Bainbridge High School Bearcats head football coach Ed Pilcher said he could not be more proud of his team’s performance, following their heartbreaking 17-14 Region 1-AAAAA Friday night overtime road loss to the Thomas County Central High School Yellow Jackets.

“Our kids played their hearts out Friday night,” Pilcher said, following a Monday morning practice session. “There was one penalty late in the game that really cost us. Cameron McDowell had just returned a punt 56 yards for a touchdown with just 10.1 seconds remaining that would have put us ahead 20-14 but it was called back for a penalty.

“The officials called an aggressive blocking penalty. It was 10 or 15 yards behind the play and it was not a clip or any kind of illegal block.”

Pilcher explained that the “agressive blocking” call is a new penalty that was added this year, in hopes of preventing injuries.

“A new rule was put in place this year which allows officials to call a penalty if they feel a block behind a play is overly aggressive and that is what they called,” Pilcher said. “I thought our player made a good aggressive block, but the officials thought it was overly aggressive.”

Pilcher said he thought the call could have conceivably cost the Bearcats a win.

“I have a lot of respect for officials,” he said. “Their job is very difficult and for the most part they do an outstanding job. I just don’t think they should have made that call. If they thought the block was overly aggressive, they could have talked to the player and told him that if it happened again he would be flagged for it.

“It was only the second time in my coaching career that I thought an officials call might have cost my team a victory. Terry Lewis and Damian Bouie both ran the ball well for us Friday night.”

During Friday night’s pregame ceremonies, Pilcher and his 1992 Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets state-championship football team was honored on their 20th anniversary.

“It was good to see all of my 1992 players again,” he said. “I had not seen some of them in a long time.”

 

By the numbers

Bainbridge                            Central  

12                  First Downs         15

44-194             Rushes Yards       50-244

0                  Passing Yards            11

3-0-0                Passes (ACI)         7-4-0

47-194             Total Yards            57-255

3-2                   Fumbles-Lost        3-2

11-95                 Penalties-Yards   5-40

5-46.4               Punts-Avg.            4-35.0

Bainbridge Individual Statistics

 

Rushing: Terry Lewis 17-104 1 TD, Damian Bouie 20-82, Michael Stubbs, 5-19 1 TD, Jamez Harris, 1-5, Preston Norris, 1-(-9).

Passing: Preston Norris 0-2, Damian Bouie, 0-1.

Punt Returns: Cameron McDowell 4-39.