CAIRO — The postseason is still many weeks away. Yet the Cairo Syrupmakers’ first two games fo the season — including tonight’s matchup — were scheduled with just that in mind.

The Syrupmakers, fresh off a convincing 45-21 win over Thomasville in their opener last week, will host defending Class AAAAA state champ and No 1-ranked Bainbridge at West Thomas Stadium tonight.

“It’s another rivalry game,” Cairo coach Steve Devoursney said. “They’re No.1 in the state and defending state champs. That’s the kind of competition you want to find out where you stand early in the season.”

The Bearcats rolled past Seminole County in their opener last week, 47-7, as Quayde Hawkins threw for 199 yards and two touchdowns. Fellow junior Rashad Broadnax ran for 100 yards and three scores.

“They’re just so athletic. They don’t really have a weak spot,” Devoursney said. “They can run everywhere. They’re physical everywhere.”

One other facet that stands out to the veteran Cairo coach is how much more confident Bainbridge is in what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. The Bearcats lost 38-0 in the middle of the 2018 season to Warner Robins.

They beat the Demons 47-41 in triple overtime to win the state championship, capping a seven-game winning streak. Of those seven wins to end the season, the final four victories came by a touchdown or less.  

“After winning the state championship, they are playing with a lot of confidence,” Devoursney said. “They are a totally different team than from this time last year. You can see they are more confident.”

Devoursney winced at the number of errors his team made last week, even in their winning performance against Thomasville. 

“We made a lot of mistakes last week,” he said, “On offense, defense and special teams, we made a lot of mistakes. We did a lot of things we were not coached to do. Hopefully we won’t make those mistakes again.”

In addition to playing much more efficiently, the crowd and opponent tonight could set the tone for the Syrupmakers, should they make another postseason run.

“We always tell our guys, these two games are getting you ready for the playoffs,” Devoursney said. “It’s that type of atmosphere. That’s why we play these games early. Those games have helped us. You get those big crowds and you’re used to it.” 

Editor Pat Donahue can be reached at (229) 226-2400 ext. 1806.