The Statesboro Blue Devils had to play a perfect game to beat No. 10 ranked Brunswick and Friday night they did just that.
In one of their biggest regular season wins in recent history, the Blue Devils played without starting quarterback Beckham Jarrard and found a way to hand Brunswick their first region loss of the season. In the process, they put themselves in the top spot in the region standings with a chance at being region champions.
“Nobody gave us a shot,” said head coach Matt Dobson. “I told our kids in the locker room before the game that they’ve earned opportunities like this. This is what we’ve been building toward the past three years. I am so proud of them. It was a total team win with special teams, offense and defense working together. Our coaches put in a game plan and our kids executed it.”
Statesboro led 20-14 at the half only to see Brunswick come out in the third quarter and quickly score on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Grant Moore to University of Florida commit 6-7 tight end Heze Kent, as the Pirates took a 21-20 lead.
Statesboro quickly answered when Davis Harrison found a wide-open Keon Childers for a 71-yard pickup to the Brunswick 15-yard line. Childers capped the drive with his fourth touchdown of the game for a 26-21 Blue Devil lead.
On the ensuing kickoff Statesboro converted on their second onside kick of the game. Mason Sellers booted the ball into the ground; it popped up, Brunswick bobbled it and Daelyn White recovered.
Statesboro was able to eat some clock but Brunswick got the ball back with just under five minutes to play. Moore found Kent for a 50-yard pass down to the Statesboro 19-yard line. Two plays later Moore would throw to Kent in the end zone, but the pass was intercepted by Keyonne Johnson in the end zone.
Trying to run out the clock, Dobson inserted Harrison in at quarterback and had him run the ball up the middle. The Blue Devil offensive line helped Harrison pick up a couple of crucial first downs.
With Brunswick out of time outs, Statesboro punted with less than 40 seconds to play in the game. Landon Nessmith sent a nice punt down to the 10-yard line. The punt was muffed but Brunswick recovered at the nine-yard line. Two plays later, Statesboro pressured Moore who threw the ball up and was ruled as grounding which resulted in a safety for the final points of the game.
“This is a huge culture win for Statesboro,” Dobson said. “Our plan was to keep the ball away from them and run the football. We didn’t turn the ball over and we created a turnover. When they went up in the third quarter, I wanted to see how our guys responded. They responded just as I hoped they would. Because of who they are and the work they put in.”
Statesboro actually started the game with an on-side kick by Maddox Davis as Ja’Cori Cope recovered after the ball had gone 10-yards. Operating out of the single wing, Rashad Chavers reeled off a 23-yard run and then Childers scored from seven-yards out for a 7-0 lead.
The Blue Devil defense set the offense up on the next series as they threw Moore down for a sack and recovered inside the Statesboro 35-yard-line. Gage Newsome helped get Statesboro down to the one-yard line with a 12-yard carry and then Childers scored from a yard away to make it 14-0.
Brunswick finally got on the board with a six-yard quarterback run by Moore to make it 14-7. Statesboro answered once again on another Childers one-yard touchdown to take a 20-7 lead as the extra point was blocked. Just before the half, Moore and Kent connected on a 50-yard touchdown to trim the lead to 20-14 at the half.
The win puts Statesboro into a three-way tie with Brunswick and Effingham County. Statesboro travels to Evans next Friday and then ends the regular season hosting South Effingham Oct. 24 and then Effingham on Oct. 31.
