Forgive the folks in Tifton if they’re a little giddy these days. The hometown team is 5-0 on the season and ranked for the first time since 2007. Tift County is coming off wins over Valdosta and Parkview. These were not just any ol’ wins. 

The Blue Devils had not won at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium since 1993 until beating the defending 6-A state champion Wildcats 20-10 two Friday nights ago. Tift had never beaten Parkview, in the four-game all-time series that started with the 1997 4-A State Final, until outscoring the Panthers 50-37 last Friday night in Lilburn. 

That’s why the Blue Devils are my Team of the Week heading into their showdown with long-time rival Coffee this Friday night at Brodie Field (named after Coach Gene Brodie who led the Blue Devils to the 1983 4-A State Championship the only football title in school history).

Courtesy: tiftschools.com

Tift County will be trying to do something Friday night, that the Blue Devils haven’t done since Brodie was the coach…and that’s start a season 6-0. They last did that in 1993.  That season Coffee beat Tift 35-7 the very next week and despite starting the season 6-0, the Blue Devils finished 7-3 and missed the playoffs.

Three times since that 1993 season, Tift County has had a chance to improve to 6-0 and all three times they failed, including 2006 when…you guessed it…Coffee beat them 23-20. This will be the 29th all-time meeting with their rivals from Douglas and the Trojans lead the series 15-13 although the Blue Devils have won the last two including 31-20 last year.

So the question is…are the Blue Devils ready to catapult into a great season the likes that their fans have not experienced in over a decade since Tift County went 12-2 and reached the state semi-finals? Or will the Blue Devils fade as this season goes along in the heated intensity of Region 7-A with back-to-back games awaiting them in mid-October vs Lowndes and at Colquitt County? 

Courtesy: inthegamesportsnetwork.com

Remember despite this 5-0 start, Tift County was just 11-9 in Coach Ashley Anders first two seasons as coach although he did lead them to the playoffs last season for just the program’s second post-season appearance in the last eight years. So just how good are the Blue Devils? That remains to be seen but we know they can light it up. 

Courtesy: tiftongazette.com

Last week the Blue Devils churned out 567 yards of total offense, 353 yards passing and 214 yards rushing.  Quarterback Griffin Collier was 14-18 passing for 404 yards and 3 touchdowns and his favorite target has been ESPN 3-Star WR Rashod Bateman. The Minnesota commitment had six catches for 248 yards and three touchdowns against Parkview and for the season has 642 yards receiving and nine scores. The Blue Devils offensive line has yet to allow a sack this season. 

Courtesy: scoopduck.com

The Tift County defense is led by ESPN 3-Star Defensive End and Oregon commit, Andrew Johnson.

As we’ve pointed out, Coffee has a history of big wins over Tift County but this year’s Trojans haven’t played in 23 days because of Hurricane Irma since starting the season 3-0. The Trojans reached the state quarterfinals in 2016 despite finishing the regular season 5-5. Coffee was 20-4 the two seasons before that.

If should be fun. Join us for another edition of Football Fridays in Georgia this Friday night starting at 7:00 p.m. on GPB as we keep you updated on Coffee at Tift County and all the other big games, spectacular highlights, latest recruiting news and top high school football stories in the state.

Speaking of recruiting…here’s this week’s latest commitments in the state of Georgia:

1.    Liberty County DT Tramel Walthour committed to Georgia over 12 other offers.

2.    Mountain View WR Malachi Carter committed to Georgia Tech over 18 other offers.

3.    Centennial DE Nick Croawell committed to Navy over 19 other offers.