Jack’s Old South Tops Tough Field at Tifton Rhythm & Ribs
The City of Tifton really turns out for a weekend of music, fun & food at the Rhythm & Ribs Festival. The City’s new mayor said she ordered up perfect weather for the weekend & she really delivered. Twenty two GBA teams and 24 backyard teams competed to win cash & the unique “Squeal-bert” trophies.
The field was tough as 9 of the top 10 teams in the GBA’s Team of the Year standings were on hand. In addition, well known pitmasters like Myron Mixon of Jacks Old South & Raymond Poore of REAL-licious Q were competing in their first GBA events of the season. The competition was tight. In fact, less than a point separated the three finalists for the Grand Championship. It was Jack’s Old South edging out 92 BBQ & Rub Shakers Que for the last call of the day.
Grand Champion – Jack’s Old South
Consistency across the three categories proved to be the key for Robby Royal of Rescue Smokers in winning the Reserved Grand Championship. The team tallied a 594.8 in Loin (4th place); a 594.5 in Pulled Pork (4th place) and a 594.6 in Ribs (6th place) to accumulate the highest cumulative score in the preliminary rounds.
Reserve Grand Champion – Rescue Smokers
With all these experienced pitmasters on hand, a local team in their first competition made their mark. Cool Hand Luke’s BBQ, led by Stripling Luke, made finals in both Pulled Pork & Ribs. The team also scored a perfect 600 with their preliminary round Rib entry.
Cool Hand Luke’s BBQ
1st place Loin – 92 BBQ
92 BBQ led the way in the Loin category with Jack’s Old South in second place and Rub Shakers Que in third. Rescue Smokers claimed 4th place, REAL-licious Q 5th and Smoke Stack Lightning claimed 6th. In 7th place was Rib Ticklers and 8th place went to Bubba Grills. Smokin 42 BBQ (9th) & Statesboro Blues BBQ (10th) rounded out the top ten.
Jack’s Old South won the Pulled Pork category. Bubba Grills was the runner up and Cool Hand Luke’s BBQ came in third. Rescue Smokers once again walked away with the 4th place trophy. Barbecue Crew took 5th place with REAL-licous Q taking 6th and Rib Ticklers taking 7th. Eighth place went to Real South BBQ; 9th went to CaJenn Smokin’ Que and 1oth went to Raging Smoke BBQ.
1st place Ribs – Rub Shakers Que
Bill Goddard, pitmaster for Rub Shakers Que topped the field in Ribs. 92 BBQ got the second place call and Cool Hand Luke’s BBQ walked for the second time in 3rd place. Southern Hogs finished 4th. Holy Smokers edged out Rescue Smokers for 5th place. Johnson Boys BBQ took home 7th place. Eighth thru 10th places went to Real South BBQ, Statesboro Blues BBQ and H & J Cooking Team respectively.
The GBA moves north for the Walton Co.BBQ Festival on March 11-12. This will be Double Team of the Year points event.
The Georgia Barbeque Association thanks Tyrone Spearman and his staff of volunteers for putting on an excellent contest and festival.
Full Standings: 1st, 2nd & 3rd places are final round scores. 4th place and down are preliminary round scores.
| LOIN | PULLED PORK | RIBS | ||||||||
| 1 | 597.8 | 92 BBQ | 1 | 599.5 | Jack’s Old South | 1 | 597.7 | Rub Shakers Que | ||
| 2 | 594.7 | Jack’s Old South | 2 | 594.8 | Bubba Grills | 2 | 594.3 | 92 BBQ | ||
| 3 | 592.7 | Rub Shakers Que | 3 | 590.9 | Cool Hand Luke’s BBQ | 3 | 592.6 | Cool Hand Luke’s BBQ | ||
| 4 | 594.8 | Rescue Smokers | 4 | 594.51 | Rescue Smokers | 4 | 597.9 | Southern Hogs | ||
| 5 | 594.2 | REAL-licious Q | 5 | 594.5 | BarBque Crew | 5 | 594.61 | Holy Smokers BBQ | ||
| 6 | 592.7 | Smoke Stack Lightning | 6 | 592.5 | REAL-licious Q | 6 | 594.6 | Rescue Smokers | ||
| 7 | 590.9 | Rib Ticklers | 7 | 591.5 | Rib Ticklers | 7 | 594.2 | Johnson Boys BBQ | ||
| 8 | 590.8 | Bubba Grills | 8 | 591.1 | Real South BBQ | 8 | 591.2 | Real South BBQ | ||
| 9 | 590.5 | Smokin’ 42 BBQ | 9 | 590.9 | Cajenn Smokin Que | 9 | 590.8 | Statesboro Blues BBQ | ||
| 10 | 589.9 | Statesboro Blues BBQ | 10 | 589.3 | Raging Smoke BBQ | 10 | 590.5 | H & J Cooking Team | ||
| 11 | 589.6 | Cajenn Smokin Que | 11 | 588.5 | Captain Jack’s Freedom BBQ Team | 11 | 589.4 | BarBque Crew | ||
| 12 | 588.7 | Holy Smokers BBQ | 12 | 586.9 | Smokin’ 42 BBQ | 12 | 588.2 | Jack’s Old South | ||
| 13 | 586.6 | Southern Hogs | 13 | 585 | Hungry Hog BBQ | 13 | 587 | Cajenn Smokin Que | ||
| 14 | 585.3 | H & J Cooking Team | 14 | 584.6 | Rub Shakers Que | 14 | 586.9 | Rib Ticklers | ||
| 15 | 583.6 | Real South BBQ | 15 | 584.1 | Smoke Stack Lightning | 15 | 586.8 | Captain Jack’s Freedom BBQ Team | ||
| 16 | 582.4 | Rib Ranch | 16 | 584 | Statesboro Blues BBQ | 16 | 586.4 | Smokin’ 42 BBQ | ||
| 17 | 582.3 | Raging Smoke BBQ | 17 | 583.7 | Southern Hogs | 17 | 585.2 | Bubba Grills | ||
| 18 | 580.9 | BarBque Crew | 18 | 583.6 | 92 BBQ | 18 | 580.5 | Rib Ranch | ||
| 19 | 573.6 | Johnson Boys BBQ | 19 | 582.6 | H & J Cooking Team | 19 | 579.1 | REAL-licious Q | ||
| 20 | 573.1 | Captain Jack’s Freedom BBQ Team | 20 | 582.6 | Rib Ranch | 20 | 576.7 | Raging Smoke BBQ | ||
| 21 | 571.7 | Hungry Hog BBQ | 21 | 578.7 | Johnson Boys BBQ | 21 | 576.5 | Hungry Hog BBQ | ||
| 22 | 563 | Cool Hand Luke’s BBQ | 22 | 566.2 | Holy Smokers BBQ | 22 | 566.3 | Smoke Stack Lightning |
| Reserve Grand Champion Scores | Loin | Pulled | Ribs | Total | ||
| 1 | Rescue Smokers | 594.8 | 594.5 | 594.6 | 1783.9 | |
| 2 | Jack’s Old South | 599.4 | 594.8 | 588.2 | 1782.4 | |
| 3 | 92 BBQ | 598.5 | 583.6 | 599.4 | 1781.5 | |
| 4 | Rub Shakers Que | 595.1 | 584.6 | 598.5 | 1778.2 | |
| 5 | Bubba Grills | 590.8 | 599.7 | 585.2 | 1775.7 | |
| 6 | Rib Ticklers | 590.9 | 591.5 | 586.9 | 1769.3 | |
| 7 | Southern Hogs | 586.6 | 583.7 | 597.9 | 1768.2 | |
| 8 | Cajenn Smokin Que | 589.6 | 590.9 | 587.0 | 1767.5 | |
| 9 | Real South BBQ | 583.6 | 591.1 | 591.2 | 1765.9 | |
| 10 | REAL-licious Q | 594.2 | 592.5 | 579.1 | 1765.8 | |
| 11 | BarBque Crew | 580.9 | 594.5 | 589.4 | 1764.8 | |
| 12 | Statesboro Blues BBQ | 589.9 | 584.0 | 590.8 | 1764.7 | |
| 13 | Smokin’ 42 BBQ | 590.5 | 586.9 | 586.4 | 1763.8 | |
| 14 | H & J Cooking Team | 585.3 | 582.6 | 590.5 | 1758.4 | |
| 15 | Cool Hand Luke’s BBQ | 563.0 | 594.8 | 600.0 | 1757.8 | |
| 16 | Holy Smokers BBQ | 588.7 | 566.2 | 594.6 | 1749.5 | |
| 17 | Captain Jack’s Freedom BBQ Team | 573.1 | 588.5 | 586.8 | 1748.4 | |
| 18 | Raging Smoke BBQ | 582.3 | 589.3 | 576.7 | 1748.3 | |
| 19 | Johnson Boys BBQ | 573.6 | 578.7 | 594.2 | 1746.5 | |
| 20 | Rib Ranch | 582.4 | 582.6 | 580.5 | 1745.5 | |
| 21 | Smoke Stack Lightning | 592.7 | 584.1 | 566.3 | 1743.1 | |
| 22 | Hungry Hog BBQ | 571.7 | 585.0 | 576.5 | 1733.2 |