Gobble gobble! Now that the Thanksgiving turkey is devoured, we hit the road for probably the furthest we’ve ever gone to cover a local team. Rabun County goes all the way down (325 miles and over 5 hours) to Thomasville in a game that really should be the state title game. This is #1 versus #2, and is a rematch of the 2019 Quarterfinal game, also at Thomasville.

THOMASVILLE

This team has all the hype surrounding them. The Bulldogs are 11-1 on the season, and won the region title out of Region 1-AA. Thomasville is ranked #2 in the state behind only Rabun County, and its offense averages north of 30 per game. The defense allows around 14 per contest, so the balance is very good for this team. So far this postseason, the Bulldogs have a 42-7 win over Washington County and a 42-16 win over Heard County to reach this point.

RABUN COUNTY

Rabun County continues its drive in the playoffs after a beatdown of the state’s top defense (5 points per game) in Jeff Davis. It was a 56-7 win for the Cats, who had only 3 penalties in the game and played the cleanest, most dominant game probably in their history. Gunner Stockton once again had a field day, slinging the ball for over 440 yards and Jaden Gibson had 237 yards receiving. The defense thwarted the run game, and didn’t allow anything in the air of note. In fact, the 7-yard TD pass in the closing seconds against the second string was all Jeff Davis could muster. It was all 7 passing yards in the game for them, and the run game came up with just over 100. The way Rabun is playing…no one can compete with this.

BY THE NUMBERS (2021)

THOMASVILLE

• 11-1 (5-0; Region 1-AA Champions)
• Region Standings: 1st
• 30.83 OFFENSE AVG
• 14.25 DEFENSE AVG
• #2 State Ranking

RABUN COUNTY

• 11-1 (3-0; Region 8-AA Champions)
• Region Standings: 1st
• 50.67 OFFENSE AVG
• 12.33 DEFENSE AVG
• #1 State Ranking

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

Be looking for highlights post-game late tonight as well as a story recapping the Quarterfinals. Highlights are shared on Channel 5 (Fox) on the 11 PM “High 5 Sports” show throughout the regular season. You can also follow us on Twitter (@BlitzSportsGa) for live score updates (5G pending).

DO WE BRING LUCK?

We’ve seen Rabun County in action 54 times over the years, and the Cats have gone 43-11 in those games.

DETAILS OF THE MATCHUP

TIME: 8 PM Kickoff
PLACE: Thomasville HS / Thomasville, GA / Veterans Memorial Stadium
LAST MEETING: 2019 Quarterfinals: #6 Thomasville 38, #2 Rabun County 24
ALL-TIME RECORD: Thomasville 1, Rabun County 0
RECORDS: #1 Rabun County Wildcats (11-1; 3-0 in 8-AA); Thomasville Bulldogs (11-1; 5-0 in 1-AA)
HEAD COACHES: Jaybo Shaw (35-4; 3 Seasons) vs Zach Grage (56-28; 7 Seasons)

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

This scene has played out once before, and just a couple of years ago. In 2019, the Wildcats traveled in the Quarterfinals to Thomasville, and went in ranked #2 while the Bulldogs were ranked #6. The teams battled it out, and Thomasville won 38-24.

TEAM LEADERS (2021)

RABUN COUNTY

PASSING
Gunner Stockton (3,974 yds, 53 TD, 1 INT, 74% completion)

RUSHING
Gunner Stockton (844 yds, 14 TD, 7.2 YPC)
Lang Windham (764 yds, 13 TD, 9.8 YPC)
Nic Baloga (172 yds, 1 TD, 5.2 YPC)

RECEIVING
Jaden Gibson (1,816 yds, 18 TD, 80 rec)
Ethan Clarke (635 yds, 8 TD, 38 rec)
Lang Windham (594 yds, 8 TD, 39 rec)
Baxley O’Brien (592 yds, 13 TD, 41 rec)
Tate Ramey (219 yds, 3 TD, 19 rec)
Cory Keller (175 yds, 2 TD, 6 rec)
Turner Grimmett (12 yds, 1 TD, 1 rec)

DEFENSIVE LEADERS
Will Turpin (96 TKL, 20 TFL, 6 Sacks, 1 INT, 2 FR, 1 FF)
Cory Keller (96 TKL, 6 TFL, 1 FR)
Knox McKinney (79 TKL, 15.5 TFL, 4 Sacks, 1 FR, 1 FF)
Turner Grimmett (77 TKL, 4 TFL, 1 Sack, 1 INT)
Cesar Cruz (73 TKL, 7.5 TFL, 6 Sacks, 4 FR)
Chris Thompson (73 TKL, 13 TFL, 7 Sacks)
Hogan Woodard (64 TKL, 5 TFL, 1 Sack)
Bryson Addis (57 TKL, 5 TFL, 1 Sack, 2 FF)
Hunter Moore (54 TKL, 5.5 TFL, 2 INT, 2 FR, 1 FF, 1 BLK)
Willie Goodwyn (36 TKL, 5 INT)
Jarrett Giles (41 TKL, 3 TFL, 3 INT)

THOMASVILLE

PASSING
Shannen White (1,343 yds, 15 TD, 5 INT, 57% completion)

RUSHING
Malik Harper (1,048 yds, 17 TD, 6.1 YPC)
Ricky Fulton (707 yds, 5 TD, 5.1 YPC)
Shannen White (297 yds, 5 TD, 4.6 YPC)
Joseph Williams (104 yds, 0 TD, 11.6 YPC)

RECEIVING
Joseph Williams (450 yds, 5 TD, 15 rec)
Jay Cody (236 yds, 3 TD, 16 rec)
Cole Shaw (207 yds, 2 TD, 10 rec)
Demorrio Thurman (178 yds, 2 TD, 20 rec)
Malik Harper (81 yds, 0 TD, 10 rec)

DEFENSIVE LEADERS
Ty Anderson (123 TKL, 15 TFL, 11 Sacks, 1 FF)
Evan Wynn (83 TKL, 3 TFL, 3 INT)
Tyrundai Hayes (62 TKL, 16 TFL, 4 Sacks, 4 FF)
Marquis Alexander (58 TKL, 21 TFL, 8 Sacks, 1 FF)
Joseph Williams (56 TKL, 7 TFL, 2 INT)
Kamarius Bradshaw (56 TKL, 7 TFL, 4 Sacks)
Jimmy Bowdry (52 TKL, 3 TFL, 5 INT, 2 FF)