CAIRO — Six Syrupmakers accrued offensive stats Friday night.

And all six of them are seniors.

Cairo dropped out of the hunt for a state championship with a 14-7 home loss to North Oconee (9-3, 6-1 8-AAAA), marking the final game for 21 Syrupmakers. It includes the six who helped Cairo to 242 total yards last night and, along with lineman Andre Hadley who was playing with a cast, kept the opponents to only two touchdowns.

“You hate to say it some times, they executed a little bit better than us tonight, but nothing’s going to replace these kids pain and their hurt they have right now,” coach Tom Fallaw said after the loss. “We have a lot of good seniors that have played a lot of good games. You can’t replace their hurt and no one wanted to win this game more than them.”

Jeremiah Hill led the charge, pounding for 117 yards on 19 carries and the Syrupmakers lone touchdown. He’s done it all year, keeping on portion of the offense consistent as the passing game went through upheaval when both the first and second-string quarterbacks left with injury.

Marcus Gaines carried it six times for 24 yards and Johntavis Johnson had three for 25.

The passing attack did find its way, which was evident late in Friday night’s game with the Syrupmakers pushing for a touchdown and trying to stop the clock at the same time. Chad Marshall completed all six of his attempts on that drive. He also rushed for 22 yards.

“I don’t know of many teams that can go down to their third quarterback and have a guy like Chad who’s a leader,” Fallaw said in mid-October, after Marshall had a few starts underneath him. “That’s tough to do. Chad’s sat there, he’s waited patiently. He’s really a program kid, he’s been here for four years, never really played. At the beginning of the year, he’s a third string quarterback, and now he’s playing.”

The first two passes were to his favorite target, Stacy Masten, who was one of the quarterbacks ahead of him on the depth chart when the season started. Masten caught four passes for 31 yards. An earlier pass could have been a touchdown, or at least long play to put the Syrupmakers close to the redzone, but the pass was slightly overthrown.

The other four were to William Atkins, who caught three for 20 yards, and Hill, who caught the one for eight.

Also on the receiver chart are Quentarius McNeil-Greene and Quantarius Wimbley, both of whom saw significant time and catches throughout the season.

The crew of offensive stars were also two-way players who made an impact even if they didn’t touch the ball. Hadley led the charge, but Gaines, Hill and Masten were all commonly announced over the loudspeaker for tackles and sacks.

“It showed all year long, the way they practiced, the way they played and the way they started preparing back in January,” Fallaw said. “This program won nine games and a region championship because of our seniors. We can’t thank them enough.”