The Locker Room
October 14, 2000
Bring
on the Patriots
After being scored upon first for the only time this season, the Cougars made all of their first half possessions count, leading 20-3 at the break. The final was 27-10, moving PC to 8-0 and 2-0 in the district, still unbeaten heading into the toughest RVD tests.
The Cougars won the toss, and deferred. Craig Calfee took John Hedge’s kickoff from the 2 to the 19. Demetrius Grant shocked the Homecoming
crowd on the first play from scrimmage when he broke open the toss sweep left down the
sideline. He cutback inside at the Cougar 25 to avoid David Hale. This slowed
him down just enough to be brought down from behind by Alan Wheeling at the 13. Wheeling stopped Grant for no gain on 3rd-and-7 from the 10. Harris Mujkic’s FG attempt barely made it inside the right upright. WF 3-0 with 9:30 left in the quarter. Antione Meadows took Mujkic’s squib kickoff from the 23 up to the 30. A pair of Josh Calfee runs made it 1st-and-10 at the PC 43. He swept left for 10 yards on 2nd-and-6, again moving the chains. Greg Cobbs gained a yard on the criss-cross right, making it 2nd-and-9 at the Colonel 41. Calfee took the sweep right, found a hole, and turned upfield, not stopping before reaching the endzone. John Hedge added the PAT for a 7-3 Cougar lead. Hedge’s kickoff went into the endzone for a touchback. On 2nd-and-6 from the 24, QB Richard Barrett dropped back to pass, scrambled left, and lobbed a pass to Craig Calfee for 11 yards. Grant gained 8 yards up the middle. Marvin Young gained 3 yards on 2nd-and-2. On 2nd-and-9 from the Colonel 47, Barrett dropped back, and found Vincent Pinkney open. The play gained 13 yards into Cougar territory at the 40. Barrett them scrambled right for 5 yards. Grant gained 8 yards up the middle for another first down. Barrett then faked a handoff and passed to Grant for 10 yards down to the Cougar 17. At this point, Fleming was moving the ball well, matching PC step for step. The next series was crucial. Grant went off tackle right for 3 yards. Barrett overthrew Craig Calfee in the endzone. Grant took the toss sweep right, but Jeff King, Antione Meadows and Wheeling made sure he got only a couple of yards. It was 4th-and-5 at the 12. The Colonels called timeout with 2:44 showing on the clock. Barrett faked a pass, and dropped back. He found no receivers open, and had to scramble under the pressure. He went left, but Adam Brockmeyer and Antione Meadows tackled him for a 2-yard loss. The Cougars took over at their own 14. Frank Cobbs gained 9 yards on the FB dive as the 1st quarter ended. Calfee took the sweep left, and ripped off another long gainer. Grant finally pushed him out of bounds at the Fleming 24. Calfee gained 4 yards on 2nd-and-12. On 3rd down from the 22, Wheeling kept left for 5 yards, setting up 4th-and-3. Coach Hicks decided to go for it.
Cobbs gained 12 yards on the option pitch right,
making it 1st-and-goal. The Colonels took a timeout. Calfee swept left down to the 1. The next play cost the Cougars. Calfee was flagged for moving early, moving the ball back to the 6. Calfee then lost 7 yards on the quick pitch right, being tackled by Kareem Waller. On 3rd-and-goal from the 13, Wheeling faked, then rolled left. He tried to hit Cobbs at the 10, but the pass was too low. Hedge kicked a 30-yard FG to make it 10-3 with 7:59 left until halftime. Hedge again kicked off into the endzone for a touchback. After an incomplete pass, the Colonels committed a big mistake. A pitch right was fumbled, and King recovered for the Cougars at the 20. It took only one play to make Fleming regret the turnover. Running through a big hole, Cobbs took the FB dive untouched all the way. The PAT made it 17-3, a mere 20 seconds after the last PC score. For the third straight time, Hedge booted the ball into the endzone for a touchback. Grant went up the middle for a yard. Barrett faked, then rolled right. He completed a pass to Mike Boyd for 24 yards. Boyd then took the flanker screen right for 7 yards. After a holding penalty, Grant gained 7 yards on 2nd-and-11. On 3rd-and-4 from the Cougar 49, Grant kept the drive alive. The drive stalled here. After an
incomplete pass, Grant took the toss sweep right for 3 yards. On 3rd-and-7, Mujkic
caught a screen pass left, but Adam Roop and Brockmeyer tackled him for a 2-yard loss. Barrett punted, and the Colonels did a good job to down the ball at the Cougar 2. There were only 3:13 left before the break. Cobbs got the Cougars out of the hole with a 20-yard FB dive. After an illegal block penalty after a Calfee sweep moved the ball back to the 15, Cobbs again took the FB dive for good yardage, up to the 29. On 2nd-and-4, Cobbs moved the chains another dive, this one for 4 yards. Calfee swept left for 5 yards, then the Cougars called timeout. Cobbs ran up the middle for 4 yards, making it 3rd-and-1 at the PC 42. Calfee swept left, keeping things going with a 4-yard gain. As the clock kept ticking, Wheeling dropped back to pass, and got excellent protection. He found Josh Bowling over the middle, and threw a perfect pass. Bowling caught the ball, and was immediately tackled at the 16, with 38.3 seconds left. Greg Cobbs took the criss-cross left for 2 yards. The Cougars let the clock wind down until 1.8 seconds were left, and called their final timeout of the half. Hedge was again successful on a FG attempt, and the Cougars went into the locker room with a 20-3 cushion. Joey Radcliffe took the short kickoff at the 37, and gained 7 yards on the return. Despite the excellent starting field
position, PC would go nowhere with 3 plays. Pinkney tackled Calfee for a 2-yard loss
on 2nd-and-7, then Josh could only get 3 yards on
the next play. Brandon Hamblin punted, and the ball was downed at the Colonel 21. Fleming had to earn most of their yardage from this kind of field position all evening. Grant was held to 2-yards on an off tackle left by Jon Anderson, who returned to action this week for the first time since an injury in the E.C. Glass game, some 6 weeks back. An incomplete pass made it 3rd-and-8. Grant took the toss sweep left, but Meadows, Chris Hardin and Gordon Cross held him to 3 yards on the play. Barrett punted, and the ball was downed at the PC 33. Cobbs opened up the drive with a bang, popping the FB dive for 32 yards. Calfee swept left for 6 yards, then Cobbs went for 6 yards himself, making it 1st-and-10 at the Colonel 23. Calfee gained 6 yards on 2nd-and-8, then kept those sticks moving and run off tackle left down to the 11. Wheeling noticed the defensive alignment was ripe for the QB sneak and audibled, calling his own number. His 5-yard gain made it 2nd-and-5 at the 6. Calfee swept left, and cutback upfield through the open space created. His scoring run, plus Hedge’s PAT, upped the lead to 27-3 with 4:54 remaining in the 3rd. Time was running out on Fleming. Hedge once again made certain that the Colonels would not get good field position, booming another kickoff over the goal line. Barrett dropped back to pass on 2nd-and-8, and found himself under heavy pressure. He outmaneuvered the rushers, went left, and made a good play out of bad one, scrambling for 13 yards. However, that was the only highlight of the drive. After a short gain and a throwaway pass, the Cougars stopped Grant for a loss of a yard on the sprint draw. On 4th-and-9, Barrett punted. Wheeling picked up the ball on the bounce at the PC 23, and was immediately hammered. Greg Cobbs gave the Cougars a first down with a 6-yard criss-cross left on 2nd-and-6. Calfee then swept left for 8 yards. Frank Cobbs took the FB dive for 7 yards, and another first down. He gained 4 yards, then the teams switched ends to begin the final dozen minutes of play. It look like the Cougars were well on their way to another score to put the game further out of reach. However, as has happened to this team at
times this year, sloppiness crept in. Cobbs gained about 11 yards down to the 25, but it was called back because of a holding penalty. After Greg Cobbs gained 4 yards on the criss-cross right, it was 2nd-and-16. Wheeling kept left for about 6 yards, but PC was again caught holding. After Coach Hicks called a timeout to try to settle the team, Calfee swept right, then cutback to the middle, gaining 10 yards. PC could not get the 3rd down play off in time, and the ball was moved back 5 more yards for a delay of game. Frank Cobbs gained 9 yards off tackle right, making it 4th-and-13 at the 39. Hamblin tried to ‘coffin corner’ the punt, but his angle was way off, or the ball went off the side of his foot. The punt sailed high and out of bounds, traveling only 7 yards. The Colonels took over on their own 32, their best starting field position of the night, with 8:24 remaining. WF found Pinkney for a 15-yard gain. On 2nd-and-7, DeMario Smith went up the middle for 11 yards and a first down. After a holding call set the Colonels back
for a 1st-and-17, Barrett scrambled left and passed to Young, who got down to the PC
32. A swing pass right to Grant was stopped for a gain of a yard by Cross,
Brockmeyer Lack of discipline hurt the Cougars again, as an offsides penalty gave the Colonels a first down. A screen pass left to Young gained 16 yards, down to the 8 for 1st-and-goal. Grant fumbled on the next play, but Fleming recovered the ball at the 15. A pass left to Mike Boyd gained 11 yards, making it 3rd-and-goal at the 4. Grant went off tackle right, and toughed his way in for a score. The PAT made it 27-10, with only 2:53 to go. Wheeling did a good job of recovering the ensuing onsides kick at the Cougar 49. After the play, there were some minor altercations between some of the players. Things were still not quite settled before
the first down play, so the referee took the respective captains King and Lionell Hairston
aside for a minute for peacemaking. After cooler heads had prevailed, Jeremy Porter (in for Calfee) gained 4 yards. Frank Cobbs took the FB dive ahead for 9 yards. Porter swept right for 6 yards. Cobbs went up the middle for a couple, making it 3rd-and-2. Porter got the last first down of the night with an 8-yard sweep to the 20. As has happened several times this year, the Cougars ended the game deep in the opponent’s territory. Porter carried left for a few yards, then time ran out. PC 27, WF 10. Coach Ken Dobson was pleased with his kicker's performance. "Hedge is getting stronger," he commended. "As the season goes on, he gains more confidence and is hitting the ball very well." Hedge was mentioned by fans as a possible MVP for the game, after booting his kickoffs practically out of the stadium that is named for his kicking coach. On the last series of the first half, the Cougar offense still managed to put points on the board, after starting at their own two yard line. A few plays later deep into Colonel territory, the Cougars seemed to be wasting time, letting the clock run down to just a few seconds before calling a time out. "We only had one left, so we needed to use it to get the kicker out there and get set up for the field goal," Coach Hicks explained. The end of the half drive was sparked by perhaps the most elegant pass of Wheeling's career, over the middle to Josh Bowling. "I took off, then looked back to find the ball, and one defender near me looked confused, like he expected someone else to be there," Bowling recalled. "You can't ask for a more perfect pass than that into tight coverage." Local broadcaster and sportswriter Dan Callahan noted that Hedge seemed to take a quicker approach than his kickoff coverage team, clearly getting to the ball before them. Apparently, he had been coached this week to build more speed before delivering the kick. Fleming’s defense held the Cougars to the fewest points in a game this season. Coach Hicks recognized the talent of Kareem Waller on Fleming's defense, commenting, "We were able to handle Waller, so, mostly we just stopped ourselves." "On the goal line, trying for a touchdown, I got hit pretty hard by the safety," Calfee remembered after the game. However, he denied having any injury that affected his performance. He seemed to show some tenativeness later on several runs, but explained that when surrounded, "sometimes I slow up to absorb the blow." "When he came to the huddle he was saying 'I like hits like that'," Bill Farlow recalled, referring to the hit Wheeling took after picking up a punt on the bounce with tacklers zeroing in. He had seen Andre Davis fumble away a punt return on a similar play in the previous night’s Va. Tech game, but said, "I didn’t let that stop me." "I like to pop right up and get on with it," Alan added. Farlow already had his mind on Patrick Henry. "Its going to be a tough game. We need to prepare real well to beat them." "We did all right offensively, but need not to get as many penalties. They really take the wind out of our sails. It takes a few plays to recover from one," said Frank Cobbs. He disagreed that the team might have lost some edge because of being ahead on the score board. "When we are ahead, we are even more motivated to score. Some of these teams beat us last year, and we want to pay them back." Next week, the Cougars have some time off, but things will not be at a standstill, as they prepare to return to Dobson Stadium for the huge battle with currently undefeated (7-0) Patrick Henry. The Patriots also won this week, rallying late to defeat previously unbeaten Cave Spring 21-17 at Victory Stadium. It has been a good while since undefeated RVD teams have met this late in the season. Before this week, there were 3 RVD teams with spotless records. The Patriots will come into the Oct. 27 contest at 8-0 as well, if they beat Franklin County next Friday night. Possession-by-Possession Summary
Photos by Steven Marcus
|
HOME
