From The Bleachers 2000:
Week Six
by Ardent Cougar

Friday, September 29 - Halifax County Blue Comets (Away):

Series:  Halifax County leads 3-2. 
Last Meeting: 1999 at PC.  The Cougars were mired in a rare 3-game skid last year, when the Blue Comets came to town.  It was clear early on that this one was not going to be close.  PC lead 28-0, and breezed to a 51-8 pasting of Halifax, snapping the losing streak.

The Cougars take their longest road trip of this "away from home" season this week, heading to South Boston for the first time since the 1991 playoffs.  The Blue Comets are coming back home from their own 3-game road trip.  Halifax seems to be somewhat improved from last season's 1-9 squad.  Last week, the Blue Comets went to Roanoke and were smashed 51-25 by Patrick Henry.

Matt Gilliam's Ratings for this week put us at No. 4 in the state with a rating of  90.27.  Halifax is ranked No. 183 with a rating of 42.57.  For those who are curious, Patrick Henry is 33rd with a rating of 70.43, Cave Spring is 39th with a rating of 67.49, and last week's opponent G.W. Danville is 34th with a rating of 70.00.

More importantly, the Un-Official Northwest Region VHSL Power Ratings show us atop the Northwestern Region Divsion 5 standings.  Of course, the most important thing is winning the district, and we've yet to begin that part of the schedule.

Remember last season, when you would cringe as an opposing running back would not go up the middle, but would run wide?  As one of our kickoffs or punts would not go out of play, but instead end up in the hands of a returner who would cut right through us?

What a difference a year makes.  You can tell how hard the team has worked.

This season, the defense is stuffing those perimeter plays.  The players are coming up strong, filling those holes, and hitting hard.  The kick coverage teams have been doing much of the same.

The starting defense:

Defensive Interior Linemen:  Gordon Cross (No. 52), Chris Hardin (No. 55), Mike Alderman (No. 65), Chris Denny (No. 76)
Defensive Ends:  Adam Roop (No. 9), Jeff King (No. 82)
Linebackers:  Antione Meadows (No. 22), Adam Brockmeyer (No. 42)
Cornerbacks:  David Hale (No. 6), Alan Wheeling (No. 18)
Safety:  Frank Cobbs (No. 8)

Note that we have several talented offensive players lending their skills on the other side of the ball.

Cornerback Jon Anderson (No. 10), who has been out lately because of a shoulder injury, will hopefully return soon.

Coach Hicks apparently knows how to follow up those very rare 5-5 years.  The 1991 team followed the 1990 disaster, and was predicted to do little.  Instead, Hicks guided "The Team That Never Quit" to an 8-2 record and a victory over No. 1 Woodbridge in the first round of the playoffs.  That team was followed by the 1992 State Championship squad.

Week Five Review - G. W. Danville Eagles (Home):

Finally returning home from a spectacular 3 weeks on the road, the Cougars stuffed the Eagles 41-13.  Frank Cobbs scored twice on both offense and defense, returning an interception 47 yards for a score, and covering a botched snap to the punter in the endzone.  The interception return increased the lead to 21-7, and PC was never threatened again. Once again, Cobbs and Josh Calfee (who moved up to No. 3 on the Cougar Career Rushing Yards List) both had over 100 yards rushing.  Alan Wheeling ran for one score, and threw for another.

How about that defense!  The high-powered Danville offense was totally shut down.  The score was 42-7 before the Eagles got a cosmetic score on the second team with scant seconds remaining.  Micah Knight gained only 77 yards (on 19 carries) this year after running all over PC's defense in 1999.  The secondary picked off 3 errant passes, Cobbs getting two, and Wheeling one.

Listen to an audio clip of Cobb's interception return on the G.W. Danville site.  The main page is G.W. Eagles Football.