The Locker Room
Cougars
Devour Beavers Unlike last year’s meeting between these two teams, this one was over long before the gun. The Cougars ran away in the second half, and raised their record to 4-0.
Bluefield got first possession, but went nowhere. Alan Wheeling took the punt back into Bluefield territory at the 32. Two plays later, Josh Calfee took it in from 24 yards out. John Hedge’s PAT made it 7-0 PC. The Beavers had a quick second possession as well. Wheeling again returned the punt into Beaver territory, this time to the 45. Five plays later, Frank Cobbs, last week’s hero in the big win over Salem, went 15 yards for the score. The PAT made it 14-0 with 5:49 of the first quarter yet to be played. With yet another fast start, PC made it look as though this one might be over early. Bluefield had more success on the next possession, moving the ball to the PC 40 for a first down. Lamar Bennett was stopped for no gain. QB Jarrod Sudduth passed over the middle to Jason Thompson down to the Cougar 26, but the Beavers were called for holding, making it 2nd-and-24 at the Beaver 46. Sudduth rolled left, and passed to Thompson over the middle for a 19-yard gain, making it 3rd-and-5 at the PC 35. An incomplete pass, followed by a delay of game penalty, made it 4th-and-10. Sudduth threw to Bennett crossing over the middle. The play picked up 19 yards, and kept the drive going.
Tony Napper took the sweep left for 9 yards. After Bennett was dropped for a loss of 3, Sudduth completed a pass to Bennett for 12 yards, making it 1st-and-goal at the 3. After the teams changed ends to begin the second quarter, Bennett carried it in for the score. David Orr’s extra point cut the Cougar lead to 14-7. Orr‘s kickoff went out of bounds. Calfee lost 2 yards on 1st-and-10 from the PC 35. Frank Cobbs regained those yards, making it 3rd-and-10. Wheeling rolled right, then scrambled, but got only 4 yards. Brandon Hamblin’s punt was downed at the Bluefield 24. Bennett swept right, and fumbled. The ball went out of bounds at the 35, giving the Beavers a first down. An illegal motion penalty made it 1st-and-15. David Hale intercepted Sudduth’s pass at the PC 39, and returned it 13 yards into Beaver territory at the 48. The momentum went back to the Cougars. It took only 5 plays for PC to make Bluefield pay. Frank Cobbs carried twice for a total of 13 yards. Calfee gained 7 yards to make it 2nd-and-3 at the 28. Cobbs then broke the FB dive play, getting all the way down to the 5. Calfee ran left, and went in untouched. Hedge’s PAT made it 21-7 with 6:55 left before halftime.
Napper took John Hedge’s kickoff from the 1 to the 25. The Beavers were penalized for clipping on the play, moving the ball back to the 11. Bennett gained 4 yards, then John Murray took the pitch right for 11 yards to move the chains. John Murray gained 9 yards up the middle, then was stopped just short of the first down on the next play. Bennett ran for 3 yards to convert on 3rd down. After the teams swapped 5-yard penalties, Bennett gained 6 yards after escaping a tackle at the line of scrimmage. Bennett gained 2 yards, then Craig Bauer got the first down with a 13-yard carry. Napper was stopped for no gain, then Sudduth rolled right and completed a pass to Thompson at the Cougar 23. Jeff King was called for roughing the passer on the play, making it 1st-and-10 on the Cougar 12. Bennett carried the pitch left for 8 yards, then went right down to the 1-yard line, making it 1st-and-goal. After the Beavers used their last time out of the half with 34 seconds left before the break, Bennett went in for the score. Orr’s PAT made it a 7-point game once again. Calfee took the kickoff at the 12, and gained some yardage right before fumbled. He was able to recover, and advance the ball to the 35. Wheeling dumped off a pass to Frank Cobbs for a 2-yard loss. The clock then ran down, with the score 21-14. As had happened against Salem the week before, the Cougars came roaring out of the gate, only to see the opponents make a game of it.
The Beavers kicked off from their own 35 (after the first attempt resulted in an offside penalty) to begin the second half. Calfee took it 27 yards from the PC 13 up to the 40. Calfee then ran for 4 yards. On second down, he ran left for 21 yards down to the Bluefield 35 before being forced out of bounds. A Bluefield player, Brenton Pannell, laid on the field and was attended to for a few minutes before being taken off on a stretcher. Two more runs by Calfee gained 11 yards, and moved the chains. After an offside penalty made it 1st-and-5, Frank Cobbs ran for 6 yards. The ball was resting on the Bluefield 13. Calfee gained 10 yards down to the 3, but the Cougars were penalized for an illegal block. This made it 1st-and-24 at the 27. Greg Cobbs carried the criss-cross play right for 5, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty moved the ball back to the 36 for 2nd-and-33. Calfee ran left for a good gain, but a clipping penalty cut the gain down to 4 yards. On 2nd-and-29 from the 32, Calfee’s sweep right was nullified by an illegal procedure penalty. This 4th consecutive play with the Cougars being flagged made it 2nd-and-34. Frank Cobbs got 10 yards on the FB dive, making it 3rd-and-24. It looked as if PC had, by virtue of failure to concentrate, ruined a crucial drive. The next play saw the Cougars using a rare weapon - the pass. Wheeling dropped back, got great protection, and found Greg Cobbs open over the middle in the endzone. The pass was right on the money. “It took forever to come down, then it hit my hands and I grabbed it,” said Cobbs of his first career touchdown catch.
Hedge tacked on the PAT to stretch the led to 28-14. PC dug itself out of a hole with one perfectly executed play through the air. John Hedge’s kickoff was taken at the 1 by Napper, who gained 23 yards on the return. Three plays later, Thompson punted on 4th-and-8. Wheeling returned for 18 yards to the Beaver 42. On 2nd-and-9, Calfee ran right, and cutback left. He was knocked out of bounds at the 18. On 3rd-and-5 from the 13, Calfee took the pitch left all the way down to the 1 for 1st-and-goal. Frank Cobbs then took the FB dive in for the score. The PAT made it 35-14, with 3:21 left in the quarter. Randy Neal took the short kickoff at the 28, returning it to the Beaver 37. Bluefield gained a first down before a penalty and 3 incomplete passes left the Beavers with 4th-and-15 from their own 49. Thompson’s punt was downed at the PC 17. On 3rd-and-3 from the 24, Calfee took the quick pitch right for 13 yards. Frank Cobbs then took the FB dive, carrying tacklers up to midfield. Time ran out on the 3rd quarter. Frank Cobbs decided that he was in
range, and broke the dive play up the middle all the way to paydirt. With the score
42-14, and mere seconds short of a whole quarter left to play, the only question was if
the 28-point margin would increase.
Bennett took the kickoff from the 4 to the 24. A penalty and a loss made it 2nd-and-18. Sudduth rolled right and passed to John Murray for 14 yards. He then hit John Murray with a quick slant pass for 8 yards and a first down. Sudduth scrambled left and threw to Gene Stanton for a 28 yard gain down to the Cougar 18. On 2nd-and-10, Craig Bauer went up the middle for the score. 42-21 PC. Antione Meadows returned Orr’s kickoff from the 15 to the 30. Frank Cobbs took the dive play up to the Cougar 44. Wheeling kept right on 2nd-and-6, gaining 12 yards down to the Beaver 40. Jeremy Porter got 5 yards, then Cobbs broke the dive play left, getting down to the 15. With the big lead, Coach Hicks apparently wanted to work on the red zone passing game here. Wheeling rolled right, and passed incomplete for Greg Cobbs. On the next play, Wheeling‘s attempted quick pass over the middle was intercepted by Robert Price, who returned it to the Beaver 25. Three plays later, Thompson punted on 4th-and-4. Wheeling gained 3 yards on the return to the PC 40. After Calfee ran left for 5 and Meadows took the FB dive for 20, the ball was on the Bluefield 35. Just as in the opener against Christiansburg, Porter got in on the action. He ran left, then cutback right, found open spaces, and did not stop before scoring the last TD of the night. With 4:06 left to go, the Cougars had nearly reached the 50-point mark for the second time in only 4 games.
Bluefield gained a first down after the kickoff, then was faced with a 4th-and-22. The Cougars took over after the punt was downed at the PC 43. Joey Radcliffe was now in at QB. No. 27 (I don’t have him on the roster) ran up the middle for 4 yards. Porter gained 2 yards, then Andrew Hodges ran for 7 yards up the middle. Hodges then ran for 14 more. Porter went off tackle right for 12 yards down to the 18. As he did last week, Coach Hicks did not try to score at the end, deciding to let the clock wind down. The 49-21 demolition was enough. “We got up on them quick in the first half, but then we lost intensity. We knew we had to play more intense in the second half,” said Matt “Tater” Roan. Mike Alderman helped change defensive intensity in the third quarter. “We came in here at half and drew it up on the chalk board, and talked about what we had to do to stop them. We were thinking ‘if we play like we did in the first half, we’re going to get beat'.” Travis “T-Love” Williams, knew the Cougars were playing a dangerous team. “The offense knew what to expect by the second half. And we knew we had to score every time down the field.”
Joel Hicks has coached in Mitchell Stadium ever since his rookie year in coaching. “You have to fight for them up here. If you can just get out of here with a win, its good.” Bluefield coach Freddy Simon remained optimistic about his team after the game. “We don’t play in a district, although I wish we did. We just have to finish in the top 16 point getters to qualify for the playoffs. We have one Triple A opponent remaining, Woodrow Wilson. Our kids are young and I feel like we can improve every week. We should be better matched up with our double A opponents. Pulaski County has some quick backs. My son even spent some time reading Cougarfootball.net this week.” PCHS student enthusiasm for this team is running high. For the second week in a row students made the trip to form a vocal renegade cheering section down front. They seemed to have great fun teasing their friends, best exhibited when they chanted ‘Tater’ like he was a hero that had won the game after a basic special teams tackle. Looking forward to the game with Danville next week, Greg Cobbs said, “We’ve got to go to work Monday and get ready for that.” Interviews by Jeff
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