corral on the heels of a 19-3 season-opening loss to Jenkins — even though South Effingham dominated nearly every statistical category.

“The kids have responded well,” said first-year Mustangs coach Donnie Revell. “We made some moves and some changes on some of the teams. They’ve worked hard to correct the mistakes we made.”

South Effingham had an extra day, having played Jenkins on a Thursday night. Groves has had an extra week, since the Rebels extended Savannah’s losing streak to 24 games in a 19-12 victory Aug. 21.

“Obviously, that gives them a little extra preparation time,” Revell said. “But we can only take care of our business.”

How much time Groves has had to prepare for the Mustangs is of less concern to Revell than the Rebels’ personnel, particularly on offense.

Quarterback Chris Cutter had a hand in all three touchdowns in the Rebels’ season-opening win, throwing two touchdown passes and running for a score. Cutter threw for more than 1,200 yards a year ago.

“They’re a very talented team, especially in some of the skill positions,” Revell said. “We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

Josh Mercer missed most of the fourth quarter against Jenkins and still finished with more than 100 yards rushing.

South Effingham trainer Chase Grant is working with Mercer to get him ready for tonight’s game, but Revell said he wanted to make sure Mercer was completely healthy before returning to action so as to avoid an injury that could linger throughout the season.

Groves has won only two of its last 11 games — with both wins coming against Savannah High. The Mustangs, however, remain wary. Revell is insistent that South Effingham has to take advantage of an opponent’s mistakes, something the Mustangs could not do and ultimately led to their undoing last week.

“I’m pleased with the effort and execution in most areas,” he said. “But when you make mistakes, a good football team is going to take advantage of those. And when they made mistakes, we didn’t take advantage of them. That was the difference in the ball game — us not capitalizing on mistakes, and they did.”