Tift County's Walter Jackson (1) crashes into Crisp County quarterback Jack Carter (12) at the end of a Deontae Overstreet sack during the first quarter Friday. Though the landing looked ugly, Carter was uninjured and played into the fourth quarter.

TIFTON – Another night, another outstanding performance by the Tift County Blue Devils to keep head coach Ashley Anders happy.

Tift County dispatched Crisp County, 42-0 Friday at Brodie Field.

“I thought we played especially well,” said Anders, whose team is now 3-1 after dropping its opener.

Everything came together for the Blue Devils.

Quarterback Patrick Felton made his first appearance in a game since Aug. 17. Tift had two 100-yard rushers in Mike Jones and Danny Hill. Tyler Ajiero caught one of the longest touchdown receptions in school history. He, too, had more than 100 yards.

And then there was the defense.

Anders was thrilled with the play of his front four linemen and his secondary. Even with the junior varsity seeing extensive playing time in the second half, not only did the defense hold the Cougars to an unofficial 82 total yards, Crisp never saw Tift’s side of the 50.

“I’ll take it,” said Anders.

The Blue Devils scored two touchdowns in each of the first two quarters to be up 28-0 at halftime. It was Hill who initially sparked the offense when Tift received the opening kickoff.

After Jacob Beach hit an 11-yard pass to Jameson Turner to start the initial drive, Hill picked up chunks of yards through holes created by his offensive line.

Getting into Crisp territory on an 18-yarder, he picked up two more first downs down to the 20. Beach connected with Ajiero on a 19-yard pass to the 1 and one play later, Hill crashed into the end zone. Rosendo Ramirez hit the first of six extra point kicks at 8:33.

Tift surprised the Cougars with an onside kick, which Ramirez himself recovered. However, the drive stalled at Crisp’s 42. Ramirez only had to punt twice Friday and this one was a beauty, going out of bounds at the 6.

Crisp picked up one first down, but went backwards on a penalty. Trapped at their own 18, they called for a punt. This went awry as the punter dropped the snap. He fell on it at the 8, giving Tift possession there.

Two runs by Hill, the second from a yard out, resulted in another touchdown. The Devils led 14-0 with 3:23 remaining in the opening quarter.

The second stanza started out as trouble for both teams.

Tift nearly lost the ball on a lateral, then after the Devils punted, Crisp did cough up the pigskin on their own 12. No harm came of the loss, though, as Tift handed it back at the 6.

Anders said his defense told the departing offense they’d get the ball back for them. Four plays later, they did just that. Wendell McClain tipped a Jack Carter pass, which was caught by a diving Deontae Overstreet for an interception.

“The kids are playing for one another,” said Anders.

This time, Tift held on. Jones had five rushes in a six-play, 40-yard drive and ran it in from the 1 at 5:10.

The Devils weren’t through for the half. After forcing another punt, they took over at their own 45 with 2:11 to go in the half. With Felton running a hurry-up offense, a big Jones run moved the ball to Crisp’s 18. At 23 seconds, Felton threaded the needle to deliver a nine-yard pass to Turner at the 1.

Jones had Tift’s fourth one-yard scoring run with 18 seconds to go in the half.

Following intermission, Carter guided Crisp to its deepest penetration – the Cougars’ 49 – when he hit Gaige Little on a nine-yard pass. The Devils dumped a runner for a two-yard loss on the next play and pressure from Kadarius McDaniel caused Carter to throw incomplete, ending the drive.

Bailey Barfield kicked Tift down to its own 9, which set up the next score.

Hill pushed the Devils out to the 15. Felton dropped back to pass and spotted Ajiero on a short slant. This small completion turned much larger as the receiver angled out of danger and up the left side of the field. He was in the clear by midfield and coasted to paydirt 85 yards later.

The score, which came at 7:21, was Tift’s only of the third quarter. The schools elected to play with a running clock in the fourth. When the clock rolled over to the final 12 minutes, the Blue Devils were in the midst of their most involved drive, 11 plays and 87 yards.

Hill had the majority of work in this drive, which seemed destined to stall at Crisp’s 29 when the locals faced fourth down-and-eight. But Hill was determined to keep it going and he shook off tackles and tip-toed through defenders en route to the 29-yard touchdown at 8:20.

Weston Clamp finished out the game at quarterback for Tift, with Chrishon Stephens and Javon Williams getting the final carries.

Beach and Felton combined for 10-of-16 passing and 170 yards, 133 of those yards belonging to Felton. Anders said Felton, who had not played a snap since the second quarter of the opening game, was a bit rusty at first, but got better and better as the game progressed.

Jones had 100 yards and two touchdowns in 14 carries, Hill had a career night with 143 yards and three scores on the ground. Ajiero had 128 receiving yards on five catches.

Anthony Lewis was responsible for the bulk of the Cougars’ offense. He ran 16 times for 54 yards.

Carter, a freshman, made his first start for Crisp. He completed his first five passes and was 9-of-16 overall for 54 yards. Jynick Mainor led in receiving yards, with one catch for 14 yards. Carter was sacked twice.

Tift will stay at home next week, hosting Parkview.

Scoring summary:

1st

– (T, 8:33) Danny Hill, 1-yard run (Rosendo Ramirez kick)

– (T, 3:23) Hill, 1-yard run (Ramirez kick)

2nd

– (T, 5:10) Mike Jones, 1-yard run (Ramirez kick)

– (T, 0:18) Jones, 1-yard run (Ramirez kick)

3rd

– (T, 7:21) Tyler Ajiero, 85-yard pass from Patrick Felton (Ramirez kick)

4th

– (T 8:20) Hill, 29-yard run (Ramirez kick)