Tim Morse/Special to the Times-EnterpriseThomasville running back Tan Gelin (20) breaks loose on a run up the middle Friday night against Everglades High at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Gelin finished with 131 yards.

THOMASVILLE, Ga. — Forgive Kevin Cochran if he felt slighted Friday night.

Just a little.

The Thomasville junior wide receiver had a hand in setting up all three first-half touchdowns as the Bulldogs built a 25-point lead and never looked back. They whipped Everglades (Fla.) 39-0 at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Cochran caught three passes, including a 31-yarder in which he quietly slipped past a defender to set up quarterback Chad Mascoe’s 5-yard keeper to make it 25-0. 

But it was all good fun for Cochran and the Bulldogs, who showed no mercy on the Gators.

“Once I have the ball in my hands and if I have the ability to make a play, I want to make a play,” said Cochran, who finished with 126 yards on six catches. “It was fun tonight.”

After the Bulldogs lost at national power Colquitt County last week, Friday night’s victory was exactly the kind of win Thomasville needed. They have two more nonregion games before opening Region 1-2A play at Brooks County on Oct. 5. They are idle next week before returning to action on Sept. 21 when they entertain Cook.

“We’ve still got a lot of things to shore up,” Thomasville coach Zach Grage said. “I’m excited about our open week. It’s not a week off, but an open week. We’re going to get a chance to work on ourselves a little. But tonight was good.”

After Thomasville (3-1) built a 6-0 advantage on Ma’lek Miller’s 1-yard plunge with 7:17 left in the opening quarter, the defense added to it with a safety to make it 8-0

Mascoe added two more touchdown runs and Hurston Waldrep kicked a 40-yard field goal for the remainder of the first half scoring. It was the second straight week Waldrep booted a field goal of 40 yards. He drilled a 40-yarder against Colquitt County for his team’s only points

Thomasville’s defense thwarted two Everglades scoring drives after the Gators crossed midfield. In the first half, Devon Samuel intercepted a pass inside the red zone.

Then on Everglades’ opening possession of the second half, Karey Lee recorded an interception inside the Thomasville 20 to halt a potential score.

“We’ve been preaching shutout for the last two years and we finally got it tonight,” defensive lineman Marc Davis said. “We won this game because of our commitment to the weight room.”

The Bulldogs added the clincher midway through the third quarter. After Jacravein Brown’s fumble recovery at the Everglades 42, it took just four plays for Miller to score on an 11-yard run after Jay Tillman and Mascoe connected on a nice 31-yard slant pass. Waldrep’s extra point made it 32-0 with 6:26 left.

The backbreaker for Everglades came with 41 seconds left in the game when the Gators’ fourth down pass at the Thomasville 9 fell incomplete.

Mascoe padded the Bulldogs’ lead on the ensuing possession on a 9-yard touchdown gallop to make it 39-0. He finished with three scores in the game.

Running back Tan Gelin finished with 131 yards rushing on 14 carries.

“To get the shutout, that was huge for us,” Grage said. “And to go out and execute like we did was big. All of our scores weren’t quick, we drove the ball down the field, which was something good for us to hold on to.”