THOMASVILLE — On his first punt return of the night, Boomer Slocumb waited just long enough for the wall of blockers to form to his right. Then, he took off down the sidelines, right in front of the Pepperell bench.

He was brought down just five yards from the goal line, though a penalty eventually put the ball back at the Dragons’ 48-yard line.

“I really thought I was going to get into the end zone,” said the senior wide receiver. “It was disappointing.”

Nearly 12 minutes later on the clock, there were no penalties on the return, and Slocumb darted along the left side of the wall — and in front of the Thomasville Bulldogs bench this time — for a 50-yard touchdown return.

“I was trying real hard on that second one to get into the end zone,” he said.

That score took a 14-point lead and swelled it to 21 late in the second quarter, helping Thomasville break open the game and roll to an impressive 58-14 win over the Dragons.

With the win, Thomasville, now winners of six straight, will host Rabun County (12-0) in the Class AA state playoffs third round. 

After Pepperell mounted its lone scoring drive of the first half, Slocumb had a hand in the Bulldogs’ response right before halftime. With time winding down, quarterback Ronnie Baker rolled out to his right and as the clock hit all zeroes, he fired a pass to Slocumb in the front right corner of the end zone.

That 13-yard touchdown pushed the Bulldogs’ lead to 35-7, a lead that only grew during the second half.

The first half’s final play wound up being far removed what was called, coach Zach Grage acknowledged. And he’s OK with that.

“It’s just ballers being ballers,” he said. “We keep going to back to that. Let our guys be guys. Coaches, get out of the way, and let our guys be guys.”

Thomasville took over with less than 52 seconds left after the Dragons’ Gage Moses scored to make it 28-7. They ran four plays to go 62 yards, with help from a pass interference call, to squelch any momentum the Dragons had built up. 

“It’s the confidence of the kids and them knowing that if there’s one second left, we’re going,” Grage said. “We’re not taking anything off the pedal.”

Slocumb’s two returns also highlighted another strong effort from the Bulldogs special teams. Kicker Hurston Waldrep punted just once, a 46-yarder downed at the Dragons 2 that became a safety two plays later. He also had four touchbacks and of three kickoffs he had that did get returned — Austin Chastain was summoned for the final one for the night — two wound up pinning the Dragons inside their own 18.

Pepperell’s best starting field position for any drive was its own 34 — and that came on its final possession of the night.

“Hurston’s booming them and when he’s not,” Grage said, “we’re tackling them inside the 20.”

Editor Pat Donahue can be reached at (229) 226-2400 ext. 1806.