ATLANTA — The old adage is there are lies, darned lies and statistics. 

For the Thomasville Bulldogs, though, the numbers from Friday’s Class AA state championship game just may accurately depict what transpired. 

Fitzgerald won its first title since 1948, denying Thomasville its first crown since 1988, in a punishing 21-7 win. And in an era of no-huddle, wide-open attacks, Fitzgerald’s old-school, Wing-T based offense ate up ground, time and points.

The Purple Hurricane ran more plays in their first possession (13) than the Bulldogs did (nine) in the first half. 

“It was difficult to get our identity going,” lamented Bulldogs coach Zach Grage after the game. “It was tough to get them off the field. It was a matter of them doing a great job of taking us out of our identity and us not being able to stop it.” 

Fitzgerald held the ball for 33:23, more than doubling Thomasville’s time of possession. The Purple Hurricane had the ball for 19:06 in the first half alone as they converted three of four third downs and also picked up their only fourth-down conversion attempt. 

The Purple Hurricane were methodical and efficient in their offense. Only six of their runs went for more than 10 yards, their longest a 25-yard gain from Dennoris Goodwin on the first series. 

Thomasville limited Fitzgerald’s rushing game in the first meeting of the season, the Bulldogs’ 15-8 win in Fitzgerald. The Purple Hurricane had just 98 yards on 37 rushing attempts, including four second-half sacks. They also had just 10 first downs for the game.The Bulldogs, though, were held to 78 yards rushing on 25 carries in the victory. 

After Thomasville’s defense held the Purple Hurricane in check over its first three possessions of the second half Friday— forcing three three-and-outs and limiting them to just 12 total yards in those possessions — Fitzgerald put together its most impressive drive of the final two quarters.

The Purple Hurricane went 69 yards in 12 plays, again all on the ground, and devoured a crucial 6:07 off the clock. The march ended in a missed 30-yard field goal attempt. Yet it left the Bulldogs still trailing 21-7 with only 3:08 remaining in the game. 

Fitzgerald twice picked off Shannen White but Thomasville’s defense didn’t allow the Purple Hurricane to turn those into more points. 

Goodwin finished with 175 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries. E.J. Lightsey added 52 yards on 11 attempts. Quarterback Sultan Cooper was 1-of-2 passing for 10 yards. 

Thomasville was held to 51 yards rushing and just 161 yards of total offense. Ricky Fulton had 35 yards on nine carries and Malik Harper ran five times for 11 yards. 

Jordan Williams caught two passes for 16 yards. White was 9-of-18 passing for 110 yards. 

It was the final game for nearly two dozen Bulldogs seniors. In four seasons, they went 37-17 and won two Region 1-AA championships. The 13 wins this season was the most for the program since the 1988 team went 15-0. 

“I am extremely proud of the young men,” Grage said. “They accomplished every goal, except for the last one. The last four weeks, especially at home, were a lot of fun.”

Thomasville will join a new region next year, moving up to Class AAA. Their new region, 1-AAA, includes Columbus, Carver-Columbus, Crisp County, Dougherty and Monroe. 

Carver-Columbus lost in the Class AAAA state championship to Benedictine and Crisp County was a quarterfinalist in AAA, losing to eventual state champ Cedar Grove. Dougherty was a state playoff participant in Class AAAA this season.