The Bainbridge Middle School eighth grade Bearcats defeated Cairo’s Washington Middle School eighth grade Tigers 30-20 Thursday at Cairo High School’s West Thomas Stadium to win the Southwest Georgia Middle School Football League regular season title.

The Bearcats, who are 6-0, will now host the Tigers, who are 5-1, next Thursday, Oct. 22, in the Southwest Georgia Middle School League eighth grade championship game at 5 p.m. at Centennial Field.

Bearcats eighth grade head coach Heith Maxwell said his team played extremely well on offense and defense.

“We did a good job of blocking and tackling the entire game,” coach Maxwell said. “Now we need to go back to practice and prepare well for the championship game.”

The Bearcats took an early 8-0 lead when quarterback Sam Boutwell ran a yard for a touchdown with 6:35 left in the second quarter to culminate a 11-play, 70-yard drive and running back Reshad Broadnax ran in for the 2-point conversion.

With 5:21 showing on the second quarter clock Broadnax recovered a fumble recovered a fumble and ran 39 yards for a touchdown then threw a 2-point conversion pass to tight end Dylan Olds to put the Bearcats up 16-0.

Jvon Lee put the Bearcats up 22-0 when he ran two yards for a touchdown t o culminate a two-play 71-yard drive. Boutwell tried to run in for the 2-point conversion but was stopped short.

The Tigers cut the lead to 22-6 on a 60-yard touchdown pass from the quarterback to a wide receiver with 2:47 showing on the second quarter clock. The Bearcats defense came up to stop a Tiger running back short as he tried to run in for a 2-point conversion.

The Tigers cut the lead to 22-14 when one of their linebackers returned a fumble 33-yards for a touchdown but their quarterback was stopped short trying to run in for the 2-point conversion.

With 7:40 left in the third quarter, the Tigers scored on a 39-yard touchdown pass to cut the Bearcats advantage to just two at 22-20.

The Bearcats put their final eight points on the scoreboard when Sam Boutwell ran a yard for a touchdown to culminate a 15-play 69-yard drive and Jvon Lee ran in for the 2-point conversion.