By: Joseph Stuckey

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The Friday night lights will shine brightly in Statesboro this week as the undefeated Blue Devils welcome in perennial powerhouse Benedictine Military School to Womack Field.

This will truly be one of the marquee matchups this week in the state, as both Statesboro (#6) and Benedictine (#4) are ranked among their top-10 teams in 5-A.

Statesboro has really impressed a lot of people so far this season, as they currently sit undefeated at 3-0. They have wins against in-county rival Southeast Bulloch, and they also got strong measuring-stick wins against Burke County and ECI.

They also got an early bye week before this big-time matchup, which should have them ready to go at nearly full strength.

Benedictine comes into the game 2-1 with wins over Hebron Christian and a big statement win over 7-A Camden County. Their lone loss came to the 3-A state title favorite Toombs County, which has a roster loaded with FBS commits and prospects.

Speaking of prospects, Benedictine has 2 Power-4 commits on their roster: wide receiver Eron Mallard, who is a 3-star committed to the Purdue Boilermakers, and 3-star safety Stanley Smart, who is committed to the Hokies of Virginia Tech.

Benedictine has been built as a powerhouse that has constantly sent players to the FBS level. Some argue it is the most successful program in Southeast Georgia over the last decade or so.

The Cadets have captured state football championships in 2022, 2021, 2016, and 2014. In years they did not win the state title, they have made deep playoff runs, including last year, when they finished runner-up to Creekside by just 3 points.

Speaking of sending players to college, here are a few notable cadets at the next level: Bubba Frazier (Notre Dame), Luke Kromenhoek & Za’Quan Bryan (USF), Stephen Cannon and Ladamion Guyton (Texas Tech), Third & Ralph Scroggins (Miami), Jacobe Ward (Auburn), Kameron Cody (Clemson), Bryce Baker (Georgia Southern), & Holden Geriner (Pitt).

Statesboro also has a couple of notable players currently on FBS rosters as well. Edge rusher Amonntrae Bradford is currently with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and all-purpose athlete Kam Mikell plays for the hometown Georgia Southern Eagles.

Most likely, this game will be a major factor in determining who the region champion is for class 5-A region 1. This region also consists of perennial favorites Ware County and Jenkins (Savannah).

However, with the new rankings formula being implemented in all of GHSA, a loss in this game will not be detrimental to either team if the status quo holds. I predict each one of these teams to be in the 7-9 win range, so as each team moves on after this game, their ranking should continue to improve as the other team keeps winning.

With this being a home game, the Blue Devils are hoping the hometown fan base will bring a lot of energy and rally them to a seismic win that will show the rest of 5-A that Statesboro plans to make a run at the state title this year.