Game Pictures by Steven Marcus

View From The Stands by Ardent Cougar

Pulaski County did not bring their full Game Face to a 34-24 Blue Ridge District loss to the Northside Vikings.

The hope for an undefeated season was on the line tonight, but very little more.  This was the major reason the Cougars were not fully wired emotionally for this contest.  The clear Blue Ridge District title was already sewn up.  The home field advantage in the playoffs had already been earned.  This game put pride on the line.  The Vikings had more tonight, and it showed most on the play of their swarming defense.  

While Jeremy Porter and Josh Calfee both did break the century mark rushing, the offensive line did not seem to have the enthusiasm to get and keep their blocks.  Alan Wheeling was injured in the first quarter. Calfee was in and out of the game with leg cramps.  This left the Cougars week on tackling at the perimeter at times.  

The Northside offensive perimeter blocking was key, outnumbering the Cougar defensive end on plays that went for long Viking scores.  

Justin London showed why he is a highly recruited linebacker that will be successful at the next level.  But the rest of the Northside defense deserves most of the credit, showing great enthusiasm for  team pursuit.  Lots of gang tackling was the result.

The Cougars had too many penalties due to concentration lapses.

Some of the officiating calls were questionable, two of which involved possible turnovers by the Vikings.

Kick coverage was good except for an uncharacteristic 69-yard kickoff return lapse that sapped the Cougar second half momentum.

Coach Joel Hicks took responsibility for being out-coached tonight.  He cited the Cougars efforts as another cause for the loss.

Northside returned the opening kickoff to the 10.  The offense set the tone for the game by getting three first downs.  The key play was a 4th down and two feet conversion at their own 42.  Phillip Watkins carried for one yard on the conversion.  On 3rd and 9 at their 44, a backward pass was way overthrown by QB Justin Beckner.  It bounced out of bounds for a ten-yard loss, bringing about 4th and 19.

Wheeling fielded the punt at the 31 with no return.  Calfee gained 13 yards on first down, but then the Viking defense stiffened.  Calfee was stopped with losses of one, then two yards, before responding with a 4-yard carry.  John Hedge had a beautiful high arc punt that bounced on the one then out to the four.  Matt Roan downed the ball, but it was going to stop and down itself anyway.

 Four plays later the Vikings would punt standing in their own end zone.  Wheeling called for the fair catch at the Northside 40.  Five plays later Calfee scored on a 19-yard run.  Hedge added the PAT, with only 1:42 remaining in the 1st quarter.  Hedge contributed a touchback.

2nd and 3, Beckner carried on the option play right for 8 yards and a first down.  Wheeling was injured on the play.  He limped very slowly off the field with assistance from the trainer and team doctor.  He will be getting x-rays tonight to consider if he sustained a fracture.  The 1st quarter ended after the next play.

On 3rd and 9 at the Viking 32, Beckner passed complete to Mike Campbell for a 12-yard gain and the first down.  Calfee slung Campbell down in roundhouse fashion on the tackle and the ball came lose with the Cougars recovering for an apparent turnover.  It did not at all seem to have been caused by the ground.  However, it was determined by the officiating crew to be neither a fumble nor an incomplete pass.  This was cause for a great uproar on the Cougar side of the stadium.  

Watkins was stopped for no gain.  Beckner threw the out pattern but vastly over the head of Campbell incomplete.  Another pass attempt deep down the left sideline was well covered by Calfee and 10 yards overthrown.  The Vikings punted and John Harmon filled in for Wheeling, returning the ball to the PC 23.   Harman played well on special teams tonight with several solo tackles on punt coverages.

Joey Radcliffe came on to play QB in place of Wheeling.  Calfee was caught for a 4-yard loss on 1st down.  Jeremy Porter gained a yard on 2nd down.  A screen pass by Radcliffe became a near disaster.  The rush was heavy on him, and he passed to Porter just a few yards away, where he was tackled for a 6-yard loss.

Hedge’s punt was returned to the Viking 48.  Four plays later, Dwayne Saunders took the short reverse play toward the sideline, turning the corner and breaking two tackles for a 40-yard touchdown.  Sure-tackling Wheeling’s absence at corner was looming large.

The PAT was good for the 7-7 tie with 6:12 remaining in the half.

Northside was offsides on their kickoff, and would be penalized 5 yards.  Calfee returned the next kick to the PC 27.  Porter carried for 15 yards on the next play.  Later with 2nd and 12 at the 50, Radcliffe’s pass was very well thrown over the middle to Roan, but Campbell knocked the ball down like volleyball at the last moment.  Porter took the pitch left for 50-yard touchdown on third down.  Hedge added his PAT.  3:36 remained in the half.  Hedge contributed a touchback.

Two plays later Beckner ran the option right for an 81-yard touchdown.  The PAT was good.

Calfee returned the kickoff to the PC 40.  Then he started to have cramping, and would have to leave the game.  Porter would carry three strait times, for gains of 2 and 6, but also a loss of 6.  Calfee’s absence limited the Cougars play calling.  After the punt, the Vikings would run a dive play and be happy to take the tie into halftime.

The Cougars opened the second half with a 17-play drive that ended in a 45-yard Harman field goal.  The kick was very high, and bounced on the bottom cross bar before bouncing through.  This drive consumed 8:21 of clock time.  

Key plays were 52-yard apparent touchdown by Porter that was called back due to holding.  The Cougars had 2nd and 18 at their own 35.  Calfee responded with a 36-yard carry to the Viking 27.  Calfee had a 4th and 1 conversion on the 20 to keep the drive going.  Then Northside’s defense responded.  Porter lost 3 yards on first down.  Calfee gained back 2 on 2nd down.  The Cougars were called with a delay of game penalty.  On third down, Radcliffe dropped back to pass and was sacked.  Once it was apparent that he would not be able to set up to pass, he had trouble committing to running with the ball.  This set up the 45-yard fieldgoal.

The kickoff was near the goal line and it appeared that Campbell stepped on the line while fielding the kick.  The officiating crew disagreed and made no call of touchback.  Campbell returned the ball to the PC 31.   Calfee was starting to cramp again during the next play, but was able to manage to hobble into tackling Watkins at the 3-yard line.  Calfee was helped off the field as play was stopped for a few minutes.  Saunders carried for a 3-yard TD on the next play.  The PAT was good for the 21-17 lead.  The Vikings would not trail the rest of the game.

This quick scoring drive was particularly demoralizing because of how long the Cougars had taken to put up only a fieldgoal.

The kickoff was high and short, fielded by Radcliffe with a fair catch at the PC 35.

Cobbs had no gain on the criss-cross.  Harman carried for no gain, while substituting for Calfee due to more leg cramping.   Calfee carried for no gain on third down.  

Saunders had a 4-yard punt return to the Northside 26.  The Vikings lost yardage on this possession as the Cougar Defense toughened.  The Cougars had a pressing punt rush, but the Viking punter was able to get off a high, short punt, that got a very favorable roll to the PC 38.

London showed why he is a Division I recruit at linebacker as he sliced through the line to limit Porter to a 1-yard gain.  Porter had a 2-yard carry.   With 3rd and 7, Radcliffe was going to drop back to throw over the middle to Roan, but the Cougars were called for illegal procedure.  Porter would run for 7 to bring about 4th and 5, and punting would follow.  

The Cougar defense held Northside to three and a punt.  The Vikings fumbled on first down, and the Cougars recovered but the officiating crew deemed the ball carrier down before the fumble.

Harman returned the punt to the 30.  Calfee was stopped with no gain.  Porter ran left for 5 yards.  PC was called for illegal procedure, as one of the tackles was anxious to get out to his block quickly on the perimeter.  Porter carried for 5 more yards.  With about 5 minutes remaining in the game, trailing 21-17 the Cougars called timeout before going for it on 4th and 5 at their own 35.  Porter carried for only three yards and the ball would go over on downs.

London took the short reverse play toward the sideline, and turned the corner where the Vikings had the Cougar defensive end well blocked.  He continued on for 43-yard touchdown.  The PAT attempt was bobbled, and the holder tackled after attempting a run, 27-17 Vikings with 3:02 remaining.

Calfee returned the kickoff to the 24.  Radcliffe rolled left and passed to Cobbs for a 29-yard gain.  Porter carried right 44 yards for a touchdown two plays later.  The PAT cut the score to 27-24.  

The Harmon onside kick attempt was caught by Viking Jordan Keen, and 1:58 remained.  The Vikings ran for 2 yards, and PC called its last timeout.  London carried the short reverse for a 6-yard gain.  He made the mistake of running out of bounds.  However, he made up for this mental lapse by taking the same play the other direction for a 47-yard touchdown.  The PAT was good for the final margin, Vikings 34 – Cougars 24.

The Cougars would drive to the Northside 24, keyed by a 24-yard carry by Cobbs on the criss-cross play.  Cobbs would have the ball knocked loose two plays later.  The Vikings would run out the game clock on the next play.

London was on cloud nine after the game.  “I love it.  This is the biggest game of my life.  I’m supposed to be one of the best, and I wanted to show it.  We came to play.  Nobody gave us a chance.  I thank the Lord for blessing me with the last touchdown,” he said.

“You all made this happen, it’s your heart,” said Viking Head Coach Jim Hickam to his team on the field after the game.

How are the Cougars going to respond to this defeat?

“The papers said that they wanted to ruin our season.  They didn’t.  Ruined our night, but not our season,” said Porter.  “In the next playoff game, our heads won’t be as big.”

“It was a dog fight,” said Calfee.  “I think we are going to respond well, put this behind us and keep on playing football.”

What did Calfee think of London?  “He is an excellent football player, a little mouthy though,” he said.  

Did he swear?

“No, but he kept saying that he was going to get me.”

Tonight’s effort was not like the play of the Northside team that lost to William Byrd and Lord Botetourt.  Those losses will keep the Vikings home for the playoffs.  If they had played like this all season, this game would have had more lasting implications, and the Cougars might have come to Roanoke County with their A-Game.

With Amherst’s loss tonight to Jefferson Forest, the Blue Ridge District should field four teams to the playoffs: Pulaski County, Blacksburg, Salem and William Byrd.

Cougar Fans hope Wheeling will be available for the Cougars first AA playoff contest in two weeks.

Game Pictures by Steven Marcus

View From The Stands by Ardent Cougar