Lee County wins region opener against Tift County

LEESBURG — Lee County opened its game against Tift County looking like a team full of confidence.

But that confidence quickly disappeared before the Trojans once again regained it on their way to a 42-14 victory Friday night at Trojan Field.

Lee earned a win in their region opener and moved to 6-0, setting up a date with top-ranked and defending state champion Colquitt County next Friday in Leesburg.

The Trojans forced turnovers on the Blue Devils’ first two drives of the game and jumped out to a 14-0 lead before being set back by penalties. Despite forcing five turnovers in the first half, the Trojans were up just 14-7 at halftime.

“We’ve got some things that we definitely need to clean up,” Lee coach Dean Fabrizio said. “You know, Tift County is a good team and they caused a lot of that too.”

The Trojans forced six turnovers in the game.

Tift County received the ball to start the game but the opening drive ended after two plays. The Blue Devils ran a screen pass that was picked off by Lee linebacker Shaun Rountree. The Trojans’ drive ended at the Tift 23 after they failed to convert a fourth down.

The Blue Devils second drive went about as well as their first.

After almost recovering a fumbled snap, Lee stripped Tift running back Barry Bennett and recovered the fumble deep in Tift territory. The Trojans took a 7-0 lead after running back Demerious Milton ran it in from the 1-yard line.

After the teams traded scoreless drives to end the first quarter, Tift fumbled at their own 6-yard line. The fumble was recovered by Trojans defensive back Tyrone Harris.

Lee County went up 14-0 after quarterback Garet Morrell found wide receiver Tray Eafford in the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown.

“It was more of a momentum changer,” Morrell said of their early struggles. “Whenever we got up by two scores, we started taking it for granted. We got onto the guys at halftime and we needed to push through.”

Tift quieted a rowdy crowd when they drove down the field, scoring their first touchdown of the game on a 19-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Griffin Collier to wide receiver Brant Watson.

The Blue Devils worked their way down the field and threatened to score again at the end of the first half, but Lee defensive lineman Collins Tensley sacked Collier, forced and recovered a fumble to end the drive. Lee ran one play before taking a knee to end the half.

In the second half, the Trojans’ confidence reappeared as they began to lengthen their lead. The first score came when Morrell found Eafford for a 93-yard touchdown pass to make the score 21-7.

Trojan fans once again found a reason to cheer late in the third quarter when Morrell broke free for a 90-yard touchdown, making the score 28-7.

Eafford finished the game with three touchdown catches, including a 23-yard one late in the 4th quarter.

Tift added a touchdown late in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 35-14.

Milton ran it in from the 2 to get the final score of 42-14.