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Playoff bound
Devils punch ticket with Cross Creek win
110912 SHS FOOTBALL 01
Landon Haralson catches a touchdown pass from quarterback Colin Chance in the first quarter.

Box Score
    CC    SHS
First Downs    15    10
Rushing    31-177    24-310
Passing Yards    128    72
Total Yards    305    382
C-A-I    9-25-6    5-9-0
Turnovers    7    0
Penalties    6-60    3-28

Individual Leaders
Rushing: CC: Adams 15-80, 2 TD SHS:  Daniels 6-155, 4 TD
Passing: CC: Diamond 6-17, 83; SHS: Chance 5-9-72, 2 TD.
Receiving: CC: Grissam 4-58. SHS : Washington 1-19, TD.

CC      0     14      0      7 — 21
SHS    28      10      19      7 — 64

Scoring
First Quarter   
11:35 — Daniels (SHS) 24 run (Aubrey kick)
9:19 — Washington (SHS) 19 pass from Chance (Aubrey kick)
5:48 — Haralson (SHS) 9 pass from Chance (Aubrey kick)
3:50 — Daniels (SHS) 30 run (Aubrey kick)
Second Quarter
11:29 — Adams (CCHS) 3 run (kick failed)
2:10 — Kleckley (CCHS) 1 run (Diamond run)
1:45 — Daniels (SHS) 45 run (Aubrey kick)
0:25 — Hill (SHS) 38 field goal
Third Quarter
11:29 – Daniels (SHS) 56 run (kick failed)
7:49 – Rawls (SHS) 5 run (kick failed)
2:35 – Brunson (SHS) Brunson (Aubrey kick)
Fourth Quarter
7:35 — Curtis (SHS) 43 run (Aubrey kick)
2:02 — Adams (CCHS) 2 run (Cheek kick)

    The Statesboro Blue Devils punched their ticket to the Class AAAA state playoffs Friday night as they dominated Cross Creek and ran away with a 64-21 victory at Womack Field.
    Statesboro scored on each of its first four possessions while forcing seven Razorback turnovers on the night. Cross Creek fought back to get within 28-14 late in the first half, but never threatened to get back into contention.
    With the win, the Devils (8-2) clinched the No. 3 seed out of Region 3-AAAA while the Razorbacks (3-7) are now done for the year.
    The Devils were all over the Razorbacks from the opening kick.
    Statesboro forced turnovers on each of Cross Creek’s first three drives, capitalizing with a touchdown in each instance. A fourth touchdown in the first quarter brought the early SHS lead to 28-0 and the Devils never looked back.
    “Our goal was to start strong, stay strong, and finish strong,” said SHS coach Steve Pennington. “We had a great week of practice leading up to tonight and I think that bled over into the game. We played solidly in all phases and got a win that we had to have.”
    On the Razorbacks’ first play from scrimmage, Deon Kleckley coughed up the ball and Jackson Ware recovered for the Devils on the Cross Creek 25.
    Quan Daniels — who rushed for 155 yards and four touchdowns on just six carries — began his big night by scoring from 25 yards out on the Devils’ first offensive play.
    The next two Razorbacks possessions ended on a pair of interceptions thrown by Devon Diamond (6-17, 83 yards, 4 INT). Ben Roberts notched the first of six interceptions on the night for SHS while Ware grabbed the second.
    The Blue Devils turned both interceptions into touchdowns with Colin Chance (5-9, 72 yards, 2 TD) connecting first to Javontae Washington on a 19 yard strike and then hitting Landon Haralson for a 9 yard touchdown toss.
    Cross Creek went three-and-out on its next drive and Daniels finished off a four-play drive from 30 yards out for a 28-0 lead after the first quarter.
    “Our defense did a great job to force turnovers and set up a short field all night,” said Pennington. “From there, the offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage and we were able to make every drive count.”
    Shaking off its initial struggles, Cross Creek briefly got back into the game.
    After a pair of long runs by Melvin Adams and Jerry Grissam, Adams was able to get the Razorbacks on the board from 3 yards out.
    A missed extra point kept the SHS lead at 28-6, but a 1 yard run from Deon Kleckly, combined with a two-point conversion run by Diamond, brought Cross Creek within 28-14 with 2:10 to play in the first half.
    Statesboro opened the game right back up as Daniels raced 45 yards for a touchdown. Another interception game Statesboro the ball deep in Razorback once again and a 38 yard field goal by George Hill made it 38-14 Devils at the break.
    Statesboro made sure that there would be no comeback attempt in the second half.
    Daniels took the second play of the half 56 yards for a touchdown and Jacob Schofill intercepted C.J. Turner, racing down to the Cross Creek 13 to set up a 5 yard scoring run for Sherrodric Rawls.
    Rawls’ run extended the SHS lead to 50-14 and began the running clock midway through the third quarter.
    Diquan Brunson and Anthony Curtis each added touchdown runs to cap the Blue Devils’ scoring while Adams added his second touchdown with 2:02 to play.
    With the win, Statesboro clinched a No. 3 seed in the Class AAAA state playoffs. Next Friday, the Devils will travel to Forsyth to take on No. 2 seed Mary Persons.   

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