TIFTON — Representatives from the Tiftarea’s three region football champions make up this week’s nominees for The Tifton Gazette Athlete of the Week.

Turner County’s Demario Barber had four catches for 97 yards and three touchdowns in the Rebels’ 46-0 Region 2-A clinching victory over the Wheeler County Bulldogs. Besides his offensive exploits, Barber also had an interception on defense.

Going into Friday’s game with the Brooks County Trojans, the Fitzgerald Purple Hurricane had already clinched the Region 1-AA title. But even with the region title already in hand, the Hurricane needed a big game from Dion Ross to beat the Trojans, 20-16. Ross ended the game with 115 rushing yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns.

There were a number of possible nominees for Tift County Blue Devils in Tift’s 38-35 triple-overtime win over the Colquitt County Packers that clinched the Region 1-AAAAA championship.

But perhaps the play of a game that had many big plays was Tift’s Jay Gaskins’ tackle on Colquitt’s Orion Ponder that ended the Packers’ last scoring chance of the night.

On a fourth-and-goal play from the two on Colquitt’s final possession, Ponder broke around the corner on a sweep. Tift’s Anthony Woods strung the play out just enough for Gaskins to come up and make the tackle on Ponder that kept him out of the endzone just inches from the goalline.

That stop set up Charlie Edwards’ game-winning 22-yard field goal for Tift.

Besides that tackle, Gaskins also had several other big plays in the contest for the Devils.