BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Union County High School’s football team will begin the Rural Class playoffs with a home game against 14th seed Holmes County on Friday, Nov. 15, at 7:30 p.m.
The Tigers (8-1) had been the top team for most of the season in the Florida High School Athletic Association/MaxPreps Rural power rankings, but fell to number three in the final rankings, which determined playoff seedings. Hawthorne (7-1) moved up to number one, while Madison County (6-3) is second.
Wins, losses and strength of schedule went into determining power rankings.
If Union defeats the Holmes County Blue Devils (6-4), it will host a second-round game against sixth seed Pahokee (6-3) or 11th seed Chipley (7-2) on Friday, Nov. 22.
This marks the Tigers’ eighth straight year in the playoffs and their 27th year overall. Union has a 41-23 postseason record after going 2-1 in 2023. That was the fifth straight year the Tigers went 2-1 in the postseason.
The Blue Devils, who are out of Bonifay, are making their fifth straight playoff appearance and their 18th overall. They have won a first-round game the last three years and have an overall playoff record of 11-16.
Holmes has a state title to its credit, winning the Class B championship in 1965. The Blue Devils were Class 2A state runners-up in 1979 and 1987.
This year’s team enters the playoffs off a win, but has only two wins in its last five games.
The Blue Devils played five teams that finished the regular season with winning records, going 1-4. The only win came in the regular-season finale by a score of 36-32 against an Opp team out of Alabama that is going to the playoffs in that state’s 4A classification.
Holmes’ other games against schools that finished with six wins or more (who are all playoff bound) were a 50-14 loss to Class 4A Walton, a 12-8 loss to Rural Class Chipley, a 42-14 loss to Class 2A Marianna and a 40-20 loss to Rural Class Blountstown.
The Blue Devils are scoring an average of 29 points per game, while opponents are averaging 29 points per game.
Holmes is averaging 198 rushing yards per game, with three backs having 400-plus yards. Sophomore Bowden Bailey has 441 yards and four touchdowns on 97 carries, senior Colby Powell has 439 yards and five touchdowns on 81 carries, and senior Kenyon Pool has 437 yards and four touchdowns on 55 carries.
Another major contributor is sophomore Egan Segers, who has 351 yards and four touchdowns on 84 carries.
The passing game accounts for only 61 yards per game, with senior Rayce Griffin attempting an average of nine passes per game. Griffin is 45 of 92 for 610 yards and nine touchdowns. He’s thrown eight interceptions.
Segars is the leading receiver with 15 catches for 204 yards and four touchdowns. Senior Bradley Garrett has 13 catches for 178 yards and fourt touchdowns, while Pool has five catches for 121 yards and a touchdown.
Opponents’ offensive stats, as recorded by MaxPreps, are available for seven of Holmes’ 10 games. Based on those seven games, teams are averaging 131 rushing yards per game against the Blue Devils and 158 passing yards per game.
Senior linebacker Aiden Justice leads the Blue Devils in tackles with 111 (17 for loss). Senior linebacker Nick Chiren and sophomore linebacker Rhett Boyd have 76 and 57 tackles, respectively.
Seven players have combined to make nine interceptions. Justice and senior defensive back Brandon Dean each have two.
Five players each have one fumble recovery.
In last year’s Class 1R playoffs, the Blue Devils earned a first-round bye and then defeated Chipley 26-7 in a Region 1 semifinal game. Holmes lost 28-14 to Bozeman in the Region 1 championship game.
