Full Story and Interviews
by Jeff Wolfe

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View From The Stands
by Ardent Cougar

This game followed a simple formula:  Kickoff first, make a defensive stop, score on the short field, and repeat.  Travis Williams had two punt blocks after the Cougar defense held tough deep in Petersburg territory.

Explosive Petersburg running back Terrell Bailey kept the game in question with long touchdown runs of 75 and 46 yards.  This made for a nervous night for Cougar fans.  Despite a sizeable lead, it just wasn’t ever a comfortable enough point differential with Bailey in Petersburg’s stable. 

The Cougars sportingly explored the passing game at the end of the first half with a 35-7 lead.  Incompletes and sacks resulted.  This sapped some of Pulaski County’s enormous momentum.  A midfield PC punt attempt sailed over Hedge’s head due to long snapper Matt Roan miscue.  Bailey scored from 6 yards out just before half, to pull the score to PC 35 –P 13 after a failed PAT attempt.  Just 23 seconds remained in the half.  Just one running play instead of a pass incompletion before the non-punt would have deprived Petersburg enough clock time to score before the half. 

A Hedge field goal attempt was low in trajectory into the backs of his own linemen.  Jeremy ‘Prime Time’ Porter ‘Pointed the Way’, as the leading Cougar rusher, over 160 yards.  Josh Calfee had over 150 yards.  Both running backs earned their yards by fighting and wrestling off would be tacklers the last 3 yards of every carry.  Greg Cobbs had about 50 yards running.

Petersburg fell behind early and could not recover.  A very physical team on both sides of the ball, Petersburg opened their season without a competitive kicking game.  One out of every six football plays is a special teams play.  Williams’ and Hedge’s special team play kept the field short for the Cougars all night. 

Big players win big games with exceptional play.  Bailey fell short of this role when he fumbled on his first carry, a ball that was swatted loose by a Cougar defender.  Like most of Bailey’s runs this night, that one looked like he could have taken it to the house. 

Williams’ punt blocks gave PC the ball near the opponent’s 20-yard line.  Hedge put the kickoffs in the endzone, sometimes out of the back. 

Petersburg’s passing offense left a lot to be desired.  Short slip passes and deep sideline routes.  The short passes were met with sure Cougar tackling.  The deep passes always found their receivers tightly covered by Cougar Corners.  “Mr. Wooten, Cougar Corner is a store, Cougar Corner is a store!” 

Calfee had a nice pass break up on a slant pattern.  This was Petersburg’s first game and perhaps not all of the passing offense was in the playbook. 

The defense made the most of the kicking game.  Special teams play kept the Field Position Snowball rolling downhill.  The kickoff team started the opponents deep.  The defense held to three-and-out.  The Cougars would take over near the 50, or on the opponents 20. 

The Cougars kicked off.  Terrell Bailey had the ball slapped away.  PC started on the opponent’s 29.Porter scored from 14 yards out.  Hedge put the ball out of the endzone. 

Petersburg moved from their own 20 to their 40.They punted to the PC 20.The Cougars drove 80 yards in 10 plays, capped off with 4 yard Calfee touchdown, where he pushed off the last tackler with a double forearm, while keeping both hands on the ball.

Petersburg started at the 20 and lost yards before punting to their own 47.Porter scored two plays later on a 37-yard romp. 

Hedge kicked to the 1, but the coverage stopped the runner at the 20.Petersburg drove to their 37, then Lucas Nester sacked the QB for a 10-yard loss. On the next play, Williams blocked his first punt of the night. PC started at the Petersburg 14.Cobbs carried to the one yard line on the criss-cross play. Wheeling punched the ball in on a sneak. 

Petersburg returned the Hedge kickoff to their own 25.Bailey showed his speed with a 75 yard touchdown run on the next play.  He has Division I college prospect skill and could have scored from anywhere on the field.  This made for a nervous night for Cougar fans, despite the large difference in the points on the scoreboard. 

Huge leads did not seem like enough with Bailey on the field.  Multiple times on the night, Wheeling stood like a Safety should, the last line of defense between the running back and the goal line.  Wheeling attacked the line and was not caught hanging back in respect of Bailey’s speed.  Without doubt, if Wheeling had played a NHL goalie type approach, waiting for the puck to come through, Bailey would have run right by him.  He is not a player one can run beside and catch. 

Wheeling limited Bailey’s explosive potential by attacking him in the hole, North-South with his shoulders square.  At times, all of the plays seemed like a prelude to a Wheeling-Bailey one-on-one tackle.  This is a credit to the Petersburg offensive line, not poor play of Cougar linebackers.  Think Cougar linebackers vs. Heritage 2000, not 1999 vs. Salem, and you will understand what I mean. 

Wheeling returned the kickoff to the Cougar 42.Seven plays later Calfee would score from the 8. 

Petersburg got beat on the kicking game again, starting at the 21 after kickoff.  Bailey was given the same play, but Nester met him in the backfield for a loss.  The Cougars held Petersburg on 3^rd and 2 when Nester and Josh Slusser stopped the running back for a 1-yard gain. 

Petersburg had a 27-yard punt.  The Cougars tried some pass plays, embarrassed of trying to score another TD on the ground.  Wheeling rolled right, then had to scamper backwards before an improvisational Lob pass, with a capital ‘L’.  It was a 6-yards in-air super-slow-rainbow to Cobbs, for a three-yard gain. 

The Cougars seemed to lack concentration here, and were called for illegal procedure, for a 5-yard loss.  This drained away the serendipity and yards of the pass completion. 

Wheeling kept left on a sprint-out for 13 yards and a first down.  Then the Cougars attempted to go deep.  Wheeling rolled right but could not get set to throw due the backside rush, and a 13-yard loss was the result.  A jailbreak screen left was almost knocked down by a huge defensive tackle, and Cobbs dropped it only one yard downfield. 

This whole sequence seemed like a scientific experiment, not Cougar football.  But what a great time in the half, field position, and point differential to play around with the Chemistry Set.  Sticking to the running game here would have made for a much more comfortable second half on the scoreboard.  This is the Pass-from-Strength philosophy. 

If Wheeling could have set to throw the ball deep, (and gotten blindsided by someone twice his size,) it would have been the perfect play.  A Cobbs catch on the jailbreak might have meant a long third down conversion.  The Cougars were inches from a successful passing sequence. These are the feet and inches that decide football games, but, just not tonight. 

But who cares?  Flight Testing was more important. We had not been stopped on the running game.  Maybe it is just this writer that dislikes the jailbreak screen play.  Downfield passes seem to have the added insurance of possible interceptions being like short punts.  The clock did not run the half out due to an incomplete pass here.  Giving a Division I prospect like Bailey even just one more carry before half?  No thank you!  Keeping the clock moving seemed more in order. 

The real kicker here was the non-kick.  Roan snapped the ball over Hedge’s head.  However, the Cougars were still just one more defensive-play-stop away from helping the clock tick away before Petersburg could capitalize on the non-punt.  Bailey scored from 6 yards out with 23 seconds remaining in the half.  The PAT was no good after Petersburg incurred a 5-yard penalty.  The Cougars entered the locker room leading 35-13, but now were falling back on their heels. 

Porter brought the kickoff to the PC 41.The Cougars drove to the Petersburg 19 before a bobbled exchange led to a Hedge field goal attempt that was driven low and into the offensive line. 

The Cougar defense stayed strong and three plays later Williams blocked another punt.  After three more plays Calfee carried in from the 13 yard line, and Hedge added the PAT to make the score PC 42 – P 13. 

Petersburg put together their first sustained drive of the night.  They would start at their own 20 after the kickoff, thanks to Hedge.  Bailey carried for two first downs, both runs ending in stops by Safety Wheeling.  But the one-on-one game was too much for Wheeling on this drive, and Bailey would carry for 46 yards to score.  Illegal procedure on the PAT made for a long conversion kick for Petersburg, but it was good, with PC still on top 42-20. 

The Cougars returned the kickoff to their own 49, then put on a nine play drive that resulted in a 2 -yard Porter touchdown run.

At 8:55 remaining in the 4^th quarter, trailing 49-20, Petersburg HC Remus James conceded.  He let his second-team play, and go for it twice deep in their own territory.  Everybody wanted to go home, but the Cougars couldn’t do much else with the short field they were given but score an apologetic touchdown, a 3-yard carry by Calfee. 

Post-Script:

Porter: “It was a good game. I did better than last week.”  Did Porter expect to play fullback when he came back home from playing varsity his freshman year two years ago in Kansas City?  “I expected to play tailback.  I don’t get it that much at fullback, but they are good plays.”  How about pointing on the first touchdown run?  “He looked dazed, I just wanted to show him where he was supposed to be.  The Ref asked me not to point any more.” 

Ben Davidson, 6 foot 8 inch Cougar Senior:  “It was a great game for us, everybody coming out together.  We went out and gave it all our effort."  Did Petersburg have some bigger guys to block?  “The bigger guys aren’t any harder to block than the smaller guys, for me.  I don’t have to worry about that too much.  I keep getting a little better every game.” 

Wheeling:  “In short, they were Big and Physical.”  Was Bailey difficult to tackle?  “That’s a big job for a Safety, having to come up and tackle a back like that, thick legs, good speed.  He’s got to be a D One prospect.” 

Roan:  What happened on the long snap that went over the punter’s head.  “My butt flew up and I knew I lost it.  Coach says to keep my butt down and the ball won’t rise.” 

Williams:  How did you get two punt blocks?  “They didn’t have enough people on my side.  I knew when we lined up I was going to get it.  Our special teams were better than theirs.”  How about the team in general?  “They had some studs up front, especially the Offensive Tackles.  But overall, we were too physical for them.” 

Williams’ Mother:  “I’m so proud of all of them.  They play so well together.  Travis had TWO punt blocks!?”

Williams’ sister, Shelly MacKenzie. PCHS 1986:  “We came down from Hanover for the game.  I brought Gaby with me, a foreign exchange student who is staying with us.  I came to see my brother Travis.  He’s wonderful, but I can still take him.  I get the lip pull on him.” 

Foreign exchange student Gaby Molina, from Bolivia, who is attending high school in Hanover:  Te gusta el juego? this writer asked. “Me Gusta!  This is too tough a sport for me. I’m used to seeing Soccer, the ball staying on the ground, not in the air.” 

Well Said.

Full Story and Interviews
by Jeff Wolfe

.............
View From The Stands
by Ardent Cougar

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