TCHS holds Water Bowl Thursday

Published 1:00 pm Wednesday, May 8, 2019

TIFTON — Fans will get their first real look at the 2019 Tift County football team Thursday afternoon at the annual Water Bowl at the mini-stadium.

Head coach Ashley Anders said the rising freshmen will battle the 10th grade at 4:30 p.m. The varsity will scrimmage at around 5:15 p.m. Requested admission are cases of water, which will keep the team hydrated through summer workouts and seven-on-sevens.

Tift’s time on the field won’t be extremely lengthy. Student testing is taking place this week.

“They’re students first,” said Anders.

Anders himself won’t be in attendance for the Water Bowl. Tift County is participating in the state track and field finals this week at Rome and his son, Cade Anders, is one of the finalists in shot put.

Shot put starts at 3 p.m. at Valhalla Stadium. The Water Bowl will begin at 4:30 p.m. Not even a rocketship could make an appearance at both events possible. J.D. Bengston (1,600) and Azaria Smith (high jump) will be at state and while they won’t compete until Friday, they, too, will be held out of the Water Bowl.

With Anders cheering his son on in Rome, assistant coach Mike West will be in charge of the team Thursday afternoon.

Anders said play at the Water Bowl will be situational. He gave examples of goal line stands and long first down sets. Near the end, he said, the sides will play extended drives, like in regular football games.

Players will be rotated between teams. That includes quarterbacks and running backs. Among the quarterbacks are Joe Almond, Jacob Beach, Weston Clamp and Smith. Almond transferred to Tift from Lowndes during the winter and has previous starting experience. Beach and Clamp played during the 2018 campaign. Smith, currently a freshman, spent time at the position in middle school. He did not play varsity last year for the Devils.

In practice, “Joe’s doing a good job of running the football,” he said. Smith, an all-around athlete, is also a candidate for receiver.

Spring practice started Apr. 29 at TCHS.

Running back candidates include Zach Carter, Dashawn Hurley and a much more familiar name to Tift fans: linebacker Walter Jackson.

The Blue Devils have had considerable success with converted running backs. Deontae Overstreet played in the backfield during last year’s state tournament, scored once and averaged 7.2 yards per carry. In 2016, Brenton Jones moved over from safety and ran for 853 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Another transfer, Willie Brown, who is listed as a cornerback, has caught Anders’ eye during the spring.

“He’s doing well,” said Anders. Brown is a rising senior.

Tift County will have one more big event this spring. They head to Fitzgerald May 16 for the spring game.