Guyton, GA — The mustangs lost a heart breaker against their region and county rival Effingham County High School on Valentines evening Tuesday February 14th. It was a very evenly matched affair with both teams trading blows throughout. Effingham county would eventually take the lead in the second half, and maintain it until the final moments of the 4th quarter when the Mustangs would display their never give up attitude yet again, bringing the score to within one. Unfortunately with just a half a minute to go the Rebels were able to hold on for the win in spite of the last second heroics put on by the Mustangs. Former captain ('22) Gabe George said after the game, "The last three minutes they grinded it out...skill wise they are looking better, and you definitely sent a message to Effingham that they will not own the county much longer in lacrosse" The Mustangs have never beaten the Rebels and lost last years contests 15-0 and 12-2. Junior Dominic Martell opened the scoring just three minutes into the contest after winning a ground ball scrum and beating the effingham goalie one on one. The Rebels would answer back a minute later with #25 streaking past a mustang defender for an easy goal in transition. With 6:46 left in the first, Tyler stogner would dodge the goal drawing a triple team only to pass it off to Martell who would take his man to x before dodging the goal left handed and notching his second goal of the game to put the mustangs up 2-1. With 3:29 left in the first the mustangs would find themselves in an extra man situation (man up). The man up squad would spin the ball back to X finding Kaden DeGenaro who would drive the left side of the crease drawing a man and he would dish the rock to a waiting Eli George who would finish in traffic just outside of the crease giving the mustangs the 3-1 lead. With only 42 seconds left in the quarter the Rebels would get to within one when lefty #10 would drive to the middle of the field and cash in on a well placed shot from twelve feet, beating Rookie Sophomore goalie Brody Screen. The Mustangs one goal lead from the first quarter would hold up for nearly half of the second when Rebels #8 would beat his defender on a great back door cut and get an assist from #10, tying the game at 3 apiece with 6:29 in the half remaining. With just 43 seconds left in the half, #10 would get open on a C cut on the crease, rolling away from pressure and delivering a great assist to #5 who also beat his man inside for the go ahead goal. With 9:11 left on the clock in the 3rd, Kaden DeGenaro would drive to the goal drawing a double and triple team, losing the ball just above the crease. Johnny on the spot Sophomore Lincoln Seigrist would scoop it up and beat the effingham goalie to tie the match at 4. With 5:01 left in the third, after an unfortunate slip by a mustangs ball carrier, the Rebels would find themselves on the attack with #10 carrying the ball yet again. His defender would also slip to the turf and in the insuing confusion he would find another assist to #5 to put the Rebels back up on top. With 4:23 left in the quarter a costly Mustangs penalty gave the extra man opportunity to the rebels and they converted with #4 scoring from up top on the man up to make the score 6-4 The mustangs shot themselves in the foot yet again with another costly penalty giving the rebels another extra man opportunity with 1:55 seconds left in the 3rd quarter. The dynamic duo struck once again with rebels #10 feeding #5 on the crease for an easy man up goal bringing the lead to 3 at 7-4. Just under three minutes into the fourth quarter after a desperation clear by the mustangs, Sophomore Lincoln Seigrist was able to pick up the ground ball and found himself one on one with the rebel goalie, capitalizing and bringing the lead to 2 at 7-5. with just over four minutes left in the contest, the mustangs had yet another costly turnover on a failed clear. The Rebels capitalized, with a quick pick at X, #10 drove the right of the crease, and found #1 streaking to the net on the back door cut to bring the lead back to 3 at 8-5. With a little under two minutes left in the contest, Junior Chase Whittle made a beautiful interception on a rebel feed across the crease, he evaded the riding rebels clearing the ball to the offensive end where a dropped pass led to a huge ground ball battle. The mustangs and their grit were on display once again with possession bouncing back and forth with hit after hit being dealt. Dominic Martell came out of the scrum with the ball, and took a shot that was deflected. Another ground ball battle saw Lincoln Seigrist deliver a big hit that freed up Junior Eli George to secure the ground ball and find the back of the Effingham net to bring it within 2. On the ensuing man up possession Martell would find himself with the ball at X. He would drive the crease and finish with a low left handed shot making it a one point game with 38.8 seconds left in regulation. The Rebels were able to win control of the faceoff and call a time out with just under 30 seconds left on the clock. The mustangs were able to force a bad pass, and rookie Freshman Jakey Connely was able to secure the ground ball, and a mustangs time out. A good ride by the rebels led to Martell throwing the ball to the offensive end giving the Mustangs a last second chance at heroics. After yet another heart and hustle ground ball battle, the mustangs were awarded the ball on the sideline with just under five seconds left. Junior Tyler Stogner drove across the top of the box and his last second shot went wide, giving the rebels their hard earned victory with the final score of 8-7. Costly penalties and sloppy play proved to be the culprit once again, but the always present heart and hustle kept the mustangs in it the entire way and almost proved enough to overcome their inability to execute the fundamentals. The mustangs are looking forward to their April 13th rematch on the road at Effingham County!