Washington (Cairo) put the Bainbridge eighth grade football team behind early, but the Tigers weren’t able to hold back the Bearcats, who adjusted quickly and won 40-8 at Centennial Field on Thursday.

“I am proud of the defense,” coach Heith Maxwell said. “In the previous two games, Cairo has been running other offenses, but they came out and didn’t run one play that we expected them to run.”

The Tigers ran a wildcat formation, initially confusing the Bainbridge defense and resulting in some big plays from Cairo. Maxwell said his coaches’ adjustments and a focused Bearcat team made it easy to stop the Tigers’ run attack.Cairo put points on the board at the very beginning of the second quarter to make the score 8-0.

The Tigers’ running back rushed around the outside, breaking two tackles on his way to the end zone. One 2-point conversion later and Bainbridge was looking for answers.Bearcat Rashod Broadnax came to the rescue on the next drive, rushing for a total of 46 yards to put Bainbridge on the scoreboard. He broke into the end zone on a three-yard run off tackle, followed by a 2-point conversion from Jvon Lee, and Bainbridge was tied 8-8.

The Bearcats ran the game from then on out.

Half a minute before halftime, Bainbridge scored again when running back Caleb McDowell took a handoff and passed the ball to a wide open Mike Conder in the end zone to make the score 16-8.

“That was play of the game right there,” Maxwell said.

Broadnax scored a second touchdown in the third quarter on a 79-yard run, followed by a 2-point conversion from McDowell. Broadnax scored his third and final touchdown on a 4-yard run with 13 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Bearcats made the score 40-8 when running back Tremaine Smiley ran 15 yards into the end zone. Bainbridge travels to play Marianna next Thursday. Kickoff is 5 p.m