It hasn’t always been pretty. In fact, there were moments this year where it looked as though the Statesboro Blue Devils would probably miss the playoffs. A 28-25 loss in the final minute to Bradwell was followed by a 50-0 loss at Ware County. To their credit the Blue Devils may have saved their best for last as they knocked off Jenkins 35-0 Friday to clinch the No. 3 seed in this week’s Class 5-A state tournament. 

“It was a tremendous job by our coaches and players in trusting the plan that we had, and trusting we could still be a good football team,” said SHS coach Matt Dobson. “One huge thing we did was elliminating the penalties for the second straight week. We didn’t beat ourselves and we really won the fourth quarter.” 

The Blue Devils have struggled at times in all three areas of the game. Friday, they had their best game in all three phases led by Kam Mikell with over 150 yards rushing including one throwing touchdown and two rushing scores. The defense pitched their first shutout of the season, and special teams came up with a few big plays as well.  

“We won the turnover margin with turnovers on defense and on special teams,” Dobson said. “We rushed for over 200 yards and really shut down Jenkins rushing attack. They only took three snaps in our territory so we really did a great job on that side of the ball."

This week the Blue Devils go up against a familiar foe in the state playoffs with a trip to No. 2 seed Tucker. The Tigers are 6-4 and their lone region loss was last week's 24-23 overtime loss to Arabia Mountain. The offense is led by Jordan McCoy who has 1,667 yards rushing and an incredible 25 touchdowns. The Tucker defense is anchored by a pair of defensive ends who are D-1 commits in C.J. Jackson (LSU)and Seth Harden (Memphis).  

“They went for two on the last play of the game to try and win against Arabia Mountain and came up just short,” Dobson said. They are very fast on defense and have a pair of defensive ends who will be as good as we have seen all year. They have a quarterback in Jamar Graham who is 6-8, 240-pounds and he can throw it a mile down the field. McCoy is an explosive running back and it will be a challenge to try and keep him in check. I think winning the turnover battle is going to be a key for whoever wins Friday.” 

The Blue Devils and Tucker Tigers are scheduled for a 7:30 start in Tucker. Dobson feels like anything is possible in the state playoffs and feels his team goes in on a high note. 

“We are just excited we get at least another week with these guys,” Donson said. “Our seniors really put in an investment this past week and I’m happy they get at least another game. It would have been east to say we are 2-7 right now and let's just move on and be done with football. They didn’t because they love our football team and want to keep getting better and keep playing.”