Today’s interviewee is Steve Carter, a former sports editor of The Tifton Gazette and The Ocilla Star and contributor to GPB Sports and Score Atlanta. Carter has followed South Georgia high school football since he was a teenager at Irwin County High. He’ll be attending the Tift County-Irwin County game tonight in Ocilla.
Steve Carter, former sports editor at Tifton Gazette and Ocilla Starr
1. Why is it interesting or significant that Irwin and Tift are playing this year? “It is the first time in 56 years that Tift has come to Ocilla. I think Irwin fans feel like it has given Irwin respect they think they may have been lacking in the past. When the schools played in 2005-06 in Tift, the games were money games. The only reason they were played was because Tift wanted guaranteed home games each season. With Tift agreeing to come to Ocilla this year, the Indians should get a money game that rivals the years Fitzgerald comes to town. In return, I’m expecting Irwin to give Tift a big gate next season. I know Indian fans are excited that a Region 1-7A school is coming to town. And I believe Devil fans are excited to see in person the success their neighbors have experienced in recent years.”
2. The last Irwin-Tift meeting in Ocilla had an interesting story to it. Wasn’t it something about cornbread? “Irwin defeated Tift in Ocilla in 1964, 20-0. The Irwin lines averaged an at-the-time unbelievable 209 pounds per man, thanks in large part to 268-pound Glynn ‘Big Daddy’ Thompson. After that game, Gazette sports editor Doug Hawley insinuated the Irwin players were so big due to diets consisting of a lot of cornbread. So the next year in Tifton, Hawley deemed the game the Cornbread Bowl. Legend has it cornbread was sold at the concession stands. Tift won that game 6-0.”
3. How do you see this year’s Irwin team? “Being a fan of old Saturday morning cartoons, I have always called Garland and Gabriel Benyard the ‘Wonder Twins’ from the old Super Friends cartoon. Against Wilkinson last week, Gabriel had two touchdowns and two more on kick returns called back due to penalties. Garland had a sack that resulted in a safety and one carry for 54 yards and a touchdown. Both are getting Division I looks. Kam Ward is also a standout on both sides of the ball. He’s a slightly smaller version of D.J. Lundy. Jayden Billingsley helps to lead an offensive line that allowed Irwin to average almost 20 yards a carry against Wilkinson. Other Indians I’m expecting to have big years include Nemo McCoy, Eli Roberts, Donovan Thomas and sophomore quarterback Cody Soliday, son of head coach Casey Soliday. Right now, Irwin is not the same dominant team that won state, but if they get some breaks they should be back in the talk for a state championship. Last year was a special one as those players brought our little community together. Win, lose or draw this year I’m hoping for more of the same.”
4. What instilled the love of high school football in you? “My dad loved football. He lost his arms when I was 6. But when I was in elementary school in the ’70s at Worth County, and if I was a good boy that week, my mom would take us to Ram games. Worth’s main star then was Wiley Brown, who started for Louisville’s 1980 national championship basketball team. My parents divorced not long after we moved to Irwin County in 1980. By that time, my dad was able to drive with his prosthetics, so beginning in 1981 we went to every Irwin varsity game. We kept that up until he passed away in 1989. By then I had become the sports writer for The Ocilla Star. I kept that job until 1999 and began working for The Tifton Gazette at the end of ’99. The Tift County Blue Devils soon became my beat. At first I had some culture shock as I went from Class A to 7A. Eventually I felt like the only difference was the size of the school. Those young men were out there representing their communities. I knew the sacrifices they made, and any reasonable adult would have to admire them for that. So even though I’ve been paid for only one game since 2012, I still feel like I should be out there trying to get those guys the attention they deserve. I was fired by the Gazette in 2014, but I still try to cover Devil games when I can. I’m always tickled to see them.”
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