BROOKLET—Pat Collins has the sound of a determined man. As the saying goes, you play the games on the field, not on paper.
    On paper, SEB’s opponent tonight looks formidable. Laney (3-1, 2-0 Region 3-AA) is at the top of the region standings. They are big and fast. They run a high-powered offense.
    Southeast Bulloch (1-3, 0-2 Region 3-AA) has been resilient on defense and a work in progress on offense. Although the Jackets have been held scoreless three 10times, solid defensive efforts in all three games have made Jacket opponents work hard for their wins.
    “I have never thought that we have had a lack of effort,” Collins said. “Our boys have gone out there and competed. They have not stopped playing hard. We’ve had a great week of practice, which is good. We have a great challenge ahead of us.”
    The coach doesn’t sugar-coat the challenge. He call’s Laney “the fastest team we have seen all year,” and says the speed is on both sides of the ball.
    Faced with greater speed and a similar style of offense, Southeast Bulloch lost earlier this season to Bleckley County, but all three of Bleckley’s touchdowns came on big plays, including a long punt return and a quick score after a turnover. Collins was emphasizing fundamentals this week in practice.
    “There’s not a large margin for error,” Collins said.
    On offense, the Jackets have been bringing along an offense with four sophomores on the offensive line. When the Jackets have had trouble controlling the line of scrimmage, the team has stalled.
    The Jackets moved the ball some against Bleckley, but was bogged down by a physical Screven County defense.
    Collins said he would make a couple of personnel changed to help bolster the depth of the offense. “There are just a handful of positions we feel like we could use some boys to help us out,” he said.
    For the most part, though, the Jackets will stay the course. With 13 sophomores seeing regular playing time, SEB is still very young. Collins says the slow going hasn’t affected the team’s attitude.
    “I think the players trust their coaches and are willing to continue to work,” he said. “If we were undefeated, spirits would be a little higher but the boys have been working hard to get better and we will get better.”
    SEB enters a tough stretch of powerful region opponents with Laney, so all the determination the Jackets can muster will help.
    Because in the end, the games are played on the field.