CAIRO — For its first round playoff opponent, Cairo will face a foe that’s familiar to both its football team and its head coach.

The Syrupmakers will host Spalding at West Thomas Stadium tonight, looking to advance to the second round for the second year in a row.

Last week against Columbus, Cairo extended its winning streak to four games with a 45-7 blowout. A balanced rushing attack led by Matthew Peters, Quay Edwards and Jamarcus Vicks led the offense. On defense, two interception returns sealed the Blue Devils’ fate.

Spalding and Cairo have only met one other time, in the first round of the playoffs back in 2015. The Syrupmakers lost that meeting 27-10, coming at the tail end of head coach Steve DeVoursney’s first year as Cairo’s head coach. However, this time, both teams look to be more evenly matched.

“They were having the best year they’ve ever had with that coach and we were probably having the worst year we’d had in a long time in Cairo,” DeVoursney said. “We’re both young teams. They lost a lot of seniors last year, we lost a lot of seniors last year. We’re very similar this year as far as teams go.”

Spalding, which is located in Griffin, is a crosstown rival to Griffin High School, whose program DeVoursney led from 2001-2013. 

The Jaguars have a few players that the Syrupmakers will have to look out for, most notably Zion Puckett, who has been heavily recruited.

“They’ve got the best player in their region, a receiver and free safety,” DeVoursney said. “He’s a junior that’s been offered by everybody. He’s their kick return guy — very special back there.”

Spalding also has a good running back and a good lineman that can play both ways. It’ll be a test for a Cairo team that has hit its stride as the year has gone on.

“We’ve got a young team,” DeVoursney said. “We’re trying to survive this year. Luckily it turned out to be a good year.

“The guys are feeling pretty good about themselves. They’ve won four in a row, they had that big comeback win. They’re feeling pretty confident, and hopefully we can keep playing well.”