To those who thought the Bearcats’ football season was over after last Friday’s narrow 29-27 loss to Westover, coach Jeff Littleton begs to differ. The most important game has yet to be played.
Bainbridge hosts Thomas County Central (6-3) Friday at Centennial Field for a Region 1-AAAA play-in game. The game is to determine the top four teams in Divisions A and B to send to the state playoffs.
If the Bearcats win, they proceed to the State Class AAAA Playoffs. If they lose, the season ends. The same applies to TCC.
“This is the first round of playoffs, basically,” Littleton said. “This is an exciting time.”
Bainbridge (5-4) fell 20-10 against the Yellow Jackets Sept. 19 in Thomasville. The game saw the Bearcats, led by junior quarterback Elijah Tyler, leading 10-3 at halftime. TCC came back in the second half to score 17 points.
Last Friday against Westover, sophomore Bearcat quarterback Brett McLaughin stepped up under center, a role he has played at different times in the season. He was 7-of-13 passing, throwing for 129 yards and an interception. Littleton said plans were in place to keep McLaughlin at quarterback.
“He’s our starter right now, but both are going to see play,” Littleton said, referring to Tyler taking snaps as well.
Bainbridge’s four losses of the season come from Cairo, TCC, Worth County and Westover. What Littleton has seen over the course of those games and the victories they’ve had leads him to believe the Bearcats deserve a chance to fight for a berth in the state playoffs.
“We deserve to be in contention to play,” he said. “We’re going to do everything we possibly can to get there.”
Last Friday, TCC gave up a 17-7 lead at halftime to Worth County, who charged back in the second half to take the game 23-17 in Sylvester.
“We’re getting closer to playing four quarters of a football game, so I feel like we’re peaking at the right time,” Littleton said. “If we keep getting better in practice this week, we’ll continue peaking and get better as the season.”