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Week Fifteen by Ardent Cougar
Saturday, December 8 - Lafayette Rams (Division 4 State Championship, Liberty University, Williams Stadium, 12:30pm): Series:
Tied
at 1-1.
Thirteen games ago, the Pulaski County Cougars began the 2001 Season with a new classification, and in a new district. Thirteen games and a dozen wins later, the Cougars will play in their third state championship game, in a decade. (Click on Cougar Playoff History for a complete picture of PC in the postseason.) In
1979,
a road win against Lafayette was a big one, part of a 5-game regular season
turnaround in Coach Hicks' inaugural season. Now, a victory over
the Bay Rivers District and Region I Champions would mean so much more.
One week after giving up 40 points to King George, Lafayette defeated the heavily favored Liberty-Bealeton Eagles 3-0, with Senior Connor Hughes booting a Virginia AA playoff-record 49-yard field goal just before halftime, providing the only points of the contest. One might have to go all the way back to the 1924 AAA Championship, where Roanoke-Jefferson Senior defeated Woodrow Wilson 3-0, for a game that would match this one for offensive futility (or, defensive excellence) on both sides of the ball, during a playoff matchup. The Rams are in the playoffs for the 5th year in a row. They lost to Salem in the finals in 1998, after beating Liberty 21-7 in the semis. This year's edition has won 9 consecutive games, after a 1-2 start. Head Coach Paul Wheeler is a former PC assistant, and played for Coach Hicks at Woodrow Wilson HS in Beckley, WV. The Ram defense does not give up big plays, as the Eagles found out last week, so (as is always true) cutting out turnovers and drive-killing penalties is an absolute must. Learn more about our opponent, from the Washington Post's Liberty-Lafayette pregame article. For quite some time now, before every home game, the Cougars have proudly emerged from the fieldhouse, and marched down the steps, with fans gathered at the bottom to greet them.
During this awesome ceremony, the band plays the theme from, '2001: A Space Odyssey'. 2001.
.
It was a great first half. The Cougars dominated the first 24 minutes of play, leading 31-6 at the break. Jeremy Porter and Josh Calfee (each with a pair of scores) ran over the Scarlet Hurricane defense. One of Josh's runs in the 1st Quarter put him over 5,000 for his career, with both regular season and playoffs combined. Calfee also had an interception. Alan Wheeling was 2-for-2 passing, for 57 yards. PC jumped out to a 21-0 lead, and with the exception of one play, pretty much held Marion's Marshall Doss in check. John Hedge's field goal in the last minute of the half, gave the Cougars a seemingly unchallengeable lead. Things got a bit sloppy in the second half. Marion used up most of the 3rd Quarter on a 76-yard, 16-play drive, to get within 32-12. Porter then fumbled away a promising drive. The Scarlet Hurricane had some success with their quick-hitting belly option offense. QB Brandon Creasy broke a keeper, getting down to the PC 10 where Calfee saved a TD, before Matt Roan ended the threat with an interception. Porter then fumbled away another good possession. I don't know if it was just Jeremy losing some concentration and holding the ball too far away from his body, or Marion's defenders being really good at stripping the ball, but the 'edge' was gone from the Cougars. Marion moved downfield, and Creasy scored a TD and ran it in for the PAT, making it 31-20 with 2:05 to go. Matt Tilley recovered the onsides kick for PC, and it looked like Cougar Fans could breathe easy the rest of the way. Then with 39.6 ticks left, Wheeling's ankle was stepped on during a handoff play. With Alan sprawled out on the field in pain, we all looked on in disbelief. Fortunately, even though he had to be helped off, he was soon able to walk under his own power, and apparently it was "only" pain, and not further injury (we hope!). Marion brought a road crowd much like our own to this game, and played tough. They deserve a lot of credit for their heart, and fan support. As for PC, we had better see the team that played in the first half, next week against Lafayette.
Previous 2001 Articles: FTB
Week One
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