THOMASVLLE — It’s almost a matter of alchemy — finding the right mix of getting your players to understand the stakes of the week without letting the weight of the moment overwhelm them. 

Thomasville coach Zach Grage has a Sunday book study with his coaches, and the first chapter of this week’s selection was all about fight. 

“Fight talks about not letting any game or situation get too big because we’ve been in those situations,” he said. 

It’s a result of the design of the schedule, which has included Class AAAA schools Thomas County Central, Cairo and Bainbridge, plus Class AAA’s Oconee County — and Brooks County, which is playing for the Class A Public state title.

It’s all led up to Friday’s matchup with Region 1-AA rival Fitzgerald for the Class AA state championship at Center Parc Stadium.

In an tried and true coaching aphorism, Grage has exhorted his team to go 1-0 each week. 

“Now it actually means something,” he said. “It’s not lip service. Now we’re actually there.” 

By virtue of its 15-8 regular season win over Fitzgerald, and a fortuitous coin flip, Thomasville has been at home throughout the state playoffs. Those visitors to Veterans Memorial Stadium, though, have not been pushovers. Rather, they have been some of the most well-regarded and highly-ranked teams in AA — among them the defending state champs Callaway and the No. 1-ranked team in the state Rabun County.

And each week, the Bulldogs have played in front of a large and boisterous crowd.

“The atmosphere we’ve played in the last few weeks has prepared us for this week,” he said. 

Even as the home team, so much of the pregame chatter focused on either Rabun County and the state’s top quarterback prospect Gunner Stockton, and later Callaway, which knocked the Bulldogs out of the state playoffs a year ago. 

“All we did,” Grage said, “was focus on us. That’s what we talk about at the end of practice — love the game, love each other, be fundamentally sound, be physical, do us, and we’ll be pleased with the results.”

To make sure his team doesn’t get consumed with the enormity of the opportunity, Grage plans to take them to Center Parc Stadium to watch one of the Class A state championship games Thursday before the team turns in for the night. He repeatedly has addressed the team as a special group in postgame huddles. 

“From the beginning, it’s been a special group,” he said. “We’re not taking this for granted. The kids understand how important this is and how thankful they are to be at this point.”