Blue Devils resume practices, prepare for Lowndes scrimmage

Published 2:00 pm Tuesday, July 19, 2022

TIFTON — The calendar reads July, but high school football is just around the corner. Tift County is entering the home stretch of preparations for its 2022 scrimmage against Lowndes. That contest will be Aug. 5 at Brodie Field.

“I’m really excited for Friday, Aug. 5,” said head coach Noel Dean, whose team went 6-5 in 2021 and earned their first region victory in three seasons. He rattled off the date and time with ease; kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.

The scrimmage is Lowndes returning the favor after the Blue Devils playing the spring game at Martin Stadium.

“It’s just getting better and better,” said Dean of the progress over the summer. Tift has been busy over June and July. They’ve traveled to a camp, hosted four teams in June and kicked off July with Turner County coming in for an organized team activity.

The scrimmage is held during the Georgia High School Association’s earliest week permissible. Teams have an option between the first two weeks of August. By playing early, Tift will have two weeks in front of them before they begin the regular season against Coffee.

Dean has been seeing a lot of positives during the summer. Carlton Brannon is settling in nicely to quarterback and has taken an even bigger role with the team. “He’s getting better every day,” Dean said. “We’re excited about his development and his mindset … He’s turned into a really good leader.”

Tyler Parker leads a corps of receivers that include Titus Beauford and McKyler Horne. Beauford caught some passes from both Parker and Jackson Strickland a season ago. Horne showed off his skills during Lowndes spring scrimmage, which go along well with his increased presence last year with the Blue Devils basketball team.

Damion Moate has seen the bulk of the carries. He has also gotten a boost from another sport, having won the Region 1-7A wrestling title in his weight class earlier this year.

On the other side of the ball, Dean said Tift returns starters in all sections of defense, line, linebackers and secondary. JaCoiley Nathan is back after his ankle injury against Marietta in state, a play that showed his mettle as he picked up a sack in the process.

Za’morian Brown and Jonta Strozier are ballhawks for the Devils.

Though young, Tift is developing quickly. “We’re very excited about everything we’re doing,” he said. “Our weight room is going fantastic. Our conditioning, our attendance is amazing. All of the things you need to have in place before you can even build a program finally feels like it’s coming together.”

Besides the players building relationships with one another over the past months, five new coaches have joined Tift’s staff. They bring a wealth of experience, with many having been successful collegiate players.