The LaGrange Grangers’ plans will include turkey and football next week.

LaGrange, thanks in part to three safeties, throttled Thomson 34-7 Saturday night at Callaway Stadium to advance to the third round of the Class AAA state playoffs.

LaGrange (10-2) will visit Dunwoody (12-0) on Friday, with the winner earning an invitation to the state semifinals.

The Grangers are in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2005 when they lost in the semifinals to Peach County.

“This feels great,” senior linebacker Qua Huzzie said. “It’s back like normal Granger football. This is our tradition.”

Tolbert threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Matt Pauley in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring, while Ocie Salter and Xavier Heard had scoring runs of 21 yards and 2 yards, respectively.

LaGrange's other touchdown came on a 50-yard punt return by Darren Hairston that capped the first-half scoring.

The most memorable thing from Saturday’s game was the three safeties.

The first one came midway through the first quarter when a Thomson player was tackled in the end zone.

The second safety came when Huzzie blocked a punt that was recovered by Thomson in the end zone.

The third safety came in the fourth quarter when a snap sailed over the punter’s head and out of the end zone.

LaGrange head coach Steve Pardue said at a school with 100 years worth of football tradition, it’s tough to achieve a first in something, but the Grangers managed that Saturday.

“You don’t get too many firsts, but we’ve never played Thomson, and we’re the first team to beat Thomson,” Pardue said. “And now we’re the first team to get three safeties in a game.”

Those six points were nearly enough to win the game, but Thomson managed a touchdown and an extra point with five seconds left to avoid a shutout.

Thomson’s run-first offense, which put up huge numbers against Jackson last week, was overmatched Saturday night.

The Bulldogs didn’t have a sustained drive against LaGrange's starting defense, and they had less than 60 yards of offense in the first half in falling behind 18-0.

Even a seemingly bad break for the defense had a positive ending.

With starting linebacker Demetri Merritt out because of a suspension, sophomore Devon Smith stepped in and had a whale of a game.

“That’s the kind of defensive effort we've got to have if we want to continue to play,” Pardue said.

Huzzie, the Grangers’ leading tackler, was seemingly in on just about every play the defense made.

Huzzie’s impact wasn't limited to defense, either.

He had a 24-yard reception on the Grangers' first drive, and in addition to his blocked punt, he downed a Joseph Mansour punt at the 2-yard line.

“He’s really stepped up, and that’s what you expect out of your guys,” Pardue said.

Huzzie said it was a team effort on the defensive side of the ball.

“Everybody got to the ball and did their responsibilities,” Huzzie said.

It was the defense that put the Grangers on the board first.

Two plays after a Tolbert pass was picked off at the 4-yard line, a Thomson player was tackled in the end zone, and LaGrange led 2-0.

The lead grew by seven points in the second quarter, with the Grangers putting together a 79-yard touchdown drive that was highlighted by a 41-yard run by Tolbert, and a 33-yard catch by David Earl.

Heard capped the drive with a 2-yard scoring run, and Mansour made the first of his four extra points with 10:11 left in the half.

The Bulldogs' next possession went nowhere, and Huzzie charged through the line and got a hand on the punt.

Although the Grangers couldn't recover it in the end zone, they got two more points, and Thomson had to kick the ball away.

That turned out to be really bad news for the Bulldogs.

Hairston took the free kick and returned it for a touchdown, giving him his third return for a score this season.

His other two return touchdowns came on kickoffs.

“They’ve got me back there on kickoff returns for a reason,” Hairston said. “I knew I could do it.”

With the kick, the Grangers were ahead 18-0.

Despite the Grangers' healthy halftime lead, they didn't have much success on the ground, with leading rusher Salter managing less than 10 yards.

With the big lead and the defense playing lights out, Pardue wanted to establish the running game in the second half, and it was the ground game that produced the next touchdown.

On a third-and-25 play, Salter ripped off a 54-yard run to the Thomson 21. Salter got the ball again on the next play, and he beat the Thomson defense for the 21-yard score.

The Grangers capped their scoring in the fourth quarter.

After the third safety, LaGrange took over at the Thomson 35-yard line.

On the sixth play of the drive, Tolbert found a wide-open Pauley for the touchdown with 6:22 remaining.

Pauley also had a 10-yard run on the short drive.

Thomson's lone touchdown, which came after a LaGrange fumble with less than a minute remaining, came when backup quarterback Phillip Anderson scored on a 1-yard run with five seconds left.

“I hate it we didn’t get that shutout, but our first-team defense shut them out,” Pardue said. “That’s good enough for me.”

Next up for LaGrange is a Dunwoody team that beat North Hall 18-13 to continue its unbeaten season.

“It’s a really good season right now, and we’re just trying to make it better,” Pardue said.