The Locker Room August 23, 2002

Game Pictures by Steven Marcus

DOBSON STADIUM- With the air temperature in the low nineties, it was clearly one of, if not the hottest day of the year. So, with school out early due to the severe heat, this writer had absolutely nothing to do but wait for about two hours alone in the boiling stadium home stands until the games for the Pulaski County High School Touchdown Classic finally began.

After sitting through a pretty decent Graham-Franklin game in which Franklin came back from a likely defeat and won twenty-two to twenty-one, it was go time between the Franklin Eagles and the Pulaski County Cougars. The Cougars quickly gained the upper hand, gaining first downs right and left until finally scoring a touchdown courtesy of fullback Jeremy Porter and putting themselves up on the board 6-0. Derrick Burks also got his well-deserved time in the spotlight for the majority of the game, earning a staggering 85 yards, 39 of which were snagged during a deep left run past the line and barely escaping the Eagle's reach for the second touchdown of the game. That plus a successful Extra point attempt by John Hedge made the score 13-0 with 1:41 left in the half.
 

The defense was strengthened by the 336-pound Justin "Juice" Lewis, who got his nickname from his cousin. "He couldn't pronounce my name, and I happened to drink a lot of juice, so he called me juice and it just stuck." says the junior, who took five yards back from the Eagles, and was assisted by the breakup of what was sure to be a touchdown pass for Franklin by defensive back Brandon Anderson.

The second half began with a Franklin drive that was halted greatly by linebacker Ernie Hodge and defensive back Steven Cobbs. After a punt and a touchback, Burks and Porter paved the way down the gridiron a somewhat short distance to Franklin's 41 yard line.
 

Once there, quarterback Britt Shumate heaved a gigantic 67-yard pass to Greg Sartin where he made it to the Cougar's two-yard line. When asked his view of the pass, Sartin simply stated, "I was watching the ball in the air, and just thinking about making the catch."

Porter then finished off the drive with an option left for the remaining two yards and giving the Cougars a decisive 19-0 lead over the Eagles as the game winded down from 7:18. The remnants of the second half dwindled down as Pulaski linebacker Shaun Branscome sacked opposing quarterback Brooks for a fumble and recovery by the Cougars, who successfully kept the score at 19-0 in their favor to end a great starting game.

Though this writer did not cover Pulaski's second game which was against the Graham G-men, he did cover the cougar's final game of the evening, which was a showdown against the Varina Blue Devils. This promised to be one to pay attention to, as Varina had earlier routed Graham 40-6. Contrary to the natural tension built up from that knowledge, the Cougars began the battle with a decently long drive which was re-fueled by about five first downs, ending with an unsuccessful field goal attempt. The Devils counteracted with undoubtedly the shortest drive this writer has ever seen, unwittingly slamming their own man and giving themselves a fumble, which got snapped up by Pulaski on their own 20 yard line for all of Varina's trouble.

After an incomplete pass attempt from Shumate to Burks, the Cougars decided to run for it a few yards to the 14 yard line, where another field goal attempt was spoiled by an offside penalty against Varina. With five free yards, Pulaski once again called on Derrick Burks and Jeremy Porter for two short runs, the latter of which was unbelievably undefended by the Devils, to the endzone which after a successful extra point attempt by John Hedge, turned the tide in the Cougars' favor 7-0 with 3:01 left in the half.

The final part of the first half was led by a long Varina drive, during which the Cougars once again needed Brandon Anderson for a touchdown prevention courtesy of a broken-up pass from Varina's 6-yard line. After yet another bullrush by the visibly improved defense, Varina fumbled yet again which was again recovered by the Cougars, this time on the PC 1-yard line.

A short and unsuccessful Pulaski drive started the second half and gave the ball back to Varina, who managed to weave through the Cougars' machine-like defense and score their first touchdown of the game. They then decided to run a two point conversion which was unsuccessful, leaving the score at a very close 7-6. Jeremy Porter commenced Pulaski's following drive with a 20-yard run straight up the middle of the line to give him a well-earned 67 yards so far in the game. After he was made into road kill in the following play for no gain, the Cougars surprised everyone with a criss-cross, handing off from Shumate to Porter to Ernie Hodge for an immense 45-yard touchdown run and a successful extra point, leaving the score 14-6 with 8:47 remaining in the final game of the night.

The Cougar defense once again entertained the hit-seekers in the crowd by pushing back Varina's offense from their 35-yard line to the 34, and finally the 30 over 3 plays of the drive, keeping the Blue Devils from scoring for the remainder of the game, even during a relatively lengthy Varina drive which, in truth, never made it past Pulaski's 45-yard line. The end result for the final game was a 14-6 Cougar victory with no loss in sight for them that evening.

Jeremy Porter was his usual self with 73 yards. Ernie Hodge followed up with 45 yards, all from that criss-cross play. Lastly, the epitome of potential, Derrick Burks wound up with 17 yards in the final game, highly understandable due to his astounding performance in the earlier games. Although the offensive line was visibly improved since the scrimmage last week, head coach Joel Hicks stated that "they've all improved as a team, from the defensive front to the offensive line. It was all a team effort, and it worked out very impressively. That last game was a fistfight, and it proved just how exciting it is to watch these young men." With that in mind, this writer would personally like to invite all football fans to attend the first season game next week against Tazewell, where it is sure to be just as exciting. Well, that's it. I'll see ya next week at the Tazewell game. 

The Touchdown Classic two quarters against Graham was an interesting measure of what a week of practice can do for the Cougars.  The G-Men were without one of their key running backs from the previous week’s scrimmage.   He appeared to have been injured during play against Varina.  This may have been one reason that play seemed ‘flatter’ on both sides of the ball. 

Fatigue and inattention penalties were down for both teams compared to last week.  The number of turnovers was decreased for both teams compared to last week’s four-quarter scrimmage. 

Improved play by the Cougar offensive line gave PC a comfortable lead.  This made for a somewhat less exciting encounter.  Graham injury notwithstanding, this time might have been a more accurate measuring tool for the Cougars against their own performance a week prior. 

Graham has a passing attack that may prepare the Cougars for the likes of Salem.  Traditionally, the Spartans emphasize the run more than the G-Men. But when passing, the headaches for Cougar defenders appear similar.

The G-Men drove on their first drive, and appeared to have scored a touchdown twice, but both were passes that fell out of the receivers’ hands.  Graham settled for a field goal.

Jeremy Porter carried for 12 yards each on his first two carries.  This illustrated the improved blocking by the Cougar offensive line. 

“We did a whole lot better than last time,” said lineman Cory Bentley.  “We’re getting the wall set now,” he added.
 

The Cougars appeared out of options, 4th and 11 on the Graham 31, when Britt Shumate hooked up on a 31-yard TD pass to Brandon Anderson.  The John Hedge PAT brought about the 7-3 lead with 3:32 remaining in the first “half” quarter. “Coach Hicks called it, and I was nervous.  I had some trouble passing last week,” said Shumate.  “The line stepped it up this week.  I wasn’t rushed and I hit Anderson on the stop-and-go route, right over the shoulder.”

“After the curl fake, the receiver turned toward me to keep up with me,” said Anderson.  “It went over his hands into mine.”

Graham converted a 3rd and 9 situation with a 26-yard catch and run from Matthews to Goodwin.  Four plays later the G-Men punted.  Anderson bobbled the punt, but recovered it himself.

The Cougars earned a first down on rushes by Porter, but the “half” quarter ended with PC at their own 29.

PC opened the second “half” quarter by driving to the Graham 32.  Porter fumbled after a 13-yard carry, and Graham recovered.

 

Two plays later a Matthews pass was intercepted by “Super Sophomore” Ernie Hodge.  He caught the ball at the Graham 31 and added a 14-yard return.   “The receiver ran a hook curl, I saw the ball deflected, and ran up and caught it,” said Hodge.

 

Kelly Stoots had two tipped passes and a QB hurry in this event against Graham.  On the hurry, “they tried to run a veer,” said Stoots.  “The hole was open, I tried to make the tackle and almost got him, but he threw it away.”

Eight plays later Matthews threw a 12-yard TD pass.  The drive was sparked by Cougar penalties.  Cougar DB Steven Cobbs was ejected from the conflict for a un-sportsman like penalty call.  He claimed that after the tackle following a Graham pass completion, he slapped the hand off his jersey of an opposing player.  His presence on defense would be missed.

“With Cobbs ejected, we didn’t have any backups at corner,” said John Harmon.

Another penalty on this Graham scoring drive was in a 4th and 16 situation for Graham from the PC 36.  Anderson was called for pass interference, giving the G-Men a first down.  It was a pass defense where it was if both players were standing still, and the defender executes a right-handed, reach-around, slap-down of the ball, from behind the receiver from between his arms, with no contact of the shoulder pads.  It was called as interference.  The Cougar fans were hot and voiced their disapproval.

Porter carried 5 more times, on runs of 7 once, 8 twice, and 9 once.  The drive ended at the Graham 32 as time expired.

Porter had carried for 191 yards in just two quarters of play.

Game Pictures by Steven Marcus