| "A
lot of folks don't think Columbia County football is any
good," Jackson said. "This has been a good
start for us. We're just climbing our ladder, and
Effingham was in our way."
The statement wasn't a
shot at Effingham County. It's been the motto for the
Knights since the beginning: Climb the ladder. Keep
moving up. Take one rung at a time.
It worked in wins against
all three Columbia County schools, and it worked Friday
night when Evans traveled south for the first time this
year and came away with an overtime victory. Jackson
said this was the toughest rung of the ladder so far.
"They surprised us
with how big they were. They didn't look that big on
film," he said. "They pushed us around a
little on defense."
After trailing 14-7 at
halftime, the Knights pushed back. Evans rattled off 21
straight points in the third quarter thanks to a pair of
Kevin Millward touchdown passes to Trey Henderson and a
Sean Matthews 1-yard touchdown run. The Knights' defense
shut out Effingham County in the third quarter to take a
28-14 lead.
The home Rebels responded
by winning the fourth quarter 14-0 to tie the game at
28-28 at the end of regulation.
The overtime period began
with Effingham County winning the coin toss, but even
that worked into Evans' favor.
"When they flipped
the coin, they won the toss and chose to go on defense
first. Usually we want to go on defense first, but that
was probably a good thing," Jackson said. "Our
defense had been on the field a lot in the second half,
and that gave them a chance to rest."
Evans junior Brandon
McCladdie ran in a touchdown from one yard out in
overtime, and the Knights' defense held strong to finish
off the victory.
When the dust settled,
Evans had tallied 213 passing yards and an additional
105 rushing yards. Effingham County's run-happy offense
totaled 280 yards on the ground but only managed 17
yards through the air.
Jackson said it was the
kind of game that makes him glad to be a coach. He also
said it wasn't their best game, either.
"We still haven't
played a good, full game. I mean a full four quarters.
We can't mess up on special teams like that," he
said. "We've got ARC next, and they're definitely
an improved team. We can't look past them."
The Knights, who sit in a
tie atop the Region 3-AAAA standings with undefeated
Statesboro, will travel to Richmond Academy on Friday
for another region game.
A win there would give
Evans its best start to a season in 20 years. |
