The Statesboro Blue Devils started the season 3-0, but have since dropped three of their last four games and are 1-3 in region play.

The Blue Devils are coming off a bye week and head coach Matt Dobson said it came at the right time, so the team could clean up some issues that have hurt them in recent games.

“We went back to do some basic fundamentals and also really challenged our guys with physicality with tackling and breaking tackles,” Dobson said. “I thought going back to the ARC game the difference in the second half was their offensive players were breaking tackles.

"We were missing tackles defensively and our offense didn’t make their guys miss enough. So we went back to being physical on both sides of the ball. You can be really physical and still be a bad tackler and so we were physical, but also worked on being better tacklers. I think our guys rose to the challenge and it was very competitive out there this week.”

This week, the Blue Devils look to get back on track as they travel to Evans. The Knights are 3-4 and are also 1-3 in region play. Dobson knows the importance of a road win Friday with only three games left in the regular season.

“They’re going to just try to keep the ball in front of you and so we have to get off the field defensively we have to get them into third and fourth downs and get them off the field,” Dobson said. “The key offensively is to sustain drives and then finish them. That’s where we really struggled the last couple of weeks is not finishing your drive when we get to the red zone.

"They’re not going to give up a bunch of explosive plays, so we’re going to have to drive the football. We have to be disciplined and play our brand of football and maintain those drives.”

One other thing the Blue Devils have to deal with this week is its fall break and the Kiwanis Fair is in town, which breaks the routine players are used to.

“We were fortunate that we made the same trip this time last year,” Dobson said. “We’re keeping a lot of our travel plans the same. When you’re going on the road and you have fall break, that’s a challenge. We have the same mindset and it’s going to be pretty much a normal game day so we are just trying to keep that routine as much the same as possible for our kids.

"You hope the kids treat this week the right way but you just always worry when you’re on a break if guys are getting enough sleep and eating right and hydrating and taking care of their bodies. That’s going to be a challenge for us this week.”

Statesboro and Evans are set for a 7:30 start Friday at Evans.