THOMASVILLE — Thomasville secured their spot in the playoffs on Friday night as they took down Dougherty with one of the most run heavy attacks they’ve produced all year. It was close early on, but the Bulldogs were able to stretch their lead for the 41-12 win.

The Thomasville offense had an excellent game as they employed an attack with a significant focus on the run. The Bulldogs ran the ball 35 times as opposed to their nine passing attempts. Despite just three completions, quarterback Cam Hill produced 116 yards passing and a pair of touchdowns, all of which were thrown to Mercer commit Cole Shaw.

The Thomasville rushers had a field day with the Trojans front seven, carving them up for 303 total rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground. The typical names were called as Lavonte Cole and Ant Anderson had 18 carries and over 60 yards between them with a touchdown each. But, the surprise of the game was Bulldog sophomore Leeland Chapman.

Chapman has been a decent rusher for Thomasville this year. Through eight games, he recorded 156 yards and a touchdown with his best game coming in week one against Brooks County. Chapman’s production had fallen off against Carver and Columbus, but in Friday night’s game against the Trojans, Chapman was cooking. He finished with a team-leading 113 yards rushing on nine attempts with a touchdown.

“He (Chapman) had a good week of practice and it showed on Friday,” said Bulldogs head coach Jonathan DeLay. “We’ve got three backs with three different styles of running. You’ve always got a fresh guy in there and that helps when you’re trying to run the football the way we are.”

The Bulldogs’ rushers may have been putting points on the board, but the defense was clicking on all cylinders. They were a disruptive presence in the Trojans backfield all night with the d-line racking up ten sacks and six QB hurries. Junior Rah’Darius McCoy led the Bulldogs front seven with four sacks and three QB hurries on the night.

“Defensively, we just played unreal on that side of the ball,” DeLay said. “Our defense, they are playing so well right now. Playing with a confidence, not a cockiness, just a confidence where the back end knows what the second level is doing, the second level knows what the first level is doing. They are communicating and just really doing a great job.”

With a blocked punt by Trip Gebel to give the Bulldogs the momentum in the second quarter, all three phases really came together for Thomasville. With this win over Dougherty, the Bulldogs have secured a 3-1 record in the region and clinched their spot in the playoffs. The Bulldogs final regular season game will be an away game as they travel to Crisp County this Friday night.