The good news for Statesboro High head coach Matt Dobson is his team has played well in the friendly confines of Womack Field where they are 8-4 since he arrived in Statesboro. The bad news is they have truly struggled on the road where they 1-11 in the regular season.

Unfortunately for the Blue Devils that trend continued last Friday when they dropped a 38-6 decision to Glynn Academy. The Blue Devils didn’t help themselves, turning the ball over three times after having  only one turnover total in their three previous games, as well as some costly penalties.

“We had a couple touchdowns called back as well, and as some really big plays because of penalties,” Dobson said. “We turned the ball over three times all in their territory. On defense, we missed some tackles and gave up some big plays. We have talked with our leadership council and our team about having to play better on the road. We have gotten together as a coaching staff and we know we have to figure out what to do to get better on the road, especially with three of our next four games being away from home.”

Last year the Blue Devils beat Bradwell 41-36, but dropped a frustrating 28-25 decision two years ago in Hinesville in a game that saw Statesboro flagged over 20 times, including nine personal fouls, four of which were called on the Blue Devils sidelines.

“This is a big region game as both of us coming in 1-1,” Dobson said. “We have talked to our players about controlling what we can control. If the refs throw a flag whether we think it’s right or wrong, we have to move on. I think we need to go in there and play ball-controlled offense and run the football. They have some explosive players on offense and we need to keep them off the field the best we can.”

Statesboro and Bradwell are scheduled for a 7:30 start Friday night in Hinesville.