It was a complete game for the Statesboro boys as they defeated rivals Southeast Bulloch for senior night, Thursday.
    Statesboro High School had a relentless attack against the Yellow Jackets, which lead to a 5-0 win to end the regular season for SHS.
    “I thought they played fantastic. The energy was there and the intensity was there,” said SHS boys soccer coach Nick Thrower. “Soccer is a weird game. It’s usually the team that is smiling and having a lot of fun that seems to be on top. It’s an attitude you really don’t see in other sports. Today we were having a lot of fun. A lot of team passing play.”
    Despite the final game of the season being a non-region contest, Thrower said he knew the importance of competing for the entire game.
    “To me, this is a very important game. This is an intercity rivalry match and it’s the game right before playoffs. I wanted us to really see if we could possess and attack a team,” Thrower said.
    Coming off a 1-0 loss to Wayne County, Southeast Bulloch (9-4, 8-0 Region 1-AAA) had a tough task against Statesboro (12-2-1, 7-1 Region 3-AAAAA).
    The Blue Devils jumped out to an early 1-0 with less than 24 minutes left to play in the first half. Freshman Nash Welch scored his first varsity goal of the season to put the team ahead.
    Statesboro wouldn’t look back as two minutes later senior Alex Wagner scored his first of two goals on the night.
    A handball penalty with just one second left before halftime gave the Blue Devils a chance to cash in another goal. Thomas Sullenger took the penalty kick and didn’t miss.
    In the second half Statesboro changed formation to a 4-4-2, a variation from the Blue Devils’ regular 4-2-3-1 set.
    Thrower said the formation switch allowed the Blue Devils to look at more attacking options and fine tune their squad to get ready for the region playoffs.
    “It really paid off for us. It provided us with a new energy and a new way to attack a team,” Thrower said. “It was definitely a complete performance. SEB played us well, but today I feel like we won the midfield battle.”
    In the second half Ryan Miller scored on Statesboro’s second penalty kick of the game with just 10 minutes left to play.
    Wagner would score just five minutes later to put the icing on senior night for the Blue Devils.
    As the No. 1 seed in the subregion, the Blue Devils will face Coffee County in the region playoffs. A win would give Statesboro a state playoff berth.
    “The next game right now is the only game we’re focused on. We must win this game to go to the state playoffs,” Thrower said.
    The Blue Devils will square off against Coffee County April 15 at Womack Field.