THOMASVILLE, Ga. (WALB) - “This is two good football teams with really good football players that are going to get to play the game. You guys wouldn’t be here this week if it wasn’t. We’re just excited to be here you know football’s back. Football in South Georgia is special. I don’t think there’s any other place in this country that has football like us I’d like to see it. And you know we love it here. Our fans love it. Their fans love it and I just cant wait for 8:00pm Friday night,” expressed fourth year Thomasville coach Jonathan DeLay. For the sixth year in a row Thomasville and Brooks County will meet in the season opener. This year both teams not shy about where they want to be come week 15.

The Bulldogs with hopes of overcoming the elite 8 hump. They’ve reached the quarterfinals twice in the DeLay era. This year they have their sights set on winning it all for the first time since 1988. The Trojans on the other hand, their road back to the Benz starts Friday night.

Despite making it to the finals last season, second year head coach Josh McFather says this team has an opportunity to write their own story..

“We made it very clear that we achieved what we achieved last year on the backs of some very good senior leadership. And I said while we had some guys make plays you guys have not achieved anything this year and you know I don’t care about preseason rankings we’re 1, 2, or three in a lot of those but at the end of the day that doesn’t matter. We have to continue to get better and reach our potential,” said McFather.

“Look guys our goal is to win a state championship we got a state championship game on Friday this week. I mean you got a team that was there. What an opportunity to come out and get that mindset started from game 1,” said DeLay.

Neither team is a stranger to the postseason. Three championship appearances combined in the last 5 seasons. The last one to win it all was Brook County in 2021 under longtime coach Maurice Freeman.

WALB’s high school football coverage begins at 2:30pm on digital for the first episode of “Your Hometown Tailgate”. Sports Director Aaron Meaux and reporter Morgan Jackson will be live from Pyle’s Chicken Delite breaking down all the biggest matchup in the area. Tune online at walb.com or through the app. For all the highlights and scores from Friday night tune in to the Locker Room Report starting at 11:00pm.

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