It was quite a ride for Thomasville High School fans the last month.

The Bulldogs came one game away from playing for the Class AA high school state football championship. And had they prevailed against Dublin last Friday night, it would have meant a rematch with Brooks County, a school less than 30 miles from Thomasville, in Atlanta at Georgia State Stadium. 

Crowds may have been small for the first home playoff game — a cold and misty night didn’t help — but after that, the home side was nearly full for three straight weeks. Rabun County fans, making a trek of more than 300 miles, brought a strong contingent, and Dublin, much closer to Thomasville, put a large swath of green and gold in the stands.

The visitors from Dodge County in the middle of the state, Pepperell in the northwest, Rabun County in the far northern reaches and Dublin got to see the passion and exuberance of Thomasville’s fans, from its student section to its older backers. 

They also got to see the Thomasville High band and Red Hots perform and put on a show each week. 

“This is a great place with tradition,” veteran Dublin head football coach Roger Holmes said after the Irish’s 55-45 win Friday night over the Bulldogs. 

Six weeks ago, the Bulldogs hosting any state playoff games seemed unlikely. They were 2-4 going into the Region 1-AA schedule. Their losses came to rivals Thomas County Central and Cairo, Class 7A powerhouse Colquitt County and Class AAA’s Crisp County, all by double digits. Crisp, by the way, will play Cedar Grove for the AAA state championship.

But they came through that unscathed and earned the region championship and with that, a No. 1 seed in the playoffs. When it came time to determine home field against another No. 1 seed, the Bulldogs were in the right half of the bracket for the universal coin flip each time. 

More than good luck got the Bulldogs to 9-4 going into the semifinal game against Dublin. It was an amazing run, one even the 2017 team that ended a 10-year drought without a region title couldn’t match. That team went 12-1, its lone loss coming in the quarterfinals. The last Thomasville team to reach the semifinals made it to the state championship in 1993, falling to arch-rival Thomas County Central.

Dublin earned its win, and the Irish proved to be a formidable foe.  Congratulations are in order for Coach Holmes and his team. So too are congratulations in order for Coach Zach Grage and what his Bulldogs accomplished and the tremendous ride they gave their fans the last few weeks.