The Statesboro Blue Devils are coming off a 28-6 loss to Effingham County but still have a chance at making the postseason as they wrap up the regular season Friday at home against Lakeside.

The Blue Devils 28-6 score against Effingham seems a little more one-sided than it really was. The Blue Devils squandered three chances for points inside the Rebel 16-yard line and missed on a fourth and one effort from the Effingham 30-yard line. Head coach Matt Dobson was frustrated with the loss, but feels his team is much better than their 4-5 record may indicate.

“We lost by one point to Glynn Academy and if we win that we are in the playoffs right now,” Dobson said. “Last week we had four chances inside the 30-yard line to score. We fumbled at the one-yard line, threw an interception inside the 11-yard line and missed a short field goal. If we score two of the four times we were inside the 30 I think the Effingham game could be a different story. The fact is we have to be better in the red zone at coming up with points and holding onto the ball.”

The current scenario is to make the playoffs the Blue Devils must beat Lakeside and have Evans score at least 14 points and beat Glynn Academy.

“We feel like making the state playoffs is still a good possibility but we hate that the control isn’t necessarily in our hands,” Dobson said. “I think we can play well enough to beat Lakeside and Evans has shown enough that they could beat Glynn. We are going out there like this is the state playoffs and give our best effort against Lakeside Friday.”

The Panthers have surprised a lot of people by being 8-1 and in second place in the region standings. Last season Lakeside was 3-7 overall and 1-5 in region play. They return 23 seniors on this year’s squad and have had big years from a few of those seniors. Running back Brandon Grissom (6-0, 200 lbs.) has over 1,000 yards rushing and eight touchdowns. Grissom also leads the team in tackles and sacks on defense. The player Dobson has been the most impressed with is versatile quarterback junior Ty Jones.

“It all starts with their quarterback,” Dobson said. “He is a dynamic athlete. He starts in the secondary for them as well and returns kicks and punts. He can throw it and has some guys who can catch it, but his biggest asset is being able to run the ball. Their other two best players are twins Mikeal and Brandon Grissom who are solid on both sides of the ball. We have to try and limit the big plays on the ground and make sure we cash in when we get our chances on offense.”

 Statesboro and Lakeside are scheduled for a 7:30 start Friday at Womack Field.