The Bainbridge Middle School eighth-grade Bearcats wrapped up their season with a 28-14 Thursday road victory over the previously unbeaten Thomas County Central Middle School eighth-grade Yellow Jackets.

The Bearcats finish with a 3-3 record, and the Yellow Jackets will advance to the Southwest Georgia Middle eighth-grade championship game against an opponent and at a time and place to be determined.

The Bearcats scored first, going up 8-0 when running back Tramaine McCray ran a yard for a touchdown to culminate a 12-play, 65-yard first-quarter drive, and quarterback Trey Miller ran in for the two-point conversion.

The Yellow Jackets scored on a 30-yard second-quarter run and ran in for the two-point conversion as the team left the field for the halftime break tied 8-8.

The Yellow Jackets returned the second-half kickoff 65 yards for a touchdown to take a 14-8 third-quarter lead. They tried to run in for the two-point conversion, but the Bearcats defense rose up to stop them short.

Isiah Brown ran 20 yards for a third-quarter touchdown to tie the game 14-14. He tried to run in for the two-point conversion but was stopped just short.

Late in the third quarter, the Bearcats defense caused a Yellow Jackets fumble on a hard hit, and linebacker Tony Hurst picked the ball up and ran 50 yards for a touchdown to put the Bearcats ahead 20-14. Miller ran in for the two-point conversion to make it 22-14.

“Our defense played well the entire game,” Bearcats eighth-grade football coordinator Scott Starr said after the game. “They kept us in the game with a chance to pull it out.”

The Bearcats’ final touchdown of the day came on a 20-yard Miller run in the fourth quarter. The conversion attempt was no good.