Bainbridge overpowers Central

Published 11:29 pm Friday, November 2, 2018

By Clint Thompson Special to the Times-Enterprise

THOMASVILLE, Ga. — A year in transition for the Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets ended in defeat for first-year head coach Ashley Henderson Friday night at Thomas County Stadium.

Playing rival Bainbridge to close out the regular season schedule, Central surrendered four first-half touchdown passes and lost on senior night 44-11.

Central finishes 5-5 and will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2014.

“Our boys battled, they never gave up. We got beat by a better football team tonight,” Henderson said. “We know this thing’s going to be a process, and we’ve got to keep working and we will keep working.”

Bainbridge finishes as the No. 2 seed out of Region 1-AAAAA.

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The win was the Bearcats’ fourth in the last five years against the Yellow Jackets, and like last year, it wasn’t close. Bainbridge quarterback Quayde Hawkins threw touchdown passes of 14, 45, 61 and 16 yards to scorch Central’s secondary for 223 yards in the first half. The Bearcats scored 20 second-quarter points to blow open the game.

While Bainbridge had his way with Central’s secondary, the Yellow Jackets spread attack struggled to take flight against a quick and powerful Bainbridge defensive front. The Yellow Jackets completed only 8 of 18 passes for 45 yards and one interception that was returned 54 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. Central quarterbacks were also sacked five times.

Central finished with only 137 total yards and its only offensive score was a 32-yard field goal in the first quarter. Ben Wilhelm returned a fumble 24 yards for a defensive touchdown for the Yellow Jackets in the second half.

It was a disappointing finish for the Yellow Jackets, who lost their last four games. Central started 5-1 in non-region play but failed to win a region game.

“Tonight’s about these seniors and they fought all the way to the bitter end. It’s a tough way to go out, but these seniors have nothing to hang their head about,” Henderson said.

As Central’s season comes to an end, so does the Yellow Jackets career for longtime offensive coach Bill Wilhelm, who was recognized before the game. Wilhelm, who started his coaching career at Central in 1989, was part of five state championship teams for the Yellow Jackets in the mid-90s. He is retiring.