Week 1 of the high school football season in the Greater Savannah area is in the books and there were plenty of storylines from games throughout the Coastal Empire.
Calvary Day opened its season with an impressive win at Glynn Academy on Thursday night as the Cavaliers outscored the Terrors 36-0 in the second half of a 49-22 victory.
Toombs County came to town and shocked Benedictine as the Bulldogs rolled to a 58-21 non-region win at Memorial Stadium.
There was an altercation at the end of the Benedictine loss and a Cadet player will face disciplinary action after a fight in the handshake line.
Richmond Hill preserved a one-point win over visiting Effingham County by blocking an extra point in the closing minutes of the game.
Savannah Christian rode a strong ground game to a win at Athens Academy, while Islands went on the road to notch a win at Groves.
Windsor Forest beat Beach in overtime as Willie Martin Jr. got his first win as the new coach for the Knights.
St. Andrew's christened its new turf field with a shutout win over visiting Hilton Head Christian.
Here's a look at reported results and scores from the action in the first week of the 2026 high school football season.
Richmond Hill 22, Effingham County 21Host Richmond Hill held off a late rally from the Rebels to prevail by a point in a thrilling non-region matchup.
Effingham senior Jmere Doe-Davis broke away for a touchdown run of about 30 yards with two minutes left as the Rebels closed within a point, but Richmond Hill blocked the extra point to preserve the win.
Doe-Davis ran for about 150 yards on the night, according to Donald Heath, who wrote about the game for the Effingham Herald.
Sophomore Matthew Dillon had his first varsity start at quarterback for the Rebels and threw for 199 yards with touchdown passes to Doe-Davis and Isaiah Brown.
Richmond Hill running back CJ Menzie rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. DJ Porter had five carries for 33 yards and a touchdown and caught three passes for 38 yards. Braeden Parsons rushed for 32 yards and a score on two carries.
Quarterback Gunner Mobley was 11 of 21 passing for 57 yards. The Wildcat defense was led by Tre' Brown, who had nine tackles, with three for losses and a sack. Jeremiah Jones had seven stops and an interception and senior Jaylon Deal had seven stops.
South Effingham 17, Screven County 14The host Mustangs got a 25-yard field goal from backup kicker Jack Wohler, who connected from 25 yards with 51 seconds to secure the non-region win for South Effingham.
Sophomore quarterback Liam Coburn was 10 of 15 passing for 117 yards and had a 28-yard scoring pass to Ashton Holder. Coburn also ran for a one-yard score as the Mustangs scored all of their points in the final 13:30, according to Donald Heath, who covered the game for the Effingham Herald.
Mustang senior Khyran White, who rushed for 1,002 yards last season, went down with an ankle injury in the first quarter and never returned. He had 40 yards on eight carries.
Windsor Forest 20, Beach 14 (OT)Junior quarterback Jayden Martin scored the winning touchdown in overtime with a two-yard score where he dove for the pylon to reach the end zone.
Martin was 15 of 23 passing for 195 yards and a touchdown with an interception and he rushed for 118 yards and two scores on 10 carries. He also had an interception on defense.
Junior Jaimeer Duncan rushed for 68 yards on 12 carries for Windsor Forest
Kamari Duncan had five catches for 92 yards and sophomore Telly Riley had five receptions for 66 yards. He also picked off a pass on defense.
Senior linebacker Antonio Wolfolk racked up 16 tackles and his classmate linebacker Malachi Daniels had 13 stops for the Knights.
Freshman Dwayne Harris had a pair of sacks and six tackles with three for losses. Senior Camron Campbell also had a pair of sacks with seven stops and two for losses.
It was the first win for Willie Martin Jr., in his first season leading the Knight program.
Windsor Forest (1-0) will play at Tattnall County (0-0) on Friday, Aug. 28.
Savannah Christian 35, Athens Academy 13The Raiders went on the road and won big behind a dominating ground game in their non-region opener.
SCPS ran for 378 yards and four touchdowns. Wesley Dinkins led the way as the sophomore ran for 138 yards and two scores on 22 carries. Senior Cain Tomlin had a big night as he ran for 142 yards and a score on just eight carries, while adding 55 yards in returns.
Junior quarterback Caden Godbee was 3 of 8 passing for 29 yards with a 20-yard scoring pass to William Bucey.
Linebacker Ivyn Richardson led the defense with 13 tackles, while Jameer Jackson and Aiden Frazier and Jalen Wright had 11 stops each. RJ Daniels added nine tackles for the Raiders (1-0) who are set to host Bethesda Academy (2-0) at Pooler Stadium on Friday, Aug. 28.
Islands 36, Groves 24Islands went on the road and beat host Groves in a non-region matchup as the Sharks racked up 311 yards rushing as a team.
Shark quarterback Mason McLaughlin had a big game as the senior rushed for 62 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Junior Parker Woods broke loose for a 78-yard score with his first varsity touchdown as he rushed for 110 yards on the night. His classmate Nathan Tulloch also found the end zone for the first time in his varsity career with a pair of rushing scores and 86 yards rushing.
Groves senior Taff James ran for a pair of touchdowns and also had a scoring reception.
Jeremiah Washington also connected with Tyrique Wright on a 55-yard touchdown pass for Groves (0-1), which is set to play at Brunswick on Friday, Aug. 28.
Islands (1-0) is set to host Savannah High (0-1) on Friday, Aug. 28.
Bethesda 60, Northwood Academy 28Bethesda, last year's SCISA Class 2A champion, rolled to a home victory over Northwood, the defending Class 4A champs.
Junior quarterback Jordan Turner rushed for 168 yards on eight carries with three rushing touchdowns and was 12 of 18 passing for 168 yards and three scores with four interceptions.
Junior Jeffrey Armstrong rushed for 147 yards and a pair of scores on 15 carries. Mitchell Scott had a pair of catches for 45 yards and a touchdown.
Ka'Mond Young led the defense as the junior linebacker racked up 15 tackles, with one for a loss. Shawn Williams Jr. had an interception and Isaiah Jones had 12 stops and a forced fumble. Anthony Cook had 10 tackles and a sack. Mell Flowers had five tackles and an interception.
Iunmutef Al-Kush added 10 stops and a a forced fumble for the Blazers (2-0), who are set to play at Savannah Christian next Friday, Aug. 28, in the first-ever matchup between the schools.
St. Andrew's 48, Hilton Head Prep 0The Lions opened play on their new turf field with a dominating win over visiting Hilton Head Prep.
Sophomore Luke Nelson rushed for 88 yards and a pair of touchdowns including a 64-yard score.
Quarterback Pat Jackson rushed for 49 yards and a touchdown on five carries. DJ Prosser and Luke Bowen added rushing scores for the Lions.
Junior Darius Chapman rushed for 43 yards and a score for the Lions (1-0), who play at First Baptist School on Friday, Aug. 28.
Other scoresBradwell 47, New Hampstead 34
Johnson 20, Savannah High 6
Lowndes 31, Jenkins 6
Toombs County 58, Benedictine 21
Treutlen 36, Bryan County 7
Bluffton 29, Savannah Country Day 7
Wayne County 24, Liberty County 21
Thursday, Aug. 20Calvary Day 49, Glynn Academy 22
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: How high school football teams from the Greater Savannah area fared in Week 1
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