Celebrating a 12-7 win over a 2-8 team may seem a little excessive, but considering the fact that the win sent the Statesboro Blue Devils to their first state playoff appearance in five years, it’s very understandable.
Coach Jeff Kaiser has emphasized making it to the 11th game of the season since taking over the reins two years ago and Friday night the Blue Devils were able to follow through with their first region win since 2015.
“We may not be the biggest or fastest team around, but this bunch has got more guts than any team I have ever coached,” Kaiser said. “They care about each other, and it’s important for them to do well for each other, and this coaching staff is unreal.”
The rain may have held up Friday night, but the first half was pretty sloppy. On their second offensive series of the night, the Blue Devils started from their own one yard line, and marched down inside the South Effingham 20, but were unable to convert on a fourth down attempt.
The Statesboro defense played solid throughout the night, and got the offense the ball back again, and this time they cashed in. Jaylin Roberson took off on the second play from scrimmage, and sprinted past the defense 47 yards for the touchdown. The extra point failed and it was 6-0 Statesboro with :56 left the in the first quarter.
In the second quarter the Blue Devil offense was able to convert on two fourth down attempts, but fumbled the ball on the 13-yard line, and the Mustangs Preston Moore returned the ball all the way to the Statesboro 4-yard line before being forced out of bounds by Roberson.
The defense once again bailed the offense out though, as Flip Dixon pickeoff a Zachary Taylor pass at the 7-yard line, and the game would go to the half with Statesboro leading 6-0.
Statesboro started the third quarter much the same way they ended the second on offense. The Blue Devils got to the South Effingham 22, but on fourth and two fumbled the ball back to the Mustangs again.
“We turned the ball over too many times tonight,” Kaiser said. “I’m not so sure having that week off didn’t hurt us. I felt we were very rusty tonight, but credit some of that to the South Effingham defensive coordinator’s schemes.”
The Statesboro defense continued to hold the Mustang offense in check, in fact they’d allow only six first downs the entire game. The offense finally broke through late in the fourth quarter. Jaylin Roberson - who rushed for 118 yards - broke off a 63 yard run to the South effingham 11-yard line. Roberson would then go in from two yards out. The extra point failed and Statesboro took a 12-0 lead with 2:24 left in the game.
The Mustangs added a score with :47 left on a 20-yard pass from Zachary Taylor to Shemar Moore to cut the lead to 12-7. The Mustangs onside kick attempt would sail out of bounds, and the Blue Devils were able to run out the clock, followed by a celebration on the field.
“I heard a coach say recently that, you don’t come to a program that has been losing and give them a pill, and everything is fixed,” Kaiser said. “We’ve got miles and miles to go before we are back to where we need to be, but we wanted to get to that 11th game, and we did that tonight.”
Statesboro outgained South Effingham 369-152 in total yards. Statesboro rushed for 340 yards, and the Blue Devil defense limited the Mustangs to only 14 total yards rushing on 15 attempts.
Next up Statesboro will have a chance at securing the No. 3 seed in the state tournament as they hit the road for New Hampstead in their regular season finale.
