Clint Thompson
CNHI
THOMASVILLE —
Thomasville has history on its side in Friday's clash with Pelham.
The Bulldogs are 15-0 against the Hornets in a series dating back to 1922. Despite the Bulldogs’ dominance over the Hornets, Thomasville will not be overlooking Pelham. The Bulldogs are just trying to improve from last week’s 20-17 loss to Thomas County Central.
“We’ve got to go out and we’ve got to get better this week,” Bulldogs coach Richie Marsh said. “Obviously, we know we’ve got a lot of things we need to work on.”
Marsh also understands this is not the same Pelham team that lost 31 straight from 2005-08. Those defeats came under former head coach Phillip Richards. Pelham has made tremendous strides under Jim Morrell. This is Morrell’s third season as Hornets coach, compiling a 7-15 record. But the Hornets have improved each year, going 1-9 in 2008, 5-6 last year and they’ll enter tonight’s game 1-0, following a 50-14 rout of Baconton Charter.
“Coach Morrell has done just an awesome job with them,” Marsh said. “He seems to get a lot out of them. They play hard.
“They just seem to be really excited about playing the game.”
The Hornets should be well motivated entering tonight’s contest. Not only have the Hornets not won against the Bulldogs, Pelham hasn’t been able to keep it close. Only twice have the Hornets kept the final margin of victory within single digits.
“It’s going to be a rivalry for them,” Marsh noted.
The two teams last played in 2005 when Thomasville won 25-0. It was the Bulldogs’ 11th shutout of the Hornets.
