Cougars Take The Hill (City)
by Ardent Cougar

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What was predicted to be a close contest quickly turned into a 'no contest'.  The 34-14 final score was an understatement of how the Cougars clearly dominated play. 
 

E. C. Glass took first possession, starting at its own 35 after the kickoff went out of bounds.  The Hilltoppers managed a couple of first downs before facing a 4th down play in Cougar territory.  The attempt to get the first down failed, as PC held, and took possession.

The Cougars would soon enough face 4th down as well, and after a Brandon Hamblin punt, Glass took over at its own 20. 

After 3 plays left the Hilltoppers in a 4th-and-8 at their own 22, Glass Coach Dennis Peters decided on a very risky gamble.  Punter Tyler Cobb attempted a pass for Brandon Mays, who was closely guarded.  The pass fell incomplete.  PC was given a gift in field position. 

One play later, The Hilltoppers paid the price.  QB Alan Wheeling rolled left, and tossed a pass to Matt "Tater" Roan inside the 5.  He went in untouched for the score.  John Hedge's PAT made it 7-0 with 2:24 left in the first quarter. 

"It was the same play from last week, that was overthrown.  We had the momentum after the fake punt," Roan said.  "I looked over my shoulder, and there it was.  Alan put it right to me." 
 

Eric Richie returned Hedge's kickoff from the 1 to the 22.  On 2nd-and-8 from the 24, a flare pass to Adrian Herndon was stopped for no gain.  However, the Cougars were penalized (as they were often in this game) for a facemask on the play, moving the ball to the Glass 39.  The drive ended 3 plays later, as Frank Cobbs intercepted L.B. Cabell's overthrown 3rd-and-7 pass.  He returned it 17 yards from the PC 28 to the 45. 

PC extended the lead 7 plays later.  Two key plays for the drive were Wheeling's 14-yard keeper, and  Josh Calfee's 13 yard run on 3rd-and-2 from the Glass 34.  F. Cobbs capped off the drive with a 17 yard FB dive play for the score.  Hedge again added the PAT, and it was 14-0 PC. The clock read 8:54 left until halftime. 

Terry Trayham returned Hedge's kickoff 27 yards to the Glass 29.  After a first down, the Hilltoppers faced 3rd-and-15 on their own 35.  Cabell was again intercepted, this time by Jonathan Anderson.  He gained 28 yards on the return down to the Glass 38.  However, a clipping call on the runback pushed PC back into its own territory at the 47. 

Once again, a Glass miscue was punished.  After Calfee and F. Cobbs combined to move the chains, the Cougars faced 2nd-and-10 from the Hilltopper 40.  Wheeling faked left, and kept right.  The play completely fooled Glass.  The mobile QB headed for the sideline, and then for the endzone.  His fleet footed scamper let it be known that an unexpected rout was on.  Hedge tacked on the extra point, and it was 21-0 with only 5:41 left before the break. 
 

After starting the next possession on its own 23, Glass eked out one first down before facing 2nd-and-10 at the 33.  The Hilltoppers tried to pull off a reverse. Cabell pitched to Richie going right, who then handed off to Trayham going left.  Gordon Cross was not fooled, and tackled Trayham for an 8-yard loss. 

"I just stepped up and read the play.  They were yelling reverse.  I stuck it to him.  It felt nice," Cross said. 

On the next play, David Hale picked off another errant Cabell pass at the PC 41, and was tackled there.  This 3rd interception of the night put the Cougars in good field position once again. 

On 2nd-and-7 from the Cougar 44, Calfee ran left, almost breaking free, but settling for a 27 yard gain.  He then gained 3 yards on first down.  PC called a timeout with 1:56 left.  F. Cobbs moved the ball to the 8 with an 18 yard FB dive.  Calfee then ran left into the endzone, untouched.  Hedge's kick made it 28-0. 

On the ensuing possession, the Hilltoppers got a first down, converting a 3rd-and-5 with a 12 yard pass play to John Davis.  Glass then called a timeout with 42.3 seconds showing.  On 2nd-and-10 from the Glass 37, Adam Roop broke up a pass.  Unfortunately, Adam Brockmeyer was called for a personal foul on the play, moving the ball to the Cougar 48. 
 

On 1st-and-10, Cabell completed a pass to Lavar Davis for a 25 yard gain.  It appeared as though he had pushed off on the play, but no penalty was called.  Cabell then spiked the ball to stop the clock at 19.5 seconds.  After a Glass penalty on the next play made it 2nd-and-20 from the PC 33,  Cabell was hit in the backfield, as he attempted to drop back for a pass.  Andy Swartz recovered for PC at the 44. 

F. Cobbs gained a couple of yards on the FB dive as the half ended.  The Cougars were making the Hilltoppers look like cellar dwellers. 

Calfee returned the second half kickoff 20 yards to the Cougar 30.  F. Cobbs gained 11 yards on 2nd-and-10.  He also moved the chains with a 5 yard dive on 3rd-and-1 from the 50.  After a delay of game penalty, Wheeling rolled right on 1st-and-15 and threw to Jeff King, who gained 9 on the play.  An illegal procedure penalty made it 3rd-and-11 from the Glass 46.  A nicely executed screen pass left to F. Cobbs netted 26 yards, moving the chains.  Hale gained only 1 yard on 3rd-and-4 from the 14.  Hedge converted his first field goal attempt of the game, making it 31-0. 

The Hilltoppers got great field position on the kickoff, as Trayham returned Hedge's kick from the 4 to the 33.  A personal foul penalty on the Cougars moved the ball to the Glass 48.  However, 3 plays gained only a total of 7 yards.  Cobb's punt was downed at the PC 23. 
 

With the comfortable margin, Coach Hicks began sending in backups, both to rest the starters for next week's showdown with Salem, and to give the second stringers experience. 

Last week's standout performer Jeremy Porter had less luck this week.  On the first play after the punt, he was hit and fumbled, as he tried to make something out of nothing.  The Hilltoppers recovered at the 23. 

On 3rd-and-7 from the 20, a 9 yard pass play gave Glass a first down at the 11.  On 3rd-and-9 from the 10, a reverse pass from J. Davis to Derek Jones finally got Glass on the scoreboard.  The Cougars blocked the PAT attempt.  The score stood at 31-6 with 11:04 left in the game. 

Calfee again got good yardage on the kickoff return, moving the ball 28 yards out to the PC 32.  After an illegal procedure penalty, Calfee ran right for 10 yards.  On 2nd-and-5, F. Cobbs proved the FB dive play gainful once again.  The 25 yard run moved the ball to the Glass 38. 

On 2nd-and-13, Wheeling faked a handoff, and passed over the middle to King, who was tackled at the 26.  Wheeling's 5 yard QB sneak set up 3rd-and-3 from the 19.  F. Cobbs gained 5 yards for a first down at the 14.  Here the drive stalled, as Wheeling was sacked for a loss on 2nd down, and Calfee's 3rd down run could not convert.  Hedge booted another field goal, and it was 34-6.  With a little over 5 minutes left, this one was over, but for some window dressing. 
 

Hedge's kickoff went in for a touchback.  After a pair of incomplete passes, a Brockmeyer sack was nearly nullified by (yet another) PC personal foul.  Glass faced 4th-and-6 from its own 24.  On the ensuing punt play, the Cougars were called for a 15 yard penalty before the change of possession.  The Hilltopper drive was alive, thanks to a couple of undisciplined penalties.  Things had been getting sloppy after halftime, and they were reaching ridiculous proportions here. 

On 1st-and-10, Cabell kept left on the option play for 14 yards, moving the ball into Cougar territory at the 43.  On 3rd-and-3, Anderson intercepted his second pass of the night, returning it 26 yards from the PC 19 up to the 45. 

The clock appeared to be as slow as molasses on this swelteringly humid evening.  There were still three minutes and thirty seconds to go before the curtain was to fall. 

After three runs sandwiched yet another PC penalty, it was 4th-and-3 from the Hilltopper 48.  Porter gained only a yard on the pitch left, and Glass had one more chance to get a cosmetic score. 
 

Herndon carried the option pitch right on 2nd-and-10 for 14 yards.  He ran the same thing to the other side on the next play, gaining 20 yards.  The ball was at the Cougar 19.  Glass called a timeout with 33.9 seconds to go. 

On 3rd-and-12 from the 21, Cabell rolled right, and completed a pass to J. Davis, who made his way down to the 4.  On the play, the Cougars were once again called for a personal foul penalty, moving the ball down to the 2.  With 17.4 seconds left, Coach Hicks called a timeout, both to talk to his players, as well as to take the opportunity to give the officials his opinion on their jobs calling the penalties. 

Herndon scored on the next play, and then took a flare pass out of the backfield to add on 2 points.

Calfee downed the ensuing squib kickoff at the PC 21.  QB Joey Radcliffe then took a knee, finally ending a game that had been long since decided. 

Commenting on our players jumping offsides, Offensive Line Coach Jack Turner said, "Our kids said that Glass was barking out our signals, but that's no excuse. We need to work on being better than that.  The officials did give Glass a warning about that." 

Next week - the ultimate test.

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Interviews by Jeff Wolfe
Photos by Steven Marcus