Josh Aubrey, For the Coastal Courier.
STATESBORO - Trailing Statesboro by 27 late in the game, the Bradwell Tigers were still throwing the ball downfield as they weren’t ready to throw in the towel. The same cannot be said for the referees in the game between the Blue Devils and the Tigers as a total of 25 penalties were called during the game including 12 personal fouls.
Lost in all the flags being thrown was the fact that the Blue Devils improved to 2-1 in region play with a 41-14 victory at Womack Field.
At one point in the fourth quarter after a sideline penalty, Statesboro coach Jeff Kaiser had the entire team stand behind the team box and almost onto the Statesboro track. After the game, Kaiser was pleased with the victory but quite disappointed in the almost 200 yards of penalties.
“I am embarrassed and disappointed in the penalties tonight,” he said. “We know better than to retaliate to things on the field. I am proud of the way we came out in the second half. We battled back and made some adjustments and looked much better, except for all the penalties.”
Statistically the game was fairly close. Statesboro held a whopping 321-76 advantage on the ground, while Bradwell threw for 239 to only 26 for the Blue Devils. Senior running back Jordan Lovett led the way for Statesboro with 185 yards on 14 carries and went over 1,000 yards for the season. Elijah Wells had 137 yards rushing on nine carries.
The Blue Devils also lost an offensive lineman to injury in the first half, the third member of the line to get injured this year.
“It took a little to get used to guys playing different positions,” Kaiser said. “I thought we adapted much better in the second half.”
Statesboro jumped out to a 14-0 lead on a 27-yard Jordan Lovett touchdown in the first quarter, and a 16-yard touchdown by Wells in the second. With less than a minute left before halftime, the Tigers scored on just four plays. Quarterback Christopher Garrett found Bryant Thomas in the end zone with 13 seconds left in the half as Bradwell pulled within 13-7.
On Statesboro’s second offensive play of the second half, Jordan Lovett cut across field and outran the Tiger defense down the sidelines for a 53-yard touchdown to extend the Statesboro lead to 20-7.
Lovett helped set up the next score with a 36-yard run, but was tackled on the 1-yard line. Quarterback Kam Mikell scored on the next play for a 27-7 Statesboro lead. Mikell later left the game and Wells came in to take snaps out of the Wildcat formation.
On the first play, Wells took off up the middle and ran 73 yards before being tackled at the Bradwell 10-yard line. On the next play, Lovett lined up at quarterback and took the snap and rushed right up the middle virtually untouched to extend the lead to 34-7.
Three Statesboro personal foul penalties aided the Tigers on their next drive, leading to Marquise Frazier’s 10-yard touchdown run.
Statesboro answered that score with a 27-yard touchdown from Wells from the wildcat for the final points of the game.
The Statesboro win moves them one step closer to securing a state playoff bid. Next up will be a tall test for the Blue Devils, who host No. 1 ranked Ware County next Thursday. Bradwell drops to 0-8 and will next host Jenkins next Friday at 7:30 in their final home game of the season.