BAINBRIDGE – Bainbridge-Guilford used a heavy dose of Pepper to spice up its offense, and the Bobcats’ stingy defense did not give up an offensive point in salting away a 26-6 victory Friday night.

B-G quarterback Justin Pepper had a career night dashing for four touchdowns. For the game, the Bobcats rushed for 260 yards, and Pepper sprinkled in two timely passes in the second half to set up the go-ahead touchdown.

“We knew how important this game was for us because it’s not going to get any easier for us the rest of the season,” said B-G fourth-year head coach Tim Mattingly. “We really felt that if we could get this division win, it would hopefully set the tone for the rest of the season.”

Before B-G got untracked in the second half, it needed to get a firmer grip on the football. Other than Pepper’s 28-yard bootleg keeper to paydirt midway through the first quarter, the Bobcats were stymied by turnovers.

Harpursville scored its only touchdown of the game, when, B-G running back Dakota Vandermark was stripped on an outside run. The ball bounced around near the goal line, and Harpursville’s Richard Ruggiero came up with the ball on the goal line for the tying touchdown. Harpursville missed the extra point leaving the score at 6-6.

Five B-G turnovers in the first half – plus two other fumbles that slowed offensive drives – made sure that the Bobcats would not add to their point total.