It’s always a good day in Bremen when it takes down Bowdon in any sport, but especially on the gridiron.

And the kicker - that it clinched the Region 6-A championship - makes it that much sweeter.

The rivalry and region championship celebration was in full effect at the Bremen Athletic Field Friday night following the Blue Devils’ 28-7 win over the Red Devils, as they basically shut down Bowdon in all facets of play, securing a No. 1 seed and home playoff game next Friday.

The Blue Devils will play host to Social Circle, the No. 4 seed out of Region 8-A, next Friday to open the playoffs.

But on this night, Blue Devil coach Ricky Tolleson just wanted his players to enjoy the moment and not concern themselves about the playoffs until Monday.

“Oh, yeah, (Bowdon’s) our big rival and we’ve had some barn burners with them since we’ve been here and I thought our kids, you know, with the table set and the region championship on the line for us, that No. 1 seed and home-field playoff berth - it was so big,” Tolleson said.

The Blue Devils (8-2, 3-0 Region 6-A) racked up 354 yards on the ground, led by junior Kail Singleton, who rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.

Singleton got Bremen on the board early in the game with a 55-yard touchdown run at the 10:03 mark, capping off a 4-play, 89-yard opening-game drive.

From there, the Bremen defense set the tone, holding Bowdon to just a net of 39 first-half yards and taking a 14-0 lead into the locker room behind Singleton’s run and an 8-yard touchdown run from quarterback Clayton McIntosh later in the first quarter.

And while the Bremen defense definitely stepped up, Bowdon didn’t help itself any, either, collecting 85 penalty yards in the game and pitting themselves in long-yardage positions most of the game due to the infractions.

“Seems like we were shooting ourselves in the foot quite a bit,” Red Devil coach Dwight Hochstetler said. “We’ve got to be much more disciplined than this if we stand a chance next week. I was real disappointed in our discipline.”

After Bowdon (3-7, 1-2 Region 6-A) turned the ball over on downs to open the second half, Bremen would strike again, as McIntosh connected with receiver Jake Cash on a 25-yard touchdown pass in a third-and-11 situation at the 6:58 mark of the third quarter.

That really took the wind of the Red Devils’ sails, as Bremen added a 15-yard touchdown run from junior running back Marcus Coggins to open the fourth quarter, making it 28-0.

Bowdon would have its best ball movement of the game late in the fourth with an 8-play, 69-yard scoring drive, capped off by a 4-yard touchdown run from Jordon Loveless.

By that time, though, it was too little, too late.

The 69-yard drive finally pushed the Red Devils over the 100 yard mark as a team for the game, as they finished with just 140 total yards, something that obviously pleased Tolleson.

“We really challenged our defense because our defense has struggled a little bit this year,” Tolleson said. “But our defensive coaches had a great plan and we challenged them to play the best game of the year and I think they played one of their better games.”

Tolleson also had high praise for the guys in the trenches who set up those big running plays for the Bremen skilled players.

The offensive line of Sam Robison, Josh Meadows, Daniel Madden, Curt Barrett, Conner Mays, along with tight end Jay Stansberry, controlled the line of scrimmage, as evidenced by the large rushing total.

“I thought our line played one of their best games all year long,” Tolleson said. “I tell you what, they had a whale of a game.”

Hochstetler reluctantly agreed with that assessment, as his team lost the line of scrimmage for the better part of the night.

“I guess you could say that, that they did overall,” Hochstetler said. “I hate to admit that, but they did.”

Along with Singleton’s solid production offensively for Bremen, Coggins (12 carries, 86 yards, TD), McIntosh (10 carries, 69 yards, TD) and Nick Cash (11 carries, 55 yards) also had solid nights on the ground.

Glenn led Bowdon with 55 yards on eight carries. The Red Devils will play the No. 2 seed out of Region 8-A, Jefferson (7-3), on the road next Friday in their playoff opener.

As for Bremen, Tolleson wasn’t looking too far ahead at Social Circle just yet.

Besides, he wanted his team to soak up this one first.

“Heck, I told our kids not to worry about it and just enjoy this game,” Tolleson said. “It’s a big win for our players and our school and our community.”