It’s just over a month until the Bainbridge Bearcats kick off their season opener against Early County on Aug. 28, and little time is being wasted.

The Bearcats are practicing, lifting, sprinting and scrimmaging throughout this final stretch of summer.

Bainbridge coach Jeff Littleton said practice has been moving farther along than previous seasons. This being Littleton’s third year in the head coach position, he believes the process he has laid out for his players is better cemented, more easily bought into.

“This being the third year of the process, we’re much farther a head than we’ve been in the past,” Littleton said.

Monday morning, the Bearcats returned from a short break to practice. Coaches led position-based practices separately from each other, then finished off the morning with offense versus defense drills and practicing different situations on the field.

Tuesday, Bainbridge hosted a scrimmage practice against Lee County and Wakulla. Teams were able to put their players up against fresh opponents and practice against unfamiliar offenses and defenses. A two-hour break in the middle of the day opened the team up for watching film, eating lunch and recharging for another practice-scrimmage to end the day.

After this week of practice, the Bearcats will go Monday through Friday next week practicing.

“We lift every day, we watch film, we run sprints, we do agilities and then we have a practice,” Littleton said.

Next Saturday, Aug. 1, will be the first practice of full pads. It will take place at Centennial Field and Littleton opened an initiation for the public to come watch, free of charge. The practice will conclude with the introduction of all the players to the crowd.

Last season, the Bearcats went 6-5 under Littleton, culminating the regular season with a 14-9 playin game victory against Thomas County Central. Bainbridge went on to lose 23-17 to West Laurens in the first round of Class AAAA playoffs.