The Statesboro Blue Devils finally broke free with a win an important win on the road two weeks ago at Bradwell. 

The Blue Devils entered that game with the Tigers with a 1-11 record over the past three years on the road. On the heels of a bye week with another road test this Friday at Lakeside, head coach Matt Dobson feels that win against Bradwell was important for many reasons.

“We haven’t shied away from the fact that we have struggled in the past on the road,” Dobson said. “We have talked to our leadership council about it and I think it helped that we started fast. That was something we talked about together was starting fast especially on offense and getting a lead. We also changed some things up off the field and things we plan to continue to implement.”

The Blue Devils were able to beat Bradwell without starting quarterback Beckham Jarrard. They will have to overcome the loss of their starting quarterback again this week so Dobson feels it was also important to win without him against Bradwell in their last game.

“We didn’t know until right before the game that Beckham was going to be unable to play,” Dobson said. “I think our team really responded especially having to come back from down 13-points to win that one. He will be out again and the only good thing is we had an extra week to try and prepare as an offense knowing he was out.”

This week the Blue Devils hit the road to Augusta for a matchup with the 0-6 Lakeside Panthers. Lakeside beat Statesboro last year 31-8 but Dobson feels both teams are different this season.

“Lakeside is a much different team this year as they graduated a really good and large senior group last season,” Dobson said. “They have struggled at times this year but they still have some really talented players. They can hit explosive plays and that is something we are going to have to try and control. It is also a home game for them and they are looking for momentum so we have to be prepared.”

Statesboro and Lakeside are scheduled for a 7:30 kickoff Friday in Evans.