Damieon Dixon launches a pass downfield, which drew a pass interference penalty from Bainbridge.

BAINBRIDGE – A rare Thursday night game saw the Tift County Blue Devils do several very important things. One, they avoided the rain scheduled for Friday night. And, most importantly, they evened their record at 2-2 with a 17-14 victory over Bainbridge.

“It’s always good to get a win,” said Tift head coach Jeff Littleton after the game. While most fans would probably admit they were nervous in the final minutes, Littleton said, “We were confident the whole time. We played well.”

Thursday was a homecoming for Littleton, who was signed by the Blue Devils earlier this year after a successful run with the Bearcats. Amazingly, on the other sideline was Jay Walls, Tift’s former head coach.

The points differential was a 34-yard David Olguin field goal four minutes into the second half.

Tift had a 14-0 lead at intermission, but Bainbridge adjustments and renewed spirit from the home team saw momentum begin changing.

The Bearcats, held to a single first down in the first half, picked up four more during a 71-yard, 11-play drive immediately following Olguin’s field goal.

Ryheem Love had a 13-yard chunk that took them from the 50 to the 37 Soon, Bainbridge was at the 15, where a reverse by Vontrey Willingham had just enough green grass to catch a corner of the end zone.

“They never quit,” said Littleton of his former team. He admitted the Devils made some mistakes on defense and “[Bainbridge] got some plays in,” he said.

Winston Brock kicked the point-after at 2:44 and the Bearcats were back in the ballgame.

Tift avoided danger with Danny Freeman catching a short kickoff, but a sack forced a punt and Olguin delivered a beauty, going 56 yards to the 10.

Bainbridge temporarily kept a drive alive with a snap to an upback for a first down run, but got no further. The Devils got into Bainbridge territory and Olguin almost pinned the Bearcats at the 1, but a bad bounce saw the ball skip into the end zone.

Though the punt only netted 16 yards, there was an important development. Since the ball was practically in no-man’s land, Littleton teased going for it on fourth down. The formation chess game between the coaches saw Walls take a timeout when he thought Littleton would run a play on fourth.

Bainbridge took over at their own 20 with 7:57 to play.

After struggling earlier, Camryn Scott began finding receivers. Willingham caught passes for 31 and 14 yards, helping move the ball to Tift’s 39.

Jaden Nelson broke up a long throw on third down at the 33, but Scott found Willingham again, this time advancing to the 17.

Markavion Johnson-Smith took a Scott toss to the 2 for first-and-goal. The Blue Devils stopped two runs, but Johnson-Smith plowed through for a touchdown on the third attempt.

The all-important point-after was good, but Bainbridge now a dilemma. The touchdown came at 2:29, evaporating nearly 5:30 of clock time.

Tift took away Bainbridge’s first shot at getting the ball back, Dai’jon Hayes leaping to catch an onside kick at the 50.

Everyone in Centennial Stadium knew what the Blue Devils were going to do. Not having a full set of timeouts, Walls had to weigh which downs could he use the remaining two.

Bainbridge let it run after Kamari Hollomon’s initial three-yard run, which got the clock to 90 seconds.

A Hollomon run for a first down was brought back some on a penalty. A second down run gained a yard back to the 50 and Walls called timeout No. 2 at 1:06.

He wouldn’t get a chance to call another.

Hollomon ripped off a 14-yard run for a first down. Damieon Dixon knelt once and the Blue Devils ran out the clock.

The first half was a lot more relaxing for Tift County fans who braved the Meigs highway to get there.

Bainbridge netted (-1) on its first drive, but good starting field position allowed them punt down to the 10.

Hollomon ripped the Bearcat defense for 48 rushing yards on Tift’s three initial snaps to reach the 42. Two plays later, Dixon found an uncovered Hayes with single safety help. Hayes turned on the jets for a 43-yard touchdown at 6:40, Olguin’s kick giving them a 7-0 lead.

Drive No. 2 for the Bearcats had the unfortunate start on the 5 when the return man fumbled Olguin’s kick out of bounds.

A three-and-out and short punt started the Blue Devils on Bainbridge’s side of the field. The drive ended with a missed 28-yard field goal, but Bainbridge couldn’t make any hay.

The sides exchanged punts twice until Tift took over at its own 15 with 4:27 left in the half.

Hayes, catching everything thrown his way, got 25 on one reception and 22 on another. Tift was back in Bainbridge territory.

Pass interference set up third-and-short at the 25 and Hollomon muscled down to the 15.

In the red zone with under a minute to play, Dixon finished the drill quickly, Hayes catching a pass in the end zone for another Devils score.

Olguin’s toe was true and with 40 seconds remaining in the first half, the lead was 14-0.

Bainbridge could have ran out the half, but tried to make a little magic after the kickoff was returned 52 yards to the 42.

McKenzie Graham got pressure on the quarterback and he threw it into the waiting arms of Bryan Melton.

The Devils tried one deep pass, then elected to kneel on the ball to end the period.

Hollomon had a 25-yard gain on a swing pass from Dixon on the first drive of the third to help set up Olguin’s field goal.

Dixon had a career night throwing the football and Hayes had a career night catching it. Dixon was an unofficial 9-of-15 for 144 yards and two touchdowns. Both touchdowns and 108 yards on five receptions went to Hayes.

Hollomon ran 21 times for 101 yards.

Tift will host Houston County next week.