Despite having some inexperienced players at key offensive positions, the Statesboro Blue Devils had done a good job holding onto the ball for the first two games of the season. That all changed Friday at Greenbrier as five turnovers turned into five Wolfpack touchdowns and a game that was 14-14 at the half turned into a 43-14 blowout.

“Sometimes people just hit you really hard and you fumble the football, or they make an incredible play with an interception,” said Statesboro coach Matt Dobson. “The ones we had Friday were self-inflected turnovers. We had trouble with snaps and exchanges and things really snowballed in the second half with four of our turnovers leading to four of their touchdowns.”

The good thing for Dobson and the team is those kinds of turnovers can be cleaned up. That has been the goal this week in practice and Dobson said he feels the team is more focused and playing more physical.

“We have really challenged the guys this week with physicality being our key word,” Dobson said. “We didn’t think we played very physical Friday, so that has been a challenge and so far, they have stepped up and answered the challenge.”

This week the Blue Devils play arguably their toughest opponent this season as they host Glynn Academy. The Red Terrors are 2-1 with wins over Wayne County and Bradwell and a 31-12 loss against Richmond Hill.

The Terrors are led by defensive back turned running quarterback Jayden Ellis who also splits time with the more pass-leaning Nicolas Munoz. In the backfield Glynn Academy returns Greg Peacock who terrorized the Blue Devils two years ago before missing last season with an injury. He is joined by 6-foot-1, 205-pound fullback Da’Sean Howard.

 “They are even more athletic than they have been the past few years,” Dobson said. “They are playing two quarterbacks but their quarterback who runs the ball has really taken the majority of the snaps. They have a couple really good running backs who are strong and tough to get down. They also like to use their receivers in some jet-sweep stuff. On defense they play downhill and are good at stopping the run. We have to try and establish the line of scrimmage and cut down on the penalties if we are going to win Friday.”

In addition to the game Friday will also be military appreciation night which will include a flyover. Military appreciation night hits home even more for many Blue Devil faithful who are aware of the ultimate sacrifice made by former player Chester McBride who was killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan in December of 2015.

“I have the utmost respect for all members of the military,” Dobson said. “The fieldhouse here is named after Chester and that is a great tribute to him. I want our players to know more all about his life and what he meant to this community. Friday we will honor him and his family. We want our kids to be able to look up to someone who does the right thing on and off the field. I have talked to a lot of people about Chester and he is someone who lived by the core values we try and preach here.”

“Each week a different player is wearing his number-one jersey,” Dobson said. “That is the number he wore when he played here. We have explained to our kids what an honor it is to wear that jersey and how they need to try and honor his legacy with the way they play.”

Statesboro and Glynn Academy are scheduled for a 7:30 start Friday night at Womack Field.