TIFTON — When the Tift County Blue Devils and the Union Grove Wolverines hook up tonight in a second-round Class AAAAA football playoff contest, some big names will be missing on both sides.

The Wolverines will be without the services of Kyle Jackson, a 6-foot-1, 225 pound linebacker, who has already verbally committed to Georgia Tech.

Jackson injured his knee during Union Grove’s preparation for Windsor Forest in the first round of the playoffs. It is a big blow for the Wolverines as Jackson had 110 total tackles, including 28 for losses last season.

“He is out for the rest of the year for us,” Union Grove head coach Mike McDonald said.

On the other side of the ball, Tift will again be without the services of all-region safety Jay Gaskins, who like Jackson had a knee injury during the Devils’ preparation for a first-round opponent, East Coweta. However Gaskins could be back if Tift can get a win in the 8 p.m. encounter at Brodie Field.

In his first year at safety, Gaskins has 69 total tackles, five interceptions, one caused fumble and one fumble recovery.

Besides Gaskins, defensive lineman Tobias Walker will also miss tonight’s game after injuring his leg against East Coweta. Walker has 23 total tackles and three sacks.

Tift head coach Jay Walls pointed out that the Devils do have some capable backups for both players.

“That is part of being successful. There are going to be some guys that will not be able to play because of injury or just not playing well and when you get your opportunity you have to step up,” Walls said.

The coach then cited several backups and players that have swapped positions.

“(Backup cornerback) Ricky Pierce has done a good job. We have moved Blake Reddick to free safety in place of Jay and he has done a good job there,” said Walls. “Also Jarvis Watts has also come in and done a great job (in the defensive backfield).”

Jackson’s injury has hurt the Wolverines as Union Grove runs from a base 3-5 package which features five linebackers.

“We run the 3-5, sort of like Camden does,” McDonald said. “We decided to do it at the start of the year because we lost a lot of linemen, but we had a ton of linebackers coming back.”

Even though Jackson is out, he does have a capable backup in junior Steven Sylvester, a 6-foot-2, 220 pound player that has started to receive college attention.

“He is a big boy,” McDonald said. “But he has battled turf toe for most of the season and that has kind of held him back.”

Adding to McDonald’s troubles is that even though Sylvester is an excellent backup for Jackson, the junior now has to go both ways as he is also the team’s leading rusher.

“We are having to play him on defense because of Jackson being out, and he is also seeing time on offense,” McDonald said.

Jackson is not the only backup at linebacker.

“We lost Charles Scott in the Stephenson game and we had some others nicked up in that game,” McDonald said. “We have gone from having a lot of depth at linebacker to not having much at all.”

Another two-way performer is Owen High, a defensive back/wide receiver.

“We pat him on the butt before the game and we don’t see him again until after the game,” said McDonald. “He was out there for every play against Windsor Forest.”

High responded in that contest with a 55-yard interception return for the game’s only touchdown in the Wolverines’ 10-0 victory.

Even with the replacements, Union Grove has played well on defense, especially during the Wolverines’ current 6-1 streak that has seen them shut out Douglass, 3-0, and Windsor Forest. There was also one contest in the run that saw Union Grove get a 19-2 victory over Lithonia.

On the year, Union Grove has scored 173 points and has allowed 118. During the Wolverines’ current seven-game run, the team has scored 107 points and has allowed 49.

While the Wolverine defense runs a 3-5 package, the offense should look familiar to Tift fans.

“We run a spread offense similar to Tift,” McDonald said. “But we may be a tad more multiple.”

Reid Moss is the first-year starter at quarterback.

“It has been a learning process for him, but he has stepped it up in recent games and has done a good job,” McDonald said.

A No. 3 seed from Region 2-AAAAA, the Wolverines will be coming in to take on the Devils, the 1-AAAAA champions.

“Tift is awfully good,” McDonald said. “You can’t run the ball on their defense. They are very strong on defense.

“Offensively, they can run or throw equally well. It makes it tough on a defense. I know we haven’t seen anything like them this year. We have faced some teams that could run well, and we have seen some that could throw well, but we have not faced anyone that could do both well. It is a pick-your-poison situation for a defense.”

As far as special teams is concerned, McDonald feels like his kicker, Macklin Hayes, is one of the best in the state. But, “Tift’s kicking game is the best we have seen all year. (Charlie) Edwards is the real deal,” the Union Grove coach said.

This will be the Wolverines’ fourth trip to South Georgia for playoff action since the school came into existence seven years ago.

As a Class AA school in 2002, the Wolverines were defeated 57-9 at Americus.

Last season, Union Grove beat Glynn Academy 24-6 in a first-round game in the Class AAAAA playoffs. However, the Wolverines were then eliminated by Lowndes, 41-0, the following week.

“I hope we can be more competitive this trip and can do a little better,” McDonald said with a laugh during a Wednesday telephone interview.

The winner of the Tift-Union Grove contest will face the Etowah-North Gwinnett victor in the third round. Etowah and North Gwinnett will play Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at McEachern High’s stadium. Etowah is the champion of Region 5-AAAAA, but the school’s stadium was not big enough to host the contest due to GHSA guidelines.