Clint Thompson
CNHI
THOMASVILLE —
The season begins Saturday for Thomasville.
Whether the Bulldogs are ready for Saturday’s clash with Lovett remains to be seen.
What isn’t in question, however, is the excitement among the Bulldogs players and coaches heading into their season opener.
“We’ve got an opportunity, early on, to see what we’re made of,” Thomasville offensive coordinator Matt VerSluis said. “Obviously, for us, it’s just a great opportunity. It gives us a chance, if you look at it this way, in the spotlight, because there’s no other games going on this week. People get to see the kids play and perform with a chance to go up to Atlanta and have a good time.”
The two teams were granted permission to begin their seasons a week early by the Georgia High School Association. The official start for most teams around the state is Aug. 27.
“It’s just going to show what we accomplished over the summer,” senior offensive lineman Tyree Williams said. “It’s going to tell us how far we’ve worked. We want to play them again for the ’07 class.”
The only previous meeting between the two teams was three years ago when Lovett edged Thomasville 20-16 in the third round of the Class AA playoffs.
This year, both teams are ranked in the preseason AP poll; Lovett is fifth and Thomasville is eighth. Bulldogs head coach Richie Marsh is hoping his team can use Saturday’s opener as a foundation for what could be a great year.
“It’s business as usual for us. Whoever we’re playing, we try to go into it with a huge focus in doing what we do and worry about Thomasville,” Marsh said. “When we worry about these other teams, our focus is totally lost. We just try to go in and totally focus on doing the things that we do and doing them right.”
Thomasville is coming off an impressive 32-0 win against Westover last Thursday in a preseason scrimmage. To be ready for Lovett, though, there are certain areas the Bulldogs need to improve on, according to Marsh
“Just being sound on both sides of the ball,” Marsh said. “Missed assignments and being able to do what we do and doing it right.
“We had several missed assignments the other night on both sides of the ball. Those are really things we’re trying to get corrected this week.”
