CAIRO — The Cairo High School Syrupmakers football season came to an end on Saturday afternoon in Cairo as the Syrupmakers met the Tigers of Troupe County for a first round playoff match up that would go down to the wire.

This was a fairly even match up, which was evident to start as both teams forced a three and out. Cairo had showed promise in the passing game, however, while Troupe showed potential in their running attack.

The Tigers found the end zone first on a long drive that saw the them convert two third downs and go for it on fourth and two to get the first down. Troupe scored on a QB keeper, a play that they went to often. Cairo then decided to be aggressive and go for it on fourth down in the red zone, but came up short as quarterback Juderek Gee-simmons overthrew his receiver in the red zone.

Troupe County’s Noah Dixon made himself known in the game as he caught a bomb and outran a pair of Cairo defenders for the touchdown. The Tigers would take the 14-0 lead into halftime.

However, the Syrupmakers came out of halftime fired up. The defense forced a three and out. The offense then took the field and struggled at first, leading to a fourth down situation. The gutsy Syrupmakers went for it and converted on a big run by KJ Spence. Gee-simmons then connected with Spence for a 35 yard touchdown to cut the lead to seven.

Cairo continued to threaten as they had another opportunity for a big passing touchdown, but the Troupe secondary batted it down. Cairo threatened again in the red zone, but the Tigers stood strong and Cairo had to settle for a field goal to make it 14-10.

The Syrupmakers had a very difficult time throwing the ball and finding the end zone. Gee-Simmons ended the game with just 79 passing yards and, in the fourth quarter, tried for the end zone again, but was intercepted.

The Tigers converted on a big first down and, after a 50 yard run by Dixon, the game was all but over. Troupe County assumed the victory formation and ended the game.

Cairo did have a surprisingly good season under second year head coach David Coleman. The team welcomed in a new quarterback in Gee-simmons, who seemed to fit in nicely after he got his legs under him.

Cairo finished the season a solid 8-3, with their only regular season losses coming by way of Thomas County Central and Bainbridge. They took second in the region with a 4-1 record and had standout performances against teams like Salem, Shaw, and Hardaway. Though their season did come to an end earlier than they would have liked, the future of Syrupmaker football looks bright.