Becky Taylor/The Tifton Gazette Tift County’s Blue Devils claim a Langston Hughes fumble as their own. The turnover was the second of two the Devils forced in the spring scrimmage game.

TIFTON — Summer football gets started in mere days for the Tift County Blue Devils as head coach Jeff Littleton and staff work on building upon what they started in 2024.

Littleton said summer practice begins June 9. There are more numbers than a year ago. “We had 327 kids in grades 6-12 go through spring football practice,” he said.

Summer high school practice will be Monday through Thursday, but that is far from all the Devils will be doing.

It will be a full month, with 7-on-7s dominating the calendar. Tift will host one, according to the calendar. “Fitzgerald will be coming here one morning,” he said.

Travel is to Ware County, Fitzgerald and Perry for 7-on-7s or other organized team activities. That is in addition to visiting camps at Georgia State and Florida State.

The second GHSA-mandated “dead week” opens July. After, the Blue Devils head to Thomas County Central for a couple of days, then get started on acclimation for the season. Formal fall practice begins at the end of the month.

Tift went 2-8 in Littleton’s first season at the helm, with three losses — all in Region 1-6A — decided by 10 points or fewer. They made big strides this spring, and the varsity outscored Class 5A finalist Langston Hughes in the spring game.

“I’m really optimistic about our work ethic and really excited about what the future holds for them,” he said. “We’re slowly getting better. Bigger, faster, stronger.”

The work is not just the players, but the coaches as well, he said.

“I’m really proud of where we’re at.” Littleton feels the Blue Devils are ahead of his expectations.

Langston Hughes was impressive, but he is not hanging his hat on that one night. “We don’t want to be satisfied with what we’ve done,” he said. “We’ve gotta continue moving forward.”

Like last year, Tift County will play Brooks County in a scrimmage, listed as being in Quitman this year. The regular season opens Aug. 15 at home against Griffin.