BAINBRIDGE – After a slow start to the season, Bainbridge-Guilford righted the ship, and is optimistic for next year.
After dropping their first four games, the Bobcats closed with three wins over the final five, and defeated Oxford for the seventh straight time on Friday, 41-20.
Senior quarterback Cole Webb, one of just a handful of seniors on the B-G roster, threw three touchdown passes. Fellow senior Mike Carlin scored three times to also punctuate a dynamic final-third of the season.
“We just kept getting better and better week in and week out,” said B-G eighth-year head coach, Tim Mattingly. “We played two really good games these last two weeks, and we played Walton tough the week before that. You could really see us getting better throughout the season.”
The Bobcats drove for scores on their first three positions to open a 20-0 lead early in the second quarter. Dylan Moffitt and Pedro Aparicio had early success running the ball, and Webb hit Carlin on a 16-yard TD pass for the opening score.
Lucas Butcher, another B-G senior, intercepted an Oxford pass on the Blackhawks’ second possession, and returned it 38 yards to the on fourth down, and two of those were on fourth-and-longs.
“They would stop us, stop us, stop us, and then we would break something big or complete a long pass,” Mattingly said. “I thought, overall, Cole Webb had one of his best games. He threw it right on the money.”
Webb went 6-for-7 for 110 yards, his best completion percentage as a varsity player.
His TD pass to Butcher on the first play of the second quarter was a work of art. On fourth-and-11, Webb dropped back and faded the ball to the right corner of the endzone. Butcher outjumped two Oxford defensive backs for the score.
Oxford answered with its first points of the game marching 65 yards on six plays. Nik Hansen scored on a 23-yard run, one of two TD jaunts by Hansen. Hansen finished with 109 yards on 20 carries to lead all rushers.
Late in the first half, B-G capitalized on an Oxford turnover of downs when a run out of a fake punt was stuffed. Webb made a pinpoint throw to Carlin on a fourth-and-10 to the Oxford nine, and Carlin scored from three yards out to open a 27-6 halftime lead.
The Bobcats extended their lead on the opening drive of the second half. Again, it was a big fourth-down pass that completed the drive. This time, Webb found a wide-open Moffitt out of the backfield for a 23-yard TD strike.
Hansen scored for Oxford later in the quarter for Oxford only to be countered by a Carlin seven-yard TD run. Oxford (1-8) closed the scoring late in the fourth on Joe Jackson’s one-yard TD run.
“We have a good freshman class and a good group of sopho- mores coming back next season,” the younger kids this season was incredible. We’re excited where our program is headed.”
Score by quarters
Oxford 0 6 6 8–20
B-G 14 13 14 0–41
Scoring Summary
First quarter
BG: Cole Webb 16 pass to Mike Carlin (Lucas Butcher kick), 8:08
BG: Pedro Aparicio 16 run (Butcher kick), 3:48
Second quarter
