Before the region re-alignments, Bradwell Institute knew it always would have a tough game ahead when facing the Camden County Wildcats.
This season, Camden County moved up a classification, but the Tigers filled that hole in the schedule with a tough matchup tonight against another formidable Wildcat team:  Richmond Hill High School.
The game starts at 7:30 in Richmond Hill.
The Wildcats are coming off two back-to-back losses after Effingham County — ranked No. 2 in Class 3-AAAAA — beat them, 16-14, two weeks ago, and top-seeded Ware County eked out a 27-24 win last week.
The Wildcats, who are tied with Jenkins and Glynn Academy at 2-2 in the region, want to wrap up third place
 or better as they look to the end of the regular season and dive into the playoffs.
Senior quarterback Dominique Allen, a dual threat who already has committed to the Air Force Academy, leads the Wildcats’ offense.
“He is a very talented and good-sized quarterback who is also very seasoned and is a good leader,” BI coach Jim Walsh said. “We have to go out there and execute, and we can’t shoot ourselves in the foot like we did last week.”
This past Friday against Glynn Academy, the Tigers committed too many turnovers and allowed the Red Terrors running back Jonathan Alford to break the century mark in rushing yardage en route to a 55-0 loss at home.
What’s worse is that the Tigers’ main running back, DeAndre Day, is out with a concussion, and their No. 2 running back, Darren Beverly, is out with a knee injury.
“And we had three players get casted last week, and it’s that time of the year where you are going to go through your bumps bruises,” Walsh said. “But you try and get as many of them as healthy as possible for the next contest and go with those who are healthy.”
It is a must-win game for the Tigers, who need to win out the rest of the regular season to have a chance at postseason play. A win also would boost the team as it looks toward Ware County, which the Tigers host next week.
“You always want to finish strong,” Walsh said about the next few games. “You are always trying to improve when you get an opportunity to play. Our main focus is to go out there and play mistake-free football.”