TIFTON — The Tift County Blue Devils will go into the state football playoffs as the No. 3 team in the Associated Press Class AAAAA state football poll, the last poll until after the playoffs are completed.
Tift will open the state Class AAAAA playoffs Friday at home against the East Coweta Indians.
Norcross received seven first-place votes to go into the state tournament with the No. 1 ranking. Camden also received a first-place vote and will enter at No. 2. Tift moved up one spot to third and also received a first-place vote.
Roswell was fourth and North Gwinnett was fifth. North Gwinnett fell from third to fifth after a 31-10 loss to Norcross.
Coffee is sixth, Brookwood comes in at seventh and Stephenson is ranked eighth.
A Coffee-Stephenson matchup in the state playoffs is possible. The third seed from Region 1-AAAAA, Coffee will play Hiram Friday, while Stephenson will take on Groves. The winners of those two games will meet in the second round.
The Class AAAAA top 10 is rounded out by Central Gwinnett at No. 9 and M.L. King at No. 10.
Houston County, the fourth seed from Region 1 was the second team also receiving votes, while Region 1-AAAAA runner-up Warner Robins was the third team on that list. Lowndes, which failed to make the playoffs, was the fourth team on the honorable-mention list.
In Class AA, the Region 1-AA champion Fitzgerald Purple Hurricane was ranked fourth in the final AP poll. Fitzgerald will open state play at home Friday against Bleckley County.
Above coach Robby Pruitt’s Fitzgerald squad are Charlton at No. 1, Buford at No. 2 and Dublin at No. 3.
Dublin, the champions of Region 4-AA, will host the Cook High Hornets Friday in a first-round state-playoff contest.
Coach Erik Soliday’s Turner County Rebels, the champions of Region 2-A will host the Bryan County Redskins Friday in a first round game in Class A. Turner will enter as the third-ranked team in the AP Class A poll.
The Irwin County Indians, who failed to make the state playoffs, was the last team that received votes in the honorable-mention list in Class A.
Local Sports
Blue Devils enter state at No. 3
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