TIFTON — Tift County meets one of its stiffest challenges of the year tonight in Archer High School. The teams square off at Archer Stadium at 7:30 p.m. The winner advances to the Class AAAAAAA semifinals against either North Gwinnett or Colquitt County.

“They are very, very talented,” said Blue Devils head coach Ashley Anders. Other than Colquitt County, he feels Archer has the best athletes his team will face all season.

Colleges seem to agree.

Three Tigers players — Andrew Booth, Jalyn Phillips and Colby Wooden — have verbal commitments to Clemson (Booth and Phillips) and Auburn (Wooden). Wooden is a defensive end and tight end (a “monster defensive end,” said Anders), Phillips is a safety and Booth can play cornerback and wide receiver.

Archer is far from that trio. Carter Peevy, who has thrown for 26 touchdowns and nearly 2,250 yards, is a three-year starter at the position, said Anders. Semaje Banks has run for just over 800 yards and has 11 touchdowns. He also ran for the winning touchdown last week against a previously undefeated Parkview.

The Tigers give up 15 points per game, with only one real misfire on their record, a 41-14 loss to Grayson in October. Archer’s other loss was by 21-19 in their season opener to Milton. Both teams are still alive in the playoffs. “They have two of the best corners I’ve seen,” he said.

What really stood out to Anders, though, is something not always visible in stat columns.

“I’m very impressed with [Archer’s] discipline on both sides of the ball,” he said. The Tigers do not get rattled, he said. They quietly go about their jobs.

The Tigers won their first round game against Forsyth Central, 56-0. They led Parkview by 11 points late in the second half, but in a feeling all too familiar to the Blue Devils, saw that evaporate. Parkview went ahead 29-28 at 2:37. Archer, however, was able to pull through less than a minute later on Banks’s run.

If there is anything Archer does not do well, it’s kicking. The Tigers have attempted only a handful of field goals this year. Anders believes Tift has the advantage in that department.

Tift County enters tonight on a bit of a run. After dropping their regular season finale at Camden County, Anders rated his squad’s performance as “good, especially the last two weeks.”

Mike Jones has turned in his best performances since Oct. 5’s homecoming contest, with 225 rushing yards in two games. His touchdowns last week tied a pair of Tift County touchdown records. They were his first time reaching the end zone since homecoming.

Patrick Felton has amazed with his legs and arms, throwing for 250 yards and running for 107 more, with three touchdowns in that department. He has eight rushing touchdowns for the season, the best for a Tift QB since Tajhea Chambers ran for 14 in 2014.

Then, there is Deontae Overstreet, Tift County’s converted running back and athlete extraordinaire who participated on offense, defense and special teams last week. He ran for 84 yards last week against East Coweta and has 135 in his two games there. He’s become the Devils’ secret weapon, for several different reasons.

“Teams don’t have a whole lot of film on him,” Anders said. And from what they have seen, the tape does not show everything. “They can’t take away how hard he runs,” he said.

Tift’s was down two touchdowns last week, but after the pair of first quarter scores, allowed just three more points and no scores in the second half. Overstreet stopped a late East Coweta drive with an interception. In the first round, Roswell had only a third quarter touchdown to its credit.

The Blue Devils’ performance ties last year’s 11-2 team in the state playoffs. A semifinals appearance would be their first since 2006.

The teams will possibly have to contend with a third opponent tonight: rain. There is a 50 percent chance of rainfall and the Weather Channel predicts temperatures will drop to 38 degrees. Archer plays on natural grass.

Anders is not concerned by the weather.

“If it rains, they play in it, too,” he said.