By Donald Heath
Specially for the Effingham Herald
SPRINGFIELD – Effingham County football coach John Ford wants to see who steps into the breach once the lights come on.
The Rebels will host Wayne County in a scrimmage at Rebel Field on August 8, providing a dress rehearsal for the ECHS season opener against Houston County on August 23.
“We want to do good work for as many kids as possible,” said Ford, whose team won a regional championship for the first time since 1995.
But regional player of the year AJ Butts went to Mercer University and regional offensive player of the year Nate Hayes graduated and is studying at Georgia Tech.
The Rebels lost Jameaz Cope, another key defensive player at outside linebacker, and nose guard Anselm Green to Peru State.
“Wayne will be using a lot of different formations, sets and personnel groups and they will be well coached, so it’s a great test to see where we stand,” Ford said.
Strengthening the defense will be paramount. ECHS has given up about 30 points per game over its final five games of 2023, including 47 to Lovejoy in a first-round loss in the state playoffs.
Ford said he will be watching the battles at the middle linebacker position, where Devaughn Jones, Duff Davis and John Baker are competing for Butts’ spot.
On the outside, Te’Andre Watkins and Jordan Galinovsky are fighting for Cope’s place.
There will also be some new faces in the defensive secondary and Ford will continue to alternate between wide receiver and defensive back.
On offense, junior Tucker Perkins will take the spotlight at quarterback. Ford said he hopes to use three quarterbacks.
“We’ll have a new quarterback, center and tight end, so we’re excited to see how they handle the sharp shot,” Ford said.
According to Georgia High School Association rules, players were allowed to don full equipment on July 27 after completing a familiarization period.
On Tuesday morning (July 30), the second day in protective gear, Ford said the training sessions were spirited.
“They’ve been training physically and hard,” Ford said. “The first day, everyone’s excited. The second day, your legs are a little heavy. You’re a little sore. The excitement from the first day has gone, so (as a coach) you want to create a lot of mentally demanding situations to force them to focus and compete at a high level.”
Ford expects Wayne County to be a good test. The Yellow Jackets (7-4 a year ago) finished second to Benedictine in Class 4A, Region 3 and advanced to the state tournament.
Wayne returns starting quarterback Jeb Craven (a 1,100-yard passer) but has graduated an 1,800-yard running back.
