Quayde Hawkins threw two touchdown passes and the Bainbridge defense smothered Crisp County on its final drive of the game to lift the Bearcats to a 14-9 win Friday night in Cordele.

Bainbridge is now 5-0 on the season and extends its win streak to 13 games, not having lost since October 2018.

Despite a quick offensive start and a touchdown on the fifth play from scrimmage, the Bearcats didn’t find the end zone again until the third quarter. Both scores relied on Hawkins’s arm as he found Deyon Bouie on a 72-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and connected with Braxton Johnson for a 15-yard pass in the third. Both PATs were chipped in by Garrett Sigman.

Hawkins was 14-of-29 passing for 172 yards and he also rushed for 18 yards.

Bainbridge’s ground game was led by Rashad Broadnax, who had 18 carries for 85 yards.

Crisp County (3-3) missed three field goals in the first half, one from 43-yards, another from 44-yards and the third from 45-yards, turning the ball over on downs each time for the Bearcats who were able to eat up large portions of the clock on ensuing drives.

The Cougars found a spark with around 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter on a 26-yard field goal from Crisp County kicker Connor Richmond. Bainbridge wasn’t able to get out of their own territory on the next drive and punted the ball back to the Cougars at half field. Crisp County quickly score on a pass play, lifting them to a 5-point deficit at 14-9 with around 5 minutes left in the game.

Crisp County elected to go with a 2-point conversion to put the Cougars within a field goal of tying, but it failed.

“We bent and bent on defense and didn’t give up a big play until the fourth quarter,” said coach Jeff Littleton. “We blew a coverage, and it got them back rolling in the game. We did a good job lining up to the 2-point and forced them to throw the ball.”

Bainbridge’s next drive took about 3 minutes off the clock, but the Bearcats had to punt, giving Crisp County the ball on the Cougars’ own 44-yard line. A sack from Simpson Bowles and a strip sack and fumble recovery by Tahari Tate a few plays later sealed the game for Bainbridge.

“The defensive staff did a good job putting on pressure there at the end,” said Littleton. “The players did a great job getting moved around and set up.”

Bainbridge hits the road again next Friday for a non-region game against Tift County. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.