The Statesboro Blue Devils will have a tough time topping their come from behind victory in the final seconds of the game in a 36-35 win over Evans last week that kept their playoff hopes alive and improved their record to 5-3.

“Is it certainly exciting and fun for the kids,” SHS coach Matt Dobson said. “I told them it’s a night that they’re going to remember for the rest of their lives. I think everybody that played high school football can look back at a certain game. When you get together with your buddies, you know at reunions you will talk about games like that.

"We spend a lot of time putting them in situations like that and practicing how to stay calm at the end of games and this is something they can draw from and remember how we did it before.”

The Blue Devils now go on the road to Savannah where they will take on a 3-5 Jenkins team who Dobson says are a lot better than their record indicates. Jenkins is led by Tasean Rhodes who leads the team with nine touchdowns and has lined up at everywhere from wide receiver to running back and quarterback.

"The biggest thing that stands out about Jenkins is how athletic they are and particularly Rhodes,” Dobson said. “They’ve got athletes all over the place on both sides of the ball and special teams as well. They’ve returned a crazy number of kicks for touchdowns this year.

"Offensively they’ve played multiple quarterbacks and they’re all really good athletes who can get loose. We’ve struggled with giving up big plays and that is their bread and butter so we have to do a better job and it starts with our schemes and players tackling in space. On offense we have to sustain drives and keep their offense on the sidelines.”

The Warriors have to win their next two games in order to make the playoffs, so Dobson knows they will get their best effort.

“It’s a great opportunity for us but we also need to be aware how important this game is for them,” Dobson said. “It is probably even more urgent for them than us even with the new playoff formula. They are 3-5 and we are 5-3 so this game is really important for them.

"We’ve got to make sure that we have that same urgency and come out with that same energy and we can’t let them go out there and play harder than we do.”

Statesboro and Jenkins are set for a 7:30 start Friday in Savannah.