The Bainbridge Middle School seventh-grade Bearcats defeated the Thomas County Central Middle School seventh-grade Yellow Jackets 14-12 Wednesday at Centennial Field to remain in the hunt for the Southwest Georgia seventh-grade football championship.

The Yellow Jackets, who downed the Bearcats 8-0 in the season-opener on Sept. 2 in Thomas County, have completed their regular season with a 5-1 record.

The Bearcats, coached by seventh-grade football coordinator David Kirkland and coaches Chip Ariail, Heith Maxwell and Scott Miller, are 4-1 following Wednesday’s victory.

They will conclude their regular season with a Wednesday, Oct. 20, game against the McIntyre Park Middle School seventh-grade Bulldogs at 5 p.m. at Centennial Field.

A Bearcats victory over the Bulldogs will put them and the Yellow Jackets into a playoff game for the Southwest Georgia Middle School championship. The home field for the championship game, the date of which is still to be decided, would be determined by a coin flip.

Elijah Tyler gave the Bearcats an early 6-0 lead over the Yellow Jackets when he caught a pass from quarterback Tyree Crump and ran 60 yards for a touchdown with 7:14 left in he first quarter. Rodney Register ran in for the two-point conversion to make it 8-0.

The Yellow Jackets’ Jeff Smith returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown to cut the Bearcats advantage to 8-6. Smith tried to run in for the two-point conversion, but the Bearcats defense came up to stop him short.

With 6:09 left in the second quarter, the Bearcats Register ran 14 yards for a touchdown to give the Bearcats a 14-6 halftime lead.

He tried to run in for the two-point conversion, but was stopped short.

Bearcats linebacker Elsamar Williams came up with a key interception with just 7.9 seconds left in the first half.

Adrian Brown ran up the middle for nine yards and a touchdown with 3:54 left in the third quarter to cut the Bearcats lead to the final of 14-12.

He tried to run in for the two-point conversion, but was stopped short.