Behind a strong effort on both sides of the ball, Thomasville advanced to the second round of the state playoffs after a 38-0 blanking of Putnam County last Friday night.
Putnam County head coach Joel Harvin thinks his team just didn’t execute its game plan, which is what led to the loss. He mentioned that Thomasville has a high-powered offense, and the goal was to keep the unit off the field.
“Their offense is explosive, man,” Harvin said. “It just didn’t work in our favor. “What we needed to do was keep the ball away from their offense, which is what a couple of the teams that beat them this year did. That’s what we tried to do,” he continued. “That was the game plan going in. We didn’t want to get out there and throw the ball around and stop the clock. We wanted to melt the clock as much as possible and limit them from scoring.”
Harvin’s game plan worked early, as the score was tied 0-0 entering the second quarter.
However, the War Eagles’ inability to sustain drives cost them as the Bulldogs’ offense eventually found its rhythm.
Thomasville kicked a field goal to lead 3-0 at the 9:33 mark of the second quarter, and never looked back. The Bulldogs quickly scored 14 more points to hold a 17-0 advantage over Putnam County at the half.
Thomasville quarterback Cam Hill connected with playmaker Demario Sawyer through the air, followed by a touchdown run from AJ Hill Jr. Those scores gave the Bulldogs the momentum they needed heading into the break.
Putnam County’s offensive woes continued into the second half, as the Thomasville defense continued to play stingy. The War Eagles went for it on fourth down early in the third quarter, but the Bulldogs came up with a stop.
“We were just unable to move the ball consistently on them. Coming out in the second half, we faced a 4th-and-1 and decided to go for it and try and get some momentum with that same mindset of keeping their offense off the field,” Harvin said.
“It was a big point when we didn’t get it. We missed a couple of key blocks, and they were able to stop us. They then got a quick score in the second half, making it 24-0, but our kids kept battling. We just couldn’t sustain drives and couldn’t find a way to get a first down on offense.”
Thomasville scored two more touchdowns — both by running back LaVonte Cole — before the game was over.
Putnam County was held to just 89 yards of offense. Quarterback Ethan Whatley completed 4 of 8 passes for 18 yards, while the run game never got going. The War Eagles were limited to 71 yards on 30 rushes. They were led by Omarion Butts, who rushed for 61 yards on 17 attempts, followed by Whatley with 19 yards on seven carries.
Putnam County’s season ended with a 5-6 record for a second-straight season and in the first round of playoffs for a third-consecutive year. The Bulldogs advanced to play defending state champion Toombs County this Friday.
After the game, Harvin gave a heartfelt message to his seniors, whom he’s coached for three seasons.
“I’ve got a group of seniors who have a lot of good character,” Harvin said. “A lot of these guys are going to own businesses in the future. They’re going to have successful businesses because of their strong leadership skills. And they all bought in. I would say at least 90 percent of them have been here for all four years and are committed to our program. I just appreciate everything that they’ve done for us.
“I hope that the guys underneath them could really see how they led our program and how they were just good kids who did what was right. So, that was the biggest message, just to continue that legacy of those guys and continue to do what’s right.”