7th grade wins, eyes championship

Published 2:39 pm Friday, October 22, 2010

BAINBRIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL seventh grade Bearcats running back Elijah Tyler runs for yardage against the McIntyre Park Middle School seventh grade Bulldogs. |Brennan Leathers

The Bainbridge High School seventh grade Bearcats finished their regular season on a high note Wednesday, defeating Thomasville’s McIntyre Park Middle School Bulldogs 42-6 at home.

With the win, the 7th grade Bearcats improved their record to 5-1. They will travel to Thomas County for a Southwest Georgia Middle School League championship game against the Thomas County Central Middle School seventh grade Yellow Jackets. The game will take place next Wednesday, Oct. 27, at 5 p.m. at Central’s Jackets’ Nest Stadium.

The Yellow Jackets, who are also 5-1, won a coin flip to determine the home field advantage.

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In their two regular season games, the Yellow Jackets beat the Bearcats 8-0 in Thomas County, while the Bearcats downed the Yellow Jackets 14-12 in Bainbridge.

On Wednesday against McIntyre Park, the Bearcats went ahead 8-0 with 2:44 left in the first quarter when quarterback Tyree Crump ran two yards for a touchdown and Curtis Keaton ran in for the two-point conversion.

The ‘Cats increased their advantage to 16-0 when Elijah Tyler ran 70 yards for a touchdown and Rodney Register ran in for the two-point conversion with 6:14 left in the second quarter.

Trey Stubbs ran five yards for a touchdown to put the Bearcats out front 20-0 as the second quarter clock wound down to 2:23. A two-point conversion by Stubbs increased the lead to 24-0.

The Bulldogs cut it to 24-6 on a 70-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 2:58 left in the third quarter. The Bearcats’ defense stopped the two-point conversion try.

On the ensuing kickoff, Stubbs broke loose for a 60-yard touchdown run to put the Bearcats out front 28-6.

Rodney Register ran 56 yards for a touchdown and Elijah Tyler ran in for the two-point conversion to put the Bearcats up 36 with 2:09 left in the third quarter.

The Bearcats’ final touchdown came on a 13-yard run by Lorenzo Mitchell with 4:00 left in the game. The two-point conversion try was no good.

Seventh grade football coordinator David Kirkland, who coaches the Bearcats with Chip Ariail, Heith Maxwell and Scott Miller, said he couldn’t be prouder of his teams performance.

“Our first team played really well in the first half and our second team played really well in the second half,” Kirkland said.