THOMASVILLE, Ga. — On a night when the Thomasville High School Bulldogs offense fired on nearly every cylinder, a key defensive play helped stem Cook’s tide.

Ty Anderson hit Keyvon Sanders for a 7-yard loss on fourth down, and the Bulldogs pulled away for a 49-20 win Friday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 4-1 on the season while Cook fell to 2-4.

The Hornets, trailing 35-20, had recovered a bad exchange at Thomasville’s 49-yard line. But Anderson stuffed Sanders on fourth-and-3 at the Bulldogs’ 5 to end the drive.

“It was monstrous,” Bulldogs coach Zach Grace said of the fourth-down play.

Thomasville’s offense, which scored on seven of its first eight possessions, took over from there.

“And we needed them,” Grage said. “Offensively, it doesn’t get a whole lot better. We had to score and we knew that coming in.”

Thomasville’s seven scoring drives took a total of 11:46. Three of them took less than a minute.

Cook’s initial scoring drive, which ended in Keyshawn Lacy’s 1-yard run on the game’s opening possession, ate up 7:32 off the clock

“They took 7:32 off the clock to score. I’m surprised they weren’t sleeping over there,” Grage joked of his own offense. “We were able to come back and execute our plan. We responded. We executed the one-minute drill. Those were huge.”

Chad Mascoe was 14-of-21 for 268 yards through the air. He threw three touchdown passes, including a 29-yard strike to a wide-open Jay Tillman with 19.6 seconds left in the half, after Thomasville took over at its own 42 with a minute to play.

“Chad played phenomenal,” Grage said. “They brought five guys every snap and he had all the time in the world to throw. Hat’s off to the offensive line. They were phenomenal.”

Mascoe also added a rushing touchdown, and Tan Gelin scored on a 20-yard reception and a 5-yard run. Malek Miller had a 2-yard TD run, and Tillman ended the first possession of the second half with a 13-yard touchdown catch and a 35-14 lead.

But Cook, behind its single wing offense, ground out 318 yards on 67 rushing attempts. The Hornets attempted just three passes.

Gelin’s rushing score put the Bulldogs in front 14-6 with 9:32 left in the first half. But Cook went 70 yards in 13 plays, with freshman Jamarion Walker scoring on a 2-yard run. A two-point conversion pass tied the game at 14-14 with 3:13 to go.

Thomasville’s offense got cranked right back up, thanks to Karey Lee’s 84-yard kickoff return. Mascoe turned that into a 1-yard run, and the Bulldogs went 58 yards in six plays in the half’s final minute to extend the lead to two scores.

“I have a ton of faith in our kids,” Grage said. “If we have the opportunity to score, I have faith in our kids.”

The Bulldogs finished with 401 yards of offense and 19 first downs.

Thomasville goes on the road to take on Crisp County on Sept. 28

Editor Pat Donahue can be reached at (229) 226-2400 ext. 1806.