Statesboro starts the season with a trip to Southeast Bulloch

The Statesboro Blue Devils have only made one trip to Brooklet for a football game in school history, a scrimmage nine years ago.

Statesboro and Southeast Bulloch will meet again at Fred Shaver Field on Friday after a thrilling duel last year before the Blue Devils claimed a 12-7 victory in the Erk Russell Classic.

Both teams are in the same boat after the county had to cancel classes for a week last week due to rain and flooding, which also meant a week without practice. The week without practice also meant that neither team was able to play a practice game, which both coaches believe has hurt them the most ahead of the season opener.

“We really wanted to be able to evaluate our guys against another team,” Statesboro coach Matt Dobson said. “Missing an entire week of practice isn't ideal either, especially when we're trying to get our younger players playing. The worst part is Southeast Bulloch has been struggling with the same issue, so we're just going to have to pull it all together this week and make the most of it.”

Southeast Bulloch head coach Jared Zito has a few more starters back and a little more experience, but would still like to have had a practice game to work out some problems.

“The evaluation we missed is tough, but also just going through everything you do in a first game was tough,” Zito said. “Things like making sure the kick team and the punt team are ready and know when to go. You also miss the opportunity to see who's ready to play under the lights on a Friday night and who might not be. Statesboro has the same challenge, so you just hope that everything we go through in practice works out.”

Both teams will be breaking in new quarterbacks and counting on their returning players to support the running game in the forward formation.

“We have a lot of players back on the offensive line and defensive line,” Dobson said. “With TY Chambers, we have a good running back back who played strong at the end of last season. We have some young defensive backs who are talented but haven't played many minutes yet. We have a lot of guys who have worked hard and we're excited to see what they can do.”

It's a similar story for Zito, as the Jackets boast plenty of size and experience on offense. He'll also count on his depth to get them through.

“I've said all season that we're doing well with our players up front and back,” Zito said. “Our best returning rusher is Quentin Reed and we have a lot of running backs that can help him. On defense, our front seven, which includes our linebackers, are really strong. We're also happy with our defensive backs, they're just not quite as experienced.”

As for the game itself, the Jackets will be looking to earn their first football win against the Blue Devils, and Zito says a true rivalry can't happen until they win a game.

“It's an important game because it's the first game, and we want to make it a rivalry,” Zito said. “We feel like if we win a game, it really becomes a rivalry. It's our only non-region game, and it would mean so much to us if we came away with a win. I think if we go out and play a good football game and take care of the little things, the big things will take care of themselves.”

Dobson is aware that this is also an out-of-region game and does not believe his team is under any more pressure than when playing against other teams.

“Nobody is going to put more pressure on our team than we do to perform at our best,” Dobson said. “These guys have worked hard in the offseason and we're excited to watch them play. I love our team and their togetherness and can't wait to see them compete.”