TIFTON, Ga. — Tift County soccer fans had plenty to cheer Tuesday night. Ten players were honored as part of Senior Night and on the field, the Lady Devils and Blue Devils swept Thomas County Central.

The Devils won, 3-1, and the Lady Devils posted a 5-1 victory over the visitors. The boys game was a bit of an upset; going in to Tuesday’s action, the Yellow Jackets had dropped just two games, both one-goal losses to Veterans High.

“I’m ecstatic, I’m shocked,” said Tift head coach Bobby Earls.

Tift had a flawless first half, which saw them go ahead 1-0 on Armando Garcia’s header off a throw-in.

The Devils controlled from the start, with Garcia and Alexis Espinoza getting in shots in the first five minutes of action. Garcia was also a bit high on a header at 30:50.

While TCC couldn’t get anything going on offense, they were able to break up a Jeraldo Zermeno breakaway as well as a Zermeno free kick.

Garcia hit the header at 17:47 for a Tift lead.

The Blue Devils foiled a Thomas County Central corner kick at 9:45, one of many big defensive players during the first half.

A big reason the Jackets could not find any momentum on offense was Tift goalie, Rosendo Ramirez. Ramirez was a wall in front of the goal and when TCC finally thought they could beat him to the corner of the net, Ramirez had a kick save.

An injury gave the Devils their second goal three minutes after intermission ended.

Ivan Mendoza went after a ball in front of the Jackets’ goal and as he was fouled on the play, Mendoza tripped over a TCC player. Tift was awarded a free kick, which was taken by Zermeno. He split the net at 36:50.

Mendoza was able to walk back to the bench, but was not able to play for the remainder of the game.

Ramirez had a leaping tip save a minute later to keep the shutout intact. Both teams battled it out for the next 20 minutes. Finally, the Blue Devils broke through with one more insurance goal.

Christopher Banda stole a TCC pass in front of goal turned it into a score with 16:08 remaining.

The goal came in handy as the Yellow Jackets were awarded a penalty kick at 12:38. They scored to cut the lead to 3-1. Tift’s defense strengthened for the duration, however, to keep the contest from getting any closer.

Earls said he wanted the shutout, but “can’t complain” about the overall result. The win raised Tift’s record to 7-5-2 and gives them momentum heading into Friday’s Region 1 clash with Camden County.

If Tift defeats Camden, Earls said it would “solidify” third place for the Devils. A loss, combined with a bad result against Lowndes next week, could knock them down to fourth. Camden is 1-4 in region competition, Tift, 1-3.

LADY DEVILS 5, TCC 1

Tift County’s Lady Devils took a 3-0 lead at intermission with goals from Ashlee Golden, Emma Choate and Amber Anderson.

Golden’s goal, said head coach Zac Martin, was on a rebound. Choate’s score snuck into the net. Both are seniors.

A third senior got into the scoring act 15 minutes into the second half. Tift was awarded a free kick deep in Lady Jackets territory. Choate took the kick, but instead of shooting, passed it to Betsy Brooks, whose right-footed shot found the back of the net. Martin said the duo had quite a rapport.

Tift’s final goal came at 24:06 on a Maggie Clark penalty kick.

TCC broke up the shutout with a shot that ricocheted into the net at 4:28.

Martin said his team had some “rough spots” during the game, but felt it was to be expected coming off spring break.

His team will have a chance to clinch the region title Friday against Camden. Tift, now 11-3-1, is 4-0 in the conference.