The Statesboro Blue Devils are 0-2 after falling to Wayne County 20-6 last Friday, marking the second consecutive year SHS has lost its first two games to start the regular season. With a week off to reevalute and rest up before the team’s first Region 3-AAAAA game of the year against South Effingham Sept. 18., head coach Steve Pennington said he wants to get his team “back to the basics.”
    Offensively, the Blue Devils have struggled to score the ball, averaging just 6.5 points on offense in two games.
    Against Wayne County, the Blue Devils had just over 100 yards of rushing on a total of 35 carries.
    Pennington said due to Wayne County’s size upfront, the game plan was to run on the outside. However, moving forward the Blue Devils’ head coach said he’d like to see his team become more effective at running up the middle.
    As the Blue Devils prepare to face region rivals South Effingham on the 18th, here’s a couple of factors to watch this week before the big game.

More motion
    Coach Pennington and the Blue Devils’ coaching staff have worked on implementing a motion offense to give SHS an advantage in the run game.
    Fans caught a glimpse of what the team worked on during its off week as SHS lined up against Wayne County.
    Against the Yellow Jackets big defensive front, the Blue Devils used their speed to get to the outside. Tupac Lanier received several looks at the running back position, rushing for 33 yards on nine carriers. 
    “All in all, the game plan was a good format and it served us well. There’s still a lot of other parts to this system, and to be honest, every week we’re probably going to work on something new,” Pennington said. “For the earlier part of this week we need to get back to the basics and get back to our power game.”
    Pennington also mentioned an option read will be a part of the Blue Devils’ offensive system, something Statesboro hasn’t shown much of in games against Burke County and Wayne County.
    “We just haven’t had the chance to really work it. We have to work hard on our option,” Pennington said. “There’s also some other facets of the power game we can use by having different formations.”

Game of inches
    One highlight for the Blue Devils in the past few games has been the play of senior kicker Ryan Miller.
    Miller’s powerful punts were on display last Friday against the Yellow Jackets. On several plays with the Blue Devils’ backed up in their own territory, Miller reversed the field position.
    “In the two ballgames we’ve had, I think in both games each time we kicked off the teams started at the 20. We need people to work long fields, so that has been a great plus for us,” Pennington said.
    Miller also had a chance to pin a punt inside the five-yard line, but the ball trickled into the endzone for a touchback.
    “Against Wayne deep in our own territory we turned the field on a number of occasions. Wayne could of had great field position but we turned it,” Pennington said. “(Miller) is a weapon that is unmeasurable. Field position is important and the longer the team has to travel to score the better chances it gives our difference.”

Injury report
    In the first two games of the season, the Blue Devils were bit by the injury bug. SHS had a couple of starters miss time during the game against Wayne County.
    Starting linebacker Marquise McNeil sustained a knee injury that will need to be evaluated further during the Blue Devils’ off week.
    Junior defensive tackle Jarodrick Strickland is currently out of the lineup and will undergo concussion test. His return to game activities is still up in the air, according to Pennington.
    Pennington said the week off has come at the right time as his players work to get healthy.

    Horace Holloman may be reached at (912) 489-9408.