If you know anything about Georgia high school football, you’ll be able to understand why Michael Youngblood wasn’t anywhere close to pushing the panic button after a tough start.
The Thomson Bulldogs coach knew he had to replace a lot of senior talent from last year. He also knew that, just two years removed from the school’s most recent Class AA state championship, expectations weren’t going to budge from their typical lofty perch.
But the third thing Youngblood understands is arguably most important to his Bulldogs — that in Georgia high school football, it’s all about the region.
That’s why, after a 2-2 start that saw Thomson fall in consecutive games to Evans and North Augusta and squeak out narrow one-score victories against Richmond Academy and Grovetown — those latter two teams sporting a combined 1-12 record.
From 0-2 to now 5-2 and 2-0 in Region 4-AA,Thomson is once again in the driver’s seat for a region title and possible home field advantage in the Class AA state playoffs. With three regular season games left, we’ll give you three reasons why a Thomson team, once seemingly bound for a rebuilding season, could still be considered a state title favorite.
Peaking at the right time
Inexperience and injuries dogged the ‘Dogs early on. Kent State commit Anthony Jeffery just got back into the starting lineup for last week’s 38-12 win against Laney. The 3-star running back prospect announced his return with 133 rushing yards and a touchdown while averaging 8.3 yards per carry. Despite playing three, and in some cases four, fewer games than others on the Class AA rushing leaderboard, Jeffery sits eighth in the state with 742 yards.
His yards-per-game average (148.4) is second only to Westside-Macon’s Kadiphius Iverson who’s rushed for over 1,200 yards through eight games played.
Further, junior quarterback Markevion Jones showed off his dual-threat nature with 124 yards passing and three scores through the air, as well as 76 rushing yards. A trio of juniors, Jaris Sinkfield, Kennedi Bailey and Jayden Ivey caught those touchdown passes. Sinkfield has shown himself as a spark plug for this offense, and Bailey has given Thomson a boost after transferring from Westlake.
The most impressive part about it is Thomson did this against the next best team in the region aside from Burke County. Holding what had been a rugged, hard-nosed Laney team to just 12 points is no small feat. And all of a sudden, all the inexperience is starting to look like a well-seasoned squad, not to mention a fairly healthy one.
A favorable schedule
Laney was the toughest team left on the schedule until the final week of the season when Thomson heads to Burke County on Nov. 8. Ironically, Burke County is headed into its toughest part of the region slate down the stretch of the season with games Friday against Butler, at Laney and then Thomson.
As for the Bulldogs, winless Josey shouldn’t be an issue, though a much-improved Butler squad could provide some resistance. But it’s more than likely that the region crown will come down to the game played in Waynesboro on the last week of the regular season.
Win the last three games, and we’re talking about an 8-win Thomson team with tons of momentum on its side headed into the postseason. And when you have a veteran coach and coaching staff combined with a confident group of talented athletes finding their stride, no one should put anything past Youngblood and his bunch.
Class AA dominance?
So let’s say Thomson runs the table on the rest of the regular season and finds its way into the playoffs. If that happens, that means it will have topped its chiefest local nemesis in Burke County which is considered one of the top three teams in the state in Class AA. Top-ranked Pierce County (7-0) has been dominant, winning its seven games by a combined score of 259-48. But who’s next?
Morgan County (8-0) is the only undefeated team left in Class AA. And while the Bulldogs from Madison County have had some impressive wins this season, they haven’t exactly been playing world-beaters. The combined record of Morgan County’s opponents is 26-37. Morgan’s best win is probably a 35-13 victory over Greene County on Sept. 6
The point is, while Pierce County may be the cream of the class, there aren’t many others to challenge them for that spot. So, why not Thomson?
