Tift quarterback Patrick Felton (9) pulls out of an ankle tackle by Khaleed Mobley to spin into the end zone Friday for the Blue Devils' first touchdown of many.

ROSWELL — Winter jackets populated Tift County’s sidelines and bleachers Friday night at Ray Manus Stadium, but the Blue Devils were anything but cold during their Class AAAAAAA state tournament first round game with Roswell, winning 42-7.

The Devils will be back on the road next week, but not above Atlanta. East Coweta, a No. 3 seed, pulled an upset over No. 2 Marietta, 28-26, meaning Tift will play in Sharpsburg.

Tift (7-4) smothered Roswell, dominating a team that entered 9-1, won the Region 4 championship, was ranked as high as No. 6 in this week’s poll and whose single loss had come by one point. 

Though region champs, Roswell entered wounded. Starting running back Kamonty Jett remained out Friday after missing the team’s regular season finale. Without him in the lineup, Tift held the Hornets to an unofficial 54 yards on the ground.

The Blue Devils led 21-0 at halftime, having established themselves with a trio of second quarter touchdowns. Roswell scored in the third to cut to a 14-point lead, but were completely shut down the rest of the way.

Neither team established any rhythm to start, combining for five punts in the initial five possessions. The streak nearly continued late in the first as the Devils had fourth down and one yard to go at their own 40. However, head coach Ashley Anders’ gamble paid off, with Patrick Felton gaining two yards to keep the drive going.

That seemed to energize the Devils, with Mike Jones picking up chunks of yards on ensuing runs. Then came another gamble, this in the form of a secret weapon Tift had been working on throughout the week. Into the backfield came Deontae Overstreet and his first two carries resulted in 15 yards to the Roswell 17.

On the last play of the first quarter, Tift was knocking on the door, having run to the 5.

Immediately after the second quarter opened, Felton found a gap at left guard and pulled out of an ankle tackle for the five-yard score. Rosendo Ramirez, who had a busy night with six extra points, kicked his first at 11:55 for a 7-0 lead.

Roswell quarterback Ethan Roberts missed on all three of his first quarter passes, but found some rhythm with completions to John Copenhaver and Clayton Major. Roberts later ran it into Tift territory, but were stopped short of first down. They, too, opted to roll the dice, but it did not go as planned with Wendell McClain picking off a pass.

Tift couldn’t score off the interception, having a 52-yard field goal blocked, but things were looking up, especially after a 19-yard Roswell punt started the next drive at the hosts’ 42.

Overstreet ran for a first down and with the ball at the 23, the Devils went to him again. This time, he burst up the left sideline and while the Hornets got their hands on him, he was shoved into the end zone at 2:43.

Roswell seemed content to end the half down 14, but were stopped quickly on runs deep in their own territory. The Devils called two timeouts to stop the clock. Tripp Cooper punted to midfield, but McClain returned the ball 21 yards. A hold put the ball on the 46 at 1:44, but there was no stopping the surging Devils.

Felton completed two straight passes, then hit Tyler Ajiero on a short route. Ajiero had his eyes on the sidelines to get out of bounds and stop the clock, but no one from Roswell stood in front of him. He streaked 24 yards and Tift went into the half with a 21-0 advantage.

Roswell made its only serious drive off the third quarter kickoff, going 80 yards in 15 plays for their lone touchdown. They almost didn’t get it.

The Hornets had first-and-goal at the 6, but couldn’t complete a fourth down pass. However, there was a flag for roughing the passer and Roswell had four fresh downs at the 1. On third down at the 6, Roberts found Jacob Jarrett in the end zone. Caden Long booted the extra point and at 8:02, the lead narrowed to 21-7.

Tift shook off a near-fumble and illegal shift on the next drive to keep the first down sticks moving. Jones and Felton ran the ball seven straight plays, the last being a four-yard Felton run for a score.

Two minutes later, the fourth quarter began and the final two nails in Roswell’s coffin were hammered.

A 44-yard drive that started in the third ended in Felton throwing to Jameson Turner in the right corner for a 21-yard touchdown at 10:34.

Roberts was sacked on the next drive, then with the line of scrimmage his own nine, forced a third down pass. Ron Jackson poached the pigskin at the 22 and ran untouched for the Tift final score of the evening.

Substitutes, including quarterbacks Mac Turner, Jacob Beach and Weston Clamp played for the remainder of the game. Chrishon Stephens and Javon Williams each ran three times.

Jones ran for 100 yards unofficially on 22 carries. Overstreet picked up 51 yards on five tries, running for a score.

Felton completed 11-of-14 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns and rarely faced Roswell pressure. His main target was Ajiero, who caught 40 yards and a touchdown on four catches. Turner had 31 yards on three receptions. Bricin Savage had a single catch for 45 yards.

Roberts, who rarely had a moment to breathe, only completed eight of 25 passes for 107 yards. He was sacked twice and threw two interceptions. Major led with three catches for 43 yards.

Tift held Roswell to 54 rushing yards. Jeremy Slaughter had half of those at 27.