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The Opp Bobcats were kicking on all cylinders when they hosted county and region rival Straughn Friday night, cruising to a 46-7 victory.

With the win, Opp (7-2, 5-2) secures the third seed in 4A Region 2 while Straughn (5-4, 5-2) falls to the fourth seed. Both teams will be on the road for the first round of the playoffs in two weeks with the Bobcats traveling to Bibb County and Straughn heading to Pleasant Grove.

Opp got things going quickly with a long drive, but a fumbled snap at their Tiger 11 ended the scoring chance. But, after the Bobcats forced Straughn to punt, they picked up where they left off before the turnovers and scored on a five-play, 64-yard drive. Quarterback Justice Baldwin put up the first points with a 36-yard run. A two point conversion attempt was no good.

Straughn drove the ball to the Bobcat 45, but on fourth-and-2, A.C. Hightower made a big defensive stop for Opp leading to a turnover on downs.

Taking control at their own 31, Opp began another long drive with Baldwin connecting with multiple receivers, ultimately capping the drive with a 14-yard pass to Kal Crittenden for the touchdown. After a failed 2-point conversion, Opp held a 12-0 lead with 7:45 to go in the second quarter.

Straughn, who had only four first downs in the game, got their biggest play on the next possession and their only score. On second down, Tate Watson threw an out-pass to Clark Jordan who found the sideline and outran several Bobcats 70 yards into the end zone. Brenden Bartholomew’s extra point cut Opp’s lead to 12-7.

From that point all the scoring came courtesy of the Bobcats, including on their next possession. A first-play, 39-yard connection between Baldwin and Crittenden helped lead to field goal by Saban Sasser to make the score 15-7 with 4:22 to go in the first half.

After forcing another Tiger punt, Opp had another explosive play on first down with Baldwin finding D.J. Hines open for a 50-yard gain. Two plays later Crittenden ran the ball in from three yards out, leading to a halftime score of 23-7 after a successful 2-point conversion.

Straughn could never quite get their offense while Opp continued to have success in the passing game. The Bobcats went 51 yards for the first score of the second half to take a 31-7 lead. Opp’s next score came on a 44-yard pass from Baldwin to Hines as they continued to pull away from the Tigers, 39-7.

Opp added one more big play in the final minutes of the game, a 59-yard reception by Peyton Campbell with 3:34 to go, leading to the final score of 46-7. The only negative on the night for the Bobcats was that two players were ejected in the second half for personal foul penalties.

Both teams have one more regular season game before heading into the playoffs. Opp will travel to Holmes County, Florida while Straughn hosts Goshen.