Twenty-one seniors are returning to start on the Early County Bobcats football team this season, and the Bainbridge Bearcats will have to execute on all fronts to beat them Friday night.

“We are excited to start the regular season against a good Early County football team,” coach Jeff Littleton said. “It’s going to be tough to beat a team with as much experience as they have. We are going to have to make sure we focus on the game plan and execute it on Friday night.”

Early County is a AA school and a non-region game for Bainbridge, but a win could set the tone for the rest of the season and carry momentum into crucial games down the road.

Led by senior quarterback Miles Norman, the Bobcats offense is well-experienced and utilize big weapons like senior running back Gerald Tolbert and senior wide receiver Javian Williams.

According to Littleton, Early County runs a gun formation but utilizes a Wing-T philosophy.

“They run a lot of Wing-T plays from the gun,” Littleton said. “They are throwing the ball a little more this year than they have from the past.”

To stop the Bobcats’ offense, Bainbridge will have to be disciplined. Early County often pulls their lineman in run situations and the Bearcats will need to focus on how they defeat blocks. The battle will be win at the line of scrimmage, Littleton said.

The Early County defense stacks the box and fills the line of scrimmage with players. They blitz often to confuse the quarterback and will try to force Bainbridge to throw the ball often.

“We just have to make sure the offensive line picks up our checks on blitzes and we execute,” Littleton said.

Kick off is Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Centennial Field.