SANDERSVILLE — For three quarters, the House of Pain lived up to its name — then Statesboro dealt out some punishment of its own.
    Trailing 20-17 after the first three quarters of play, the No. 2 ranked Blue Devils sprang to life, forcing two fourth quarter turnovers and finding the end zone twice in the final 12 minutes to notch a 31-26 victory over Washington County Friday night.
    “This was a total team effort,” said SHS coach Steve Pennington. “It took a lot of guys on both sides of the ball playing well to get this win.”
    Beginning the final quarter with the ball on the 18 yard line of Washington County (1-1), the Blue Devils (2-0) inched closer to the goal line and took a 24-20 lead on a 3 yard run by Quan Daniels (20 carries, 149 yards).
    On the Hawks’ ensuing drive, starting quarterback William Walker was briefly knocked out of the game. Backup Jacob Kennedy entered the game and his first pass was intercepted by Corey Harden, who returned it 27 yards for what proved to be the wining score.
    “I was taken out by the coaches on the kickoff before because I wasn’t playing very well,” said Harden. “We had just got the lead back, so I wanted to make a play to help us out. I just missed an interception in the first half, so I wanted to make one count.”
    After another Statesboro interception failed to provide more of a cushion, Washington County made its final push with under five minutes to play.
    Back in the game, Walker drove his team back into Blue Devil territory. With 58 seconds to go, Walker found Juwan Burden for a 10 yard touchdown strike – their second hookup of the game. Walker was stopped short on a two-point conversion attempt – keeping the SHS lead at 31-26 – and Blue Devil quarterback Reid Pennington fell on the following onside kick to seal the victory.
    “Those last few minutes were crazy,” said Reid Pennington. “Washington is a tough team and they put up a great fight. We’re happy to have the win and we’ll be a better team because of it.
    Things didn’t start out nearly as well for Statesboro.
    The Devils forced the Hawks to punt on their opening drive, but Statesboro punted right back and Washington County drove down the field, taking a 7-0 lead on a 13 yard run by Walker.
    Statesboro tried to answer, driving into Hawks territory, but the drive stalled and Alan Rodriquez missed wide right on a 35 yard field goal attempt.
    After the missed field goal, Statesboro was finally able to find a spark. Washington County drove across midfield once again, but the Devils forced a 3rd-and-long and Ben Roberts picked off Walker’s pass, returning it back to the Hawks’ 41.
    The SHS offense made good on its next drive, quickly pounding down into the Washington red zone. Daniels reached the 1 on a tough dive and took it the rest of the way on the next play to make it 7-7 after Rodriquez hit the extra point.
    “We got great efforts out of a number of running backs all night,” said Steve Pennington. “We got a lot of tough yards, took care of the football, and kept fighting all night.”
    But Washington County answered right back.
    On the third play of the Hawks’ ensuing drive, Ta Warthen found room around the right side for a 52 yard run inside the Statesboro 10. Two plays later, SAVON Washington plunged in from two yards out and the Hawks reclaimed a 14-7 advantage with 4:29 to play in the first half.
    Picking up where its last drive had left off, Statesboro’s offense wasted no time in knotting things up once again.
    Michael summers returned Washington County’s kickoff to the SHS 30 and gained 28 yards on the drive’s first play. After another solid gain, Daniels outran the Hawks’ defense around the right side for a 31 yard touchdown to cap the drive that lasted just 34 seconds.
    The Hawks mounted one more drive in the half, reaching Statesboro territory with less than a minute to go, but the Devils held on fourth down from their own 30 to keep the score even at 14-14 at the break.
    Rodriquez connected from 21 yards out after a long Statesboro drive to open the second half, giving SHS a 17-14 lead.
    Walker and the Hawks took their final lead on the next drive, when Burden leaped over a defender to haul in a 36 yard touchdown pass.
    Next week, Statesboro returns to Womack Field to take on Tattnall County.

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