FITZGERALD – The Thomasville Bulldogs scored a major region victory with their decisive 23-8 decision over Fitzgerald Friday night. It more than erased the heartbreak felt from Thomasville’s last-minute loss to Worth County the prior week.
Thomasville tallied 288 yards on offense, intercepted two passes in the fourth quarter and is now in prime position for a region title.
Thomasville, Fitzgerald and Worth County are each tied atop the region standings with one loss, though the Bulldogs have the tiebreaker advantage.
“We had to go through last week to win this one tonight,” Thomasville coach Jonathan DeLay said. “This is the game we had to win to go win the region. We’ve still got two more to go win but you had to take care of business by a certain amount of points tonight, and we did. I’m so proud of these kids.”
The Bulldogs still have region games against Brantley County at home on October 18 and on the road at Berrien on November 1.
Junior quarterback Cam Hill led the Bulldogs with 76 rushing yards while also throwing for 92. His 56-yard jaunt led the Bulldogs to a 32-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Camdon Christie that increased Thomasville’s lead to 23-0 in the second half.
Fitzgerald tried to stage a comeback in the fourth quarter with a touchdown, but two successive drives ended in interceptions; one by senior EJ Bean off a double pass deep in Thomasville territory and one by sophomore AJ Hill to end the game.
“That play that EJ picked off, we have that play, too. We ran it against the defense in practice the other day in our little segment,” DeLay said. “They ran it, and we picked it off. Everything happens for a reason, and there’s a reason we called that play in practice. There’s a reason we had to get beat last week the way we did. I don’t like getting beat, but these kids responded so well. I’m so proud of them.”
Senior Ant Anderson finished with 47 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Junior Lavonte Cole rushed for 43 yards.