JESUP - It was a defensive battle in Jesup as Statesboro High School fell short of beating Wayne County 20-6 Friday night in a non-region contest at Donaldson-Madray Field at Jaycee Stadium.
The Blue Devils' defense showed up to play after falling to Burke County in the season opener. Statesboro's defense forced two turnovers, including a fumble recovery as the Yellow Jackets attempted to score on a quarterback-keeper from the 3-yard line in the third quarter.
The Blue Devils (0-2) held Wayne County (2-1) to just 40 yards of rushing in the first half.
"We had a lot of heart tonight. We didn't matchup well and our lack of depth took its toll," said head coach Steve Pennington after the game. "You have to give the credit to Wayne County. They made a lot of great adjustments after halftime, but at the same time, defensively, we rose to the occasion a number of times."
It was a tough game on the ground for SHS. Xavier Hollmon ran for just 19 yards on eight carries and Mahlon Williams had just 28 yards on eight tries. Tupac Lanier led the team on the ground with 33 yards on nine carries.
During an impassioned speech Thursday afternoon before the start of practice, Pennington told his team they could beat Wayne County if they expected
to win.
The defense held the Blue Devils in the ball game for most of the night, giving Statesboro every opportunity to take advantage.
It took almost 31 minutes for either team to punch the ball into the endzone, however, the Yellow Jackets luck would change in the third quarter.
SHS fumbled the ball twice inside their own 10-yard line, giving Wayne County the opportunity
to score.
"It's just not advantageous for us to turn the ball over inside our 10 two times," Pennington said. "Other than that I really thought our offense played well tonight. We still have some things we need to correct, but when they scored, we took some steps in the right direction when we answered back."
Wayne County quarterback Seth Clary scored the first points of the game on a quarterback keeper with 5:25 left to play in the third quarter.
The Blue Devils answered on their ensuing drive. Xavier Hollmon capped off a big fourth quarter drive on a run up the middle to bring the score to 7-6. Statesboro would miss the extra point.
In arguably the biggest play of the game, the Statesboro defense prevented Wayne County from scoring with just eight minutes left to play in the fourth quarter. The Blue Devils defense stripped the ball from Clary as he tried to stretch to the endzone. SHS would recover.
On the very next play, however, the Blue Devils fumbled, giving the ball right back to the Yellow Jackets.
Wayne County scored on a one-yard run from Trenquell Holloway.
The Blue Devils offense would fumbled, giving the Yellow Jackets the ball with great field position. This time Clary tossed to receiver Jackson Trenton for the score with 6:03 left to play in the fourth quarter.
"We had a lot of positives to build on. Even in defeat we made great strides and improvements.," Pennington said.
The Blue Devils will have yet another off week to prepare before a Sept. 18 matchup with region foes South Effingham.
Box Score
SHS 0 0 0 6 — 6
WCHS 0 0 7 13 — 20
Third Quarter
WCHS_Clary 3 run; 5:25
Second Quarter
SHS_Hollmon 2 run; 11:48
WCHS_Holloway 1 run; 7:12
WCHS_Trenton 7 pass from Clary; 6:03
SHS WCHS
Total Yards 161 212
Rushes-yards 35-109 28-152
Passing 52 60
Comp-Att-Int 7-13-0 7-13-1
Turnovers 2 2
Penalties-Yards 8-45 7-66
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing_SHS: Tupac Lanier 9-33; WCHS: Tyler Jenkins11-62,
Passing_SHS: Xavier Hollmon 7-13-52; WCHS: Seth Clary 6-13-50
Receiving_SHS: Jalen Davis 3-17; WCHS: Jackson Trenton 3-30
