Bainbridge High School Head Football Coach Ed Pilcher was pleased with the Bearcats’ 35-14 Region 1AAAA victory over the Northside High School Patriots Saturday afternoon in Columbus, Ga.

Despite some players being sick, the defense limited any scoring by Northside. However, he said he believed all his players still needed to focus on playing hard throughout the entire game.

“Our defense played better Saturday,” Pilcher said Monday morning. “In the first half, we played better for a quarter and a half and were ahead 28-0, but then we had a little let down and Northside scored right before halftime to cut our lead to 28-7.”

Pilcher said he liked his team’s balanced offensive attack, as the Bearcats were able to make long pass receptions and produce a consistent rushing attack.

Running back Aaron Hall had touchdown runs of 35 yards in the first quarter and 17 yards in the second quarter and Steven Bench had a one yard touchdown run in the first quarter and a 46-yard touchdown pass to Rohan Gaines in the second quarter.

The Bearcats had 269 yards rushing and 97 yards passing.

Despite a dominant offense, Northside kept the game fairly close until the very end.

“In the third quarter, we let Northside score on a long run and cut our lead to 28-14 before we were able to put the game away with a late fourth quarter touchdown run by Aaron Hall,” Pilcher said.

Yardstick

Bainbridge High                         Northside Columbus

18 First Downs 8

49-269 Rushes Yards 35-144

97 Passing Yards 27

9-3-0 Passes-Att.-Comp.-Int. 9-3-1

58-366 Total Yards-Att. 44-171

4-2 Fumbles-Lost 3-1

4-45 Penalties-Yards 2-20

2-37.5 Punts-Avg. 6-41.2

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Steven Bench 18-104 and 1 touchdown; Aaron Hall 15-102 and 3 touchdowns; Damian Bouie 11-47; Preston Norris 2-7; Michael Stubbs 2-6; Terry Lewis, 1-3.

Passing: Steven Bench 3-9 for 97 yards and 1 touchdown,

Receiving: Devonta Johnson 2-51; Rohan Gaines 1-46 and 1 touchdown.

Punt Returns: Shawn Samuels 3-67.