The Statesboro Blue Devils defeated the Veterans Warhawks 21-10 on Womack Field for the first home game of the season. This was the comeback game the Blue Devils needed to redeem themselves from their season opener against the Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets last Friday in Brooklet.
The Blue Devils came out the gate with big energy which followed them out onto the field to start the match up between these two foes.
First Half
The Blue Devils being riled up seemed to intimidate the Warhawks as they couldn’t seem to hold onto the ball in the first quarter, miscarrying a snap on the ball which resulted in a Blue Devil safety in the first few minutes of the game.
With multiple catches in the first half for the Blue Devils, junior wide receiver, Keon Childers, scored the Blue Devils first touchdown with a 25 yard run to put Statesboro up 9-0 against Veterans. Childers had 4 receptions per 80 yards with a, 11, 16, 18, and 25 yard catches in the first half for the Blue Devils.
Senior running back, Jaylyn “Chop” Heath, had a magnitude of carries for the Blue Devils, finishing the first half with 40 rushing yards. Behind him was senior running back TY Chambers, who had 22 rushing yards, freshman quarterback Beckham Jarrard with 17 rushing yards, and senior running back Josh Brockett with one rushing yard.
The Blue Devils went into halftime leading 9-0. The defense, led by juniors, Rashad Chavers and Xavier Spells, were all over the field carrying the Blue Devil defense making multiple stops and tackles on the ball left and right.
After the first half this is what Head Coach Matt Dobson had to say:
“Defense is playing lights out. They’re tackling really well, they’re getting to the football and they’re just doing a tremendous job.”
He wanted his team to keep communicating, winning at the line of scrimmage, and continuing to run the football going into the second half.
Second Half
The Blue Devils kind of seemed to come out the half a little lax and not the same energy that they had at the beginning of the game. With football being a game of runs, that is non ideal for a Blue Devil team that has a history of inconsistency.
The Blue Devils allowed the Warhawks back into the game quickly with a quick touchdown within the first five minutes of the half. Senior running back, Justin Shine scored the Warhawk first touchdown, and immediately after the Warhawks sent the Blue devils an onside kick that they couldn’t run down, so the Warhawks got the ball back and were able to convert that momentous play with a field goal to put the Warhawks up 10-9 by the end of the third.
Because of miscommunication the Blue Devils didn’t even touch the football till the last 1:45 in the third quarter and seemed to get a little misaligned so they had to regroup in the fourth to overcome the Warhawks.
Jaylyn Heath was an offensive beast in the second half for the Blue Devils rushing for 90 yards accounting for over half of the Blue Devils rushing yards. He finished the game with a 34 yards touchdown and 130 rushing yards.
Freshman quarterback Beckham Jarrard looked like a veteran on the field rushing for his own 23 yard touchdown of the night to close out the game with 42 yards in the second half and 59 rushing yards on the game. Having a freshman quarterback can be tough, but according to Coach Dobson that’s not a problem for the Blue Devils.
“The offensive line won the game for us, no doubt about it,” said Dobson. “Beckham was untouched on his run and he has a good charisma to him. Our guys like being around him.”
Stat wise, the Blue Devils finished with 213 rushing yards and 152 receiving yards for a total of 365 offensive yards, while the Warhawks finished with 121 rushing yards and 54 receiving yards for a total of 175 offensive yards.
The Blue Devils made 14 first downs with only one fumble on the night. They finished the game with seven penalties, two of which were offset. The Blue Devils are still having trouble with being patient on the line because four of those seven penalties were false starts for a total loss of 20 yards. Overall with penalties, the Blue Devils lost 30 yards to penalties.
Based on the history-making season the Blue Devils had last year making it to the second round of state for the first time in many years, the Blue Devils can rest a little easier knowing that the winning culture of Statesboro Football transferred over into this 2024 season too.
“At first you lose big and then you lose small, then you start winning small and hopefully will win big,” Dobson said.
Right now his team is in between that losing small and winning small and he hopes they will continue to learn how to win like they did in this game through adversity.
Up Next
The Blue Devils will be back in action on Friday, September 6, as they travel to Evans to take on the Greenbrier Wolfpack and kick off their region play for the 2024 season.
