When Statesboro High girls soccer last won a region championship, none of the current roster was even aware of the concept of soccer.
    SHS coach Brian Thomas has a 1999 region championship trophy in his office that he pretends to blow dust off of. If things go the Lady Blue Devils’ way tonight, he’ll have a shiny new trophy to garner his attention.
    The Devils (10-4, 6-1 Region 2-AAAAA) have been on a roll for over a month. Tonight, they travel to longtime rival Wayne County (12-5, 6-1), with the winner guaranteed a region championship and a No. 1 seed in the upcoming state playoffs.
    “This is always a big game, no matter what we’re playing for,” Thomas said. “Our juniors and seniors know it. They heard it from the older girls when they were starting in the program. Wayne County is different. It’s just a little more important.”
    While the Lady Devils haven’t quite climbed the region mountain for the better part of two decades, a region rivalry with the Lady Yellow Jackets hailing from Jesup has been a constant. Throughout Thomas’ stint as head coach, many seasons have been highlighted by a big win over Wayne County, while others have seen great hopes dashed by the Jackets in a late-season loss.
    All history and hard feelings aside, today’s 5 p.m. kickoff in Jesup is straightforward.
    Statesboro claimed a 3-1 victory over Wayne County in the first matchup this season, but also lost a game to South Effingham while the Jackets tore through the rest of the region. With both teams sitting at 6-1 in region play - and with no region tournament to decide state playoff seeding - tonight’s winner will walk away with a region crown and a No. 1 seed in state play.
    “We’re excited about the opportunity,” Thomas said. “For several weeks, we’ve known that, if we took care of business, we would probably end up with this game deciding a region championship. We’ve had our ups and downs and we’ve dealt with injuries and illnesses, but now is our time.”
    With years of experience for Thomas to draw on — and with this year’s Devils having already topped the Jackets earlier — there is a rough framework for how SHS would like things to play out.
    Wayne County is tactically sound and can burn even the best teams with quick turnovers that turn into long passes and effective counter-attacks. Statesboro mitigated that in the first matchup, but Thomas acknowledged that it couldn’t have been done without a few great efforts from goalkeeper Morgan Host.
    As for the Devils’ best chance to sweep the season series and claim a region title, Thomas is looking to his midfield to start a chain reaction.
    “We have some girls who can score, but our depth has made us a better team,” Thomas said. “The heat might be a factor today, so it’s nice to be able to go two or three deep. There are girls who know that they can go 100 miles per hour for 20 minutes, get a rest, and then come back and make plays for us.”
    Katelyn Carter, Isabella Gutierrez and Smith Kaiser have often created scoring chances by bullying their way through defenses, but Wayne County presents a stiff challenge for any team looking to run straight up the middle. Thomas mentioned midfielders like Ashley Williams and Jenna Beck, saying that the ability to stretch the Jackets from sideline to sideline will be key in manufacturing scoring chances.
    Only time will tell if the Devils’ wait for a region crown is finally over, but they seem to have the confidence and swagger of a team that expects to bring home a championship.
    “Our games against Wayne have been pretty spirited,” Thomas said. “I think everyone will be ready to play. It’s also Senior Day (in Jesup), and we’ve taken some pride in spoiling any of those that we’re involved with.”