Opening drive:
As they would on several other occasions,
Byrd tried a play from the 'Muddle Huddle' formation
on 3rd-and-6 from the Terrier 39.
QB Jeff Highfill (No. 20) hit Jerome Mann with a pass, who...

... carried it down the sideline, to the PC 33.

On 3rd-and-10 from the PC 13, again using the 'Muddle Huddle' formation,
Highfill attempted a 'screen pass' to Marcus English, who was lined up to
the left, behind the wall of blockers.
English caught the ball, but on the bounce, so it was incomplete.
Josh Baumgartner's 30 yard Field Goal gave Byrd a 3-0 lead.

Jeremy Porter took the short kickoff into Terrier territory,
but PC went 3-and-out, a familiar scene in the first half.

Highfill completed a quick sideline pass to Jerome Mann, moving the chains.
The Terriers did a great job in the first 36 minutes, converting several 3rd downs.
English nearly broke some plays right up the middle, and if not for
sure tackling by the Cougar linebackers and secondary, he would have.

Huge play, late in the quarter:
English takes this swing pass, and heads upfield.

Josh Calfee to the rescue! This hit caused English to fumble, and...

... Alan Wheeling made the recovery.
The Cougars had dodged a bullet.
3-0 Byrd, as the teams switched ends.

Another close call:
Greg Cobbs gets separated from the ball...

... it looks like the whole Terrier team, bench included, is on the scene, but...

... the Cougars somehow managed to recover.

4th-and-5 from the PC 25.
Highfill takes the snap from the 'Muddle Huddle' formation, drifts right, then...

... lobs a pass to Mann, who catches it and... 

... makes his way in for an apparent score.
However, a lineman wandered just a little too far downfield.
The penalty made it 4th-and-10 from the 30.
Byrd again elected to go for it.

Brandon Anderson picked off this overthrown pass in the endzone, ending the threat.
(Knocking the pass down would have saved PC 10 yards, since it was 4th down,
but it's probably hard to go against your instinct to pick off a pass when possible.)
The Cougars must have felt like they had targets painted on their backs,
having dodged all these bullets.

After yet another 3-and-out (PC had a grand total of
two first downs in the half), Byrd got the ball back.
Highfill got decent yards on this play, but
Lucas Nester made him pay a price.

Nester again, beating the blocker, and blindsiding Highfill.
This sack set up 4th-and-15 from the PC 41.

The Terriers again reached into their bag of tricks.
It appeared as if they would truly go for the first down,
but Highfill quick kicked instead, the ball barely bouncing into the endzone.
PC moved into Byrd territory, thanks to a 23 yard keeper by Wheeling.
However, a sack, combined with the clock, ended the drive.
A stunned home crowd watched the Cougars head to the lockerroom,
with no points and only a a pair of first downs.
Fortunately, it was only a 3 point deficit.

Something Coach Hicks said at halftime must have gotten through.
Starting at their own 4 after a penalty on the kickoff,
the Cougars began to reassert themselves.
Porter takes the ball on 3rd-and-2...

... getting 23 yards, to the Cougar 35.

2nd-and-2 from the Byrd 47.
Porter breaks several tackles on this play...

... not stopping, until he was finally corralled at the 6.
 

Calfee sweeps left...

... cutting back upfield, finding the goalline, and bulling over.
Cougars lead, 7-3!

The momentum swings back in the other direction.
Just when it looked like the Cougars were going to
take a strong drive in for another score,
Calfee gets hit and fumbles, and the Terriers recover.

Byrd scored 7 plays later.
After keeping for a first down on 4th-and-1 from the PC 30,
Highfill finds Allen for a score, with 1:50 left in the 3rd.
The missed PAT made it 9-7 Terriers.
For the second straight game, the Cougars trailed,
as the game headed into the final 12 minutes.

Calfee (left) on 3rd down...

.... keeping the drive alive.
'Referee' Derrick Sartin makes the right call.
First and Ten, Cougars!

After Derrick Burks (in for Porter, who was suffering leg cramps)
ripped off runs of 23 and 8 yards, Calfee muscles his way in from the 6.
14-9 PC, with 8:36 to go.

Hedge's kickoff went out of bounds, giving Byrd possession at the 35.
On the very next play, English fumbled, and the Cougars recovered.

"YEAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

It only took PC a pair of Derrick Burks rushes to score again.
After a 14 yard gain, Derrick takes it off tackle...

... and in, for a 23 yard trip to paydirt.
21-9, and a game that was cloudy just a few minutes before,
was becoming clearer.

"Come on! We're winning! Let's have a smiling contest! I'll go first!"

Nester puts the pressure on Highfill, who was able to get rid of the ball.

He would wish that he had not.
Calfee picked it off, on the far sideline.
PC was back in business, at the Terrier 49.

Porter made a demoralized Byrd defense pay...

... dragging his tackler down to the 10.
1st-and-goal!

After Calfee got it down to the 2,
Porter added icing to the cake, pushing his way in for the final TD.
28-9, with only 4:19 left.

Kaaaaa-runch!
Nester gets another sack, laying it on Highfill.

With the game under control, and the band playing 'New York, New York',
the cheerleaders were in a festive mood.

One of the dangers about using a formation like this, is...

... the occasional high snap, which costs you either the ball, or a big chunk of yardage.
Chris Hardin picked off a pass on the next play.
The rest was uneventful, and the Cougars had earned a hard fought 28-9 victory.