They say football can be a game of inches and that’s what happened at Womack Field Friday night.
Hosting Glynn Academy and down by seven Statesboro scored on a Beckham Jarrard touchdown with nine seconds left. Coach Matt Dobson tried to go for two but an off-sides penalty forced him to try a kick. Freshman Mason Sellers kick was just inches off the mark, grazing the right upright and the Blue Devils lost a heartbreaker 21-20.
“I had faith in my kids and was trying to go for the win,” said Statesboro coach Matt Dobson. “We believe in our kids and we told them that at halftime and throughout the game. I am heartbroken for them because they battled their butts off, but I think we will be fine.”
This isn’t the first time Glynn Academy pulled off a one-point win at Statesboro. Two years ago, with seconds remaining Glynn Academy coach Rocky Hildago pulled off some trickery, faking the extra point and running in a two-pointer as the Red Terrors walked away with a 43-42 win at Womack Field.
This time around it was a defensive battle for the first half. Jarrard helped move the ball downfield on the Blue Devils opening possession and after a 17-yard first down run by Josh Brockett, Jarrard rolled out and found Brockett all alone for a 25-yard score. The extra point failed and it was 6-0.
The rest of the half, the Blue Devil defense showed out. Jovon Gibson and Xavier Spells had a few hits for a loss and Spells came up with a fumble recovery as Statesboro took a 6-0 lead into the half.
In the second half, Hildago benched starting quarterback Nicolas Munoz for Tyree Chisolm. This proved to be a wise move as Chisolm ran the ball out of the option primarily and it gave Statesboro problems. Hildago went with a reverse pass from receiver Sean Wallace to Chisolm for a 31-yard touchdown and Glynn took a 7-6 lead.
On their next drive, Jarrard was picked off at midfield by Jamir Williams. The Terrors turned that into points as Greg Peacock scored on a 11-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 14-6. Moments later, a bobbled snap on a punt attempt turned into a block for Glynn Academy. They took over inside the five-yard line and scored on the first play of the fourth quarter to take a 21-6 lead.
From there, the Statesboro defense stepped up, shutting Glynn Academy down the rest of the fourth. The offense got rolling, too. A couple of nice runs by T.Y. Chambers helped set up Brockett for a two-yard touchdown run. Chambers ran in the two-point conversion cutting the lead to 21-14 with 6:33 to play.
The defense managed to shut the Terrors down on their next drive and the offense took over inside the 30-yard line with just over four minutes to play. Faced with a fourth and seven, Jarrard hit Gage Newsome across the middle for a first down. He was hit hard in a helmet-to-helmet shot by Spencer Clark and fumbled. This was ruled a personal foul and Statesboro took over at the Glynn Academy five-yard line.
Dobson managed to hold all three-time outs and worked the clock down to nine seconds left. On fourth and goal from the one-yard line, Jarrard dove into the end zone to cut the lead to 21-20. The extra point was missed and the Terrors escaped with a 21-20 win.
“I thought our guys on offense and defense both got a lot more physical in the fourth quarter,” Dobson said. “They battled and I am proud of that and so disappointed we couldn’t close it out. I love the locker room and the heart we showed tonight and this is something we can build on.”
Statesboro falls to 1-3 and 0-2 in region play. Up next the Blue Devils host Bradwell next Friday.
