Dougherty suffers heartbreaking loss to Cairo

ALBANY — Fourth down plays didn’t go Dougherty’s way. The Cairo Syrupmakers (5-3) scored on a 43-yard touchdown pass play on fourth down with less than two minutes to play in the game to come from behind and beat the Dougherty Trojans (7-2) 24-21 Thursday night at Hugh Mills Stadium. The Syrupmakers had scored their first touchdown on a fourth down play in the first quarters.

The Trojans had pulled out to a 21-10 lead with two third quarter touchdowns by sophomore quarterback Kameron Davis. but Cairo´s offense came to life in the fourth quarter and got two touchdowns of their own to take the win and end the Trojans hope of a home playoff game at Hugh Mills. The Trojans have one more shot to lock up the third spot in the region next week when Thomas County Central comes to Hugh Mills for the final regular season game of the year.

Despite the loss, Davis had an impressive night. The Florida State commit rushed for 231 yards on 23 carries and passed for 69 yards, completing six of 11 passes. He scored three touchdowns and Florida State running backs coach David Johnson was on the sidelines to watch the game.

Cairo had taken a 10-0 lead early in the game, thanks to two Dougherty mistakes. The Syrupmakers got excellent field position when senior Gary Davis jumped up and pulled down a Kam Davis pass for an interception. The Trojan defense kept the Syrupmakers out of the end zone, but Cairo put up three points with a 35-yard field goal by Landon Vickers. Cairo stretched their lead to 10-0 after a Trojan fumble. Again the defense held, but on a fourth down play, quarterback Braylon Robinson found Mo Wilson wide open for a 24-yard touchdown.

The Trojans finally got a break on the ensuing kickoff. The Syrupmakers tried an onside kick, but the kick didn’t carry far enough — the required 10 yards — and the Trojans took possession at the 43. Runs by Davis and Devin Collier got the Trojans moving and a face mask penalty against the Syrupmakers pushed the ball down to the 14. Collier carried it to the seven and two plays later Davis took the ball around the right side of the line and into the end zone for the Trojan touchdown. The extra point kick by Migel Vargas closed the gap to 10-7. The Trojans had a chance to score again late in the second quarter when Dougherty moved into Cairo territory, but a pass from Davis went just off the fingertips of Malachi Greene that would have been six more points.

After halftime the Trojan offense started clicking. Senior Gemarion Speedy Anthony took a punt return all the way to the 37 for the Trojans, but then ended up back across midfield with a penalty. A few minutes later Davis hit Anthony with a pass right in the middle of the field and Anthony made it all the way to the three yard line before Cairo was able to stop him. On the next play, Davis went around the right side of the line and dove for the pylon to score and give the Trojans their first lead.

Davis scored again just before the end of the third quarter when he broke free on a 51-yard run. He had gone to the right but saw no opening and turned around and went left down the sideline and outran everyone to the end zone. When Vargas booted the extra point the Trojans were up 21-10 as the third quarter ended.

But Cairo didn’t quit and put together two long drives to win the game. After a penalty they started their next drive at the 13-yard line and drove 87 yards to score. Gary Davis, the defender who made that first interception, entered the game on offense and took the ball on the Wildcat play for three straight plays to end the drive with the touchdown. The Syrupmakers tried a two point conversion pass but Makel Bridges intercepted the pass for the Trojans. On their next possession, Cairo started at the 38 and it looked like the Dougherty defense was going to stop Cairo. The Syrupmakers were faced with a fourth down and eight to go at the 43 yard line with less than two minutes to play. Cairo quarterback, Braylan Robinson, connected with Tyree Kelly for the game winning touchdown.

The Trojans will host their final home game of the year Friday night at Hugh Mills when Thomas County Central comes to town. Cairo beat the Yellow Jackets 14-13 last week and were facing Bainbridge Friday night. If Dougherty defeats Thomas County Central they will be the number three team in the region, if TCC wins, Dougherty will end up in fourth and likely travel to the Savannah area to face either New Hampstead or Benedictine in the first round of the state playoffs.

Joe Whitfield