THOMASVILLE, Ga.– The Thomas Night Hawks are looking to build off the momentum from last season and make a mark in a highly competitive SSAC. 

Heading into his fourth season, Head Coach Billy Jeffery and his squad are going into this season with an emphasis on setting the tone. 

"Most of the expectations we have for this group revolve around what we do and how we are going to be successful rather than letting opponents dictate ways of playing," Jeffery said. "We have high standards and expectations for ourselves, and we look forward to competing this year!" 

The Night Hawks return a strong veteran core in Will Nye, Ethan Moore, Jake Wright, Edward Sack, Tyler Lau, Tomas Arriaza Jr. and Daniel Mauldin. The team also bolstered the depth in the roster with transfers such as Delroy Mattis, Freddie Pickford and Joshua Turkstra. 

Thomas will bring in a strong freshman class as well, headlined by twins Angel and Jose Bonilla-Ortiz who rewrote the record books at Bainbridge High School as they are first and second in all-time career goals. With Jose scoring a total of 44 goals last season, which ranked him sixth in the nation and first in the state of Georgia. 

"We have a lot of new players coming into the program who have had experience at all levels in the U.S. and around the world," Jeffery said. "As well as freshman guys who will be good contributors throughout our program. I expect our returners to increase their performances from last year and work with the new guys to compete at a level we know we can get to." 

Last season, the Night Hawks were extremely competitive in their games against ranked opponents, with their best result coming in a draw against No.1 Dalton State on the road. 

This year, the schedule begins with an early test on the road at Keiser. Then in September, Thomas will face their toughest stretch of the season, facing XULA, William Carey, Life, Dalton, Mobile, Faulkner, and UT Southern. 

Later they will face Georgia Gwinnett College before rounding out the season against Brewton-Parker, Point and Andrew College. 

"Each game we play is important and matters towards something significant," Jeffery said. But we can't look too far ahead and get complacent or predicting a result that hasn't happened. We have 2 preseason games that allow us to play players, try different formations, and see what we like and what we need to do to be better, so very much looking forward to those challenges." 

Jeffery did express excitement towards and emphasized the importance of their first game. 

"Overall, we are looking forward to the first regular season against Keiser as it will be the first towards our record and we are looking forward to competing against them in their home environment," Jeffery said. "Always a big test for us against them being an old conference opponent with many battles over the years! It's a big test to start the season and we are looking forward to each and every game this season!" 

The Night Hawks were selected to finish eighth in the SSAC and will begin their season on August 22nd against Keiser.