By Christian Malone
The Valdosta Daily Times
QUITMAN — One of the biggest games of the Region 1-AA football season takes place tonight, when Brooks County hosts Thomasville. Kickoff at Veterans Stadium comes at 7:30 p.m.
Brooks, which enters the game 3-0 and ranked No. 7 in AA, knows tonight’s game will be a challenge.
“It will be a classic battle,” Brooks head coach Maurice Freeman said. “We’re excited. It’s Thomasville, so it’s a big game. It should be a good game.”
Brooks was the region champion in 2008, while Thomasville took first in 1-AA in 2007. This will be the region opener for both teams.
“It’s our first region game. After Friday night, we’ll either be 1-0 or 0-1,” Freeman said. “A win Friday gets you in the driver’s seat.”
Thomasville’s record is just 1-2, but that win was against archrival Thomas County Central (13-9), a AAAA school, and the two losses came to defending AAA state champion Cairo (7-3) and AAAAA school Colquitt County (34-19).
Thomasville runs an option offense out of the flexbone, much like Georgia Tech does. The Bulldogs’ offense has given their opponents plenty of trouble.
“It really is hard to defend their offense,” Freeman said. “It’s the old-school Georgia Southern offense, with the double wingbacks and the option. They run it well. You’ve got to have discipline. You can’t make mistakes, or they can turn it into a big play.”
Quarterback Charles Hayes leads the Bulldogs’ option attack, and is joined in the backfield by some good runners, including speedy Jeffery Dyson.
“Their quarterback’s pretty good. They’ve got a fullback named (Lanoris) Christopher that’s related to my two Christophers (Keith and Kendrick), and he’s a real good linebacker, too,” Freeman said. “They’ve got some good backs.”
Defensively, Thomasville uses a 5-3 front. That means the Bulldogs will be putting eight men in the box tonight to try to stop the Trojans’ rushing attack.
“I’m impressed with the way Thomasville’s defense runs around and hits people,” Freeman said. “That’s the way I want our defense to play. Coach (Richie) Marsh does a good job with them.”
Thomasville safety Fred Holton has committed to Georgia Tech. Freeman also said that Lanoris Christopher and nose guard Jahara Perkins are both excellent defensive players.
Brooks is undefeated right now, but is still trying to improve and build on their first three games.
“Being 3-0 is great, but we’re not satisfied. We want to keep it going,” Freeman said. “There are always things we can improve.”
Last week, Brooks blew out Turner County 42-0. The Trojans built a big lead on the Rebels in the first half, and kept the Turner passing attack out of the end zone.
“We were in control from the start,” Freeman said. “We got to play a lot of people. Keith (Christopher) only got nine carries (which went for 75 yards and two touchdowns). We won the game, and we didn’t have any injuries.”
Freeman says that to win tonight’s game, the Trojans can’t turn the ball over, can’t give up any big plays to Thomasville and must be able to run the ball against the Bulldogs.
Brooks has never defeated Thomasville in Quitman. The Bulldogs are 22-4 lifetime against the Trojans, with most of those wins coming when Thomasville was a higher-classification school than Brooks.
“We’ve never beaten Thomasville at home, so this is real important,” Freeman said.
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