By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics With a 45-42 loss Friday night to Effingham, Glynn Academy missed an opportunity to lock down a playoff berth and possibly a home game in the first round of the Class AAAAA state playoffs. Now the Red Terrors will go into their final game next Friday at Greenbrier knowing the best they can do is finish fourth in Region 1-AAAAA. The loss to the Rebels (7-2 overall, 6-1 region) also left the Terrors (5-4, 3-3) needing a win in the season finale to assure themselves of that fourth playoff spot from the region. “I’m disappointed and mad as heck right now,” said Glynn coach Rocky Hidalgo after the game. “That’s what I am right now.” The Terrors could back into that No. 4 spot with a loss if South Effingham also were to loss to Brunswick High next Friday in Brunswick. The Mustangs lost their third league game to Statesboro on Friday and would lose the head-to-head tiebreaker to the Terrors who beat them two weeks ago when they played if the teams ended up tied for fourth. The top three seeds for the postseason from the region in some order will be Brunswick, Statesboro and Effingham who are all tied for the top spot in the standings at 6-1 following Friday’s games. Brunswick had the night off. How that shakes out will mostly revolve around the Effingham-Statesboro matchup next Friday. That game will be in Statesboro. Assuming Brunswick will win as a heavy favorite over South Effingham, Statesboro could claim the region championship and the top playoff seed with a victory over the Rebels. The Pirates would then be the No. 2 seed and would play at home in the first round and Effingham would be the No. 3 seed. In this scenario, Statesboro gets the top spot because of its victory over Brunswick which would be used to break their tie at the top. If Effingham were to knock off the Blue Devils, Brunswick would be the champion and top seed because the Pirates defeated the Rebels and would win the tiebreaker for the top spot. Effingham would then be the No. 2 seed and Statesboro would be the third seed. The victory over Glynn on Friday was the sixth in a row for the Rebels since they dropped the region opener to Brunswick at the local stadium, 42-14. The Rebels gave up a combined 84 points to the Pirates and Red Terrors in the two games here and gave up 545 total yards of offense to both teams, but managed to finish the season with a split against the local squads. Glynn actually outgained the Rebels who finished the night with 376 total yards as the Terrors attempted onside kicks throughout the second half while trying to get the ball right back after scores as they tried to climb out of a huge hole. Glynn was down 24-7 at halftime and trailed by as much as 25 points in the third period. The Terrors finished with 501 rushing yards including 186 by sophomore quarterback Max Noonan who carried for five touchdowns. Caiden Robinson, a sophomore running back, carried 15 times for 171 yards and a score. Glynn just couldn’t stop the Rebels enough in the end. They ran for 220 yards and passed for 156 on the night while losing starting quarterback Tucker Perkins to injury near the end of the first half and starting running back Jmere Doe-Davis before halftime as well. “We were awful on defense all night,” Hidalgo said. “They’re good offensively, but we weren’t real good. It was frustrating.” Effingham scored on its first two possessions to go up 14-0, taking advantage of a Glynn turnover on its second offensive series of the night. The Rebels would build a 24-7 lead before halftime and would take a 31-7 advantage immediately in the third quarter after recovering an onside kick by the Terrors to start the second half. Effingham’s second-string quarterback, junior Kris Swinney, broke off a 50-yard keeper through the middle of the Glynn defense for the quick score on the second offensive snap. Swinney played the whole second half in place of Perkins who limped off the field just before halftime with an apparent ankle injury and came out of the locker room for the second half without his pads on. Perkins, a prolific passer and a senior, went down with a similar injury in Effingham’s season-opening loss to Houston County and did not play the next week against New Hampstead before returning for the region opener against Brunswick. His mobility was obviously limited in that game and the Pirates harassed him all game after grabbing an early lead. The Terrors actually made a game of it Friday all the way to the end, cutting their deficit to 11 before the end of the third quarter and even to 10 with just inside five minutes to play before eventually getting it down to the three points in the closing seconds. Glynn pulled within 45-35 with 4:43 to play on a 25-yard keeper by Noonan for his fifth rushing score of the night. His touchdown run capped a 49-yard drive by the Terrors after they recovered an onside kick. Effingham had recovered Glynn’s first three tries of the half. The Terrors would turn right back around and get another onside kick to get the ball at midfield with a chance to make it a one-score game. They couldn’t move the ball this time, though, giving it back to the Rebels on downs after a fourth-down pass fell incomplete. The Terrors did make a quick stop while using their timeouts to get the ball back by forcing a punt and would go 72 yards to score on a 19-yard run by Robinson for the 45-42 score. But, only 12 seconds remained on the clock when Glynn finally got within the one score. The Rebels recovered one more onside kick by Glynn then kneeled on the ball to end another wild game on the local turf. Effingham’s first score of the contest was a 56-yard run by junior Doe-Davis on the team’s second play from scrimmage after forcing a Glynn punt on the night’s opening possession. The Rebels got the ball right back after knocking the ball away from a Glynn runner just across the midfield stripe after a big gain for what should have been a first down. Effingham took over at its own 45-yard line and decided to throw a deep ball on first down. Perkins aired one out to little Trayvis Hunter, a junior receiver and younger brother of last year’s Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, who hauled in the 54-yard pass that resulted in a score. Hunter lost the ball at the goal line while battling a Glynn defender going to the ground. Another teammate recovered the ball in the end zone for the score. Glynn gave up the ball on downs at the Effingham 5 after getting stopped on fourth-and-2 on its next possession. Hidalgo said after the game that was a golden opportunity missed by the Terrors to punch home six points. There were other missed chances, too, when plays weren’t executed, by the offense in the opening two quarters, the coach added. “We lost the game on offense in the first half, should have scored 28 points in the first half,” Hidalgo said. The Rebels went up 17-0 on a 36-yard field goal after driving from their 5 to the Glynn 19. Noonan scored for the first time on a 3-yard run to get Glynn on the board on its next drive which was 72 yards, making the score 17-7. Perkins found Mckenzie wide open along the Effingham sideline late in the opening half for a 24-yard score and the 24-7 lead at the break. After the Rebels stretched their lead with the early score in the third quarter, Noonan scored on runs of 9 and 56 yards for the Terrors to cap drives of 80 and 74 yards. He also later scored on the above-mentioned 25-yard run and a 6-yard run. Noonan broke outside and raced down the Effingham sideline on his 56-yarder to bring Glynn within 31-20 with just under four minutes to play in the third. The Terrors didn’t recover their ensuing onside kick, but they did stuff an Effingham rushing play for a 3-yard loss on first down. The next play, though, was a big one for the Rebels. Swinney dropped back and lofted a ball over the middle for Hunter who jumped to catch the pass over a Glynn defender for a 31-yard gain to the GA 22. Travis Hunter, who now plays for the Jacksonville Jaguars, probably liked what he saw from little brother there as he watched from the Effingham sideline. Trayvis had five receptions for 135 yards in the game. Effingham would gain 5 yards on their next two plays, and on third down, an offsides penalty on Glynn gave the visitors a first down on the 12. The Rebels ended up scoring on a 5-yard keeper by Swinney to push the lead back to 18 with just over a minute left in the third. Noonan lost the ball trying to avoid a sack on Glynn’s next series, and the Rebels recovered at the GA 5, setting up an easy score for a 45-20 lead going to the fourth quarter. The Terrors scored the final 22 points of the game in the fourth quarter, but came up short in the end.