VALDOSTA – Though they drew first blood, the Thomasville Bulldogs could not scratch on the offensive end in a 31-3 preseason loss to the Valdosta Wildcats Friday night.

Turnovers derailed any momentum the Bulldogs tried to build against the Wildcats. The ‘Cats created havoc defensively, coming away with three fumble recoveries and two interceptions – the last coming when Valdosta linebacker Miguel Brown picked off freshman quarterback Camren Hill and rolled 67 yards for a touchdown with 3:30 to play.

“We came into this game and there were three things I was going to look at: Are we going to block, are we going to tackle and are we going to have good ball security,” Thomasville head coach Jonathan DeLay said. “The team that does that is the team that wins the game. We didn’t do that tonight, especially in the first half. We didn’t block very well, we didn’t have good ball security and we didn’t tackle very well.

“I went in there at halftime and I challenged them and the defense came out here and we gave them short fields and they came out here and bowed their necks and gave up three points. I think we gave them three short fields and I’ve got some seniors on that group that I found out tonight, they’re the guys that are going to lead this team.”

In the first quarter, the Bulldogs recovered a muffed punt return by the Wildcats and avoided a potentially catastrophic end to their ensuing drive after a sack by Valdosta junior defensive tackle Omar White pushed them out of the red zone and into a fourth-and-goal from the Valdosta 23.

The 40-yard field goal attempt from senior kicker Daniel Belvin had just enough leg to sail through the uprights to put Thomasville ahead 3-0 with 5:17 to go in the first quarter.

From there, White and the Valdosta defense thwarted any flow Thomasville tried to find.

A forced fumble by four-star junior defensive end Eric Brantley gave Valdosta first-and-goal from the 3. On the second play of the drive, senior Charles Williams powered in from 5 yards out to give Valdosta a 7-3 lead – one they quickly added to in the second quarter.

After a 4-yard touchdown run by Valdosta quarterback Todd Robinson with 9:35 remaining in the second quarter, the Bulldogs coughed the ball up back to Valdosta 23 seconds later. The Bulldogs managed to come away unscathed as a field goal by Valdosta kicker Antonio Zapata missed to end the drive.

The Bulldogs went three-and-out and punted to the Wildcats and even though they came up with a fumble, the play was negated by a penalty on the Bulldogs.

The Wildcats answered with an eight-play scoring drive punctuated by a 14-yard hookup from Robinson to Jalen Whitehead to make it 21-3 with 16 seconds to go before the half.

Receiving the ball first out of the locker room to start the second half, the Bulldogs hurt themselves immediately as junior quarterback Parker Beckham was picked off. The interception led to a 31-yard field goal by Zapata pushed the lead to 24-3 with 9:51 left in the third quarter.

“Offensively, we weren’t successful tonight,” DeLay said. “That was a good team that we played. They kind of punched us in the mouth up front a little bit, but I believe my offensive line is one of my best groups on this team and I have a lot of confidence in them. This is the first time in 2022 that those five have played together so from here on out, I know that I’ve got a bunch of seniors on that group that aren’t going to let something like this happen again. They know that they didn’t play great tonight, but they’re going to go and be awesome in the weeks to come.”

The second half saw the Bulldogs settle in defensively as they came up with a fumble recovery in the red zone and later in the third quarter, with Valdosta facing third-and-6 from the Thomasville 15, Robinson rolled out to his right and fired downfield, but underthrew Whitehead right into the waiting arms of defensive back Deltrioz Grimsley for the interception.

“You want to talk about confidence? One kid especially, Deltrioz Grimsley. His whole career, he’s just been a career Thomasville guy,” DeLay said. “He’s never known what his position is. He’s played safety for us. We’ve had some issues at corner this year with depth and he had to go in in the summer and he goes down to the goal line and he gets a pick. I couldn’t be more happy for that kid. He doesn’t say a word. He just goes out there and works at his craft. When people say you can’t do something, that’s when you rise to the occasion and go and show. I was excited tosee him make that play.”

Though the Bulldogs’ preseason scrimmage ended in a lopsided loss, DeLay believes he has a resilient group built to bounce back from adversity.

“It’s a great test for our group,” DeLay said. “We play a really tough schedule. We’ve got Brooks coming up next week. They won a state championship. Then, Central, they’re a great 6A team. Cairo, Bainbridge, Tift County – you’re talking about three programs right there that are always in it in South Georgia. Then you get to region and we’ve got Monroe, Carver-Columbus, Columbus, Dougherty, Crisp County. You look at all those schools and it’s not gonna get any easier. It’s going to be good teams every week so getting to see ourselves against a good team, put that on film and getting to watch it as a group, that’s going to be huge for our kids. That’s the thing about these kids – I’ve got some kids that respond to stuff so when adversity hits, they do a great job of responding and that’s what we’re going to see next week.”

UP NEXT

Thomasville: Kicks off the regular season on the road in Quitman against reigning Class A state champion Brooks County Aug. 19.

Valdosta: Opens the 2022 season at home against North Miami Beach (Fla.) Aug. 19.