Underdog Bulldogs Ready for Round Two

As the day breaks on Thanksgiving Day, many people will be sleeping in, or up to cook the day’s meal, or sneak a few hours in the woods hunting. But in Trion, Georgia, a small mill town located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of northwest Georgia, the Bulldogs in blue will be knocking the frost off the frozen tundra and hitting the practice field with visions of playoff football fast in their heads. Thankful for many things, as underdogs this week in the Class A football playoffs second round, the Bulldogs are definitely thankful for one more chance to keep their state championship dreams alive. And the only thing standing between them and that goal, are the Indians of  Irwin County.

Head Coach, Justin Brown felt his Dogs were unfocused on Tuesday so he tightened the leash on Wednesday and felt like his team made a big step forward. Scheduling a 9 am practice on Thanksgiving Day let his team and the community know that he is taking this game very seriously. Brown says, “Irwin is a very good football team. They have size, speed, and they are well coached.  We are familiar with them, as they are us.  We split playoff wins with them in 2012 and 2013.  We have a lot of respect for them and their program.  It should be a 4 quarter battle.”

Keeping the practice routine of the week flowing is a key part of his plan as Brown feels his Dogs are looking “…very sharp with our schemes, personnel groupings, and much more focused all around.” For local Bulldog fans, the Trion team will be enjoying a breakfast hosted by the 50-yard Club and senior parents on Friday morning and departing from the stadium at 9 am. Many locals will be on hand to see the Bulldogs off.

While media experts have the Bulldogs as this week’s underdogs, Brown has been here before and remarked that last week the team responded extremely well. ” Last week was a huge win for our team and our seniors.  Anytime you can go on the road, especially that far away, and play as well as we did, it’s great to see our team do something like that.  It was a great execution of a game plan.  I was so proud of my boys and my coaches.  They made their town, community, and school very proud.”

Last week Trion gave Turner County more than a run for their money, they gave them a run for their pride.