Bearcats face talented Cairo team in early rivalry game

Published 2:30 pm Tuesday, August 27, 2019

It’s all about the details this week.

Bainbridge coach Jeff Littleton is honing in on how much focus his players have and how intent they are to take care of the little things ahead of Friday’s game against Cairo (1-0).

He expects nothing less for any game, but it’s especially true for a rivalry game.

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“Sometimes that’s kind of lost,” said Littleton. “We made that a concern to our kids yesterday when we talked about it. You know they’re going to play hard on Friday night. We want to make sure we focus during the week and get ourselves better and focused—pay attention to detail in practice.”

Syrupmaker quarterback Robert Peters combined for 282 yards last Friday against Thomasville. He rushed for 126 yards and two touchdowns and threw for another 156 yards and two touchdowns. It’s all part of Cairo’s triple option offense, where explosive plays from both the run and passing games were the nail in the coffin for the Bulldogs.

“Defensively, it is assignment football,” said Littleton. “We have to make sure we have 11 gold hats to the football.”

Like any triple option offense, Cairo’s nucleus of play will be centered around the dive, the keep and the pitch. What makes it even more potent is Peters can chuck the ball to a number of different receivers. Pulling the safeties in to stop the ground-and-pound run game opens up the backfield for players to catch a pass and take it in for a score.

“They had many explosive plays,” said Littleton. “They do a good job of what they do.”

On defense, Cairo is determined to stop its opponents’ run games and force them to throw it. For Bainbridge, that might not be such a bad thing. Last Friday against Seminole County, quarterback Quayde Hawkins threw for 199 yards and two touchdowns. Five different receivers got into the mix. Running the ball isn’t a problem, either. Tailback Rashad Broadnax racked up three touchdowns, rushing for 100 yards on 10 carries.

None of that is guaranteed this week, though, which is why Littleton is going back to the details.

“Take care of the little things, and hopefully that will take care of the scoreboard Friday night,” said Littleton.

The annual Syrup Sop pep rally will be Thursday, Aug. 29, at 5:30 p.m. at Willis Park in Downtown Bainbridge.

The game kicks off Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Cairo High School.