Syrupmakers ram Worth County 42-7

The Cairo Syrupmakers might not have gotten a shutout Friday night, but they certainly recorded a shutdown. Cairo overcame a 7-0 deficit and defeated the Worth County Rams 42-7 last Friday night in Sylvester. With the win, the Syrupmakers are now 3-0 in region play and 7-0 overall on the season. After briefly falling behind, the Syrupmakers went on to score 42 unanswered points and racked up 326 yards of offense, with 225 coming on the ground and all in the second half.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Worth County Rams shocked the visiting Syrupmakers with a fumble recovery that went for a 90-yard touchdown, taking a 7-0 lead with 8:21 to play in the first half. The Makers were their own worst enemy in the first half, committing five penalties for 35 yards, including a couple of costly holding calls that nullified big plays for the Cairo offense. The Syrupmakers were driving the ball to break the scoreless tie when a handoff popped loose and was scooped up by a Worth County defender who had nothing but open field in front of him.
Trailing 7-0, the Syrupmakers then put together another drive and scored with 4:20 to play in the half. Cairo’s LeQuinton Williams rumbled in from two yards out and Cairo tied the game with Mose Willis’ extra point. The teams went to the locker rooms tied at seven at the half.
It was a tale of two halves as the second half brought out a fired up Syrupmaker team who exploded for four touchdowns in the third quarter alone. LeQuinton Williams was unstoppable with three more touchdowns and 102 yards of rushing in the second half. Williams added scores of 14, 28 and two yards. Special teams picked up a touchdown on an alert play by John Holt, who picked up a live ball on a punt and returned it 12 yards for a touchdown. Drake Robertson also scored for the Makers on an eight-yard run in the fourth quarter. Cairo seemed to score every few minutes in the second half.
The Syrupmaker defense came out of the locker room like mad men, swarming all over the Rams, even picking up a safety by tackling the Worth County quarterback in the end zone for the two points. The Cairo defense allowed the Rams just two first downs and 17 yards of total offense in the second half.
“We made some mistakes early and it cost us some, but we came back and settled down and did what we needed to do,” said Cairo coach Tom Fallaw.
The Syrupmakers finished the night with 326 yards of offense, nine first downs, nine penalties for 75 yards and one turnover. Worth County had just 73 yards of offense, seven first downs, four penalties for 42 yards and committed three turnovers. Brandon McCrary was 4-7 passing on the night, including three completions to Terrell Bryant for 29 yards. Drake Robertson had 10 carries for 65 yards, Terrell Cason had four carries for 19 yards, and P.J. Davis had a carry that went for 37 yards.
Ryan Cook had a good night punting, including one punt that was downed at the one-yard line that led to the safety. Cook had three punts for a 42-yard average. Mose Willis had another great night kicking off, and was 4-6 on extra points.
The Syrupmakers will now face Westover at home this Friday night for Homecoming and “Senior Night.”