TIFTON — Anyone who stepped outside Monday afternoon could tell you it felt like a sauna with the hot and steamy conditions.
But that was the same atmosphere the Tift County Blue Devils had to go through as coach Jay Walls’ football team practiced for the first time in full pads.
Even with the conditions, practice “went good,” Walls said.
“It was pretty hot. So we had to deal with the heat. No matter what kind of shape the guys are in, you are going to have some that have problems with the heat, but we had no major issues.”
As is normally the case for a football team, the defense looked sharper than the offense during the first full practice in pads.
“It is kind of early to mention any individual standouts,” Walls said. “The defense is usually ahead of the offense this time of the year and that is the way the practice went. We were frustrated on offense and the defense did ok.”
As far as the conditions for the remainder of this week, the hot and humid weather is one reason Walls is having one of his two-a-day practices late in the evening.
“We are going to practice from 3:30-5:30 every afternoon. We are then going to practice from 8:30-10:30 at night,” Walls said.
That will be the schedule until Wednesday. With Tift County going back to school Friday, the team will only have the one afternoon practice Thursday.
Friday’s practice will then be in a familiar place for the Devils as Tift will have a two-hour scrimmage at Brodie Field, beginning at 7 p.m.
There will be no charge for the event and the public is invited to attend.
“We will probably open up both sides of the stadium for folks that want to come,” said Walls.
Tift will see an actual opponent Aug. 24 when the Southside (Atlanta) Lasers come to Brodie Field for the preseason scrimmage. The Devils will then open the regular season Aug. 31 at Brooks County.
Local Sports
Devils get through first full practice in pads
- Local Sports
-
-
Former Blue Devil hopes to be picked in MLB draft
In less than two weeks, from June 4-6, Major League Baseball will be holding its 2012 draft, fulfilling the dreams of several athletes who have worked for that moment most of their lives.
-
Mesoraco’s slam sends Reds over Braves 6-3
Rookie catcher Devin Mesoraco capped a series full of homers with his first career grand slam on Thursday night, leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
The Reds completed their first four-game sweep of the Braves in Cincinnati since 1980 at Riverfront Stadium. They’ve won six straight, their longest winning streak since August 2010 when they started their push toward the NL Central title. -
Williams’ annual basketball camp coming up
The annual “Bouncing Through the Community with a Vision Fundamental Basketball Clinic" will be held June 23 at at the Tift County High Arena.
-
Barrentine does well on junior rodeo circuit
Brady Barrentine competed this past weekend in the Southern Junior Rodeo Finals in Ocala, Fla. This was his first year competing in the SJRA's rodeo season. He competed all year long in the breakaway roping, tie-down calf roping, team roping, ribbon roping and chute dogging.
- Local athletes compete in Special Olympics Georgia
- Purple Hurricanes wind up spring practice, hold spring game
-
Blazers win NCAA Division II national softball title
The Valdosta State Blazers are the 2012 NCAA Division II Softball National Champions after an impressive 4-1 victory over defending champion UC San Diego. The championship is Valdosta State’s sixth overall championship and first in softball. The win also marks the first softball national championship for the Gulf South Conference.
-
Blazers advance to final day of the season
-
Beachy throws shutout, Braves beat Marlins 7-0
Brandon Beachy threw a five-hit shutout, the first of his career, to improve the major leagues’ lowest ERA and the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 7-0 on Thursday night.
-
Courtney Albritton named All-American
Albritton took VSU and the entire Gulf South Conference by storm in just her freshman season. She was named the GSC's Freshman and Player of the Year while leading the conference in most categories. She is first on the VSU squad in runs scored (68), hits (91), doubles (19), triples (3), home runs (15), RBI (58), slugging percentage (.752) and stolen bases (13-13). - More Local Sports Headlines
-


