In recent voting of sports writers from around the state, the Georgia Sports Writers Association (GSWA) has selected the public school All-State football teams for each classification.

Led by five players from Tift County, as well as five from Turner County, the Tiftarea placed 20 players on the respective All-State squads.

The Tift County Blue Devil contingent was led by senior defensive back Larry Dean, who was named as a first-team defensive back. It was the second year in a row for the senior as a first-team All-State performer.

In 2005, Dean had 100 total tackles, three interceptions, six pass breakups, seven tackles for loss yardage and one fumble recovery. For the second year in a row he was the Co-Defensive Player of the Year in Region 1-AAAAA and was also selected to play in the GACA North-South All-Star Game on Dec. 29.

Another Blue Devil, Israel Troupe, was named first-team All-State for the second year in a row. After being named as a first-team All-State wide receiver in 2004, Troupe was named first-team All-State kick returner in 2005.

Even though he was injured for most of the second half of the season, Troupe still managed 14 punt returns for 214 yards and four kickoff returns for 194 yards. He returned two of the four kickoffs for touchdowns, as well as one punt.

The 2005 1-AAAAA Offensive Player of the Year, Troupe also caught 36 passes for 495 yards and three touchdowns, had seven rushes for 27 yards and was 1-for-1 passing for 18 yards. He touched the ball 61 times for 930 yards, meaning he averaged 15.2 yards every time he handled the ball.

Tift also placed one other player on the first-team as junior Charlie Edwards was named as a place-kicker.

Edwards was 18-for-24 in field goals this past season, just one shy of the state record of 19. He was also 20-for-23 on extra points. Besides his place-kicks, Edwards also had 14 touchbacks on his kickoffs and had 49 punts for a 40 yard average.

Named honorable-mention All-State from Tift County were linebacker Jeffery Searcy and defensive lineman James Carter.

A junior, Searcy had 96 total tackles, including 14 for loss yardage. Carter had 53 total tackles in his senior season with five tackles for loss yardage, a caused fumble and a fumble recovery.

“This is definitely one of the highlights of our season,” Tift County head coach Jay Walls said. “All five of those guys were richly deserving.”

The Turner County Rebels had two players named first-team All-State in Class A, senior wide receiver Shawn Jackson and junior linebacker Lennie Richardson.

A first-team selection last season, Jackson had 47 catches for 737 yards and six touchdowns. Defensively, Richardson had 110 total tackles, 17 tackles for loss yardage, six sacks and two interceptions.

Named honorable-mention All-State from Turner County were senior quarterback Mikel Soliday, senior running back Chad Walker and junior wide receiver Dontavious Smith.