THOMASVILLE — Thomasville has seen this scenario before: Starting quarterback Charles Hayes nursing an injury as the team prepares for the second round of the Class AA playoffs.
This year, however, the Bulldogs feel they’re better prepared to handle the adversity.
For the second straight year, Thomasville’s senior is nicked up. His status for Friday night’s game at Jefferson County is still uncertain. He was on crutches Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s a high ankle sprain, and those things just take a long time to heal,” Thomasville coach Richie Marsh said. “For him to be 100 percent, he’s going to have to spend some time off of it. It’s kind of one of those things where we haven’t done that yet. It’s been, can you come back? Can you come back? We’re just going to try to take a little different approach and see how it is from week to week.”
Hayes missed the Bulldogs’ second-round game with Dublin a year ago with a sore back and hip. Thomasville used Fred Holton and Jeffery Dyson at quarterback and finished with just 170 total yards in a 21-14 loss.
Hayes reaggravated his ankle injury in Thomasville’s first-round playoff game last week against Henry County. If Hayes is ruled out of Friday’s game, the Bulldogs will turn to either Dyson, a junior, or sophomore Quintez Spear to run the offense. Both have seen considerable time this year under center, which gives the Bulldogs coaching staff more confidence heading into the second round.
“I feel like we’re a whole lot more prepared with the guys we have back there now than we were in this situation last year. If you remember last year when Charles got here, Fred was also hurt and he was our backup at that time,” Marsh said. “This year these kids have played a little bit.”
Thomasville plans to utilize both quarterbacks, depending on how the game unfolds. On the heels of his 214-yard rushing performance against Henry County, Dyson leads the Bulldogs with 674 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. Spear has rushed for 266 yards and four touchdowns.
“I think if we learned anything, we learned at the beginning of the year to make sure we had a No. 2 and No. 3 quarterback, and this year we’ve got them,” VerSluis said. “We’re blessed to have Jeffery and Quintez.”
While Hayes’ loss would be huge on offense, it could be greater on defense. The senior is also a starting defensive back. If he’s unable to play, Thomasville will look to either Spear or juniors Josh Davis and Darius Wyche to fill the void.
“The guys that have stepped up to cover (Hayes’) spot have done a great job, and they realize that they’ve got to hold it down until, if he plays, he plays. If he doesn’t, they can handle anything that’s thrown at them,” Thomasville defensive coordinator Lamar Landing added. “Several different guys have gotten in the secondary and done a good job.”
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