Jatarion Warren keeps possession despite intense pressure from South Gwinnett.

Jan. 15 — Jatarion Warren scores the 1,000th point of his high school basketball career in Tift County’s road game at Camden County. He was the first Blue Devil to achieve the feat since Preston Horne in 2016-17.

Jan. 23 — Tift County swim sweeps their seventh straight region titles in Valdosta. The Lady Devils more than double second places, 259-105, with the Devils 67 points ahead of their nearest competitors. Because of COVID-19 precautions, they have to do their traditional pool jump at the Tiftarea YMCA a day later.

Jan. 23 — The Blue Devils pull a pair of upsets at Newnan High to reach the elite eight in the Class 7A state wrestling duals tournament. Remarkably, four of the eight teams are from their region, Region 1.

Jan. 26 — Noel Dean named Tift County’s new head football coach. A Michigan native, Dean replaces Ashley Anders, who resigned following the 2020 campaign.

Jan. 26 — On the same night that Dean took over Tift’s gridiron program, a longtime Devils assistant was hired for his first head coaching job. Travis Ellington went to Lamar County Ellington’s Trojans went on to finish 6-4 in 2021.

January — Tift’s middle school wrestling team keeps up its winning tradition, earning third at the middle school state duals. The team finished with a record of 21-1, their only loss to Woodland.

Feb. 3 — Football players Cade Anders, Traevon Barnes, J.D. Bengston, Charles King, Wendell McClain, Garrett Sumner and Daniel Whitehead are honored as part of National Signing Day.

Feb. 3 — Tiftarea Academy’s Coty James inks with Emmanuel College’s clay target shooting team.

Feb. 6 — The Tift county Lady Devils swim team finishes 17th in the Class 7A state tournament at Georgia Tech. Emma Bryan finishes fourth in diving, as was Beau Bengston in the 100 butterfly. Eden Troxell also had a top 10 finish, eighth in the 500 freestyle.

February — Region 1-AA cancels its annual basketball tournament because of COVID-19 concerns. The top four boys and girls teams in the region standings go in those positions to the state tournament. It is the first time Region 1-AA fails to hold a traditional tournament in its 72 years of history.

Feb. 10 — Devyn Sand becomes the first ever female Tift County wrestler to earn a win in the state wrestling tournament. Sand, competing at 112 pounds, pinned Jayden Jolin of Wayne County for the victory.

Feb. 13 — The Blue Devils finish 10th at the state traditional wrestling tournament.

Feb. 13 — John O’Quinn finishes fifth at the GISA state wrestling tournament for Tiftarea Academy while teammate Ches Mangham earns sixth.

Feb. 20 — Tift County boys and girls varsity basketball teams sweep the Region 1-7A championships at Lowndes. The Lady Devils rumbled Colquitt County, 56-36, while the Devils put together a strong second half to defeat Camden County, 56-42.

Feb. 23 — For the second consecutive year, Tiftarea’s Lady Panthers score an upset in the GISA Class AAA tournament. Tiftarea knocked off Dominion Christian on the road, 45-37.

Feb. 27 — Kyle Kirk, then head coach of Tift County baseball, picked up his 200th career win with an 8-4 decision at Thomas County Central.

Feb. 28 — Amy Strenth, Tiftarea’s girls basketball coach since 2015, dies months after being diagnosed with cancer. Tiftarea named its court for her weeks earlier.

Mar. 3 — Tift County’s remarkable state tournament run comes to an end at the hands of Berkmar, 51-35. Tift had advanced to the elite eight in 7A.

Mar. 12 — ‘Rally for Reece’ is held in combination with Tift County’s baseball games against Camden County. The fundraiser is for 2020 graduate Reece Watson, who was critically injured in a car accident.

Mar. 23 — Legendar form ABAC basketball coach Benny Dees dies at the age of 86. Dees, who led the Stallions from 1962-67. He went on to have much success at other schools, including winning an NCAA tournament game in 1987 with New Orleans over Brigham Young.

Mar. 26 — The Blue Devils of Tift County clinch their first region soccer championship since 2012. They needed only four games of the six-game schedule to accomplish the feat and ultimately finished the region schedule undefeated.

Mar. 31 — Cade Anders sets the Tift County shot put record with a 55’6” heave in a quad meet held at TCHS.

March — Coach Tim Harris leads Tiftarea Academy’s middle school baseball squad to an undefeated record.

Apr. 13 — Ian Arnold, the last man on the course, shoots a 75 to lead the ABAC Stallions to a four-stroke victory in the district tournament. Brock Barber finishes as the tourney’s low medalist at 143.

April — Caleb Rice’s Tift County boys golf team wins the region tournament. Bo Carpenter tied as low medalist at 72. The team finished second overall in the area tournament held the same day.

Apr. 21 — Perry Mendoza and Kevyn Lopez break a 1-1 tie against Grayson in the opening round of the 7A state playoffs, leading the Blue Devils to a 3-1 victory.

Apr. 24 — Hayden Taylor finishes third on the bars at the GHSA 6A-7A state tournament at Buford.

Apr. 28 — Berrien girls tennis team defeats Model, 3-1, to return to the Class AA state final four. Their season would be ended days later by Pace Academy.

Apr. 29 — Rashod Bateman becomes the first ever Blue Devil picked in the first round of the National Football League Draft. Bateman, who also starred at the University of Minnesota, is picked No. 27 overall by the Baltimore Ravens.

Apr. 29 — Tift County baseball hosts its first state tournament home games since 2015. Unfortunately the series against Brookwood does not work out in their favor.

Apr. 30 — Tiftarea Academy sweeps Southland Academy to win the GISA Region 3-AAA title.

May 1 — R.J. Delaney finishes off ABAC’s baseball regular season in style, pitching a no-hitter against South Georgia State. The final score was 3-0.

May 6 — Cali Conner honors her months-long volleyball commitment to Santa Fe by signing on this date.

May 14 — Cade Anders breaks his own shot put mark, this time accomplishing it at the state 7A tournament at McEachern. Anders threw the shot 55’9” to finish in third place. Cali Conner also places at the meet, earning fifth in high jump. Conner cleared 5’2”.

May 18 — Milton wins the Class 7A golf tournament, a two-day event held at Tifton’s Spring Hill Country Club. The Eagles defeat Lambert, 598 to 614.

May 21 — One day before donning a cap and gown, Tift’s Bryce Stephens signs to play baseball with Enterprise State (Ala.).

May 22 — Tiftarea’s dream baseball season ends with second place in the AAA state tournament. The Panthers were felled by Pinewood Christian, two games to one. Pinewood wins the clincher, 4-3.

May 25 — Connor Thomas promoted to Class AAA Memphis by the St. Louis Cardinals. The former Tift County and Georgia Tech pitcher had been drafted by the Cardinals in 2019. Thomas spent the rest of the season in Memphis, where he posts a 3.10 ERA.

June 17 — Cade Marlowe promoted to Class High-A Everett AquaSox b the Seattle Mariners. A former Tiftarea Academy and West Georgia player,

Aug. 12 — Tyre West named to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s ‘Super 11’ list, which honors the top high school football seniors in the state. He is only the third Blue Devil to ever be chosen.

Aug. 14 — Blair Golden and Ava Wilson win the annual Run for Love, which returned both to August and to ABAC.

Aug. 22 — Hayden Murphy combines with nine pitchers to throw a no-hitter at the Perfect Game All-American Classic in San Diego. This was the second national all-star game of the summer for Murphy, a senior at Tiftarea.

Sept. 27 — Tiftarea softball clinches the region championship with a 1-0 victory over Valwood.

Sept. 29 — Cade Marlowe named Hitter of the Year for Seattle’s Minor League affiliates. Including his short stint at Modesto in 2021, Marlowe homered 26 times, drove in 106 and hit .272. The RBI total led the Minors across all teams and classes. In October, Marlowe was also named High-A West MVP.

Sept. 30 — Eighth grade Tift County Blue Devils win the South Georgia Athletic Conference championship, taking an overtime win over Valdosta, 12-6.

Oct. 2 — Malik Henry scores a touchdown for the Calgary Stampeders, his first ever in professional football. Henry played at Tift and collegiately at West Georgia. He signed with both the 49ers, Colts and Saints in the NFL but never had the opportunity to see the field for teams.

Oct. 3 — Cade Marlowe promoted for a single game to Class AAA Tacoma, where he has two hits in three at-bats, plus an RBI.

Oct. 6 — Lady Devils softball clinches third in Region 1-7A with a sweep of Camden County.

Oct. 11 — Mike Beeman raises his consecutive Boston Marathon streak to 44 races.

Tift County football players and cheerleaders run out before a 2021 game.

Oct. 14 — Volleyball finishes in second place in the Region 1-7A tournament. Tift County ultimately finishes 20-10, continuing their run of excellence.

Oct. 17 — Rashod Bateman makes his NFL debut for the Baltimore Ravens, catching four passes for 29 yards against the Chargers.

Oct. 21 — Ainsley Toews finishes second and Blair Golden is fourth at the region cross country meet in Tifton.

Oct. 22 — Tift County defeats Camden County, 21-14, earning their first region win in 1,100 days. It propels the Devils to a third place finish in Region 1-7A.

Oct. 23 — The Lady Panthers of Tiftarea Academy finish second in state runners-up in the GISA Class AAA softball tournament. Westfield wins the crown by sweeping the games in Dublin.

Nov. 2 — The Atlanta Braves surprise baseball by winning the World Series. Atlanta, which had only won a single league championship in the big four sports (1995), shuts out the Houston Astros in the final game, 7-0, winning the series 4-2.

Nov. 2 — The Georgia High School Association announces preliminary classifications for 2022-24, placing Tift County in 6A.

Nov. 10 — Hayden Murphy signs to play baseball with Auburn University.

Nov. 10 — Eden Troxell signs to swim with Liberty University.

Nov. 16 — Frederica Academy forfeits its GISA state football tournament game to Tiftarea Academy because of covid quarantine measures, sending the Panthers to the final four for the fourth consecutive season.

Dec. 8 — Paige Hill signs to play softball with ABAC.

Dec. 9 — Irwin County falls short of its third consecutive state football crown, running into a Brooks County’s juggernaut, 56-28.

Dec. 10 — Fitzgerald wins its first state football title since 1948, defeating region rival Thomasville, 21-7.

Dec. 11 — The Tift County Lady Devils score 88 points in a win over Turner County, their highest points total in more than 15 years.

Dec. 15 — Tyre West makes one college football team very happy and saddens others. West, one of Georgia’s top football recruits a Super 11 pick and multiple-time All-State player, signs with the University of Tennessee.

Dec. 16 — Tift County’s middle school wrestling program wins its seventh consecutive conference championship. The young Devils win 14 of 21 weight classes.

Dec. 18 — Tiftarea Academy holds its formal ceremony dedicating the gymnasium to late head girls basketball coach Amy Strenth.

Dec. 26 — Rashod Bateman scores his first career NFL touchdown, a 4-yard pass from quarterback Josh Johnson for the Ravens against the Bengals.

Dec. 28 — Shakiria Chaney scores her 1,000th career point against Holy Innocents’. She becomes the first Lady Devil to do so since Audrey McElhaney in 2016-17.

Dec. 31 — Georgia advances to the NCAA championship game with a 34-11 torching of Michigan.