TIFTON — The Tift County Blue Devils are going to get some help from an unlikely source as they prepare to go to the Georgia Dome Saturday to face the Roswell Hornets in the state Class AAAAA football semifinals.
Valdosta High head football coach Rick Tomberlin is going to allow the Devils to practice at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium Thursday afternoon. The Sprintturf at Bazemore-Hyder is supposed to very similar to the artificial turf at the Dome.
“We played down there last season so some of our guys have experience on that turf,” Tift head coach Jay Walls said. “But we want to have a regular practice on the turf so the entire team can get a feel of it.
“I want to thank coach Tomberlin for allowing us to go down there and work out.”
The Valdosta workouts are just a part of the preparation for the Hornets of Roswell.
Walls gave the Devils Monday off since the team does not play until Saturday. With that, the team’s practice schedule has been moved back for a day.
After the Thursday practice in Valdosta, the team will practice Friday morning at the high school field house.
The team will then have Friday night off and will meet back at the field house Saturday morning.
As of now, the team is scheduled to leave from the field house at 10 a.m.
“We would love to have the community come and send us off,” Walls said.
Two of the players that will be making the trip are wide receiver Israel Troupe and kicker Charlie Edwards. Both seniors are eager to make the trip.
“It is something that I have been dreaming of for my entire life,” Edwards said. “I am going to enjoy it a lot.”
Troupe recalled a semifinal game last year that had Lowndes playing Stephenson. Tift fell 16-7 during the regular season to Lowndes, while the Devils were defeated 6-3 by Stephenson in the first round of the playoffs.
“It killed me last year to watch that game on TV, because I knew we could play with both of them,” said Troupe. “I am looking forward to getting my chance up there Saturday.”
NOTE: There has been some question on what side of the field Tift fans should sit on at the Dome.
Tift will be the “home” team and the team’s bench will be on the pressbox side of the Dome.
From the Dome side, Tift should come out of the left tunnel, but that is not definite.
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