The Bearcats held domination over Centennial Field last Friday in a stellar 29-12 win over the Hardaway Hawks. Now that they have almost secured themselves a spot in the 1AAAAA high school football playoffs, Head Coach Jeff Littleton and the 3-4 Bearcats can focus on pulling off a win in this week’s game against Northside Columbus.

Northside comes to Bainbridge with a 1-6 record, 0-3 for away games.

Littleton believes the Bearcats can win, but maintains his players concentrate and not let this week’s homecoming festivities ruin their focus.

“(Northside) runs some veer offense,” Littleton said. “They even get into the I-formation some, so they’re kind of multiple on offense. They’re pretty much a run first team. They’re under center for the most part. They do have a little pistol formation but they don’t do much out of it. They throw the ball a little bit out of it.”

Hardaway’s quarterback Justin Crawford, listed as a running back on the roster, ran, passed, and handed off the ball. Crawford was a slippery player for the Bainbridge defense, but the line stepped up and was able to make big stops.

Littleton said he expects to see that same kind of performance moving forward with his defense. Northside’s defense is pretty even at front and shouldn’t be anything the Bearcats haven’t seen before.

Two weeks ago against Harris County, Bainbridge lost steam in the second half and lost 31-30. Last week, the team came back from 12-9 at halftime and rallied for a win.

Littleton said coming out and turning on the switch in the second half was mostly mental. The players are talented. Their performance in the second half just comes down to their focus.

“We actually played pretty well in the first half except for the last few minutes. We were up 9-0,” Littleton said.

Littleton is noticing a weekly trend of his players improving. Still, working on fundamentals and making sure they are fresh on the game’s basic motions is his primary goal.