Earlier this week Statesboro head coach Matt Dobson said among the keys to a victory Friday at Richmond Academy would be stopping the big plays and being able to finish drives. Statesboro got the ball inside the 25-yard line four times in the first half and couldn’t turn that into points. They also gave up touchdowns of 35-yards, 91-yards, 73-yards and 50-yards as they fell to ARC 41-14.
“I thought we played defense pretty well in the first half but couldn’t finish drives and that was kind of the story of the night on offense,” Dobson said. Defensively we gave up way too many big plays in the second half.”
The Blue Devils had no trouble getting to the 25-yard line or closer in the first half, but penalties and the inability to get short yardage when they needed it failed them. Despite being held out of the end zone the defense held up pretty good, allowing only a 35-yard touchdown pass from Carson Hand to Lo’than McBride as the two teams went to the half with ARC leading 7-0.
“We had some costly penalties that hurt us and then we just didn’t execute when we got our chances,” Dobson said. “I thought they were solid on defense and in particular in their secondary. I thought we’d have to run the ball on them and I thought we ran well but just didn’t finish.
The final numbers were pretty close as Statesboro had 204 yards rushing and 59-yards passing while ARC had 213 yards rushing and 110 yards passing. Statesboro also had 15 first downs to just five for ARC which showed how the big plays hurt Statesboro.
The second half saw the Musketeers pinned at their own nine-yard line, but a handoff to Jay’Andre Brown proved costly for Statesboro as he bounced outside and streaked down the sidelines for a 91-yard touchdown and a 13-0 lead.
The Statesboro offense showed some signs of life from there as they droved down the field and eventually scored on a 12-yard pass from quarterback Beckham Jarrard to Todd Easter to cut the lead to 13-7. On their next offensive play from scrimmage Hand tossed the ball deep and McBride hauled it in as he went 73-yards to extend the ARC lead to 19-7.
Late in the third facing third and 10 from midfield ARC quarterback Carson Hand looked like he’d get thrown for a loss but showed his elusiveness as he broke a few tackles and went 49-yards to the Statesboro one-yard line. He’d score on the very next play to give them a 26-7 lead.
The Blue Devils next offensive possession stalled at mid field and they’d attempt a fake punt. The pass was intercepted and run back for a 60-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 33-7.
Statesboro added a one-yard touchdown run from D.J. Brooks but ARC answered with an 11-yard score from Vincent Carter for the final points of the game.
The win improves the Musketeers to 5-2 while Statesboro falls to 4-3. Up next will be a bye week for Statesboro followed by a trip to Evans.
