By Steve Carter
TIFTON — Sporting a 5-2 overall record and a 2-1 mark in the Region 1-AAAAA football standings, the Houston County Bears will host the Tift County Blue Devils in a league matchup Thursday night at McConnell-Talbert Stadium in Warner Robins.
Houston’s only two losses of the year were to Northside-Warner Robins, 26-14, and to Warner Robins, 10-9. The Warner Robins game saw Houston score a touchdown on a hail Mary pass on the last play from scrimmage, but the Bears failed on the extra point.
The strong suit for the Bears is a rushing attack that has accounted for 1,645 yards in seven games, an average of 235 yards per contest. The Bears have scored 18 touchdowns on the ground, while averaging 5.3 yards per carry.
Tift has the second-leading rushing defense in the region. The Devils have allowed 443 total yards in six games, an average of 73.8 yards per contest.
However in Tift’s 23-20 loss to the Coffee High Trojans Friday, the Trojans were able to put up 153 yards on 31 carries.
“Coffee ran the ball by staying with the veer, I don’t think Tift was expecting that much veer offense,” Houston County coach Doug Johnson said. “They ran the veer more than they usually do ,and that is hard to adjust for coaches to on the run.”
Johnson’s team runs mostly the wing-T, and the Houston coach is expecting Tift to put up more pressure against his team.
“We are more of a wing-T type of team, so we are expecting it to be a little tougher for us to run against them,” Johnson said. “Tift has seen some wing-T this year, so they will know more of what to expect from us.”
The Houston coach said Tift’s defensive strength is simple.
“Our offensive line is doing a good job for us this year, but they will be tested against Tift,” Johnson said. “Tift’s defensive front is probably as good as we have seen this year.”
Last season, Tift defeated Houston County 14-3 at Brodie Field. Houston’s only score came in the first quarter when the Bears’ Taylor Jones converted a 24-yard field goal after Houston had recovered a Scott Shuman fumble on Tift’s 16-yard line on the first play of the game.
“Their defense was tough last year,” said Johnson. “With eight starters back this year, you would only expect them to be tougher this year.”
On the other side of the ball, Johnson said three Tift players have drawn his notice.
“I feel like the (Israel) Troupe kid is really good,” Johnson said. “Their quarterback (Sean Baxley) and running back (Kaream Hess) are also having good seasons.”
Houston defeated Colquitt County 25-14 last week in Warner Robins. Colquitt’s offense has accounted for 1,945 yards this season, while Tift has only put up 1,323 yards, but Johnson seemed more impressed by the Devils, especially the play of Hess.
“I think they are going to be a little more formidable than Colquitt, because they will try to run the football,” Johnson said.
The Houston County defense is statistically third in the region, having allowed 1,422 yards this season.
The Tift-Houston game will be the only one played in the region Thursday. The rest of the league schedule will have Valdosta hosting Lowndes High Friday in the annual “Winnersville” game on Saturday and Coffee at Warner Robins on Saturday.
