By Dusty Vassey
TIFTON — The Tift County Blue Devils moved up one spot to No. 5 in the latest Associated Press Georgia Classs AAAAA high school football poll released Monday.
The Blue Devils, who were ranked No. 1 earlier in the season, dropped to No. 6 last week after a loss to the Coffee High Trojans. After a 23-20 overtime win at Houston County Thursday, the Devils moved to No. 5 this week and knocked Houston out of the polls. Tift is the highest-ranked Region 1-AAAAA team in the poll, and also has the best overall record in the region at 6-1.
This week the Devils will face the Warner Robins Demons Friday in the Brimstone Bowl at Brodie Field. The game will be the first region contest between Tift and Warner Robins, as the No. 8 Demons moved into Region 1-AAAAA this season. The game could determine the region championship or leave Tift scrambling to make a playoff spot.
At 3-0 in Region 1-AAAAA, Warner Robins, 5-1 overall, is in the driver’s seat with three games left in the regular season. However, Tift is tied with Lowndes at second place in the region at 2-1.
A win over the Demons would tie Tift with the other region leaders. The Devils would also have the tiebreaker with the Demons by beating them head-to-head. Tift plays Lowndes at home Nov. 3 before closing out the regular season at former No. 1 Colquitt County.
A loss against Warner Robins could be trouble for the Devils. Every region team except Valdosta has a legitimate shot at earning one of four playoff spots in the region, and a loss would move Tift into the middle of the pack with teams such as No. 9 Coffee, Houston and former No. 1 Colquitt County.
In other area news, the Fitzgerald Purple Hurricane held strong this week at No. 4 in the Class AA poll. The 7-0 Hurricane has held the No. 4 spot for several weeks, and solidified its chances for a possible Region 1-AA title by beating Early County 33-14 Friday.
The biggest positive jump in any of the polls came from the Class A Turner County Rebels this week. Turner jumped four spots after defeating then-No. 3 Hawkinsville Friday 18-13. Turner climbed to No. 4 in the latest rankings while Hawkinsville fell to No. 7.
Class A suffered the most reshuffling of any classification. Dooly County dropped from No. 5 to No. 9 after a 17-14 loss to Irwin County Friday. Irwin County (5-3) did not break the top 10, but continued to receive votes.
