Bainbridge’s bye week consisted of each player getting better than they were the day before.

The Bearcats got their region schedule off to a great start with a second half comeback against Veterans on Oct. 6 and now have a three-game grind ahead of them. Thomas County Central (3-5) comes to Centennial Field in Bainbridge Friday as a team still in the hunt for a region championship despite a 1-1 record.

“They have all their goals in front of them, and they can still can still control their own destiny, just like we can,” Coach Jeff Littleton said.

TCC beat Veterans last week at home, but dropped a 30-28 game the first week of October to Warner Robins (8-0, 2-0 Region 1-AAAAA). Coming away with a win at Bainbridge and improving to 2-1 would put the Yellow Jackets ahead of the Bearcats in the region standings.

Littleton said he is working to keep the team focused to take care of business and stay perfect in the region. Running back Dameon Pierce and defensive end Roman Harrison are still day-to-day after both suffering hamstring injuries against Rickards three weeks ago.

“You just work on getting better than the we were yesterday,” Littleton said. “We just keep our focus on ourselves. We aren’t looking at records or rankings.”

The Yellow Jackets’ veer offense has given fits to many defenses over the years, and Bainbridge will have to stick with their assignments to keep TCC from getting big yards off missed plays.

The three phases of a veer offense—the dive, the keep and the pitch—require the exact focus to defend that Littleton talked about his team having.

“You got to stop the dive first, it all starts with the dive,” Littleton said. “If you don’t stop the dive, it makes it much easier on their offense. You got to take away the dive and then rally to the quarterback on the pitch. It all starts on the defensive line and controlling the line of scrimmage. Do that, and you’ll be one step ahead of the game.”

TCC’s two leading rushers, junior running backs Inmond Hobbs and Dashton Lewis, compliment quarterback Deondre Sullivan on their run-heavy attack. Another quarterback, Dominic Scott, also sees play to bring in a fresh pair of legs for the Yellow Jackets.

On defensive, tackles Martavous McCray and Trey Scruggs know how to stop a run attack well. Linebacker Hadley Jackson is another strong talent that keeps rushers from getting around the perimeter and puts pressure on opposing teams’ quarterbacks.

“They have been playing more consistently and playing better football,” Littleton said. You can’t really look at their record, because they have played a tough schedule. They are a team to contend with.”

Bainbridge kicks off against TCC at 7:30 p.m. at Centennial Field.