The Statesboro Blue Devils lost their season opener to Southeast Bulloch 23-18, but head coach Matt Dobson said this week that he took a lot of positives from the loss.
“We were able to hold on to long drives at times and convert some third downs,” Dobson said. “Those are some things we struggled with last year. When I look at the tape of the game, I think we actually played a little better against them this year, but we just couldn’t come away with a win.”
Statesboro started freshman Bekham Jarrard at quarterback and he finished 16 of 23 attempts for 180 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
“The offensive line did a great job of protecting him and he kept his composure,” Dobson said. “We talked about the successful passes all week and he was exactly 70 percent the whole game. He got hit a couple times and it never fazed him, which I’m really proud of. He’s going to be a big part of this football program for the next four years and lead us to a lot of victories.”
Dobson said there were a lot of little things that frustrated him Friday night that he felt could be fixed, but he believes those things can be addressed in practice this week.
“We had some mistakes on special teams, but other than that, most of the things we didn’t do well are easily fixable,” Dobson said. “We also had a few ball security issues that we need to fix. Overall, I was pleased with the offense and defense and hope we can make big strides from week one to week two, as you normally do.”
The Blue Devils host the Veterans on Friday night for their first home game at Womack Field. The Veterans are fresh off a 41-26 loss to Jones County and are led by 5-foot-10, 175-pound running back Justin Shine, who rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns against Jones County.
“I don’t really know much about the veterans because I’ve never coached against them in the past,” Dobson said. “Last week against Jones County, they looked really good on offense. They’re good at running and are led by senior Justin Shine, who is quick and elusive. On defense, they don’t have many seniors, but they do a good job of keeping everything in front of them and not allowing big plays. They struggled a lot in the kicking game and that’s probably why they lost on Friday.”
Statesboro and Veterans are scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Womack Field.
