Mark Lastinger
CAIRO — Westover turned out to be a difficult dance partner during the Cairo Syrupmakers’ homecoming game Friday night.
The Patriots (3-7, 1-6) stepped on Cairo’s toes a few times before finally succumbing to a 17-7 Region 1-AAA defeat. It was the Patriots’ sixth straight loss.
As has been the case for the duration of the season, the Syrupmakers (7-3, 6-1) alternated between being explosive and implosive. They racked up more than 300 yards of total offense, yet once found themselves facing a third-and-53 in a goal-to-go situation.
Cairo scored on its opening possession, marching 69 yards for a 23-yard field goal by Trevor Moncrief. Brian Walker completed three passes for 47 yards during the 9-play drive.
Quinton Jones recovered a fumble at the Westover 28 later in the first period to hand the Syrupmakers another scoring chance. A series of penalties and sacks, however, pushed them back to their own 47 after a 12-yard reception by Jermyrin Bodiford set Cairo up just six yards from the Patriots’ goal line.
The Syrupmakers were forced to punt after the miscues but strung together a strong series of plays on their next possession. The advanced 75 yards in seven plays, ending with a 23-yard touchdown grab by Bodiford.
The final three plays of the scoring march were all passes, covering a total of 56 yards.
Cairo barely averaged one yard per rush in the first half, but it got its ground game untracked in the third period. Laquinton Williams rambled for 57 yards on one play, the key event of a 7-play 86-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard sneak by Walker.
Williams wound up with 179 yards on 29 carries to lead an attack that amassed 315 total yards. Because of several sacks, the rest of Cairo’s rushes resulted in minus-23 yards.
Only three of Walker’s 13 passes hit the ground. His completions were good for 159 yards.
Westover was limited to just three first downs until the fourth quarter. After a fourth-down stop at its 38, it finally got going and moved 62 yards in nine plays for a touchdown. Kenneth Towns tallied the score on a 22-yard pass from Justin Taylor with 7:35 left.
Jones thwarted the Patriots’ rally by picking off a pass near midfield a couple of minutes later, virtually icing the win for 1-AAA’s second-seeded playoff team.
See Sunday’s Times-Enterprise for more details about Cairo’s first-round playoff opponent.
