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Statesboro holds on to beat Bradwell 41-36
SHS football
Statesboro High's Ra'Quavis Prescott (25) deflects a pass intended for Bradwell receiver JaRousha Houston in the end zone on fourth down in the second quarter on Friday, Sept. 20. - photo by SCOTT BRYANT/staff

An average NFL football game takes three hours and 12 minutes. That includes long television time outs and 15-minute quarters. Friday night Statesboro and Bradwell took three hours and 17 minutes to play a high school football game. Thankfully for the home fans it was Statesboro coming out on top 41-36.

 

In a sloppy game marred by over 20 penalties by Bradwell by themselves, which accounted for over 150-yards, the Blue Devils were able to jump out to a 35-8 lead and then hold off a late charge by the Tigers. Two of the Tiger touchdowns in the fourth quarter came directly or indirectly after a couple Statesboro turnovers leaving head coach Matt Dobson happy for the win, but knowing the Blue Devils have plenty to work on.

 

“You are never going to apologize for a victory,” Dobson said. “We preached to our defense about not giving up big plays, and they gave them up. We told the offense we have to hold onto the ball and we had three turnovers. If we don’t turn the ball over, we may have put up 60 points. We have next week off and that is a good thing because we have a lot to work on.”

 

Statesboro put up some pretty big numbers in the game as freshman quarterback Beckham Jarrard completed 18 of 30 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns and also caught a touchdown pass. T.Y. Chambers added 91-yards rushing and 55 yards receiving. Rashad Chavers and Keon Childers both had two touchdowns and Statesboro piled up 365 yards of offense.

 

On the flip side Bradwell tallied 580 yards of offense with 303 yards through the air and 277 yards on the ground.

 

Statesboro started the scoring on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Jarrard to Chavers. The two-point conversion run by Chambers made it 8-0. Bradwell quickly responded with a 60-yard touchdown pass from Carlito Savea to Tyon Jones. Their two-point conversion was also good tying the game at 8-8.

 

Statesboro added a couple more scores before the half. Chop Heath scored on a three-yard run to make it 14-8. Dobson then dug into his bag of tricks for a reverse pass from Davis Harrison to Jarrard, who made a nice run for a 63-yard touchdown to put Statesboro up 21-8 at the half.

 

The second half started with Statesboro looking like they’d pull away. The Blue Devils scored on a five-yard pass from Jarrard to Chavers to make it 28-8. Jarrard then threw a perfect pass to Childers in the end zone for a 33-yard score to extend the lead to 34-8.

 

That’s when things got sloppy for the Blue Devils. A turnover led to a short touchdown run for Jacob Pasley to make it 34-16 after the two-point conversion. On their next series Jarrard was hit and fumbled the ball. Jerome Delaney scooped up the loose ball and rumbled 32-yards to make it 34-22.

 

Statesboro struck back for a four-yard touchdown run by Childers in the fourth to extend the lead to 42-22. Bradwell added a pair of scores by backup quarterback JaRousha Houston who connected with Jones and Jonathan Holloway to get within six, but mercifully time finally expired.

 

“We hit a few explosive plays on offense and built a nice lead,” Dobson said. “Then things got bad for us and we seemed to lose a little focus. Our kids fought and we found a way to win. Our kids are learning how to win, now we have to learn how to finish a game.”

 

The win improves the Blue Devils record to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in region play. Bradwell falls to 1-4 and 0-3 in region play. Up next the Blue Devils have a bye week and then host Lakeside Oct. 4.