CAIRO — The Syrupmakers busted onto the West Thomas Stadium field Friday night through a sign that read, “We’ve got what it takes, but it’s going to take EVERYTHING we’ve got.”

They had what it took. And they gave everything. But North Oconee had just a little more, winning the second-round GHSA AAAA playoff game, 14-7, to move on to the state quarterfinals.

“It was a battle,” Cairo coach Tom Fallaw said. “We didn’t think they were going to come in here and have a lot of big plays. And we didn’t expect to make a lot either, but we had a couple. We missed some big plays out there that we left out there.

“You have to give them credit. They executed on theirs and we missed a couple of ours.”

The Syrupmakers, down by seven, got the ball back with 4:31 left in their season. Slowly, they carried it five yards, then five again, then four. It was too little at a time and too slow for the clock.

With 30 seconds left and the ’Makers slightly into opposing territory after starting at their 15, quarterback Chad Marshall looked for an open receiver. There was none, but instead of throwing it away Marshall scrambled to make something out of nothing. He was tackled at midfield. The clock kept ticking.

He rushed out of bounds on the next play, stopping the time bomb with around 14 seconds left. Then on fourth down, the Titans sacked him to punch their ticket to the quarterfinals for the first time in school history.

“We competed. We made some mistakes and that’s what happens in big games,” Fallaw said. “The team that makes the fewest mistakes wins and they obviously made less than we did tonight.”

North Oconee pulled a trick out on the first play from scrimmage, then let star back Kawon Bryant bully his way through the Syrupmakers for the first score.

The Titans pulled a triple reverse pass from quarterback Tate Adcock to Cole Coker for 32 yards to open the game. Then Bryant, breaking poor Syrupmaker tackling and cutting through large holes his big offensive line created, contributed 45 yards on eight carries. He ran it in for the 1-yard touchdown to make it 7-0.

The score carried into halftime after the Syrupmakers ended their big shot at a tie game. After Malik Taylor blew by the line untouched and sacked Adcock for a 12-yard loss, the Titans punted away on a fourth-and-27 following a delay of game thanks to a boisterous crowd. They pinned Cairo on its 1-yard line, but the Syrupmakers were able to piece together a significant drive that lasted nearly seven minutes and 12 plays.

Jeremiah Hill broke contact at the line and stumbled his way for a 28-yard gain to make it first-and-goal on the 9. But the Titan defense held, and with a third-and-goal on the 12, Chad Marshall hit a wide open man, only he wasn’t in Syrupmaker black. Eric Bell’s interception ended the drive and maintained the Titan lead.

“We had our chances. We just didn’t get it done,” Fallaw said. “You got to give North Oconee all the credit and the better team tonight won. Sometimes that’s what you hope for.”

Bryant rushed for 84 yards on 14 carries in the first, but Hill kept up with him, going 12 for 77.

Hill scored the Syrupmakers only touchdown on the first drive of the second half with a 1-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal. He finished his final game as a Syrupmaker with 117 yards on 19 carries.

The defense held on the next drive, nearly intercepting a third-down pass. But the offense went three-and-out, giving the Titans the ball back for the drive that resulted in the game-winning touchdown.

Bryant ended the 80-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown off the left end of the offensive line.

The Syrupmakers did have one chance to tie it before their final drive, but the deep pass from Marshall to Stacy Masten, who had two steps on his defender, was overthrown by a mere yard. The gave it back with a three-and-out.

Bryant, who amassed nearly 1,500 yards this season, had 166 on 29 carries Friday night as the main ball carrier. Adcock added 81 yards through the air, completing 6-of-10.

“I’m proud of our kids effort,” Fallaw said. “(I’m) pleased with our preparation that our defense had. Our defensive coaches this year did an outstanding job, as well as our offensive coaches. Tonight was a playoff football game. It looked it. It was exciting. Of course, we came out on the short end of the stick.”