No. 1 Coffee set to face Blue Devils
The good news for the Statesboro Blue Devils is they are currently 1-0 in region play. The bad news is Friday they welcome No. 1-ranked Coffee to Womack Field.
Statesboro was able to snap a three-game losing streak last Friday thanks in large part to their defensive effort which included holding Greenbrier out of the end zone, as well as Corey Budget returning an interception 98 yards for the Blue Devils' only touchdown of the game.
“I think our guys really gained some confidence and as a staff we are really proud of the effort they put in Friday night,” Statesboro coach Matt Dobson said. “We played really shorthanded on offense and had some young guys step up for us. We had a lot of sophomores on offense and defense who played Friday and coming away from there with a win should help their confidence as we have a big game Friday.”
The Blue Devils may have momentum, but now comes Coffee County which is undefeated with a record of 6-0 and is also 1-0 in region play following a 62-6 win over Bradwell Institute last week. Many teams would look at hosting the No. 1 team as a reason to panic, but Dobson is hoping the Blue Devils look at this as a great chance to make a statement.
“We have talked to our team about what an awesome opportunity it is to host the No. 1 team in the state,” Dobson said. “We have talked about taking it one play at a time and how that can turn into one drive and then if you win that drive it can turn into one quarter and so on. We are going to have to play a clean football game and try and generate some extra possessions with turnovers and special teams play.”
The Trojans are led by 5-10, 210-pound running back Fred Brown who has 961 yards and 11 touchdowns this season, which is four more than the Statesboro offense has scored all season. Coffee is averaging over 36 points per game and their defense is allowing only seven points per contest.
“They are big and physical,” Dobson said. “They usually play with two tight ends and have a huge running back who is strong and tough to bring down. It’s hard for just one guy to bring him down and you have to get low and get multiple people to the football. They also have a good quarterback and receivers who can stretch you vertically. On defense they are fast at every position and cover a lot of ground. They are number one in the state for a reason.”
“In order to win we are going to have to take care of the football and generate some explosive plays somehow,” Dobson said. “They have not given up long drives so we are going to have to find a way to make some big plays. On defense we are going to have to limit the number of possessions and create some turnovers.”
Statesboro and Coffee are scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday at Womack Field.
Rivalry renewed: ECI visits Portal
It’s tough to call a series a rivalry when it is pretty one-sided. Since 2006 the Portal Panthers have only beaten ECI once and that was a 17-7 upset in 2011. The Panthers neighbors from over in Twin City have been far from neighborly, winning by an average margin of 42-8.
This year both teams come in with records of 3-3 with the Panthers sitting at 1-0 in region play. Last week ECI was on a bye and Portal went on the road and knocked off Montgomery County 50-23 in their region opener and first region win since 2016.
“We are proud to be able to get that monkey off our back with a region win,” said Portal coach Jason McEachin. “It keeps all our goals on the table that we have talked about. Our offense played really well scoring 50 points for the first time this year and we are glad we get to turn right around and play ECI with some momentum behind us.”
The Bulldogs have played a tough pre-region schedule and have only managed to score more than 15 points once this season in a 42-8 win over Jefferson County Sept. 29. On the flip side Portal is averaging over 31 points per game and has only been held to two touchdowns on one occasion.
“I feel like with who we picked up our non-region schedules are pretty comparable,” McEachin said. “They are built more around ball control and trying to play good defense and take advantage of the other teams making mistakes. Our approach is a little different with our offense making explosive plays. We know they are going to try and limit our possessions and shorten the game but we are going to try our best to prevent that from happening.”
History may be on the Bulldogs side, but McEachin feels his team is confident and is far from satisfied with winning their first region game in seven years.
“We celebrated our win Friday but we told the kids the job is not done,” McEachin said. “We want to host a playoff game and play for a region championship and make that tenth game be for a region title. If we take care of business Friday all those things are still on the table.”
Portal and ECI are scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start Friday at the Portal Athletic Complex.
Jackets host top-ranked Benedictine
The Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets hung around for a while last Friday but eventually saw New Hampstead put the game in another gear as they’d pull away in the second half for a 50-34 victory. The Jackets are currently 4-3 overall and 1-1 in region play as they welcome the No. 1-ranked Benedictine Cadets to Fred Shaver Field Friday night.
“We knew what we were getting into last week with New Hampstead and we let things get away from ourselves in the second half,” said SEB coach Jared Zito. “The mood of the team is fine as we thought we played hard and we didn’t quit. We missed a few opportunities on offense and missed some tackles on defense. We are now playing some very talented teams and we can’t afford to miss on those things and come out with a win.”
This week the Jackets go from a team that just scored 50 points on them to a team with about the same firepower as they host 7-0 Benedictine. The Cadets average over 36 points per game, but have been a little generous lately on defense. New Hampstead had over 500 yards of offense against Benedictine and scored 31 points, while Burke County put up 30 points in a 38-30 loss last Friday in Waynesboro.
Quarterback Luke Kromenhoek has committed to play at Florida State next fall and has already thrown for 995 yards and 11 touchdowns and has 313 yards and four scores rushing the ball. Running back Bryce Baker leads a talented group of skill position players with six touchdowns.
“They are very well coached and have talented players everywhere,” Zito said. “This is the second straight week we are playing an elite quarterback. They mix their throwing game with a kind of Wing-T style offense. This gives you two kinds of offenses to have to gameplan for which they have done successfully for a few years now. They are number one for a reason.”
Zito has tried to get his team up for the game by explaining what an opportunity they have in front of them.
“This should be the kind of game our players dream of playing in,” Zito said. "It is senior night and the No. 1 team in the state is coming to our house. If you can’t get up for this kind of a challenge, I don’t understand it.”
Southeast Bulloch and Benedictine are slated for a 7:30 p.m. start at Fred Shaver Field.
Gators trying to improve to 7-0
The Bulloch Academy Gators have taken off in year two under head coach Aaron Phillips. Last season Phillps installed an option attack and the Gators had some success, but nothing like this season as they are currently 6-0 and are averaging over 50 points per game which ranks first in the state of Georgia.
“When we got here our offensive lineman didn’t even play with their hand in the dirt,” Phillips said. “They were a straight spread team and we went in a totally different direction and that can take some time. Our kids now understand how we want to play football and want to be nasty and physical at the point of attack. Coach Lefebvre and coach Charlie Hopkins have done a great job with the offense and I think we have talent up front and a lot of depth at the skill positions which has really helped.”
The Gators have been able to roll through some of the teams that beat them last year with a 51-7 victory over Augusta Prep, a 50-7 win over Augusta Christian and a 42-7 win over Briarwood last week. This week it’s a meeting with Thomas Jefferson who they lost to 35-7 last year.
“Some may say that the teams we are beating are down from last year,” Phillips said. “I think it is that we have just gotten much better. It usually takes a year to get everything installed and all the kids bought in. I feel that is where we are at this point."
Thomas Jefferson comes into the season having won the last four state titles in GIAA Class-A under former Bulloch Academy head coach Terence Hennessy. This year the Jaguars have struggled to a 1-5 record and have been outscored 202-58 with only 20 players on their roster.
“They have a great program over there but have had some issues this season,” Phillips said. “They lost 16 very good players from last year's team. Some of those were to graduation and some were to transfer. What we are trying to do is make sure our kids aren’t looking ahead to our region schedule which is coming up and focus on winning this game Friday night. We have also won more games this year than we did the past two years combined and we also have to beware of complacency so hopefully our guys will come out focused and take care of business.”
