Bainbridge High School Bearcats head football coach Ed Pilcher talked Monday about how important it is for his team to finish plays.

His comments came Monday as he reflected on their close 21-20 loss to region opponent Hardaway of Columbus last Friday night at Centennial Field.

“Our problems are not from lack of effort,” Pilcher said. “The young men are playing hard.”

“Once, when we had Hardaway backed up third and long on their own 10-yard-line, we let them complete a pass for a first down and get out of trouble. If we had held them, they would have had to punt and we would have had good field position.

Pilcher said there were other times when a dropped pass or a low pass hurt offensive drives.

“It’s not any one or two persons fault. We win as a team and we lose as a team,” he said. “We had our chances to win the game.”

Pilcher said he didn’t think his Bearcats started the Hardaway game with the same defensive intensity as they did against Northside-Warner Robins the week before. He said the team, now 2-3 overall and 0-2 in region play, needed to put the losses behind them and get ready to play Northside-Columbus on Saturday. It’s not too late for the Bearcats to grab a spot in the AAAA playoffs, the veteran head coach said.

Joe Crine can be reached by e-mail at joe.crine@thepostsearchlight.com, or by telephone at (229) 246-2827, Ext. 116.

Yardstick

Bainbridge                              Hardaway

8 First Downs 11

32-120 Rushing Yards 34-150

37 Passing Yards 174

14-4-0 Passes-Att.-Comp.-Int. 23-14-0

46-157 Total Yards-Att. 57-324

2-1 Fumbles-Lost 2-0

5-35 Penalties-Yards 4-25

5-26.8 Punts-Avg. 5-30.2

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Steven Bench 11-59; Aaron Hall 11-34 and 1 touchdowns; Damian Bouie 10-27 and 1 touchdown.

Receiving: Rohan Gaines 3-33; Damian Bouie 1-4.

Kickoff Returns: Quincy Fortson 1-81 and 1 touchdown; Shawn Samuels 1-35.

Punt Returns: Shawn Samuels 1-3.

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