ITG-SG / September 2016
“We’ll have one play, and that’s it,” were the words that came across the speakers.
It was storming at my house, and the power was out, so I was sitting outside in the garage with my Dad, listening to the game on the radio. It was 2002, and I was only nine, but I still remember my first high school football experience like it was yesterday.
“Ladies and gentlemen at home, say a prayer for Thomas County.”
Central was down 34-33 to Marist with only 20 seconds left to play, but the Jackets were going for two and the win. All that separated TCC from a return trip to the state title game was three yards.
Erik Walden, who had split backs behind him, turned and handed the ball to Moses Cochran, who was lined up to his right. Cochran made contact with his own blocker around the two-yard line, but kept his legs moving long enough to power the ball inches over the goal line.
“Moses is in there!” TCCHS commentator Randy Young said. His shouts of “35 to 34! 35 to 34!” affirmed something that was seemingly commonplace for a long time: Central was going to the state championship game.
That game is always what comes to mind when I recall my earliest high school sports memory, but it isn’t even close to the only one. My parents would probably like me to be able to recite facts that I’ve learned in school, but instead I could sit down and recount touchdown drives, final scores, and trick players for hours on end from each of Thomasville’s three teams. This isn’t something that is unique to only me, however. I know I’m not the only local kid who fell in love with sports by watching high school football in Thomasville, and I know I won’t be the last. The reason is that, as longtime Central commentator Randy Young said, it’s so much more than a game.
“In my eyes, our stadiums here are more than just places where people gather to watch a football game,” Young said assertively. “To me, they truly become the most diverse places of fellowship we have. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, what color your skin might be, what family you come from, which community you come from, or what church you go to. If you show up in your team’s colors on Friday night, you are a welcome member of the congregation, and everyone there in those colors shares in the spirit of their teams. You’re a part of something bigger than you. That’s the very essence of what community is supposed to be, and it all comes together on Friday nights in the fall.”
I’m sure every kid who loves sports has a few different childhood memories that seem to stick out as just a little better than the rest. Here are two of mine:
Every year as a young kid, I would attempt to take a nap after Sunday night church at First Baptist so that I could stay awake through Thomas County Central’s Midnight Madness, the Jackets’ first practice in pads of the new season. Robin Shaver, wife of TCCHS head coach Bill Shaver, would swing by my house and take me out to the fields so that I could get my first football fix of the year.
Another in particular makes me, as a Brookwood kid, especially proud. I remember the Warriors’ 2007 state championship win like it was yesterday due, in large part, to the fact that they made it look so easy.
Windsor Academy came to Thomasville for the title matchup and made a mistake by sending the opening kickoff to Rodger Walker, something opposing teams had been straying away from due to the Warrior speedster’s special teams success earlier in the year. Walker proceeded to set the tone for the rest of the game by taking the kickoff straight up the middle of the field, untouched, for a touchdown. Brookwood won 41-0.
I still don’t think casual observers realize how close the city of Thomasville was to having three state champions that season. Brookwood went undefeated and won the state title, Central finished 13-1 after a 10-7 loss to Ware County in the Georgia Dome, and Thomasville reeled off 10 consecutive wins before dropping a 20-16 heartbreaker to Lovett at home. That will go down as one of the most well-rounded years of football the city has ever had.
As the 2016 winds on, I’m excited to see what game or moment turns into another lifetime memory not only for myself, but also for the young kids around the city who will come to love sports by watching Central, Thomasville, and Brookwood under the Friday night lights.
Shaver has significant talent returning at Central, Grage is looking to restore Thomasville to prominence, and it isn’t hard to see the positive trajectory Brookwood is on in Shane Boggs’ fourth season of his second tenure as coach. Look for Thomasville’s three teams, all of which are trending upwards, to make some noise in 2016.
ITG Web Content
Childhood Memories Of High School Football In Thomasville
By Jacob Dennis
