Thomson football team starts new season with clean slate
THOMSON, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Coming off their first state title in 20 years, the defending class 2A State Champion Thomson Bulldogs are hard at work preparing for the new season.
“You’re the target now, everyone wants to beat you, because you’re the defending state champs, and every time you get on the field everybody wants a piece of you,” said Head Coach Michael Youngblood.
Anthony Jeffery, running back, said: “Yeah, we did it, but that’s last year. This is a whole different year. That means we’ve got to go out here and put in a whole different type of energy. A whole different type of work ethic.”
Finding that hunger, that motivation and that drive after winning it all is easier said than done. That mentality is something Youngblood has established with this year’s team since day one.
“You make it to the mountain top, but do you want to stay there? That’s the first question that I asked our kids when we came back, do you want to do this again? Because if you don’t let me know so I’ll know how to coach you,” said Youngblood.
Jayden Thomas, lineman, said: “We’ve got to be killers. We’ve got to do everything right; we’ve got to do it once. Everybody’s coming for us. Everybody wants to say we beat the state champs from last year.”
Going on a long playoff run is a valuable experience for all of the returning players, especially those who are stepping into bigger roles this year like star running back Jontavis Curry moving on to the college ranks.
“People were like man, there isn’t no championship coming back to the ‘T’, but last year, with God allowing us to do what we did, it showed that it can be done. I feel like it set the standard for this year,” said Jeffery.
Youngblood said: “We’ve got some guys that are going to have to step up and replace some of those seniors that we had missing, and we have a good nucleus of kids that know how to get it done and know what to do. So, we’re relying on their leadership to push us forward.”
Thomas said: “We are here. We are not slouches. We really out working, all my brothers and everything.”
The Bulldogs will start their state championship defense on the road against Burke County, the only team that found a way to beat the Bulldogs last season.
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