VALDOSTA — Valdosta welcomes Tift County to town tonight for a key Region 1-AAAAA football game.
The teams will kick off at 8 p.m. at Cleveland Field at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.
Tift County enters the matchup 3-1 and ranked No. 8 in Class AAAAA. This will be the Blue Devils’ region opener. Valdosta is 4-1, following last week’s 24-6 victory over Colquitt County.
“It’s a big game for us. Every region game is,” Valdosta head coach Rick Tomberlin said.
Valdosta’s coaching staff sees Tift as yet another tough opponent they have to play.
“It’s nice to be 4-1, but it’s hard to enjoy it for long, because every week, we’ve got another tough opponent to prepare for,” Tomberlin said.
The Wildcats and the Blue Devils have two of the region’s best, and most experienced, defenses.
Only AAAA power Thomas County Central, which beat the Blue Devils 32-14, has scored more than seven points on Tift.
“They play tough defense,” Tomberlin said. They’ve got some good defensive linemen. No. 94 (Larry Bryant) is the best one. Their middle linebacker, No. 44 (Josh) Abbott, is good, and so are 92 (Josh Osby) and 98 (Tabias Walker). It will be a challenge.”
The Blue Devils run a spread offense, much like previous Wildcat opponents Jordan, Collins Hill and Lincoln did. They are averaging 23.3 points per game.
“Coach (Jay) Walls and crew do a good job,” Tomberlin said. “They run a spread-type offense. They run the quarterback a lot, on quarterback counters and speed options. They like to run a lot of screens, then they’ll go up top and test you deep. I look for them to go deep and test our corners, and I expect them to run screens and shuffle passes, along with counters and speed options.”
Tift likes to run the ball, and will have All-State back Kaream Hess (234 rushing yards this season) returning from injury. Fellow All-State selection Zach Allen (6-feet-2, 302 pounds), an N.C. State commitment, will anchor the offensive line at left tackle.
Quarterback Nick Prostko (546 yards passing, 3 TD; 135 yards rushing) is injured, and will not play unless the team absolutely needs him. Prostko leads the team with three rushing touchdowns. But the Blue Devils expect little drop-off with backup Malcom Dixon (120 yards, 1 TD) taking the snaps. Dixon had been one of the team’s top receivers, with six catches for 84 yards, and rushers, with 72 yards on 13 carries. Jared Davis is Tift’s top receiver, with 17 catches for 177 yards.
Valdosta will continue to look to its playmakers on offense. Quarterback Michael Turner has thrown for 479 yards and two touchdowns. Halfback David Arnold leads the team in both rushing (498 yards, 2 TD) and receiving (14 rec., 202 yards, 3 TD). Marcus McNair has rushed for five touchdowns.
Tift County is one of Valdosta’s oldest opponents. The teams first played in 1914, with Valdosta winning 38-0. The Wildcats have gone 64-13-2 against the Blue Devils.
The past two years, the Valdosta-Tift game has been decided by three points. Last year, Valdosta and Tift played a double-overtime thriller, which Tift won 10-7. The Blue Devils came into that game ranked No. 1 in the state, but the Wildcats, who came into the game 1-4, had opportunities to pull the upset. Valdosta had four possessions inside the Tift 20, but couldn’t score on any of them. The year before, Valdosta won 13-10 at Cleveland Field.
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