THOMASVILLE — The Thomasville Bulldogs lost 24 starters from last year ’ s Region 1-AAA championship team . The Bulldogs have their share of holes to fill if they want to repeat as champs and advance further than last year ’ s quarterfinal round .

“ On defense , we ’ re really returning two starters . On offense , we ’ re returning the quarterback , running back , one offensive lineman and two receivers ,” Thomasville coach Jonathan DeLay said . “ We ’ ve got a lot of holes to fill . We feel really good with the kids that we ’ ve got . These kids love Thomasville football , and they love coming to work every day and putting forth what it takes to be successful .”

Thomasville ’ s only returning starter along the offensive line is senior Rah ’ Quez Smiley , though he missed the spring due to injury .

“ He ’ s our leader up front , and he does a great job for us ,” DeLay said . “ He might as well have been a coach ( during the spring ), because that ’ s what he was doing . He continued to work on his craft . He ’ s done a great job this summer , got cleared to come back to play and doing outstanding for us .”

Thomasville ’ s other linemen in the mix for starting spots include sophomore Kalebb Humbert , senior Mac Mobley , freshman Isaiah Palacios , junior Jaylen Walden , junior Bryce Metcalf and senior Logan Thomas .

“ In the spring we played with five completely new guys . There were days when it was tough . Those guys are so resilient . They ’ re offensive linemen for a reason . They get very little of the praise , but without them , you ’ re not going to do anything successful ,” DeLay said . “ There ’ s a lot of guys that have an opportunity to go and do something , go and play . They rep all the positions . It ’ s not like they ’ re just locked in to one .

“ Yes , we ’ ll have to replace four . Are there going to be some growing pains ? Probably , but I wouldn ’ t trade the five we ’ re going to put up there for any other guys in the state .”

The offensive line paved the way for Thomasville ’ s rushing attack to churn out more than 200 rushing yards in the Bulldogs ’ 30-0 spring game win over Dooly County . The Bulldogs expect to utilize their plethora of offensive weapons to tote the rock , including senior Jay Randall , junior Ant Anderson , sophomore Lavonte

Cole and sophomore Leeland Chapman . Junior EJ Bean should also see action , though he is returning from injury .

Sophomore Cam Hill returns for his second season under center . He passed for 1,529 yards as a freshman .

“ It ’ s nice having Cam back . He ’ s got a year under his belt . He ’ s grown up a lot since last season ,” DeLay said . “ His mechanics have gotten better .”

Senior Cole Shaw provides a reliable weapon at wide receiver .

Receiver AJ Hill celebrates a touchdown for the Red Team during the annual

Red and Gold game .