The last two times the Statesboro Blue Devils and Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets squared off on the football field, the game went down to the wire. In the 2023 Erk Russell Classic, the Blue Devils prevailed 12-7. Last season in Brooklet ,the Jackets got the best of the Blue Devils winning 23-18.
The loss for Statesboro was part of their early season struggles, which saw them end the season 4-6 as they failed to advance to the state playoffs after making it to the second round the previous season. Head coach Matt Dobson has talked about the importance of getting off to a better start in 2025 and having to go a year without county bragging rights has his team fired up about starting the season Friday at Womack Field.
“Our guys have had to hear about that loss for 365 days come Friday night,” Dobson said. “I know they are focused and excited to play in front of a big crowd at home to start the season. In the grand scheme of things this game does not mean anything as far as our postseason goals but as far as a pride perspective it means a lot. These types of games are what high school football is all about.”
As for the Yellow Jackets, they rode the momentum of the win in 2024 to a 10-3 record and advanced to the state quarterfinals for first time in 50 years. SEB head coach Jared Zito agrees with Dobson that a win or a loss does not have a bearing on the Yellow Jackets ultimate goals, but he knows the importance of the game to the players, coaches and the Brooklet community.
“What a great thing for both of our communities in terms of pride and excitement,” Zito said. “It is a tremendous atmosphere, which will be great for our kids if we are fortunate enough to make it back to the state playoffs that is what we may be dealing with. This also gets us game ready. Statesboro is a very good football team, and we have some good teams in our region, so it is important to go up against a quality opponent before we start region play.”
As for the gameplan for victory, the Blue Devils are aware of the amount of talent the Jackets will have on the field, and as is usually the case when playing SEB, it starts with trying to slow down the run game.
“They are big up front on both sides of the football,” Dobson said. “Their two starting backs in Colby Smith and Jayden Murphy are really good players. They are two of the best backs we will see all year. We have to try and stop them before they can get going because when they get out in open spaces, they are dangerous. On defense they are fundamentally sound, and they do a good job of keeping everything in front of them and preventing big plays. We must limit penalties and not turn the ball over.”
On the other side, Zito is aware of the strengths of the Statesboro offense which starts with trying to contain sophomore quarterback Beckham Jarrard.
“He was really good last year as a freshman and I think he is even better,” Zito said. “He is a very accurate passer and throws on time with knowing where he is going with the ball. I also think their offensive line is big and that can be a handful for us, and we are not as big on the defensive line as we have been and they also have a really good running back. Defensively there are a couple of guys who stand out to me who have length, and their noseguard Cam Jackson is impressive as well as linebacker Rashad Chavers. We will have to play a clean game and execute to win Friday.”
Statesboro and Southeast Bulloch are scheduled for a 7:30 start Friday at Womack Field.
