For high school football teams in the state of Georgia, Friday night marks the final game of the regular season, for some teams. For others, it's do or die time as play in games take the field, and for others, it's time to win a Region Championship.
Cairo hosts Bainbridge on Friday night for the 1-AAAA crown, with the winner also earning the top seed in the upcoming playoffs. This will be the two team's third meeting this season, including the playoffs, and the Bearcats have won the previous two.
In fact, Bainbridge is undefeated on the year, and head coach Jeff Littleton knows that means the Syrupmakers are hungry for a win over their rival, and the Bearcats will have to play sound, fundamental football to get a win on Friday.
"It's definitely hard to beat a team twice, but what we want to do is focus on ourselves and make sure we're getting better," he said. "We just want to make sure we're getting better and we feel like it we do that then we'll be fine. They have a lot of weapons on offense on both sides of the ball offensively and defensively and they're very physical. They're a physical type team so we're going to have to match that intensity."
Cairo enters the match-up 4-4, but winners of three of their last four games. Head coach Steve DeVoursney is in his first year as head coach of the Makers, and said to be able to prepare for a Region Championship in his first season is a testament to the team's hard work.
He knows the Bearcats are a tough team, and in order to get a win, Cairo will have to limit turnovers.
"They probably have the best defense in the Region, and probably the best offense in the Region," he said. "They're a top five team in the state for a reason. We just have to hopefully take advantage of the breaks they give us, and i they give us an opportunity we have to take advantage of it. The Syrup Maker faithful will be here I'm sure. We won the Region last year and a lot of these kids played on that team, so they want to try and get another one."
The match-up is slated for Friday night at 7:30 at Cairo High School.
