CORDELE – The Thomasville Bulldogs eyed second place in the Region 1-AAA standings and a home playoff game heading into their regular season finale at Crisp County. Those dreams were quickly dashed by a first-half explosion from a Cougars team that scored early and often and also stymied the Bulldogs’ offensive attack.

Crisp scored on five of its first six possessions, returned a blocked field goal 85 yards for a touchdown and surged to a 41-0 halftime lead. The Cougars cruised to a 61-22 victory.

Crisp, Thomasville and Monroe finished tied for second in the region standings at 3-2 behind champion Carver-Columbus. Based on tiebreakers, Crisp finishes second and will host a state playoff game in two weeks. Thomasville and Monroe finish third and fourth respectively and will be on the road in the first round of the state playoffs.

It marked Thomasville’s worst loss since 2019 (44-0 to Colquitt County) and the worst region loss since 2015 (55-14 to Brooks County).

Thomasville, which will be open next week, will play the No. 2 team from Region 4 in the first round of the state playoffs the following week.

The Bulldogs defense struggled to contain the Cougars’ rushing attack, marred largely by missed tackles. It started on Crisp’s first drive. Crisp converted a fourth-down conversion, thanks to a missed tackle. It led to a touchdown, accumulating almost five minutes of time of possession.

Crisp scored touchdowns on drives of 79, 68, 90, 76 and 71 yards in the first half. The Cougars were far from perfect, throwing an interception and botching a punt return that set the Bulldogs up at the 12-yard line. But a field goal attempt was blocked and returned the distance for a back-breaking score.

Cam Hill passed for 100 yards and three touchdowns, but the scores came after intermission. Nigel Pittman snagged three receptions for 75 yards and two touchdowns. Thomasville’s rushing attack was held to 60 yards.