Despite Friday night’s forecast, there wasn’t going to be any raining on Bainbridge’s parade.

The Bearcats (6-5) shut down Jones County’s pass-heavy offense and put up 40 points of their own on the way to a first round win in the state playoffs.

Rain started up heavy toward the beginning of the second quarter and last until halftime. As fans either took cover or weathered the downpour under ponchos and umbrellas, Bainbridge built its lead and gave up the final points of the night on a 31-yard field goal.

The Greyhounds (8-3) struck early on a pass play from half field and took advantage of a muffed snap in the first quarter, giving them a 10-0 lead. Bainbridge looked to be in a daze, and the crowd was quiet.

Then Rashad Broadnax scored from 10-yards out to put Bainbridge on the board. Caleb McDowell followed things up with an 11-yard run to give the Bearcats a 14-10 edge. McDowell was Bainbridge’s scoring leader for the night, rushing for 114 yards on 24 carries and scoring three times.

Just as the rain started, Bainbridge finally began clicking. The defense was getting stops. Bainbridge pulled out some trickery on a reverse run that saw Aaron Spivie dashing 34 yards for the end zone and giving Bainbridge a 21-10 lead.

The Greyhounds turned the ball over five times. Four were interceptions, two of which were picked by Deyon Bouie. Jones County resorted to deep pass plays as the game drew on, but Bainbridge either picked them or broke them up.

The Bearcats defense eliminated their rushing game, holding them to negative-8 yards on 17 carries. Jones County was held to only 153 yards passing.

Quarterback Quayde Hawkins was 10-for-25 for 116 yards. He had a rushing touchdown in the third quarter on a 1-yard sneak that put Bainbridge up 28-13.

One of Bainbridge’s extra points was blocked and another was missed on the last touchdown of the game.

Bainbridge’s next test will be traveling to Jesup to play Wayne County in the second round of the state playoffs. The Yellow Jackets are 11-0 and beat Jonesboro 17-9 to advance to the second round of the state playoffs Friday night. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.