Mike Jones found paydirt in the second quarter, a score that cut East Coweta's lead to 17-14. Jones scored once more to put Tift up for good.

SHARPSBURG — Tift County is back in the elite eight.

The Blue Devils spotted the East Coweta Indians two touchdowns in the second round of the state Class AAAAAAA football playoffs Friday, but came roaring back for a 24-17 victory at Garland Shoemake Stadium.

Tift, now 8-4, will venture for the third straight week next Friday, visiting Archer in Lawrenceville. The Tigers upset previously undefeated Parkview, 36-29.

East Coweta scored both of its touchdowns in the first quarter — 11 seconds apart, to be precise. Gerald Green was responsible for the first one. He torched Tift for an unofficial 192 yards in the first half, but the next 24 minutes were much quieter: 35 yards on eight carries.

The Devils were paced by a three-pronged rushing attack of Mike Jones, Patrick Felton and Deontae Overstreet. Jones scored twice, tying a pair of school touchdown records in the process.

The first quarter was nearly a scoreless one, before ending with a pair of Indians lightning strikes.

East Coweta picked up a first down on the initial possession and drove into Tift territory, but turned the ball over on downs in a memorable way. Attempting to pooch punt from the 44, the punter whiffed on the kick attempt. Kadarius McDaniel recovered the ball at the 45.

Tift’s first possession flipped the field, but nothing else came of it. Both teams were quiet until late, after Colby Gann kicked the Indians to their own 16. Nathan Cronic kept the drive going with an 11-yard run, then after an offsides penalty moved the ball to their own 41, Green broke loose.

Green darted up the middle of the field, past the secondary and in for a 59-yard touchdown with 28 seconds remaining in the quarter. Nate Lewis’s kick went through and East Coweta took a 7-0 lead.

That lead doubled in a hurry.

On the ensuing kickoff return, Tift tried a reverse, but a pitch to a second returnee went awry. Ahumed Williams scooped up the football at the 6 and at the speed of Devils fans’ jaws dropping, crossed into the end zone. Eleven seconds after 7-0, it was 14-0.

Fortunately, Tift County did not wallow in its misery.

The quarter ended with a 15-yard run by Overstreet. Three plays into the second period, he tacked on 25 yards. Even better, a personal foul facemask penalty meant the ball was now on East Coweta’s 21.

 Following a six-yard Overstreet gain, Felton kept the ball. He found a seam at left guard and zipped in for a 14-yard score. Rosendo Ramirez came in for the first of his three extra point kicks. At 10:07 in the second, it was now a 14-7 game.

Tift still had to deal with Green, however.

The shifty back ripped a 46-yard run into Tift territory. East Coweta used another offsides penalty to gain a fresh set of downs, but began to stall. Green went backwards twice and on fourth down, the ball was at the 19.

Lewis booted a 36-yard field goal at 3:56. It was the last time East Coweta had the ball with a lead of double-digits.

Tift needed only three plays to start breathing down their hosts’ necks.

Felton immediately went to the air, finding Tyler Ajiero. He gained 63 yards to the 18 and nearly scored had a lone defender not had an angle on him.

Jones rambled four yards, then ran through a gap at the same spot as Felton. At 2:14, the lead was down to 17-14.

East Coweta had a last scare in them to end the half.

Exclusively using Green, they moved from the 37 to the 7 before losing a yard. Time was allowed to tick down for a last-second field goal try. Despite being perfectly centered, it went wide. Tift’s deficit was still three points.

The second half was a different story than the first.

Tift immediately crossed into East Coweta territory, but couldn’t convert on fourth down at the 35. When the Indians took over, they gained two first downs, but a hit by Rod Redding to break up a Cronic pass saw Rakiyan Moss have to be helped off the field. It also seemed to take some wind out of the Indians’ sails.

A punt went for a touchback. The Blue Devils started running, and started gashing the defense for chunks of yards.

Jones and Overstreet picked up first downs during a session that went 11 plays without the ball leaving the ground. Jones kept it for the last four snaps, running in from the 14 at 2:51. Tift now had a 21-17 lead.

East Coweta couldn’t respond. Tyre West sacked Cronic at his own 10. They punted again, the ball going to midfield.

Felton had the biggest rush of the ensuing drive, 22 yards. It took the ball from the 45 to the 23, enough for a field goal try when they bogged down there.

Ramirez connected from 41 yards out, expanding the lead to 24-17. Tift now needed to hold on for the remaining 11:38.

Green couldn’t push the ball past midfield. Tift worked time off the clock and the football down to the 16, but Ramirez had to fall on it after a muffed snap on another field goal try. There was 4:14 remaining on the clock.

Tift kept hitting. After surrendering one first down at 46, Green caught a pass and was driven back to his own 40. With all their timeouts remaining, the Indians decided to risk another punt. The gamble got the ball back to East Coweta with 1:50 to go, but they had to go 52 yards to tie.

Jalen Whisby saved the Indians momentarily with a first down catch at Tift’s 46, but when Cronic tried to throw deeper, Overstreet intercepted. He ran the ball to his own 29. With East Coweta out of timeouts and 52 seconds left on the clock, Tift knelt twice on the ball to end the game.

Green ran for 227 yards on 28 carries, but had much less success in the second half than the first. The rest of East Coweta’s offense netted 52 yards. Cronic completed 9-of-17 passes for 35 yards. Whisby had two catches for 19 yards.

Tift had 94 passing yards, 63 of them on the catch by Ajiero. He had three catches for 72 yards and Caddy Curry had the only other reception, which went 22. Felton completed four of nine tries.

Overstreet ran nine times for 84 yards, Felton 10 times for 72. Jones had 20 carries for 125 yards and two touchdowns. His second touchdown tied two Tift County records.

Jones has 29 total touchdowns for his career, tying him with Kaream Hess and Rashod Bateman. Of those scores, 28 are rushing touchdowns, which ties him with Ken Hobby. Jones entered the game tied for second in rushing touchdowns with Terry Revels.