Effingham County High School

Warriors run past Rebels

Effingham County High School at Jefferson County High School

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Jefferson County’s explosive offense erupted for three second-half touchdowns, and the Warriors held off the Effingham County Rebels 28-6 in a non-region football game Friday night in Jeffersonville.

The Rebels (1-1) turned the ball over three times and were held to 157 total yards.

Charles Broadus scored three times for the Warriors (1-0-1), who piled up 210 yards of offense. Broadus ran for more than 130 yards and also threw a 23-yard pass. Dontavius Kitchens, who scored the final touchdown of the night, also topped 100 yards, rushing for 126 yards.

“We didn’t play well. We just flat out didn’t play well,” Rebels head coach Rick Tomberlin.

But he also gave a lot of credit to the Warriors, who were playing their home opener a week after tying Washington County in the House of Pain. Tomberlin also tried to keep the loss in perspective.

“It hurts our pride. It’s a flesh wound,” he said, adding it doesn’t do them any damage in the Region 2-AAAA race.
Jefferson County quarterback Chester Stone was 10-of-13 passing for 160 yards.

Effingham quarterback Aaron Griffin, who rushed for 145 yards in the Rebels’ season-opening win over Screven County, was limited to 44 yards on 12 attempts against Jefferson County. He was also 7-of-11 for 83 yards passing but threw two interceptions. One of those picks came at the goal line after Jefferson County had scored to take a 14-6 lead.

“We didn’t handle that well, and we got deflated a little bit,” Tomberlin said.

Dyone Youmans, who scored on a 3-yard touchdown run to cut Jefferson County’s lead to 7-6, was held to 8 yards on three carries. Michael Hamilton added 20 yards on four carries. Jacob Rader was held to 1 yard on four attempts and Cameron Edwards ran once for 1 yard.

Effingham overcame a 15-yard penalty on its scoring drive, something Tomberlin pointed to as a positive on the night.

Colby Pearce had four catches for 39 yards, and Youmans had a 27-yard reception. Jaylan Cook had one catch for 14 yards, and Rader had 3-yard reception.

“We looked at the tape, and it was a humbling experience,” Tomberlin said. “We’ve got to learn to maintain our blocks. We’ve got to learn to finish. Our linemen have to keep their blocks longer, and our backs have to run harder.”

Jefferson County had 18 first downs, holding the Rebels to seven first downs, and also never punted.

“We’ve got to play harder, and we’ve got to play four quarters of high school football,” Tomberlin said. “We’re better than that.”

Effingham will host Liberty County in a non-region game Sept. 10 at Rebel Field.