The Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets entered their matchup with Liberty County last week in a four-way tie for first place. Head coach Jared Zito spoke earlier in the week about the Tigers being a thorn in the Jackets side since he arrived at SEB. Last Friday, they did it again, as the Jackets fell 10-7.

The Jackets had yet to score in single digits this year but struggled on offense with a pair of turnovers and some costly penalties that helped contribute to the loss.

“Give credit to Liberty as they had a really good plan but for us it just wasn’t our best night,” Zito said. “We didn’t bring our A game. We had too many turnovers and penalties on offense and missed tackles on defense. We did a few good things but not enough to win the game especially against a good team.”

Zito says he feels like the team has responded this week as they prepare for a Thursday night matchup at Groves.

“We are a pretty self-aware group and they knew even before we looked at the film they didn’t play well,” Zito said. “The thing I am a little disappointed in is that in the Statesboro and Liberty games we just didn’t bring enough of our A game to win. We have to learn to play four quarters of a football game. We will see if that is a challenge this week but we know it will be down the road.”

 This week, the Jackets take on a Groves team that is 0-5 and only has played one game this year where they kept the game within nine points. The other four games were by a combined 195-44.

“On offense they have a few skill players who can run and a quarterback who can really throw,” Zito said. “This is a Thursday game so we have to be ready for that and we just have to remember the things that have been successful for us and do that for a complete game.”

 Southeast Bulloch and Groves are set for a 7:00 kickoff Thursday at Garden City Stadium.