Blue Devils huge on homecoming, score shutout against Gadsden

Sep. 23—TIFTON — Tift County High's Blue Devils were a turnover machine Friday, Sept. 22 in shutting out Gadsden County (Fla.), 17-0, on homecoming.

In their first victory of 2023, the Devils intercepted three passes — two by Jaden Nelson — recovered a fumble and blocked a field goal for a touchdown.

"I love 'em," said head coach Noel Dean about his players as they headed for the locker room. Dean said the Blue Devils worked extremely hard for this victory.

Gadsden, which scored 52 points two weeks ago, reached the red zone one time. At the start of the 2nd quarter, the Jaguars picked up first-and-goal at the 8.

There, Tift became a brick wall. Two runs picked up a yard each and a near sack by Kaleb Lewis forced an incompletion on third down.

Gadsden's 23-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Landon Jones, bouncing to the left of the line where it was scooped up at the 14 by Za'morian Brown, who alertly took it the distance to a touchdown in the north end zone with a convoy of teammates providing protection.

David Sandoval's kick was good and Tift had a 7-0 lead with 10:19 remaining in the half.

Brown's return of the blocked field goal, only the second in Tift history, had to hold up as the only points for a bit.

After a pair of Gadsden punts, the Devils escaped the shadow of their own goalposts, digging out from the 5, then flipped the field on a Corey Howard punt.

Though Gadsden had only one timeout in its pocket when they took over possession at 2:15 at their own 32, they attempted to make a little magic happen. It didn't work.

Nelson made a jumping interception at the 47. Tift had 2:09 and an opening to extend the lead.

Three runs by Damion Moate picked up 46 yards, all the way down to the 1. It was the Jaguars' turn to stiffen there, making a tackle behind the line, then a holding penalty wiped out a Taylan Morrow touchdown catch.

Though Gadsden was offsides on fourth and goal, the Blue Devils elected to play it safe, Sandoval booting a 21-yard field goal with 32 seconds to go in the 1st half, increasing the lead to 10-0.

Tift's first possession after the half ended with a Howard punt, but that was just fine for them: Gadsden's returner lost the ball during the runback and D.J. Office smothered it at the Jags' 32.

On the first play, Christopher Martin connected with Titus Beauford on a 19-yard pass down to the 13. From there, Moate picked up 11 more on two carries, down to the 2.

A false start drove them back to the 7, but this time Tift was not going to be deterred. Moate burst up the middle through a gaping hole on a counter run, scoring the touchdown at 6:16. Sandoval again had the point-after.

The lead was a comfortable 17-0 and the Blue Devils were intent on keeping it that way.

Gadsden quarterbacks Shawnterris Thomas and Landon Dougherty already knew flying the skies was unfriendly. They found out the ground was treacherous, too.

Nelson's second pickoff came a snap after Taylor Lawshea dropped Thomas for an eight-yard loss. Tift ran out the final 3:23 of the quarter.

In the 4th, the constant pressure saw Gadsden be flagged for an illegal forward pass beyond the line of scrimmage. Brown nearly intercepted the next attempt, then the Jags turned it over on downs after the pocket collapsed on Thomas and he threw incomplete.

Their next series featured a near-pick, a holding call, and combined sack by Lawshea and Kamari Brown before Danny Freeman tackled the visitors well short of the first down sticks.

Brown intercepted Gadsden at their own 34 late in the quarter, sealing their fate. The Jaguars had one more turnover on downs. Martin knelt in sweet victory formation to end the game at Gadsden's 24.

Moate had another 100+-yard running game, an unofficial 35 carries for 118 yards and a touchdown. The Devils committed no turnovers.

The shutout was their first since a 41-0 drubbing of Westover to open the 2021 campaign. Tift County's only previous blocked field goal touchdown came in 2013, when Malik Henry achieved the feat against Westover. Brown's return of 94 yards far surpasses Henry's 68-yard return.

Brown's touchdown is the longest since another Brown — Willie Brown — returned a kickoff for 97 yards in 2019.

Tift County will open Region 1-6A play Sept. 29 at home against Northside of Warner Robins. The Eagles dropped a 20-16 game at Crisp County Sept. 22, their third consecutive loss.

At halftime, acting Tift County High principal Bradley Winger crowned Ellie Stone homecoming queen. Second runner-up was Bailee Williams, on crutches after being injured the night before in a softball game, with Dinae Robinson as 1st runner-up.