The Statesboro Blue Devil football team has been working hard this summer in an attempt to get to the state playoffs.

The Blue Devils have participated in a variety of padded camps and 7-on-7 camps in order to try and get to the post season. One player head coach Matt Dobson is counting on to be a leader on and off the field this year is senior receiver Gage Newsome.

“Gage has had an outstanding summer,” Dobson said “He’s continued to improve his route running and has gotten better making plays with the ball in his hand. Gage had over 30 catches last year and we look for him to improve on that. He has been a great leader for us in the wide receiver room and shows our younger guys how great players’ practice.”

“This summer has been good with how far we have come,” Newsome said. “Everything we have gone through, all the times we have pushed on even when we felt we couldn't, and all the mornings we got out of bed no matter how hard it was has made us stronger. The summer has been a lot of development and we have built a lot of chemistry throughout the summer and we have pushed each other to the maximum every rep.