THOMASVILLE — For Bulldog fans, this season has not gone as they had hoped. A 1-3 start with a 6A opponent on the horizon could see Thomasville enter region play with just one win under their belt. However, if fans look at their schedule there is a reason for that.

Thomasville has one of the toughest schedules around. Their one win came against Brooks County, an A D1 school, in the first game of the season. Since then, the Bulldogs have taken on and lost to a pair of 4A schools ranked in the top 75 in the state and a 6A school in Thomas County Central who is ranked number nine in the state. Their last non-region contest will be against 6A Tift County, who has struggled this season, but will still be a tough test for the Bulldogs.

However, whether the Bulldogs march into region play 2-3 or 1-4, the Thomasville faithful have no reason to panic. The Bulldogs may have a difficult non region schedule, but they will enter region play as one of the better teams. According to Maxpreps, they have a much stronger schedule than any other team in their region. They also are the highest rated team with a 16.60 and the highest ranked team in both the state (102) and 3A (11).

As far as strength of schedule goes, Maxpreps calculates the number by averaging all of a teams opponents ratings. Thomasville’s strength of schedule sits at a 29.8. That’s a tougher schedule than seven of the top 15 teams in the state and the closest strength of schedule in the Bulldogs region is Crisp County, who has a 12.5. Three schools in Thomasville’s region have a strength of schedule in the negatives.

This means that Thomasville has been tested like no other team in their region. They have battled against a top 10 team in the state in the Yellow Jackets and gave a top 75 team in Bainbridge, where they put up a tough fight for three quarters.

So, while a 1-3 start isn’t fun for anyone, it’s certainly no reasons for the Bulldogs to panic. In fact, this same thing happened just last season. Thomasville entered region play at 2-3 on the season. The Bulldogs then went undefeated in the region, finished the regular season 7-4, and made it to the third round of the playoffs. Region competition will paint a much clearer picture of what this Thomasville team is really made of.