When the Tift County Blue Devils and the Union Grove Wolverines hook up tonight in a second-round Class AAAAA football playoff contest, some big names will be missing on both sides.

The Wolverines will be without the services of Kyle Jackson, a 6-foot-1, 225 pound linebacker, who has already verbally committed to Georgia Tech.

Jackson injured his knee during Union Grove’s preparation for Windsor Forest in the first round of the playoffs. It is a big blow for the Wolverines as Jackson had 110 total tackles, including 28 for losses last season.

“He is out for the rest of the year for us,” Union Grove head coach Mike McDonald said.

On the other side of the ball, Tift will again be without the services of all-region safety Jay Gaskins, who like Jackson had a knee injury during the Devils’ preparation for a first-round opponent, East Coweta. However Gaskins could be back if Tift can get a win in the 8 p.m. encounter at Brodie Field.

In his first year at safety, Gaskins has 69 total tackles, five interceptions, one caused fumble and one fumble recovery.

Besides Gaskins, defensive lineman Tobias Walker will also miss tonight’s game after injuring his leg against East Coweta. Walker has 23 total tackles and three sacks.

Tift head coach Jay Walls pointed out that the Devils do have some capable backups for both players.

“That is part of being successful. There are going to be some guys that will not be able to play because of injury or just not playing well and when you get your opportunity you have to step up,” Walls said.

The coach then cited several backups and players that have swapped positions.

“(Backup cornerback) Ricky Pierce has done a good job. We have moved Blake Reddick to free safety in place of Jay and he has done a good job there,” said Walls. “Also Jarvis Watts has also come in and done a great job (in the defensive backfield).”

Jackson’s injury has hurt the Wolverines as Union Grove runs from a base 3-5 package which features five linebackers.

“We run the 3-5, sort of like Camden does,” McDonald said. “We decided to do it at the start of the year because we lost a lot of linemen, but we had a ton of linebackers coming back.”

Even though Jackson is out, he does have a capable backup in junior Steven Sylvester, a 6-foot-2, 220 pound player that has started to receive college attention.

“He is a big boy,” McDonald said. “But he has battled turf toe for most of the season and that has kind of held him back.”