For much of the first half of the season, Statesboro — while ranked near the top of the state polls — has looked like a vulnerable team. In closing out the second half of last Friday’s win over Lakeside, Evans to move to 5-0 on the season, the Blue Devils showed why so many pollsters think that they are such a dangerous team.

Trailing 14-0 at the half, Statesboro’s vaunted wishbone offense woke up, then thoroughly rolled over the opposition on the way to a 28-21 victory.

The Blue Devils’s offensive plan is plain and simple, yet still requires execution to succeed.

"I don’t think there’s any surprise to anyone that we play," said SHS coach Steve Pennington. "We know that they know what we intend to do. What makes us successful is that we’re able to execute anyways."

That sort of logic was quite evident in the Devils’ latest success.

Running its patented attack, Statesboro endured a first half in which Lakeside seemingly figured out a good defensive strategy, then rolled over the Panthers, racking up 70 percent of its total yards gained in the final two quarters.

To many, it might seem like Statesboro is skimping by late in games, but when run according to plan, the Devils’ scheme is doing exactly what it is designed to do.

In the last couple of weeks, the SHS defense has taken great strides. Obviously, keeping opponents off of the scoreboard benefits the team, but with the Devils’ unique offense, the success on the defensive side of the ball grows exponentially.

"We’re a physical team," says Pennington. "It’s a benefit when we can keep our offense on the field and continue to wear down defenses.

"Getting our defense off of the field is always a good thing, but it also builds on our offense. When we force the (opponent’s) defense to spend a lot of time on the field, our success grows. The plays that get us five yards early on get us 10 or 15 later in the game."

That theory was proved last week as the Devils spent much of the first two quarters grinding away on offense, only to explode for big, game-breaking plays later on in the contest.

Leading the charge for Statesboro was junior running back Quan Daniels who amassed a season-high 184 yards on 15 carries – including all four of Statesboro’s touchdowns. Daniels was the star of the show, but is just a cog in the greater scheme of the Devils’ success.

Michael Summers and a host of other running backs pose a threat to every defense that the Devils face and the overall balance of the attack is proving to be a difference for Statesboro time and time again.

"Much of our ability to succeed on offense is due to our balance," said Pennington. "Not only do we have some very good running backs, but we are often in a balanced formation as well. Some other teams run different formations that lend themselves to being predictable. We’re blessed with some talent where we can do many things out of one formation and when we line up like we do, it makes things tougher to defend."

When all is said and done for the Devils, it’s just another routine season. Statesboro is plain and simple with what it brings to the table, but it dares all comers to prove that they can do better.