AMERICUS —The Americus-Sumter Panthers, who had previously never beaten the Cairo Syrupmakers, handed the defending Region 1-4A champions their first region loss of the season by a score of 31-15 Friday night.

Cairo entered the contest 5-0 in the series against Americus-Sumter.

The Panthers took the opening kickoff and drove the field, missing their extra point but taking a 6-0 lead, a lead they would never relinquish. The Syrupmaker offense was at times their own worst enemy, stopping itself in several crucial moments throughout the game.

Meanwhile, the Panthers continued to execute their plan to near perfection, scoring on a 26-yard pass with 6:30 to play in the first quarter, missing the two point conversion, but taking a 12-0 lead. 

Cairo bounced back with a score on a 20-yard touchdown run by Jamarcus Vicks after Devario Smith intercepted a Panther pass and returned it to the Americus-Sumter 20. Vicks finished the night with 158 yards on 20 carries, but the Syrupmakers never established any rhythm on offense to stay with the Panthers.

Americus-Sumter put the game away with a touchdown with 47 seconds to play in the first half and then scored in the first two minutes of the second half, as the Syrupmakers committed four crucial penalties and a turnover after the kickoff to start the third quarter.

The Panthers scored in the second half on an 8-yard run and a 10-yard run by Kobe Lewis, who finished with 202 yards on 27 carries.

Cairo’s Tahj Vicks added one more score for the Syrupmakers after Scooter Cooper took a flea flicker from Cameron Goosby to the 1-yard line. 

Cairo moves to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the region. Americus-Sumter is now 4-2 and 3-0 in the region.

The Syrupmakers will be off next week, and will travel to play Carver-Columbus on Oct. 13.