The Locker Room
October 7, 2000
Cobbs!
Cobbs! Cobbs! For the third time this season, Frank Cobbs rolled up jaw-dropping yardage. The Cougars pummeled the Eagles 56-6, starting this final season of RVD play not with a bang, but an eruption instead. The Cougars won the toss, and deferred. Terry Dameron caught John Hedge’s kick at the 7, and returned up to the 21. Charles Holland got only 2 yards on a 3rd-and-6 draw play. Michael Montgomery punted, and Alan Wheeling took the kick from the 27 up to the FC 49, but Adam Roop was called for clipping on the play. The drive thus started at the 14. It took only 3 plays for the Cougars to get on the board. Josh Calfee gained 13 yards and 8 yards on consecutive carries. On 2nd-and-2, Frank Cobbs began his spectacular night by breaking the FB dive all the way up the middle. John Hedge added the PAT, and it was 7-0. Dameron took Hedge’s kickoff at the 1, and returned it to the 23. On 3rd-and-9 form the 24, the Eagles fumbled, and recovered at the line of scrimmage. Montgomery's punt went out of bounds at the Cougar 49. On 2nd-and-9, Wheeling dropped back to pass, but overthrew a wide open David Hale at the 20. Hale could have easily cruised into the endzone had the pass been on target. On 3rd-and-9, Cobbs took the off tackle right for 12 yards. Calfee lost a yard on first down. After getting 7 yards on 3nd down, Cobbs gained another first down with a 5-yard option pitch on 3rd-and-4 from the FC 32. Calfee gained 15 yards sweeping right on 1st-and-10. Cobbs took the FB dive for a yard. Calfee went off tackle right for 4 yards, making it 3rd-and-5. The sparsely used but effective Cougar passing game was called upon. Wheeling faked to Cobbs, and lobbed a pass over the middle to Jeff King in the back of the endzone. Alan’s 6th TD pass of the season, plus Hedge’s PAT, made it 14-0, with 3:36 left in the quarter. Jerren Wade took the kickoff from the 1 to the 27. Daniel Bowles passed to Devon Taylor for 8 yards on 2nd-and-5, finally giving the Eagles a first down. Wade ran up the middle for 8 yards, then moved the chains with a 3-yard run. On 1st-and-10 from the Cougar 49, David Hale almost picked off Bowles’ pass after it went off of the hands of a receiver. Two more incomplete passes made it 4th down. Montgomery’s punt went out of bounds at the PC 23. A holding penalty made it 1st-and-20. Wheeling kept left, and almost breaking it, ending up with a 27-yard gain. Wheeling then underhrew Josh Bowling over the middle. On 2nd down, Wheeling faked a handoff, and kept right. Once again, he came close to breaking free. This time, he got down to the 15 for a 45-yard gain. Calfee went right for 6 yards, then the quarter ended. Cobbs opened the 2nd quarter with with a 9-yard run up the middle for the score. The PAT made it 21-0. Dameron gained 20 yards on the kickoff, up to the 21. The Eagles finally got their offensive going on this drive. Bowles hit Taft Kelly for 11 yards on 1st down. Wade moved the chains again, running off tackle left for 11. He then took the same play for 13 yards, making 3 first downs in 3 consecutive plays. After an incomplete pass, Wade took the sweep left down to the PC 28. On 2nd-and-10, Bowles rolled right and passed right to Taylor, who cutback to the middle, dodged tacklers, and found the endzone. Jonathan Dudley’s attempted PAT was low, being kicked into the line. PC 21 -6 with 9:56 left before the half. Calfee returned Dudley’s kickoff from the 15 to the 22. Cobbs gained 12 yards on first down. On 2nd-and-9, Cobbs took the dive play for 8 yards, making it 3rd-and-1. Cobbs then kept the ball in Cougar hands with an off tackle left play that went all the way down to the Eagle 29. Calfee gained 9 yards on a sweep. Cobbs got 4 yards running off tackle left. After being stopped cold by Montgomery on a FB dive, Cobbs took the option pitch left down to the 3 for a 1st-and-goal. Calfee swept right for the score. Hedge’s PAT made it 28-6, with 5:23 left before the half. Hedge’s kickoff went for a touchback. On 2nd-and-3 from the 27, Wade was stopped by Adam Roop for no gain. Brockmeyer then tackled Wade for a 2-yard loss. Montgomery’s punt was picked up on the bounce at the 34 by Wheeling, who returned up to the 41. The Cougars lost a great opportunity on this drive. On 3rd-and-4 from the 47, Wheeling kept right, and broke a nice run down the sideline, going all the way to paydirt. However, there was a flag down on the play, and as the fans guessed, it was for holding. This moved the ball back to the 40 for 3rd-and-11. Wheeling’s screen pass to Cobbs was stopped for a 6-yard loss. Brandon Hamblin punted to the 25, where Wade took it. Josh Bowling tackled him for a 3-yard loss on the return. Bowles hit Kelly with a 15-yard pass over the middle. On the next play, Wheeling picked off Bowles’ pass at the PC 39, and returned it to the Eagle 25. There were only 31 seconds left before the break. After an incomplete pass, Cobbs went up the middle for 2 yards. The Cougars called timeout. Wheeling the rolled left and passed for Cobbs, but Frank dropped it at the 21. With 15 seconds left, Hedge attempted a 41-yard field goal. The kick was low, and blocked. The Eagles ran one play before the gun. The score was PC 28, FC 6. Unofficial first half stats had Cobbs running for 167 yards, Calfee 59 yards, and Wheeling 72 yards. The Cougars had piled up about 300 yards of offense in only half of a game. The Cougars took the first possession of the 2nd half. Calfee took Dudley’s kickoff at the 10. He bobbled the ball, then picked it up. He went left, to the middle, then right, making it into Eagle territory at the 48. Cobbs gained 5 yards on first down, then 10 to move the chains. Calfee went off tackle right down to the 15. After Calfee and Cobbs were stopped for no gain on consecutive plays, it was 3rd-and-10. Wheeling’s
pass over the middle was picked off by Justin Swaine, who returned from the 12 to the 17.
Montgomery’s punt went out of bounds at the PC 42. Cobbs carried tacklers on a 6-yard FB dive. He then went for 8 yards on an off tackle right. Another Cobbs dive play gained 6. On 2nd-and-4 from the FC 38, Calfee swept right down to the 20. An illegal participation penalty made it 1st-and-5. After Jermaine Dunn stopped Cobbs for no gain, Calfee took the pitch left, not stopping until Eagle players teamed with the sideline to keep him out of the endzone. It was 1st-and-goal at the 1. Cobbs dove in for the score. The PAT made it 35-6. After an offsides penalty, Hedge’s kickoff was taken at the 15 by Dameron, who gained 13 yards on the return. Sean Preston dropped Bowles’ over the middle pass on 3rd-and-8. Wheeling took the punt on the bounce at the 33, and got 4 yards on the return. On the next play, Cobbs wrapped up his night early, taking the FB dive all the way for 6 on his final run of the game. 42-6 Cougars. Cooper gained 2 yards on 3rd-and-1. Wheeling then picked off Bowles again, this time returning from the FC 48 to the 23. Two plays later, the lead increased. Greg Cobbs ran the criss-cross right down to the 8, then Calfee took the pitch left in for the score. PC 49-6. There was still 1:49 left in the quarter. Taylor took the kickoff at the 1, and went right. He got all the way to the FC 40 before being tackled by Michael Santolla. On 3rd-and-1, Roop knocked down Bowles’ pass at the line of scrimmage. The Eagles tried a trick play on 4th down. The snap was high for Montgomery, but this may have been by design. Montgomery fired a nice looking, but off target, deep pass for Dameron. Wheeling picked off his 3rd pass of the night, and returned it to the 25. He should have just knocked it down, saving the Cougars 26 yards. Joey Radcliffe was now in at QB. Jeremy Porter ran right, and cutback to the middle with a couple of beautiful spin moves. He continued left, getting down to the FC 39. Unfortunately, the play was called back because of a penalty. Greg Cobbs ran the criss-cross right for 18 yards on 1st-and-20. The teams changed ends as the time ran out on the 3rd quarter. Antione Meadows ran up the middle for 3 yards and a first down. Porter gained 12 yards on 2 consecutive carries. After the teams traded 5-yard penalties, Porter swept left for a 5-yard gain. Meadows ran the FB dive for 7 yards. He had a clear path to the endzone because the hole was so large, but he was "tackled" by a mystery teammate on the play. On 3rd-and-4 from the 34, Radcliffe kept, losing 3 yards. Hamblin’s punt was downed at the 7. After two incompletions, QB Lance Board fumbled on the option left. The Eagles recovered. On 4th-and-15 from the 2, the Cougars' Bill Farlow blocked the punt, and Greg Cobbs recovered in the endzone for the final score of the night. PC 56-6. Two plays after the kickoff, Matt Roan recovered a fumble at the FC 25. Andrew Hodges gained 2 yards. On 3rd-and-8, Porter ran for 5 yards, then converted on 4th down with an 8-yard run. After a pair of Stone carries, the clock expired. The Cougars had started their march for a possible RVD title with an overwhelming victory. Holder Brandon Hamblin caught the blocked field goal attempt. “It went straight up in the air and I did what I could do with it. They could have taken it all the way.” Bill Farlow blocked his first punt. “I lined up and they had a hole open. I ran up and got it. It was the closest to scoring I have been since I caught a touchdown pass as a tight end in middle school.” “I saw the ball loose and I started crawling on the ground like a baby,” Greg Cobbs said about his recovery of the blocked punt for a touchdown. Wheeling intercepted his third pick of the game on the fake punt. “It seemed like a bad snap, but then I saw the coverage guy looking back, so I knew something was up. He overthrew the receiver.“ When asked if he was trying to pad his interception stats (his 3 INTs tied a team record), he responded, “No, I’m a team player.” Then I asked why a team player would intercept the ball when an incompletion would have gained over 40 yards. He responded, “I just reacted to the ball. It didn't occur to me to knock it down until I was running back the interception.” Antoine Meadows had many good carries in the fourth quarter, with the second team offense. He remembered one carry in particular. “I had my vision set on the goal line, and when I hit the hole, it was wide open. I was about 10 yards down field when something smacked me in the ear hole. I looked around to see what it was... my teammate, ‘xxxxx’ xxxx.” “I didn't mean to,” responded the embarrassed Cougar. “Please don’t write anything about that. My whole family has the internet,” he added. Next week, the Cougars finally take a much deserved break from their road travels, coming back to the friendly confines of Dobson Stadium to face a team that has defeated them three years running - the William Fleming Colonels. You know that Fleming had coaches watching the game tonight, as the Colonels had the night off. The Cave Spring Knights and the Patrick Henry Patriots also had open weeks, and were doubtless represented in Rocky Mount as well. Possession-by-Possession Summary:
Photos by Jeff Wolfe and Ardent Cougar |
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