Tift County's Rod Redding brings down Valdosta quarterback Tate Rodemaker (18) for a sack on the first play from scrimmage of Friday's game.

TIFTON — The tone was set on the opening snap.

Tift County’s Rod Redding and Walter Jackson crashed through the Valdosta offensive line and sacked quarterback Tate Rodemaker for a seven-yard loss. It was a scene repeated often in Tift’s 24-10 victory over the Wildcats Friday: Rodemaker drops back to pass, Rodemaker is dropped to the turf.

By the time the final whistle blew on the victory, the Blue Devils sacked Rodemaker 10 times.

“Is that how many we had?,” asked a slightly incredulous Tift head coach Ashley Anders after the game.

Ten sacks, totaling an unofficial 67 yards in lost offense for the Wildcats. The Blue Devils held the Valdosta running game in check, too, to 41 yards. Valdosta scored a field goal in the first quarter, but only cracked the Tift side of the field three times after. By the time the Wildcats scored their lone touchdown, the game was far out of reach.

The defensive pressure fed over to the offensive side of the field.

Mac Turner, making his first career varsity start, only needed to attempt eight passes. Five were completed for 13 yards, but his leadership at the line was exactly what Anders wanted out of his quarterback.

“Mac Turner came in and controlled the game,” he said.

The Devils relied heavily on running back Mike Jones. Jones, who had a 96-yard touchdown against Warner Robins last week, had a long of 31 yards Friday and 195 total on 31 tries. He scored two touchdowns, one that gave Tift a 7-0 lead in the first period and one in the fourth to ice the game.

Tift won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. Rodemaker ate seven yards on the first play. He immediately picked up seven yards on a pass to Abel Norwood, but the Devils chased Rodemaker on third down and he was tackled short of a first down on a scramble.

A block in the back made Tift start on their own 38, but with Jones running the ball, yards evaporated quickly. Turner helped out with an 11-yard pass to Tyler Ajiero to the 38. Three plays later, Jones ran through a pack of Valdosta defenders and kicked up some dirt, finally slowing down when he reached the end zone 31 yards later.

Rosendo Ramirez booted the extra point and the Devils led 7-0 at 8:07.

Valdosta came back.

Their second drive was the best of the game for the Wildcats, spanning from their own 23 as far as Tift’s 4. Rodemaker went down again (courtesy Kadarius McDaniel and Vanquez Golson) but got a first down on Norwood’s 17-yard catch.

Rodemaker hit all eight of his passes on the drive. Valdosta had first-and-goal at the 7. Rajaez Mosley ran to the 4 on first down, but something changed. Mosley lost a yard. Valdosta called timeout, but was then flagged for a false start. Aalah Brown caught a pass, but was tackled at the 6.

Valdosta settled for Angel Martinez-Lopez’s 23-yard field goal, cutting the score to 7-3.

The score stayed that for two series. Tarrell Roberts took a Rodemaker pass into Tift territory early in the second quarter. Seconds later, Tyre West sacked Rodemaker seven yards, back to the 50, ending the threat.

Content to ground it out, Tift gave the ball to Jones. Aided by a pass interference call, they began at their own 9 and continuously chugged out yards. Airick DeLoach gave Jones a brief rest, then Jones took it 17 yards down to the 8. Valdosta stiffened at the 5. At 3:42, Ramirez kicked a 22-yard field goal, boosting the lead back up to seven points.

Rodemaker’s half, already miserable, got worse. Three straight snaps resulted in three straight sacks. Byronn Williams knocked him down at his own 14. West tackled him on the next play at the 4.

By clinging to Valdosta, Tift County clung to a 10-3 lead at intermission. That did not last very long once the whistle blew for the third quarter.

After the Devils advanced the kick to the 16, Ajiero took Turner’s spot under center and immediately ran for a yard. Ajiero tried it again on the next play and this time, his offensive line created a massive gap, allowing him to race untouched for an 83-yard touchdown and a 17-3 lead after Ramirez’s kick.

Anders dubbed Tift’s version of this wildcat play the “Wild Devil.” Turner went back in and finished out the game as quarterback, but Ajiero appeared there again briefly at the start of the fourth quarter, indicating that it might gain popularity as part of the Devils’ arsenal.

The rest of the third period went mostly quietly. McDaniel sacked Rodemaker and Ramirez attempted (and fell short on) a 59-yard field goal. Valdosta, however, received a different kind of blow when Norwood went down with what appeared to be a leg injury late in the quarter. He was taken off the field on a stretcher.

Sack No. 8 came in the fourth from Golson and left the Wildcats deep in their own territory. A short punt put Tift in business at the VHS 34. From there, the ball went back to Jones. He scored seven plays later on an eight-yard run, all eight plays runs by Jones.

Ramirez booted his third and final extra point at 5:08 when the Jones touchdown iced the game at 24-3.

Ricky Perry and Jamaine Alexander had Tift’s last two sacks. Valdosta was able to end their night with a highlight when Rodemaker found Brown on a 21-yard touchdown reception with 16 seconds remaining. Martinez-Lopez kicked the extra point.

Afterwards, Anders credited his entire roster for the win, even those who did not get the opportunity to play.

“Our improvements for this game were phenomenal,” he said. Extra kudos were given to the offensive line. “I’m super, super proud of the offensive line,” Anders said. The crowd appreciated their effort, too. After Jones’ second touchdown, the line was given a standing ovation.

Jones rushed for two touchdowns on 31 carries and 195 yards. Ajiero finished with 92 yards and a touchdown on four carries.

Ajiero caught only one of Turner’s five completions, but had nearly all of the total passing yards, at 11. Rodemaker completed all 11 of his passes in the first half and 21-of-26 total, with one score. Minus sacks, he had 181 yards through the air.

Norwood had a single 15-yard rush for Valdosta. Mosley carried the pigskin 12 times and finished with 13 yards. Roberts had four catches for 51 yards, Brown, three, for 34 and Norwood, three for 33.

Neither team had a turnover.

The Blue Devils, which improved to 1-1 on the 2018 season, next travel to Worth County. Worth fell to Dooly County, 33-21 Friday, their 13th straight loss.