Coming off an impressive 41-7 victory over the Locust Grove Wildcats, the Tift County Blue Devils are looking to jump to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2007, a year that saw them lose in the first round of the playoffs to Camden County.

Standing in their way will be the Shiloh High Generals, who will be looking for their first win of the season. The Blue Devils beat the Generals last season at Brodie Field, 32-14. The Generals will once again have to travel to Tifton to face the Blue Devils. This will be the second meeting all time between the two teams.

Shiloh comes from Region 8-AAAAA, which is made up of Shiloh, South Gwinnett, Parkview, Dacula, Grayson, Archer, Brookwood, Berkmar and Central Gwinnett. Brookwoood won the state title last season, and Tift fans will remember Parkview defeated the Blue Devils in the state championship game in 1997.

Though the region they come from is considered one of the toughest in the state, Shiloh has been one of the weaker teams in the region for several years. Shiloh finished last in the region last season, and hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2003, which was also their last winning season.

Shiloh has a new man leading the way this season, as Brian Montgomery heads into his first season as the Generals head coach. He was head coach at North Atlanta for three seasons, giving some stability to a program who had three head coaches over three years before Montgomery arrived. He took over a 2-8 program and left it at 7-3, before leaving to take the job at Shiloh.

He will be trying ot recreate that success, as he takes over a program that finished 1-9 last season. As if playing in one of the toughest regions in the state and only winning one game last year isn’t bad enough, Shiloh will not be returning any starters from last season.

Shiloh appears to have pretty solid talent on their team this year however. How quickly that talent comes together this year will determine whether or not they do improve.

Few spots on the team are certain as of right now for the Generals, but the offensive backfield is set and ready to go. DeVante James will be running the offense and will have a chance to beat the Devils with his running ability or his arm.

Joining him in the backfield will be Deshan Taylor and Fred Mooring. Taylor brings speed to the running game, while Mooring will be used to pound the ball for a few sure yards.

The key for the Shiloh offense though will be the offensive line though. Having five new starters on the line is scary enough, but when nobody in the backfield has experience as a starter either it make the situation even worse. They will be led by Tyler Claytor, whose older brother, Nick, is a lineman at Georgia Tech.

Montgomery’s debut was spoiled by the Newton Rams last Friday, 21-0. Shiloh trailed 14-0 at halftime, but not as a result of poor defense. A muffed punt on their own three gave Newton an easy score, and a high snap on a punt was recovered for the second Newton touchdown.

The Generals drove down to the Newton two yard line for a first-and-goal, but were stopped on four straight plays to remain scoreless. Five plays later Javonte Williams of Newton broke free for an 80-yard touchdown run to seal the game.

Montgomery and the Generals hope to steer their program in a new direction starting this Friday against the Blue Devils. Tift will try to send the Generals to 0-2 by repeating their performance from last week.

Kickoff will be at 8 p.m. at Brodie Field.