STATESBORO — Ware County played every bit like the top-ranked team in GHSA Class AAAAA Friday night, cruising to a 59-7 Region 1 victory here against Statesboro at Womack Stadium.
The Gators (8-0 overall, 4-0 region) dominated all phases of the contest, rolling up 528 yards total offense while limiting the Blue Devils (3-6, 2-2) to seven yards. Ware County scored on eight straight possessions from late in the first quarter through the third after falling behind on Statesboro’s lone touchdown off an interception return.
“We executed very, very well in all three phases of the game,” Ware County head coach Jason Strickland said. “We were really, really fast on both sides of the ball. The last time we were here (2019) we didn’t play well, but we got a win. We were focused this time and got a big win.”
The 59 points scored by the Gators was the fourth-highest in school history trailing the 67 points (Brantley County, 1994) and 62 points (Groves, 2013; Pine Ridge, 2018).
The victory sets up a de facto region championship game Friday night in Douglas against Coffee at Jardine Stadiume. The Trojans, 8-1 overall, also are unbeaten in the region after knocking off Greenbrier 48-0.
“We know what’s ahead of us,” Strickland said of the upcoming showdown. “We’re going to have to play really, really well again.”
Save the interception return, in which Statesboro defensive end Armontrae Bradford displayed his athleticism and speed, the Gators were pretty spotless in the performance.
Quarterback Nikao Smith passed for a season-high 310 yards, going 14-for-23 with three touchdowns and the interception. The junior gashed the Blue Devils with eight completions of more than 20 yards.
Two of the scoring tosses went to senior Jarvis Hayes, who earlier in the week verbally committed to play at Western Kentucky. Hayes caught five passes for 114 yards while D.J. Loriston snared four for 90 and the other touchdown.
Running back Dae’Jeaun Dennis ran for 104 yards and two scores on nine carries while R.J. Boyd collected 100 on 11 carries and two touchdowns. C.J. Johnson had the other scoring run.
William Bates added a field goal and seven conversion kicks while Josue Delagadillo had the other extra point.
Defensively, the Gators had an interception and a fumble recovery, and forced seven Statesboro punts. The Blue Devils ran 36 plays and 18 went for zero or negative yards. They didn’t record their initial first down until final play of the third quarter.
“I don’t think you could ask for too much more from all three phases of the game,” Strickland said.
After Statesboro went 3-and-out following the opening kickoff, Ware County took the lead on Bates’ 28-yard field goal with 7:22 left in the quarter. The sophomore’s kick capped a 10-play, 74-yard drive keyed by a 54-yard run by Dennis.
The Gators looked set to pad the lead after taking over at the Blue Devils’ 24 following a 20-yard punt. However, on the second play after a pass interference call on the Devils, Bradford got into the middle of a screen pass along the sideline, batted the ball into the air and pulled it in on the move to race untouched 80 yards for the touchdown with 4:42 remaining.
That was Statesboro’s only play to celebrate on the night as the Gators took command from there, scoring on their next eight possessions.
The first came before the end of the quarter when Boyd scored from a yard on first down to end a 52-yard, seven-play drive on which he covered the final 12 yards on three runs for a 10-7 lead.
It took the Gators just four plays to go 61 yards for another score just 1:45 into the second quarter pushing the margin to 17-7. Dennis scored on a two-yard run out of the wildcat formation for his first tally of the night. Smith and Hayes teamed up for the drive’s big play on a 54-yard pass in which the receiver outfought his defender for the ball.
Smith and Hayes ended the next possession of 48 yards with a 34-yard scoring pass with 7:04 left in the half for a 24-7 advantage
It only took the Gators five plays to move 76 yards for their next touchdown, a 21-yard connection between Smith and Loriston on a seam route with the receiver catching the ball in stride just a few steps out of the end zone extending the margin to 31-7
It was Smith and Hayes again teaming to finish off the 28-point second period, this time on a 22-yard toss with the receiver alone in the end zone with 1:31 before intermission and a 38-7 bulge. It was the fifth scoring connection between the two in the past two weeks.
Ware County had its longest march of the night to open the second half after bobbling the kickoff and getting moved back to its seven on an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
The Gators used three big plays to cover the bulk of the 93-yard distance — Smith passes of 37 yards to Brandon Washington and 34 to Loriston, and a 22-yard run from Dennis.
The senior’s scamper set up a first down at the Statesboro five. Dennis took it in from there, again out of the “wildcat” with 9:17 left in the quarter with the margin growing to 45-7
Two plays after the kickoff, the Gators had the ball again after L.J. Hall intercepted a pass by Bruce Yawn for a first down at the Devils 43. Five plays later, Johnson scored untouched on a three-yard run swelling the margin to 52-7.
Boyd finished the rout with his second touchdown, this one from nine yards with 1:02 left in the quarter to bring on a running clock for the final period.
