By Kevin Price For GCS Athletcis The Glynn Academy Red Terrors kicked off their 2023 season with a 21-0 victory Friday night over Statesboro at Glynn County Stadium. The Glynn defense paced the victory as the Terrors posted their fourth shutout against the Blue Devils in the all-time series between the teams which spans 33 games. The Terrors also blanked Statesboro back in 2020 when they won 28-0 in the final game of the regular season. “I knew this was gonna be a good defensive football team,” said GA head coach Rocky Hidalgo after the game. “This doesn’t surprise me. This is gonna be a good defense as long as we stay healthy. We have some depth and some good players.” With Friday’s victory, Glynn improved to 6-3-1 in opening games under Hidalgo who is beginning his 10th season at the GA helm. Glynn has now won the last seven meetings with Statesboro going back to the 2009 season. Last year, the Terrors won a thriller at Statesboro, converting a two-point play off a fake extra-point try in overtime to pull out a 43-42 victory in the opening game for both squads. That was the first loss in a 3-8 campaign for the Blue Devils, and after the season, Jeff Kaiser retired as head coach at his alma mater. Statesboro hired Matt Dobson as his replacement early in 2023. Dobson played college football at Georgia Southern and had been working as the offensive coordinator at North Forsyth when he applied for the job with the Blue Devils. With Dobson making his debut with the team, Statesboro failed to score as they also unveiled a new spread offense installed by their first-year head coach. “We didn’t really know what we were gonna see from them, so we pretty much had to rely on what we do,” Hidalgo said. “That’s what we told the kids and they went out and played their tails off. We played pretty good fundamental football. A lot of things went into the shutout tonight that the people in the stands probably aren’t watching, but we did some things that only come when guys have been playing for two or three years.” Glynn intercepted Statesboro junior quarterback Bruce Yawn four times with two picks in the first half and two more after halftime. Yawns’s first interception resulted in a pick-6 for the Terrors as senior safety Ryan Young raced 75 yards for Glynn’s second score of the game which gave the home team a 14-0 lead at halftime. Also intercepting passes for the Terrors in the win were senior linebacker Trent Tankersley, senior cornerback Marshawn Turner and junior cornerback Jayden Ellis who intercepted a pass in the GA end zone before the halftime break to end a scoring threat by the Blue Devils. Senior linebacker Peyton Parker, a known tackling machine, led the Glynn defense with seemingly 33 tackles to match his jersey number. His official tackling statistics will be recorded by the GA coaches during film review of the game over the weekend. “Peyton has put on about 35 pounds, and our new strength coach has done a great job in the offseason with our kids. We’re faster. We’re stronger. We move better. It’s been transformative having him in there in the weight room, and Peyton is indicative of that,” Hidalgo said. The GA offense had its own trouble with turnovers, also. The Terrors won despite losing three fumbles including one on a high snap when they had the ball inside the Statesboro 10-yard line late in the fourth quarter. First-year quarterback Ryan Schueneman was also intercepted once in the end zone early in the game. The Terrors played the opener without their top two tailbacks on the depth chart. Junior Greg Peacock, a major-college prospect who rushed for more than 1,000 yards last season, was sidelined by a shoulder injury that has plagued him since the spring. Also, Glynn lost senior tailback Willie Butler to a shoulder injury late in practice on Tuesday. The Terrors started D’Vontae Lang at tailback, and he ran hard between the tackles throughout the night, going for 64 yards on 17 carries while also playing on defense as a starter at linebacker. “It was kinda hard with Super Man sitting over here,” Hidalgo said, alluding to Peacock. “He’s one of the best players in Southeast Georgia, and there were some plays out there tonight that if he’s playing the band is probably playing on. “When we also lost Willie this week, we really didn’t have much time to get anyone else ready,” Hidalgo noted. Schueneman, making his first-ever start at quarterback in just his second season of high-school football, threw for 74 yards while completing 5 of 10 passes with a touchdown and the interception. His first TD pass covered 21 yards to senior receiver David Prince who committed to Georgia Tech this summer. It was the first of Glynn’s three scores in the game as it came with just over five minutes to play in the first quarter and put Glynn up 7-0 following the extra-point kick by Tuck Tucker. “He did a great job tonight,” Hidalgo said of his new quarterback. “He’s only been playing quarterback since May. He managed the team, got people lined up and he’s got a big-time arm. He’ll continue to learn with more experience.” The touchdown throw was Glynn’s only offensive score of the night. Glynn had just gotten the ball deep in Statesboro territory following a fumble by the Blue Devils which was recovered by Young. They had just ended a GA scoring threat with the interception of Schueneman. Glynn also turned over the ball on its opening drive when it lost a fumble at the Statesboro 32. The final touchdown of the night by Glynn came on an 88-yard punt return by Ellis who escaped would-be tacklers almost immediately after fielding the kick at his own 12. He would dart toward midfield before running down the GA sideline for the score in the closing moments of the third quarter. Up 21-0 following the Ellis return, Glynn’s defense continued to stymie the Statesboro offense over the rest of the game. The Blue Devils did appear to score on a 41-yard pass to running back Eliyah Wells who broke way from GA defenders on his way into the South end zone at GC Stadium. But a penalty for an illegal man downfield by Statesboro wiped out the score and forced the visitors to scrimmage again near midfield. They would give up the ball on downs with less than six minutes left. Glynn will make a short trip to Darien next Friday to face McIntosh County Academy. The Buccaneers also opened their new season Friday night with a shutout as they won 26-0 in Savannah over Johnson High.