Just two weeks ago the Statesboro Blue Devils were riding high after a 34-6 win at home over South Effingham. What a difference two 14 days can make as Statesboro went from possibly hosting the State 6-A playoffs to being eliminated from the post season with back-to-back losses to Effingham County last week, and then a 34-7 loss to Glynn Academy Friday in Brunswick.
It’s unusual to call a play from the opening drive as the turning point of the game, but Statesboro appeared to have scored a 43-yard touchdown by quarterback Kam Mikell on their opening drive. A familiar scenario then played out as a holding call brought the ball back. The Blue Devil offense sputtered from there, Glynn Academy opened up a 21-0 halftime lead and went on to end the Blue Devils season with a 34-7 victory.
There was plenty on the line for both teams as a win would lock up a state playoff spot and a loss would end the season. Statesboro came out looking like their fourth quarter collapse to Effingham County from last week carried into this week.
“That may be true, but it is no excuse,” said Statesboro coach Jeff Kaiser. “We came out kind of flat. This has been the case a lot this year as the defense comes out and gets a stop and then we fail to get anything offensively. The penalty hurt us and there were a lot of penalties again tonight.”
Glynn Academy opened the scoring as Zech Ellis scored from 3-yards out for a 7-0 lead. It looked as though the Blue Devils may be able to cut into the lead as they drove to the 11-yard line, but a holding call would bring the ball back. Statesboro then attempted a 42-yard field goal but seemed to have some trouble on the snap and hold and the kick appeared to be tipped and didn’t make it to the end zone.
The Terrors would later go 54-yards on a nine-play drive capped off by a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Tyler Devlin to make it 14-0 with just over two minutes in the half. It looked like that’s what the scored would be at halftime but after getting close a couple times the Terrors blocked Avery Newton’s punt and recovered at the 10-yad line. Glynn would cash in on a 10-yard pass from Devlin to Tyson Rooks to take a 21-0 halftime lead.
Statesboro finally showed signs of life in the second half as they took the opening kickoff and put together a nice drive. Jordan Lovett started things off with a 41-yard run into Terrors territory and capping the scoring drive Kam Mikell found Payton Wedlow in the end zone from 16-yards out as Statesboro cut the lead to 21-7.
With momentum on their side another big penalty hurt the Blue Devils. On third down a Statesboro tackle was deemed to be a personal foul which resulted in a Glynn Academy first down. On the very next play Greg Peacock went 60-yards down to the Statesboro 1-yard line. Devlin would score on the next play on a quarterback sneak to extend the lead to 28-7.
“I thought we came out strong and we came out of the second half and scored,” said Kaiser. “Again, penalties hurt us and we need to improve our discipline in all aspects.”
Statesboro got to the Glynn Academy 19-yard line on their next drive, but another holding call backed them up and they ended up having to punt. Glynn capped the scoring on a 1-yard Peacock touchdown run for the final of 34-7.
“It’s disappointing because we had the opportunity for a really good year,” said Kaiser. “I’m sad for these seniors who put in so much work and it’s over for them but we will go back to work on Monday and start getting ready for next season.”
The loss ends the season for Statesboro at 5-5 and 3-3 in region play.
