ADEL – The Thomasville Bulldogs overcame three turnovers and eight penalties to win their second straight game Friday night.

Playing at Class AAA Cook (0-6), the Bulldogs (2-3) used a balanced offensive attack of running back Ricky Fulton and a quick strike passing attack with quarterback Ronnie Baker and receiver Kevin Dyson to hold off the Hornets 28-18.

“A win’s a win, I’m never going to downplay that, I’ll take it,” Thomasville coach Zach Grage said. “It was sloppy, but I don’t want them hanging their heads by any means, coming off the field. Defensively, we played fantastic outside of two plays. Offensively, we did not play very well. I thought our running backs and O-line played pretty well; we didn’t play well in the skilled positions.”

Thomasville amassed 441 total yards but threw an interception and lost a fumble in Cook territory in the second half.

“It goes back on us not being prepared. I’m never going to put it on the kids,” Grage said. “We’ve got to do a better job of getting them prepared and getting them prepared for different looks. My biggest thing was our drops. We had way too many drops that would have extended drives or gotten us another first down.”

The Bulldogs finished with 248 rushing yards, including 122 by Fulton, who scored on touchdown runs of 2 and 44 yards. Dyson hauled in eight receptions for 126 yards. Baker added 193 passing yards and one touchdown. He also darted up the middle off a run-pass option, shrugged off tackle attempts and darted into the end zone for a 23-yard score to cap the scoring for the Bulldogs.

The first half had an interesting finish. With two seconds left, the Bulldogs faced a fourth-and-4 at their own 16-yard line. Baker took the snap, rolled to his right and tried to take a knee to end the half. But he never touched the ground. He flipped the ball to the official, though the play was still going. The official didn’t touch the ball as it fell to the ground. Cochran alertly picked up the fumble and rumbled 17 yards for the first down to end the half.

Thomasville will return to the field at Veterans Memorial Stadium next Friday to host Crisp County.