THOMASVILLE — The game to see in Thomasville on Friday night was not a pretty affair as the Bulldogs welcomed in the winningest team in high school football history, 7A program Valdosta. Though this was a scrimmage and the end score does not entirely matter, it is still painful for fans to see a 34-7 score.

Despite the 34 points, Thomasville’s defense had a good first half, only allowing one touchdown on a deep pass. The Bulldogs did an excellent job shutting down the Wildcats run game. The fundamentals were sound as well as the Bulldogs were making solid tackles and even found their way to Valdosta’s quarterback for a pair of sacks in the game. Head coach Jonathan DeLay has been vocal about his defense needing to be able to stop offenses for four quarters. Unfortunately, they couldn’t do that in the second half on Friday night.

Valdosta began to find momentum on the ground and scored several times through the run game, including a long run on the first play of the second half. The defense that had been so solid in the first half, broke open and allowed several touchdowns in the second half.

The offense struggled all night. Inaccurate passes and a stifled run game forced Thomasville to punt often. Though they scored late in the game, it was a rough night for the Bulldogs offense. Quarterback Cam Hill had trouble from the get go, throwing an interception on the first play of the game. Thomasville seemed to be putting together the beginnings of a solid drive in the last minute of the first half, but an interception stopped the momentum.

Hill did show flashes of his dual threat ability, executing a quarterback keeper for a first down and getting the Bulldogs out of a goal line jam as he scrambled for another first down.

Thomasville had some highs and several lows on special teams. Though no one likes to see their team punt, Bulldog punter and senior Andrew Bennett had some solid punts that pinned Valdosta deep. His punts took favorable bounces and he even executed a fake punt to perfection to give the Bulldogs a first down.

However, with highs there must be lows and the returners provided several. The Bulldogs special teams fumbled a punt in the first quarter that led to a Wildcats recovery and touchdown. Thomasville muffed another punt in the second half, showing that their special teams unit still has a lot of work to do. Though they did show flashes, with a pair of long returns giving the Bulldogs solid field position.

The Bulldogs will have just a few days to work out the kinks as they prepare for their first game of the season at home against Brooks County on Friday night.