By Steve Carter
TIFTON — A huge crowd, two ranked teams and oh yeah, a game in tight Region 1-AAAAA, all of those factors make tonight’s contest between the Tift County Blue Devils and the Coffee High Trojans something worthy of South Georgia high school football.
“Games like this are the reason you begin workouts in February, spend time in the weight room, work out all summer and put in all of the effort,” Tift head coach Jay Walls said. “This will be the fun reward of all of that hard work.”
The Coffee-Tift game is also the type of contest Walls feels like his team has earned.
“We have tried to do the extra things it takes to win since I have been here and the kids have responded,” said Walls. “They kids are doing those things and responding well. They are committed to the hard work.”
Tift will enter the game as the top-ranked team in the state Class AAAAA Associated Press poll, while Coffee will come in as the eighth-ranked team.
While his team may have the higher ranking, Walls has raved all week about Coffee.
“They are the best team we have faced this year,” the coach said.
Coffee runs behind a big offensive line and that has led to the Trojans have a lot of the region’s top offensive performers.
Melvin Loving is the third leading rusher in the region with 538 yards on 89 carries. Rod Jones also has 165 yards on 24 carries, while Josh Allerton has rushed for 86 yards on 16 carries. Johnny Williams has rushed for 81 yards on 13 totes, while quarterback Daniel Anderson has 77 yards on 20 carries.
As a team, Coffee has rushed for 1,171 yards on 191 carries, an average of 6.1 yards per carry and 195.2 yards per game.
The Trojans’ rushing offense will be tested by a Tift rushing defense that has only allowed 290 yards in five games this year. Opponents are averaging only 58 yards per game on the ground against the Devil “D”.
Tift has 7 players averaging over four tackles per game.
Jay Gaskins has 39 total tackles, four interceptions and one fumble recovery; Josh Abbott has 31 total tackles and one pass breakup; A.J. Brown has 28 total tackles; and Jeffery Searcy — in four games — has 28 total tackles, four sacks, one caused fumble and one fumble recovery.
Zack Brown has 25 total tackles and one interception; Randy Parker has 23 total tackles, six pass breakups, one interception, one caused fumble and one blocked field goal; and Anthony Woods has 21 total tackles, three sacks, two fumble recoveries, one pass breakup and one caused fumble.
Through the air, Coffee’s Daniel Anderson is 36-for-68 passing on the year for 504 yards. He has thrown five interceptions and also has five touchdown passes.
Tift has allowed 614 yards through the air, but has picked off eight passes, including four by Gaskins.
Kaream Hess has been the offensive leader for the Devils this year. The junior running back has rushed 104 times for 556 yards and 14 passes for 135 yards.
Senior wide receiver Israel Troupe, an University of Georgia commitment, has caught 11 passes for 172 yards, returned two kickoffs for 55 yards and seven punts for 77 yards. Troupe also has lost 55 yards and two touchdowns on punt returns this year due to penalties.
Tift senior quarterback Sean Baxley has completed 54.8 percent of his passes, 51-for-93, for 511 yards. He has been picked off four times and has thrown for four touchdowns.
Even with a 5-0 record, Tift, statistically, is last in total offense in the region with 1,199 total yards. The Coffee defense, statistically, is the leading the region with 874 total yards allowed.
Coffee’s most impressive defensive statistic this year was a three game stretch that saw the Trojans win by a combined score of 129-0. Those victories were 35-0 over Clinch County, 34-0 over Bradwell Institute and 60-0 over Johnson High of Savannah.
“They are a solid team on both sides of the ball,” Walls said.
The Tift coach said his team has prepared well for the Trojans.
“We have had a good week of practice,” Walls said. “We have go over there now and play good.”
Game time is 8 p.m. at Jardine Stadium.
