A Zyian Coley hit knocks the ball loose from Griffin, leading to a Matthew Layfield recovery in the third quarter.

GRIFFIN — One game in and one win for Jeff Littleton as Tift County head football coach. The Blue Devils gave Littleton his first victory in a complete thrashing of the host Griffin Bears, Friday 43-0.

“It’s awesome for our team, our coaches and our players, our community,” said Littleton. “it’s a compilation of everybody coming together and doing the right thing.”

The Devils had highlights everywhere.

Kamari Hollomon scored four rushing touchdowns. Jaden Nelson had an interception score. The defense held the Bears to an unofficial (-50) rushing yards while forcing four turnovers.

Special teams blocked two Griffin punts and a field goal, and Corey Howard, who was only needed to punt once, booted that try 56 yards.

“We played with intensity,” he said. “We played with discipline … we played smart.”

It was Tift’s largest margin of victory since a 47-0 victory over Worth County in 2020.

The score was only 9-0 at halftime, and Griffin was set to receive the ball after the break. What followed was a third quarter Bears fans may never mention again.

Griffin’s offense took over at their own 18. After an incompletion on first down, the Devils chased the quarterback nearly into his own end zone. He was flagged for intentional grounding at the 1.

On fourth down, Griffin elected to try to run it from their own end zone rather than risk another block. Tift tackled the punter at the 6 and took over there.

Hollomon needed only one snap to run to cover the six yards. David Olguin’s extra point sailed over the north fence and into the street and Tift had a 16-0 lead at 11:31.

After going backwards six yards on their first two plays following the touchdown, Griffin tried passing again. Jaden Nelson made a juggling interception at his own 45 and took off.

Nelson weaved through initial traffic and headed down his own sideline into the end zone at 9:20 for the 55-yard pick-six. Olguin’s kick again went into the street but bounced back inside the stadium.

The Blue Devils were up 23-0 and the quarter wasn’t even close to over.

Griffin did have a positive on their next drive, a 20-yard reception by Cordae Alexander. One play later, the Bears were met five yards in the backfield by Zylan Coley and coughed up the football, with Matthew Layfield falling on top of it at the 29.

Tift did not pick up points on this drive, but did on their next.

Dameion Dixon connected with Ahmadre Woods on a fourth down screen that went 15 yards and got Tift into the red zone. Hollomon picked his way 18 yards, then the final one to score at 1:49. Olguin kicked the point-after for a 30-0 lead.

Griffin only made it one play before turning it over on a fumble again, Tift covering this at the 10. Hollomon rumbled in those 10 yards on a one-play drive. Braylon Samuel got his first varsity point with the kick at 1:33.

The Bears began the fourth having to punt from the end zone again, but Tift did not rush this try.

Hollomon almost got his fifth touchdown on a 32-yard run, but was felled at the 2. Dixon called his own number there, going off left tackle at 8:47 for a touchdown. The kick try missed.

Young Devils played the rest of the minutes on both sides of the ball. The defense caused and recovered a fumble at the 1, but Griffin stiffened there to prevent a last touchdown.

Littleton almost had the ultimate for his debut: Dai’jon Hayes nearly went the distance on the opening kickoff, being tackled at the 19.

Griffin was game early, Paul Robinson intercepting a pass to end Tift’s opening drive. However, the Bears met with their first special teams misfortune, with the first of two McKenzie Graham blocked punts

The stalemate continued through another Tift possession. Then came the high snap and the Devils pouncing on the loose pigskin at the 2.

Hollomon powered his way through from the 2 for Tift’s first touchdown of 2024 at 6:13 in the first.

Those were the only points until midway through the second. Griffin had a punt blocked from its own 34, but no one could corral the loose ball and it ultimately rolled through the end zone for a safety at 5:10.

Hollomon had an official 112 yards on 21 carries to go along with his four touchdown rushes. Daveion Dixon added 28 yards on six totes. Dameion Dixon completed 5 of 12 passes for 32 yards.

Graham and Layfield each made eight tackles. Five of Graham’s stops were for lost yardage to go along with his two blocked punts. Layfield and Cnardarian Walker had two tackles for losses and a sack apiece. Coley caused two fumbles.

Tift will play their first home game Aug. 23 against Gadsden County, Florida, a night that doubles as homecoming.