Early turnovers put the Opp Bobcats in a hole they couldn’t climb out of, and they fell to the Elba Tigers 48-19.

“No.1 Elba did a great job. They deserve credit for that. And No. 2, for us we had three huge turnovers that just killed us,” said Bobcats’ head coach Brent Hill.

The Bobcats’ defense forced a punt on the Tigers’ first possession, but the Bobcats’ had a high snap on the punt and the Bobcats’ Cale Pierce was run out of bounds on his own 1-yard line.

After the turnover, it only took the Tigers one play to get in the end zone. Stefan Caldwell scored his first touchdown from a yard out. The two-point conversion failed, but the Tigers led 6-0.

A few plays later, the Bobcats turned the ball over again. This time it was the Tigers’ Denzel Thomas intercepting a pass from Pierce and returning it 34 yards for the score. The two-point conversion was good, giving the Tigers a 14-0 lead.

A couple of possessions later the Bobcats had another bad snap around the end zone that went out of the back for a safety. The Tigers’ lead increased to 16-0.

The Bobcats forced a turnover of their own on the Tigers’ following drive. Daniel Hinton picked off a pass from Ramsey Rigby and returned it 30 yards to his own 34-yard line.

Two plays later the Bobcats’ Raheem “Hammer” Bonam took a handoff around the left side, and turned on the jet boosters as he hit the corner, racing 71 yards for the touchdown. The two-point conversion failed leaving the Bobcats trailing 16-6.

After another turnover from the Bobcats, the Tigers’ Caldwell went 80 yards for his second touchdown.

On the next drive, the Bobcats fumbled the Tigers once again had a short field to work with and Caldwell added his third touchdown on a 1-yard run. The two-point conversion failed, leaving the Tigers with a 28-6 lead.

T he Tigers scored again on their first possession of the second half, when Rigby found Blake Edwards for a 16-yard touchdown. After the two-point conversion, the Tigers led 34-6.

Following an Opp punt, Caldwell got into the end zone for a fourth time. This time on a 52-yard run.

The Bobcats got into the end zone on their following drive as Bonam rushed one in from 52 yards out. The Bobcats trailed 42-12.

After the Bobcats touchdown the Tigers’ Edwards added his second touchdown on a 27-yard run giving the Tigers a 48-12 lead.

The Bobcats still weren’t giving up as they drove the ball 90 yards, and Bonam added his third touchdown on a 1-yard score. Bonam finished the night with 150 yards on 18 carries and three touchdowns.

The Bobcats will host the Lamar County Bulldogs next Friday night for the first round of the playoffs.

“Defense played a great job in that first half,” Hill said. “They were put in the worst field position that you can put a defense in, and they hung in there as best they could.”