THOMASVILLE — After a non-region 49-12 win against Lawton Chiles on Friday, Thomasville’s still-undefeated football team will now get ready to face its toughest challenge yet.

Bulldog head coach Zach Grage hoped to channel the energy of representing South Georgia against the Timberwolves. He believes he got the right amount of passion and toughness, and he hopes that it carries over into the last two crucial region games.

“We’ve just gotta bottle this up and continue that,” he said. “There’s always stuff you gotta fix, but I’m very, very proud of the kids.”

PICKING EACH OTHER UP: The Bulldogs weren’t perfect on Friday night, with two interceptions and a lost fumble. However, Thomasville’s defense was able to force stops time and time again deep in its own territory, limiting the Timberwolves to four field goals and forcing a fourth-down stop in the second quarter.

Grage was pleased with those kinds of defensive plays, but was also happy to see the kinds of moments that set them up.

“The biggest play of the game that nobody will talk about was when Jay (Tillman) threw the pick and Trey Tillman hawked that guy down at about the 15 yard line and the defense stopped them. It was 14-0 at that point and it would have been 14-7 with all the momentum.”

RICE APPROACHING HISTORY: Quarterback JT Rice did not start against Chiles, with Jay Tillman getting that opportunity. In the second quarter, the three-year starter returned to the field for the first time since the Berrien game and threw two touchdown passes. He is now three passing scores away from breaking Mike Bobo and Dion Graham’s school record for most touchdown passes in a regular season (10 games). He is also on pace to break Bobo’s record for passing yards in a season.

GAME OF THE YEAR: October 27 has been marked on Thomasville’s calendar for a while now, and for good reason. This week’s game against also-undefeated Brooks County has huge region title implications, especially after the Trojans defeated Fitzgerald 49-17 Friday night. 

“It’s gonna be awesome,” Grage said. “This is what high school football’s all about. I expect our whole town of Thomasville to be there. I expect all of Quitman to be there. In 2A football, there’s not gonna be a bigger game in the state this year, I can promise you that. The state championship, maybe, but this is the biggest game in 2A this year.”