Scrimmages popping up on football schedules

Published 3:50 pm Wednesday, July 30, 2025

TIFTON — High school football is taking its next big steps this week. Tiftarea Academy hosts the Blue-Gold intrasquad game and a handful of area schools are playing scrimmage games against other teams.

The Blue-Gold was scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, July 31 at the Panther Pit.

No admission will be charged, but head coach Erik Soliday has requested that fans donate water, sports drinks or laundry detergent. These will help keep the team hydrated and clean through the season.

Tift County is waiting a week for its scrimmage. On Aug. 8, the Blue Devils will play at Brooks County. The two played last year at Brodie Field in the 2024 warm-up.

Brooks was a state finalist last year in Class A, Division II. The Trojans went 10-5 and fell to Bowdon in the championship game. While the Quitman crew has graduated many from that team, their lineup does include George Lamons Jr., a 6-4, 215-pound all-around athlete rated in MaxPreps’ top 100 prospects of the Class of 2027.

Tiftarea will play a more formal scrimmage on that day as well, traveling to Randolph-Clay.

Under former Panthers assistant Charles Truitt, the Red Devils went 3-6 last season. Their biggest win was arguably over Class AA-sized Columbus. They also won over Calhoun County and Terrell County.

Some Region 1-6A teams will be in action Friday.

Thomas County Central takes on Lowndes in a matchup that features two strong teams. Valdosta goes to Cook and Richmond Hill will host Jenkins.

On Aug. 7, Colquitt County goes to Bainbridge for its scrimmage. Tift will take on the Bearcats in a non-region game in September.

Camden County hosts Benedictine on Aug. 8. That’s one week before the Cadets play Colquitt in the regular season.