CAIRO – The Cairo Syrupmakers began last week with a plan to play Class 1-A Mitchell County in their preseason scrimmage. They exited Friday night having played Class 7-A Camden County and Class 6-A Valdosta in halves of a three-game jamboree in Valdosta.

While mistakes were made, Cairo coach Steven Devoursney was pleased with how his team responded to the last-minute preseason scheduling change.

“I thought we played well,” Devoursney said. “We made a lot of mistakes, a lot of stupid penalties, which is going to happen. That’s why we had a scrimmage. Hopefully, we can get that corrected. I was proud of our kids. They played hard.”

Cairo’s Kevin Speed scored a touchdown to propel the Syrupmakers past Camden County 8-7 in their half of play. After a long layoff in which Camden County and Valdosta played a half, Cairo and Valdosta played a half. The teams’ starters played one quarter, in which the Wildcats won 7-0. The other quarter pitted the team’s junior varsity players. Valdosta won 7-0.

Cairo’s preseason schedule was changed after its initial preseason opponent Mitchell County had to withdraw early in the week amid COVID-19 protocols. While it was an unconventional Friday night, it is one the Syrupmakers should benefit from.

“We knew the competition was going to be good,” Devoursney said. “It was good for us. We got to see a lot of things; two different offenses, two different defenses, two different special teams. All that is good for us.”