By Kevin Price

For GCS Athletics

 

The Glynn Academy Red Terrors were undone by their own repeated miscues Friday night as they fell 36-25 to Effingham in a Region 1-AAAAAA game on a rainy Friday night at Glynn County Stadium.

 

The Terrors (2-4 overall, 1-2 region) ended up losing for the same reasons they fell behind 22-0 in the first quarter when the Rebels turned two GA fumbles into touchdowns with their big-play offense.

 

Glynn actually came back to take the lead in the fourth quarter, but their 25-22 advantage didn’t last long.

 

The Rebels scored on a 70-yard pass two plays into their first offensive series following Glynn’s go-ahead score on a 66-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Brock Wilson.

 

Effingham’s sophomore quarterback Matthew Dillon found Malik Letman over the middle and the Effingham receiver ran away from a defender to put the Rebels back in front at 29-25 following the extra-point kick.

 

The Terrors would then cough up the football on the ensuing kickoff near the Effingham sideline, giving the ball right back to the Rebels at the GA 27-yard line.

 

The Rebels would turn that turnover, the fifth of the night by the Terrors, into another touchdown for the 36-25 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

 

Effingham had the ball inside the Glynn 5 in the final moments before just snapping the ball and taking losses as the Terrors called their remaining timeouts before the final horn.

 

GA head coach Rocky Hidalgo didn’t have to say much more than he did because he said a mouthful in his opening remarks to the press after holding his post-game talk with the Terrors inside the locker room.

 

“We’re not very good. We’re not very good,” Hidalgo said. “Good football teams tackle, they play defense, they secure the football. We don’t do any of those things.

 

“We are not a very good football team. We’re not any better than Week 1 when we made the same mistakes. That’s the truth. That’s the truth. We should have won this game out here, but we’ve done nothing but dig a hole for ourselves.”

 

The Terrors were down 15-0 less than two minutes into the game after losing fumbles on their first two possessions. Glynn has turned over the ball on its opening offensive series in each of the first three region games, leading immediately to points for the opposing team.

 

 

The Rebels (4-2, 3-0) went 50 yards in two plays after the opening fumble by Glynn, scoring on an 18-yard pass from Dillon to junior wideout Isaiah Brown, one of several major-college prospects for Effingham.

 

Effingham got the football again at the GA 36-yard line following a second fumble by the Terrors on the first snap of their next series.

 

The Rebels committed a penalty, but would put the ball in the end zone on a 43-yard pass from Dillon to Brown once again. Effingham coverted a two-point play after Glynn jumped offsides on the point-after try.

 

Effingham would go up 22-0 with an 80-yard drive for its third touchdown on its next possession after a Glynn punt. Brown would take a short pass from his quarterback to the end zone from 53 yards away for the score with 5:16 remaining in the opening quarter.

 

The Terrors did claw their way back into the game before the end of the first half, pulling within 22-17 at the intermission break.

 

Midway through the second quarter, junior quarteback Max Noonan scored from the 1 on a keeper to make it 22-6 after the Terrors went 44 yards in 11 plays.

 

Glynn would force a punt after back-to-back quarterback sacks the next time the Rebels had the ball and would go back on offense from the Effingham 40. The Terrors drove for a second score in six plays with Noonan scoring again on a 9-yard run to pull Glynn within 22-12. The Terrors were stopped on the two-point try.

 

The Terrors moved closer on a safety after a punt snap sailed over the head of the Effingham kicker and into the end zone. He was forced to kick the ball through the back of the end zone and surrender the two points to the Terrors.

 

With the score now 22-14, Glynn got the ball one last time before halftime from the Effingham 42 following a battle for a loose ball on the ensuing kick. The Rebels also were flagged for a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Effingham player who thought he had recovered the fumbled ball for the Rebels.

 

Glynn would settle for a 54-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the first half by senior kicker Patrick Coyle which cleared the crossbar with room to spare. The kick is believed to be a new record for the longest field goal in school history.

 

Down 22-17 when the second half started, Glynn forced a punt on Effingham’s opening drive of the third frame and would attempt a 49-yard try by Coyle on its first possession that sailed wide right.

 

The GA defense would get a second straight stop after that, but again Glynn couldn’t capitalize after starting a drive at midfield. A third-down pass that was intercepted gave the ball back to the Rebels.

 

Glynn would get another key stop, though, turning back the Rebels on a fourth-down play at the Effingham 44, but the visitors also would come up with a fourth-down stop of the Terrors from their 36 to deny the home squad.

 

The score remained 22-17 going to the fourth.

 

The Terrors would take advantage of a major mistake by Effingham’s sophomore quarterback with the Rebels possessing the ball in Glynn territory early in the final stanza.

 

With GA bringing pressure up the middle, Dillon wanted to get rid of the ball to avoid a sack but lost it in the process. The ball hit the turf and was picked up by Glynn’s Wilson who had nothing but green field in front of him for the long scoop-and-score.

All of a sudden, it was Glynn on top 25-22 following a two-point run by Caiden Robinson with 8:36 left to play.

 

But again, the lead was very brief for the Terrors who unraveled late and saw their come-from-behind bid go for naught.

 

Again, the Glynn defense gave up a big pass play for a touchdown which has been a problem all season and then committed its fifth turnover on the next kickoff which the Rebels turned into their last touchdown of the game.

 

“We gotta be able to tackle people. We’re in position to make a play and we undercut the ball. We gotta do the stuff we’re coached to do. That’s true,” Hidalgo said.

 

He added that it was a wasted opportunity by the Terrors. 

 

“That’s a bunch of ‘my bad,’” Hidalgo said. “That’s why we’re 2 and 4 right now, because ‘hey, Coach. My bad.’”

 

The Rebels finished the game with 403 total yards including 287 passing as Dillon went 14-of-18 through the air with the four TD passes.

 

Glynn ended the night with 168 total yards with all but 10 of those yards coming on the ground.

 

The Terrors will be off next week before taking on rival Brunswick High on Oct. 16 in the annual City Championship Game.

 

The Pirates lost a tough one Friday night in Hinesville, falling 57-49 to Bradwell Institute in overtime.