The Bainbridge Middle School seventh-grade Bearcats are champions of the Southwest Georgia Middle School Seventh Grade Football League.

They won the title Wednesday, when they completed a perfect 6-0 season with a 22-6 victory over the second-place Thomas County Middle School seventh-grade Yellow Jackets at Centennial Field.

Bearcats quarterback Malique Pate gave the Bearcats an early 6-0 lead, when he ran an option around the left side for 15 yards and a touchdown, with 2:38 left in the first quarter.

Running back Dameon Pierce tried to run in for the two-point conversion and was stopped just short.

Pierce ran off the right side for 10 yards and a touchdown with 2:38 left in the second quarter, and Pate ran right for the two-point conversion to increase the Bearcats’ advantage to 14-0.

TCMS running back Xavier Bryant cut the lead to 14-6 at halftime, when he ran 10 yards for a touchdown with 16 seconds left in the second quarter.
The Bearcats’ defense came up to stop the Yellow Jackets’ two-point conversion attempt.

The Bearcats final touchdown came on a 29-yard run by Pierce, with 43 seconds remaining in the game. Pate ran in for the two-point conversion.
After the game Bearcats’ seventh-grade coach Heith Maxwell and fellow coaches Chip Ariail and Rickey McCullough told the players how proud they were of them.

“You gave us great effort today and you have given us great effort all season,” Maxwell said. “That is why you are champions.”