CAIRO — The Cairo Syrupmakers finally have momentum heading into their final two Region 1-AAAA games of the regular season.

A team that has dealt with quarantines and canceled games from COVID-19 has won two straight following a 25-13 victory last Friday night over rival Thomas County Central. Just being able to practice consistently has allowed the Syrupmakers to improve and be a region threat this year.

“I feel like we’re practicing really good and getting better,” said Cairo coach Steve Devoursney. “Our kids are buying in. When you’ve got a young football team or an inexperienced football team, it’s hard to be very competitive when you miss a summer of workouts and everything else. The good thing is, hopefully, we’re getting strong at the right time.”

Cairo has played only six games due to multiple cancellations. The Syrupmakers had almost a month off between their games against Thomasville on Sept. 18 and Bainbridge on Oct. 16. The team that returned only two offensive and four defensive starters from last year, started 0-4.

“I think the big thing is, the teams that had quarterbacks coming back, they had the biggest advantage early just because they’ve done the 7-on-7s; they’ve done everything before, whereas somebody that has a brand new quarterback, they didn’t get to do anything this year to try to make themselves better,” Devoursney said.

Cairo’s win over Central has the Syrupmakers eyeing a home playoff game. A win over Westover in the season finale would clinch the region’s No. 2 seed and a home playoff game in the first round of the playoffs on Nov. 27. Cairo has a hosted a playoff game every season since 2004. 

“It comes down to where we’ve got to win the last game, basically, just trying to keep that streak alive,” Devoursney said. “I think that’s big for our seniors and our community and our coaches and everybody else. We’re trying to do everything we can to keep that (streak alive), even in a crazy year like this.”