THOMASVILLE — The Thomasville Bulldogs drew power from all three phases Friday night — and overpowered visiting Pepperell.

The Bulldogs got points from their offense all night long, and the defense and special teams chipped in during a dominant 58-14 Class AA state playoff second round victory.

The win keeps the Bulldogs at home for next week’s matchup against Rabun County, a 34-14 winner over Toombs County.

“Our preparation, our execution, our coaching plan, you can’t script out a more perfect game than what we had tonight,” Bulldogs coach Zach Grage said. “Everything we could do tonight was great.

“We’re peaking at the right time.”

Bulldogs quarterback Ronnie Baker ran for two scores and threw for another — another leaping Rico Johnson catch in the back of the end zone over a defender — before Boomer Slocumb delivered a back-breaker.

Having been stopped on a long punt return at the Dragons 5-yard line, a runback called back eventually on a penalty, Slocumb gathered Payton Rhoades’ punt near midfield and raced down the Bulldogs sideline for a 52-yard touchdown. 

The return scheme was the work of assistant coach Jonathan Delay, Grage said.

“That was a wall return and that was the first time we’d done it all year,” he said. “There were a lot of blocks that had to happen.” Hurston Waldrep’s point after stretched Thomasville’s lead to 28-0 with 4:26 remaining in the first half.

Pepperell, stymied on offense for much of the first half, answered with an 11-play, 80-yard drive. Quarterback Gage Moses, putting on a great fake of a Bulldog defender at the 10, ended with a 14-yard scamper.

With just 51.9 seconds left in the half, though, the Bulldogs weren’t done. Baker hit Johnson for a 30-yard gain and on the half’s final play, he scrambled to his right and found Slocumb in the near right corner of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown pass.

“That’s just Ronnie and Boomer ad-libbing and making a play,” Grage said. “It wasn’t near what we called, but it was just ballers being ballers. That was a huge momentum swing.”

Pepperell’s last chance to keep the game close ended on their first drive of the second half. The Dragons marched to the Bulldogs 8 but Ryan Hurst missed a 25-yard field goal.

Ricky Fulton raced in from 33 yards out, and Baker added another rushing touchdown to push the lead to 49-7.

With most of the starters out by late third quarter, the defense added to the point total. Waldrep, on his only punt of the night as Thomasville scored on seven of its first eight possessions, pinned the Dragons at their own 2. Two plays later, Jaylen Fillmore pulled down Moses in the end zone for a safety.

On third and long on the ensuing possession Patrick McNeil dumped a short pass to Parker Fulsom, who rambled down the sidelines for a 42-yard touchdown.

Shannon White’s 1-yard run with 4:08 provided Pepperell’s and the night’s final touchdown. 

Thomasville held Pepperell to 237 total yards. The Bulldogs ran for 257 and threw for another 241, piling up a whopping 498 yards of total offense.

Grage credited his team’s preparation and their focus.

“This couldn’t have been a better week,” he said. “What I’m most proud of is our kids played with that South Georgia pride. And we get another opportunity to do it again against Rabun County.” 

The No. 2-ranked Wildcats are led by sophomore quarterback Gunner Stockton, regarded as the nation’s top quarterback prospect in the 2022 class. 

But for Grage and the Bulldogs, another week of work is just fine by them.

“There’s nothing better than Thanksgiving football,” he said.