GUYTON – One play didn’t decide host South Effingham’s 28-21 comeback victory over Greenbrier on Friday night, but Ethan Webb’s low – very low – yet successful extra point for the Mustangs’ first lead was symbolic to coach Loren Purvis.
“It’s just like winning this game – we’re surviving sometimes,” Purvis said of Webb’s kick for a 22-21 edge with 2:36 left in the game. “I love our kids in that scenario any day, and I wouldn’t trade them for the world. Two overtime wins last year; our kids just don’t know how to quit. It’s a really good attribute, and I hope that never changes.”
South Effingham (4-0) won its Region 1-6A opener against Greenbrier (1-3, 0-1 region), which scored 21 points in the second quarter but was shut out in the second half.
Mustangs senior Khyran White had 23 carries in the game for 192 yards and three second-half touchdowns of 3, 34 and 33 yards. The latter two were part of a four-play sequence in the fourth quarter that vaulted South Effingham ahead after trailing since the second quarter.
South Effingham’s Khyran White carries the ball against Greenbrier on Friday in Guyton. (Photo by RDP Productions)
White scored from 34 yards out to cap an 89-yard, 10-play drive that followed teammate Hakeem Simmons interception of a pass in the end zone. Webb then barely cleared the crossbar for a one-point advantage.
The Wolfpack flubbed the ensuing kickoff with the Mustangs’ Josh Mims recovering at the Greenbrier 33.
“It was weird,” Purvis said of the fumble. “It looked like it was going to hit the ground, and the (kick returner) came up running and he ran too far. Instead of catching it like you should, it hit his facemask or shoulder pad or something. … We’ll take it.”
On the very next play, White found a big hole and showed he’s more than a bruising running back by cutting inside to more open space on a 33-yard dash to the end zone.
“Mainly just reading their defense,” White said. “They had No. 1 (outside linebacker Brennen Bjorkman) on the weaker side of the field and we were running it to the wide side of the field, which means more grass. He was the best player on their defense, so once I got him out of the category, it was our best stuff.”
Rather suddenly up 28-21, the Mustangs went for a two-point conversion run to try to cement the game with a nine-point lead with 2½ minutes to play, but the Wolfpack defense kept it a one-score (and conversion) deficit.
South Effingham’s Landyn White reaches for extra yardage against Greenbrier on Friday in Guyton. (Photo by RDP Productions)
Now the Wolfpack offense was doing the chasing, and after the kickoff had first-and-10 at its 20-yard line. Greenbrier’s best offensive weapon was senior quarterback Parker Brantley, who finished with 27 carries for 170 yards and two TDs as well as 7-of-11 passing for 76 yards.
Brantley needed another 80 in any combination. He mixed runs and passes before facing a third-and-five at the South Effingham 35 and then a fourth-and-2 at the 32. The quarterback kept the ball both plays and failed to get the first down with 1:00 left in regulation.
“It was third-and-five, and the defensive line and linebackers got pressure and kind of consumed him,” Purvis said. “On the fourth down, I think he lost (three) yards. We figured him out. It just took us a little bit of time – more time tonight than I wanted it to.”
Brantley already had 118 yards on 12 carries in the first half, when the Wolfpack built a 21-8 lead. Bjorkman ran 13 yards for a score on the first drive of the second quarter, then Greenbrier recovered the squibbed kickoff and scored again when Brantley bobbled the shotgun snap before getting a grip and running 41 yards untouched to the end zone for 14-0 with 7:16 remaining before halftime.
South Effingham’s Brian Ford tackles a Greenbrier ball carrier on Friday in Guyton. (Photo by RDP Productions)
Brian Ford intercepted Greenbrier’s other quarterback, junior Calvin Pollard, to set up SEHS at its 46-yard line. Mustangs sophomore quarterback Liam Coburn found Landyn White wide open in the left flat, and White did the rest for a 37-yard touchdown pass. Kiran Boggess connected with Cade Womack for a two-point conversion pass with 3:04 left.
That still left the Wolfpack time to drive 85 yards, highlighted by Brantley’s 7-yard run and leap over a defender at the goal line for a score with 5.9 seconds on the clock.
“At halftime, when it was 21-8, I was mad because we win on discipline and intensity,” Purvis said. “We did not have the intensity in the first half that we needed to win ballgames, to even be in ballgames. I mean, 21-8, you can say we’re in it, but it wasn’t close. It didn’t feel close.”
Purvis said that in his halftime speech, he challenged the players to play in the second half with more intensity and effort, such as in blocking and tackling. Khyran White said the players got the message.
“We just had to put our heads down and grind,” he said. “In the first half, we were not playing ‘South football.’ In the second half, we came out, we played the football we were supposed to play.
“Everyone did their ‘1:11’ and we kept dominating,” he added. “That means each individual on the team did their job (of the 11 players on the field). (Coach Purvis) knew what to do to get us back on track.”
South Effingham had 80 yards rushing in the first half and finished with 246. Khyran White had 40 yards on eight carries by halftime, 15 attempts for 152 yards in the second half, including a 3-yard TD with 8:09 left in the third quarter to complete the Mustangs’ opening drive.
Coburn was 3-of-8 passing in the game for 63 yards and rushed nine times for 44 yards.
South Effingham’s Danny Murtha runs with the ball against Greenbrier on Friday in Guyton. (Photo by RDP Productions)
Two seasons ago, South Effingham closed an 0-10 season with a 56-0 loss at Greenbrier. Last year, the Mustangs went 4-6, including wins in overtime over Lakeside and Greenbrier.
Now, after sending Greenbrier home to Evans with a loss, SEHS is unbeaten and, to quote White, “looking to keep this train rolling.”
“We haven’t had a game like this,” White said of the current campaign. “This is our first time really overcoming adversity, knowing we were down and knowing what we had to do to get back in the game and seal it off.”
SOUTH EFFINGHAM 28, GREENBRIER 21
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| Greenbrier | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| SEHS | 0 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 28 |
Second Quarter
G—Brennen Bjorkman 13 run (Elijah Shearl kick)
G—Parker Brantley 41 run (Shearl kick)
SE—Landyn White 27 pass from Liam Coburn (Cade Womack pass from Kiran Boggess)
G—Brantley 7 run (Shearl kick)
Third quarter
SE—Khyran White 3 run (Ethan Webb kick)
Fourth quarter
SE—K. White 34 run (Webb kick)
SE—K. White 33 TD run (run failed)
Records—Greenbrier 1-3, 0-1 Region; South Effingham 4-0, 1-0 region.
WEEK 5 FINAL SCORES
Friday, Sept. 18
CLASS 7A
Richmond Hill 35, Wando, S.C. 7
CLASS 6A
South Effingham 28, Greenbrier 21*
Bradwell Institute 54, Glynn Academy 43*
Effingham County 52, Lakeside-Evans 0*
CLASS 5A
Benedictine 42, Statesboro 21*
Ware County 68, Groves 6*
Jenkins 35, Evans 14*
CLASS 4A
Windsor Forest 28, Bryan County 14*
CLASS 3A
Toombs County 75, Beach* 7
Brantley County 7, Islands 6*
Pierce County 48, Johnson 6 *
GHSA CLASS 2A VS. GIAA
Savannah Country Day 21, Savannah Christian 10
* Region game.
PHOTO CREDIT: RDP Productions (Kyunnie Shuman)
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