TIFTON — Tift County has released its 2022 football schedule and there are a few surprises for longtime followers of the Blue Devils.

Tift finished 6-5 in 2021 under first-year head coach Noel Dean, a season that included wins over a No. 1-ranked school and the Devils’ first region victory in 1,100 days. They will have a different list of teams to conquer this year, however.

The Georgia High School Association moved Tift to Class 6A in last fall’s reclassification efforts. That means the Devils leave the state’s largest size for schools for the first time since classifications topped out at AAA in 1965-66 and Tift was in AA.

None of Tift’s usual region foes — Camden County, Colquitt County and Lowndes — made the jump with them. And the Blue Devils won’t be seeing much of Region 1-7A, now or upcoming. Colquitt is the only school they will continue to play in the regular season. They will also host Lowndes in a scrimmage on Aug. 6.

Gone, however, are Camden County and Valdosta. On the strength of an increased multiplier for out-of-district students, Valdosta is moving from 6A to 7A. This will be the first time Valdosta won’t be on the Blue Devils’ schedule in nearly 60 years. The two missed playing each other in 2020 because Tift was in covid quarantine, but this will be the first time they have voluntarily missed one another since 1965, the year before Brodie Field opened.

Lowndes’ removal from the regular season schedule interrupts a consecutive years streak nearly as long as the one against Valdosta. They two have played each other annually since 1968, Lowndes’ first year in AAA.

The rivalry game, Colquitt, remains intact. The Blue Devils travel to Moultrie on Sept. 2. Including old Moultrie High, Tift has played the Packers each season since 1964.

Where most of the games against former region rivals are out, a mix of old and new opponents are in.

Coffee returns to the schedule for the first time since 2017. The two were to play in 2020, but that was called off because of Tift’s quarantine. There will be a sense of new, however. Robby Pruitt stepped down as the Trojans’ head coach this winter and has been replaced by Mike Coe.

Tift will see Thomasville in September. The Blue Devils and Bulldogs have played 63 times since 1915, but haven’t known each other in some time. Their last meeting was in 1983, Thomasville’s final campaign in the state’s largest class (then 4A). The Bulldogs have been very successful in recent years and were state runners-up to Fitzgerald in AA in 2021. Thomasville was affected by the out-of-district multiplier and will be in AAA this season.

The other two non-region opponents in 2022 are Dutchtown and Gadsden County, Fla. Tift and Dutchtown met for the first time ever in 2021, a 23-7 victory for the Blue Devils. They’ll return the favor and travel to Dutchtown and its western Henry County location this time.

Gadsden County and their Jaguars are a complete newcomer to the schedule and a new school overall. Competing in Florida’s Class 4A, Gadsden went 3-7. One of their wins was over Dothan (Ala.), a school that was to have originally been on Tift’s schedule had it not been for the pandemic in 2020. This will be a home game for the Blue Devils.

Located in Havana, Gadsden opened in 2017. Previously, the county split its high schools into East Gasden and West Gadsden.

After four games, Tift moves into the region portion of its schedule, starting with an away contest at Northside of Warner Robins on Sept. 30. The Devils are 7-4 overall against Northside and last played the Eagles in 2009.

Thomas County Central and Veterans will be at Brodie Field for the next two contests, separated by a bye week.

TCC and Tift have met 20 times over the years, the last in 2013. The Yellow Jackets appealed to drop down in classification last fall, but were denied multiple times by the GHSA. They will be led by former Colquitt head coach Justin Rogers. Central was 5-6 in 2021.

Veterans is a new football opponent for the locals, but not a new school. It seems that Tift has played the Kathleen-based school in every other sport except football. The Warhawks have been around as a school since 2010. They finished 2-9 a year ago.

Tift will travel to Houston County before hosting Lee County to wind up the regular season.

Houston last played Tift in 2013, when its roster contained a freshman backup quarterback named Jake Fromm. The Devils are 7-3 against Houston overall.

Lee is a school Tift knows well. The Trojans will be the favorites in 1-6A and have made the quarterfinals or better in each state tournament since 2017. This includes state crowns in 2017 and 2018. The Blue Devils played Lee very close in their last meeting in 2020, a last-minute addition to the schedule.

Full schedule:

Aug. 26 Lowndes (scrimmage)

Aug. 19 Coffee

Aug. 26 at Dutchtown

Sept. 2 at Colquitt County

Sept. 16 at Thomasville

Sept. 23 Gadsden County, Fla.

Sept. 30 at Northside, Warner Robins*

Sept. 7 Thomas County Central*

Oct. 21 Veterans*

Oct. 28 at Houston County*

Nov. 4 Lee County*

* Region 1-6A games.