Devils prepare for Coffee after scrimmage

Published 11:00 am Thursday, August 18, 2022

TIFTON — After a successful scrimmage against Lowndes, the Tift County Blue Devils will get to experience the real thing this Friday, opening the regular season at 7:30 p.m. against the Coffee Trojans. The game, also Senior Night, will be at Brodie Field.

The opener comes two weeks after the Devils outscored Lowndes 8-7 in a scrimmage. “We played well,” said head coach Noel Dean. “It makes me happy, it makes me happy for the kids.”

Lowndes scored first, in the second quarter, then Tift cut into that with an 18-yard pass from Carlton Brannon to Tyler Parker. The extra point was blocked. The 7-6 measure held for the remainder of the half and for most of the third quarter before the Vikings made an interception on their own 1. One play later, the Devils brought heat on a blitz and Lowndes spiked the ball in the end zone for a safety.

Little time remained after the ensuing free kick and Tift ran out the quarter. While Tift could have easily claimed victory for that segment, it was made even better with the junior varsity Blue Devils holding Lowndes scoreless in their quarter of play.

Dean said he was excited by the scrimmage, but said this is only the start. “We have a lot of things we’re working through,” he said. “We’ll get better.”

Ball control was one of the highlights of the scrimmage to Dean. “Any time you can have 15 first downs to the other team’s four, I like that a lot,” he said. The third quarter was particularly impressive to him, with the Vikings running only four plays. The last of those was the safety. “I like the way our defense played,” said Dean.

Offense caught the head coach’s eye, too. Dean said he had been working with Brannon for a year. “I like the way he’s improving,” said Dean. Brannon completed 12 of 19 passes, including his first six in the third frame. There was praise for the offensive line and how they have gelled together in a short time.

Coffee returns to the schedule this year for the first time since 2017. They were to have played in 2020, but the first game was wiped out because Tift was in coronavirus quarantine. The two did not reschedule in 2021. Since the last contest, Coffee has employed a new sideline mentor, Mike Coe, who takes over for Robby Pruitt.

The Trojans were 8-3 a year ago, falling in the first round of the state tournament, and played Fitzgerald in their scrimmage. Tift has won the last three games in the series.

“We have to focus on us,” said Dean. “That’s what we’re working on … adding a few things to our offense, developing our defense and our special teams.”

Coffee will be Senior Night for the football team, band, cheerleaders and JROTC.

The break between the scrimmage and the regular season is by design. Dean said he and former Lowndes head coach Jamey Dubose decided to do it that way when the scrimmage was scheduled.

Dean said it gave Tift plenty of time to address any issues the coaches saw in the warm-up. “When Jamey Dubose and I decided to it this way, that was the thought process for both coaches. I like the chance to really work on getting ourselves into a good place.”

Following Coffee, the Blue Devils will make their first road trip of the year, playing at Dutchtown. Two more road trips will follow before they come home to play Gadsden County. Dutchtown hosts Stephenson in its opener Aug. 20.