Bulldogs look at bright spots after loss to Colquitt County
Published 10:54 am Friday, September 6, 2019
- Thomasville quarterback Ronnie Baker (4) looks for yardage Friday night against Colquitt County at Mack Tharpe Stadium.
MOULTRIE — Orion Bonner scampered into the end zone to give Colquitt County a seven-touchdown lead late in the third quarter.
And many Thomasville fans began heading for the exits at Mack Tharpe Stadium Friday night.
The Bulldogs suffered a 45-3 loss to the powerful Class 7A Packers, and Thomasville High School may not want to make the short trip up U.S. Highway 319 to play Colquitt County anymore.
In two trips to Moultrie, the Packers combined to outscore the Bulldogs 95-6.
And in both years, Thomasville High managed a Hurston Waldrep field goal in each game. Friday night, Waldrep booted a 35-yarder to make it 21-3 early in the second quarter.
While that was the only points, head coach Zach Grage chose not to look at the scoreboard but focused on the positives. He said there is still a lot of football left this season.
“I firmly believe this that we are right on that cusp,” Grage said. “You look around and I don’t want to hear about freshmen and sophomores. We have a football team, so we’re going to continue to get better. And I think every time and every game, you can see at individual positions, I think we have some things as far as puzzle pieces.
“I mentioned that after the Cairo game, and we’re right there. I think some folks experienced some success this week, some things we needed to work on, but I think we’re right there. You won’t find a better group of kids who are just good football players and not one time this entire season have I questioned their effort.”
Thomasville (0-3) drove to Colquitt’s 32 on its opening drive before fumbling the ball. Colquitt County took advantage en route to building a 31-3 advantage at the half.
The Bulldogs will play host to Everglades (Fla.) next week and Grage believes the positives he saw Friday night will help.
“We’ll keep going back to work on Sunday and get ready for a good Everglades team coming out of Florida,” he said.
The Bulldogs executed a perfect fake punt to pick up a first down and set up Waldrep’s second-quarter field goal.
While both visits to Moultrie haven’t been good the past two seasons, Grage expects his program to get better after playing powerhouse programs like Colquitt County.
“You get to see where you want to be,” he said. “You get to be in an awesome environment. We’re five plays away from being 2-0 the last two weeks instead of 0-2. I think you see where you want to be and how things are done, playing teams like this. And you can say hey, if you can hang with Colquitt County, you can hang with anybody. I know 45-3 may not say that, but I don’t feel 45-3.”
