CANEY BAY — Brantley County head coach David Shores sees light at the end of long, winding tunnel through a brutal Region 1-A schedule.
One last obstacle stands in the way as the exit nears. The Herons (0-7 overall, 0-3 region) are hosting reeling seventh-ranked Thomasville (5-3, 2-2) Friday night.
The Bulldogs, who climbed as high as No. 2 in the polls during a 5-1 start, have fallen from the top of the region standings with Worth County to fourth with a 41-40 overtime loss to the Rams in Sylvester and last week’s 24-21 setback at home to Fitzgerald, which has climbed back into the Top 10 after consecutive victories.
Friday’s matchup here in Caney Bay is just the second between the two schools. Thomasville, ranked fifth with 777 victories all-time, rolled 62-0 at home last year.
The Bulldogs trail Valdosta (966), LaGrange (817), Gainesville (798) and Marist (790) on the all-time wins list. Only 10 programs have 700+ wins.
Brantley County has already faced another of those 10 programs and are a part of Fitzgerald’s 722 victories.
The Herons and Thomasville have three common opponents — all region foes. Both lost to Worth County (BCHS fell 49-0; THS fell 41-40) and to Fitzgerald (BCHS lost 48-0, THS fell 24-21). The Bulldogs beat Jeff Davis 56 21 while Brantley County fell 31-0.
The Herons enter after their second bye week of the season.
“It was good and much needed,” said Shores of the open date. “If gave some of our banged up guys time to get healthy.”
The head coach said his squad had two days of normal practices Tuesday and Wednesday.
“There were a lot of fundamentals, just getting back to the basics,” he said. “We (coaches) were trying to get back to some of the things that we’ve been scheming to try to beat people. Sometimes you’ve got to revisit the simple things.
“Thursday was short working on the kicking game based on what Thomasville likes to do. That was about 30 minutes. We loaded the bus and went to play Pierce County in a jayvee game. We (coaches) used it as a glorified practice letting some of our younger Friday night guys get some live reps.”
Thomasville’s offense comes in averaging 41 points per game while the Herons’ defense is allowing 37 points. The Bulldogs have scored at least 21 points seven times while scoring a season-low seven points in the matchup with Class 5A secondranked Thomas County Central (55-- BCHS has surrendered 31+ points six times including its last five games.
“They (Bulldogs) should have won against Worth County,” said Shores. “They were up 27-7 at the half and 34-14 entering the fourth quarter and let it slip away. They only ran the ball nine times in the second half and I feel if they ran it and didn’t get into a throwing game they would have.
“Fitzgerald has been flying under the radar with some early season losses. Against us, Fitzgerald established a physicality running the football and was dominant. I think they used that confidence from our game and went and dominated Thomasville with the run game. Thomasville may not have recovered from the loss at Worth County.
“Worth County, Thomasville and Fitzgerald are three really, really good football teams. Thomasville and Fitzgerald now have a couple of losses apiece. I promise you I would put those two teams up against about anybody, any region.”
Shores said his squad doesn’t matchup up well against the Bulldogs.
“They’ve got a lot of good skill athletes and they can also run the football,” he said. “We’re (coaches) preaching trying to get better this week against good competition, and play your best against really good competition and sort of see where it shapes out.
“Hopefully we’ll come out of it healthy. We’ve got Berrien in Game 9 and Bacon County at home in Game 10 and you hope you’ve got a team left.
“This has been a long stretch for us starting with Jeff Davis, who’s easily a Top 10 team by the end of the year, to Worth County, Fitzgerald and Thomasville. We’ve (coaches) tried to keep the guys healthy and their head screwed on straight.”
Shores said his biggest challenge to date has been trying to keep spirits up.
“I think it may be harder on the coaches sometimes than the players because they’re more resilient,” he said. “I praised the players Tuesday and Wednesday after pracice because they keep coming back to work after devastating losses.
“The players have come out to work and have kept positive attitudes. That keeps us (coaches) energized because we don’t like accepting losses.”
