Beauford has 2 touchdown catches, but Tift falls to Dutchtown

Aug. 26—TIFTON — Christopher Martin had his best night in his young time with the Tift County Blue Devils, and it was a career night for Titus Beauford. Unfortunately, it was a strong second half for Dutchtown, who won over the Devils, 52-16.

Tift will host Colquitt County Sept. 1 in its next contest. The Packers won 47-27 over Stockbridge Friday.

Beauford finished with six catches for an unofficial 109 yards, scoring two touchdowns. Martin had an unofficial 188 passing yards, completing 14 of 30 attempts.

Dutchtown led 24-16 at halftime, 31-16 after three periods.

Dutchtown scored on its initial possession, reaching the 1 in 11 plays. There, Joevon Bautista was stood up by the Devil defense on third down.

If the Bulldogs considered going for it on 4th, a false start ended the conversation. Out came the kicker for a 23-yard field goal at 6:43.

Tift returned fire.

Unlike the previous week where they were content to ground it out against Coffee, head coach Noel Dean's squad started with a pair of passing attempts.

Though a Martin to Taylan Morrow toss picked up a first down on the first play from scrimmage, they were unable to get more and punted. A big hit broke up a reception and the Bulldogs kicked back. This time, Tift was able to keep moving.

Taking over at the Bulldogs' 40, a Martin-to-Morrow connection picked up 24 yards to the 12.

Switching to the ground game, the Devils picked up a first down at the 1 as the period ended.

Like Dutchtown, the 1 was an electric barrier. Officials ruled a catch near the back line of the end zone was out of bounds. Illegal motion also moved them back to the 6, ruling out going for it on 4th.

David Sandoval made the 23-yard kick at 11:38, Tift's first field goal since Antonio Gomez against Valdosta on Oct. 1, 2021.

After stopping the Bulldogs again, Tift got a big return by Ahmadre Woods to the DHS 40.

Aided by first downs by Damion Moate and Beauford, the moved to the 22. A chop block knocked the Devils back 15 yards, but that was no problem.

Martin hit Beauford on a screen pass and the speedster did the rest, flashing through the Dutchtown secondary for the 37-yard score at 8:40. The kick failed, however, leading the hosts with a 9-3 advantage.

A screen of their own saw Dutchtown regain the lead, Michael Johnson's pass to Bautista getting them out a hole after a hold and negative run had dropped back to the 46.

The kick was good at 7:08 and the Bulldogs had a 10-9 advantage. Then came the special teams troubles. Dutchtown blocked two punts for touchdowns, switching the momentum of the game. The first of these was when Tift was backed up at its own 11.

The Devils did block the extra point on the first one, at 8:01, leaving the score 16-9. The unusual number didn't stay long.

Morrow dug the Devils out of a third-and-five, switching the field from their own 30 to the 47 on a catch. Moate rumbled ahead for a first down at the 37 and Martin dropped back again.

This time Martin didn't look close, but spotted an Beauford breaking open deep down the field. Beauford hauled in the pass in the end zone at 1:49, bringing the count to 16-15.

Tift toyed with going for two points, but the old enemy, the false start, switched the plan to Sandoval. His toe was true, tying the score at 16-16.

Dutchtown rushed down the field after the kickoff, moving quickly enough for Johnson run in for a score with 54 seconds left. The half ended with Dutchtown up, 24-16 after Jayden Hollis caught a two-point conversion pass.

The second blocked punt scored opened the third quarter, Solomon Guinyard with the ball. At 8:45, it was now 31-16.

Tift stopped another potential Bulldogs drive in its tracks when a strip sack saw Kamari Brown gain possession of the football.

Jamarion McKinney caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Johnson one play into the 4th quarter. Down 38-16 and trying to make magic happen from their own territory, the Blue Devils were intercepted by Lavonza Langston, who returned it for a touchdown.

Donovan Barber capped scoring with a one-yard plunge with 4:13 remaining.

The kickoff return following the last touchdown had a scary momentum that turned into relief.

Camron Warren went down at the end of the return and did not get back up. Trainers tended to him, soon followed by coaches and Tift administrators.

Paramedics were motioned to bring a stretcher to Warren. Minutes later, administrators returned for a backboard.

As that approached, Warren, with help from trainers, rose to his feet. He was walked back to the medical tent and the backboard and stretcher were returned, unused, back to the ambulance.

Shurrod Rich and Kamari Hollomon finished the game out at running back, moving the Devils to near midfield.