Statesboro defended its back yard. Now it's time to hit the road.
       The Blue Devils (10-2) travel to Marietta tonight to take on No. 4 ranked and No. 1 seed Kell (12-0) in the Class AAAA quarterfinals of the GHSA playoffs.
       It has hardly been an easy path for Statesboro so far. In the first round, Tri-Cities jumped out to a 21-7 lead, but two late touchdowns evened the score for the Devils and a 27 yard field goal by Caleb Brown with seven seconds remaining sent the Devils onward.
       Last week, it was Statesboro that threw the first punches. SHS had a 34-7 lead over No. 10 ranked Griffin, but had to hold off a furious rally in the final quarter to earn a 34-28 victory.
       "I think we let down our guard a little bit," said running back Dequan Daniels of last week. "We know that all of the competition in the playoffs is tough. That won't happen again."
       This week, the Devils will have their hands full once again as a very talented Longhorns squad, in just its seventh year of competition, makes its first ever appearance in the state quarterfinals. While new to the stage, Kell has a roster that is certainly deserving of continuing to play in late November.
       The Longhorns are led by star running back Brian Randolph, who amassed 214 rushing yards and scored two touchdowns in Kell's 21-13 win over Flowery Branch last week. Randolph has racked up 1,021 yards and has carried for 16 touchdowns this season.
      Balancing the Kell attack is quarterback Austin Petrick. The senior has completed 63 percent of his passes this year, totaling 1,552 yards and notching 13 touchdowns to just one interception.
       "Kell has good talent, good coaching, and they are an extremely disciplined team," said SHS coach Steve Pennington. "If we want to win, we're going to have to beat Kell because they don't make many mistakes and they won't beat themselves."
       Trying to match that firepower will be the four-headed monster of Statesboro's wishbone running game.
Daniels, Aaron Lester, Michael Summers and Trai Gadson have all surpassed the 500 yard mark this season, and the Blue Devils' ability to send fresh legs pounding into the line - even deep into the game - has worn down many opponents along the way.
       But the Longhorns may take a new approach to defending Statesboro. While many teams load the box, Kell likes to stay in its base defenses.
       "Kell is very confident in its ability to execute on defense without getting out of its scheme," said Pennington. "They run a lot of formations though, so our offense will have to call upon all of the schemes that we've seen throughout the year and find a way to block them effectively."
       The winner of tonight's game will move on to the semifinals against the winner of tonight's matchup between Dutchtown and Chattahoochee.
       If No. 2 seed Dutchtown wins, either Kell or Statesboro will host the semifinal game. If Chattahoochee - a No. 1 seed like the Devils and Longhorns - comes out on top, a coin toss will be held Saturday to determine the home team for the next round.

Mike Anthony can be reached at (912) 489-9404.