By: Mike Anthony

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

A week ago, there were plenty of nerves at Womack Field as the Statesboro Blue Devils gutted out a win over South Effingham to punch their first ticket to the state playoffs since 2013.

On Friday night, the Devils were able to keep the momentum rolling. Statesboro found itself trailing New Hampstead by a count of 21-7 midway through the second quarter, but rallied to score the final four touchdowns of the contest to claim a 35-21 victory.

Statesboro took an early advantage when leading rusher Jaylen Roberson continued his suburb season with a 21-yard touchdown run.

As the second quarter began, the Phoenix answered with a bang. Deyandre Ruffin found open space for a 65-yard scoring run and Justin Mckithen topped that with a 90-yard touchdown run to put New Hampstead on top.

Things appeared to be heading for disaster when the Phoenix blocked and recovered an SHS punt for a touchdown and a 21-7 lead with just a minute remaining in the half, but the Devils got off the mat.

Statesboro responded with a stellar kick return by Will Yawn, another big run by Roberson and a pitch-and-catch from Drake Horton to Ryan Lindsey to reach the red zone.

Horton completed the textbook two-minute drill by finding Corey Gibson for a 10-yard touchdown strike to cut the Devils’ deficit to 21-14 at halftime.

From there on out, it was all Blue Devils.

Roberson found the end zone again midway through the third quarter and the ensuing extra point tied things up. It was Roberson doing the damage again early in the fourth quarter with a 4-yard run on the first play of the final period putting him in the end zone for the third time on the night.

The big plays that had spurred the Phoenix to their early lead were nowhere to be found in the second half as the SHS defense clamped down. And with 1:54 to play, Devardrion Lipsey plunged in from four yards out to wrap things up.

With the win, the Blue Devils improved to 4-6 on the season. More importantly, the Devils and Phoenix entered Friday’s game with identical 1-2 marks in Region 2-AAAAA competition.

The regular season finale turned into a de facto region playoff for seeding. The big win for Statesboro bumped them into the region’s No. 3 seed while New Hampstead was left with the No. 4 seed and will have to tangle with Region 3-AAAAA champion Starr’s Mill in next week’s first round action.

Statesboro will travel to face Griffin next Friday. Ironically, it was a loss at Griffin in the second round of the 2013 playoffs that marks the last time the Blue Devils made an appearance in a state playoff game.

The Blue Devils’ fourth win of the season equaled the total wins for the program over the last three seasons combined and is the most in a single year since a 9-3 mark in the 2013 playoff season.

The team will be a prohibitive underdog at Griffin next week, but now in the second year of the Jeff Kaiser coaching era and with a handful of junior playmakers who have keyed the improvement, Statesboro could be well on its way to reestablishing itself as a perennial playoff participant.