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KENNETH J. DOBSON STADIUM-- Dark clouds loomed overhead, aptly setting the mood for an upcoming battle between two teams who have been enormous rivals ever since they shared districts. Like the sky, the action on the field was not going to be very bright between them. Another guarantee that all who attended could wager on was that neither side would pull very far away from the other.

This was all confirmed during various stages in the game between the Pulaski County High School Cougars and the Salem High School Spartans.

Pulaski won the coin toss and as always, deferred to the second half and thereby gave their adversaries the ball first. John Hedge began the fray with the opening kickoff sailing clear into the endzone for a touchback. Salem then proceeded to christen the game with a pass attempt, only to see it incomplete. From their twenty, they again tried to commence the action and did it with a twenty-seven yard run to their forty-seven yardline for an obvious first down, and would have been even longer had it not been for the all-purpose Brandon Anderson. Another first down followed that, and from the Cougar twenty-one they ran right into the defensive line for a four-yard gain. After an Official's timeout, Salem continued their first drive with a two-yard gain, a six-yard gain, and another two-yard gain in that order. Through this time, the defense was kept alive by Derrick Burks, Andrew Hodges, Matt Tilley, and finally Ernie Hodge.

However these fine individuals could not easily snag their targets, as Salem ran right under their noses up the middle and clear through to the endzone for the first touchdown of the game. A successful extra point came next, and that put the Spartans on the board early in the contest with a decent 9:13 left in the opening quarter.

Salem kicked off next, and delivered the ball to Derrick Burks who claimed the thirty-three yardline before going down. This drive turned out to have "Derrick Burks" written all over it. From the PC thirty-seven, Derrick gained a decent four yards and followed up with an eleven-yard gain and a first down for the Cougars. The down was now first and ten on the Cougar forty-eight. Burks began to run to the right, but then PC got nailed by the referees for an illegal chop block and lost thirteen yards. The down had dramatically changed from first and ten to first and twenty-three. Even with that in mind, Burks still got a one-yard gain. He improved next with three yards, and then Quarterback Britt Shumate went for what would surely have been a touchdown pass to Greg Sartin, but was only slightly overthrown. PC was called to punt next, so they punted and launched the ball to the Salem fifteen yardline.

However, the Spartans got busted for a roughing-the-kicker penalty and that gave the ball back to the Cougars on their own forty-six. Derrick Burks was called into action again, gaining a short two, but followed directly by a very pleasant twenty-five yard gain to the Spartan thirty-seven. With the down third and two, Derrick continued on to gain two yards and another first down. He then gained three yards in the next two plays before Britt Shumate completed a pass to Ernie Hodge from the thirty yardline to the seventeen. Burks picked up where Hodge left off and bagged four yards, then three after that. Then suddenly from the ten yardline, Shumate handed off to the seemingly dormant Brandon Anderson, who ran it clear to the five for a first down to add to Pulaski's belt.

The down was first and goal on the five yardline, and who else but the very reliable Derrick Burks ran left and scored the first touchdown for the Cougars since William Fleming. An extra point attempt followed and connected, making the score an even 7-7 with a tight 1:47 remaining in the first quarter.

John Hedge kept a personal tradition alive by kicking off straight to the endzone for another touchback. Salem kept their offense alive by claiming the thirty-three from the twenty, and then faltered, getting only to the thirty-five before attempting two incomplete passes and having to punt.

The punt flew out of bounds at the PC thirty-seven yardline, and Brandon Anderson managed to squeeze in a seven-yard gain to the forty-four before the clock ran out on the opening quarter.

The down was second and three at the beginning of the second quarter, and Derrick Burks once again claimed the spotlight as he continued to get more and more yardage, little by little. First he gained two, and three more directly afterward. Brandon Anderson took the torch next, but only grabbed one yard before the Spartan defense got him. The down was second and nine on the Cougar thirty-five. Britt Shumate went for a pass, but failed to complete. Shumate tried again, this time a rather long attempt, but still failed to connect. This forced the PC Cougars to punt again.

The Salem receiver was down on the fourteen, and two gains followed, one one-yard, and the other two. In both plays, the carriers barely had time to flinch before they were down. Matt Tilley and Shaun Branscome got the first guy, and the second was introduced the old-fashioned way to Justin "Juice" Lewis. Another run followed but preceded a flag for holding against Salem, pushing them back to the nine. This made the down a sad fourth and fourteen, which called for a punt.

The punt soared, yet only got through to the Cougar forty-eight yardline. This marked a very short and uneventful drive, as no one gained a single yard courtesy of the Salem defense. There was a run attempt by Anderson that was predicted and blitzed, followed by two incomplete passes. With that, Pulaski had to punt as well.

The ball flew into the arms of the receiver, who knelt for a fair catch. After that, the Spartans duplicated PC, getting in an incomplete pass attempt before executing a Quarterback Keeper to the forty-three from their own thirty for a first down. An incomplete pass followed, and then a short two-yard run afterward. Another incomplete pass came next, and made the down fourth and eight. The Spartans decided to go quietly and punt while they had the chance.

Derrick Burks caught the ball and managed to reach the thirteen yardline before landing.. Britt Shumate then attempted another pass, but still failed to connect it. This time, however, it was due to a blatant pass interference by the Spartans which boosted PC up to the twenty-nine yardline for an automatic first down. Derrick Burks jumped into the mess and ran up the middle to the thirty-three. From there, Anderson made it to the thirty-five and then Shumate launched a pass directly between Derrick Burks's legs, forcing them to punt again.

This time, Hedge booted the ball out of bounds at the twenty-nine. From there, Salem executed a Quarterback Keeper all the way to the forty-one before Justin Lewis formally introduced the lucky carrier to the field. After two gains which added up to a grand total of four yards, the Spartans tried their passing game again. Again, it was incomplete, and again they punted to the waiting Cougars.

The Cougar's wait was not for anything major, as the clock ran out directly after a four yard gain by Derrick Burks to end a nail-biting first half.

Filled with excitement (and Mountain Dew), this writer could not wait to see what these two teams of young warriors had to offer in the second half. Things started out vaguely like the first half, with the kickoff to the cougars going out of bounds and Derrick Burks gaining only two yards, then one. Britt Shumate, however, surprised everyone by getting sacked, which is something that does not happen a lot. With a loss of five yards on their hands, as well as a fourth down, the Cougars had to punt.

The Spartans nabbed the ball on the thirteen yardline and gained two yards for their trouble. After a following one-yard run, Salem's quarterback (this writer failed to get many names for the Spartans) decided to throw a long one. He did, but it was far too long and all he did was add another incomplete pass to his belt. The down was fourth and seven, so the Spartans had to punt.

Instead of getting the ball into the air, it slammed right into the gut of a waiting Shaun Branscome, who gladly took it home from the sixteen to the endzone for a very unexpected Cougar touchdown and extra point, kicking the score up 14-7 in Pulaski's favor with 8:10 remaining in the third quarter. "It was the greatest thing in the world," Branscome said, "I've been waiting to score a touchdown for nine years and I finally got it. It feels a lot better than just scoring in flag football." (NOTE: This last comment was an inside joke, as this writer has PE class with Shaun.)

This, of course, gave Salem the ball again. After a decent punt return to the thirty, a long pass completion landed the Spartans on the PC forty-six, where they incompleted a second pass. A run to the forty-one preceded a quarterback sack and a facemask by the Cougars. As a result, the Spartans got a free one-way trip to the thirty-four yardline. After a run to the thirty-one, they attempted two long passes, both of which were dropped. The down was fourth and seven. Did they punt? Nope. This time, they went for it and got a first down on the fifteen. From there, they ran right and got their second touchdown of the game, and along with the extra point made the score a dead-even 14-14 with 4:55 left in the third quarter.

The kickoff to Pulaski was a beauty, sending the ball right to Brandon Anderson who managed to creep up to the thirty before going down. Derrick Burks then tried to follow Anderson's moves, making it to the thirty-seven and getting ever closer to the first down. Brandon managed to crawl up a yard, and Ernie Hodge criss-crossed to gain another, but the Cougars tragically fell one yard short of the first down and had to punt.

This punt also fell out of bounds, this time at the twenty-six yardline. A Spartan that this writer only knows as Hairston ran it to the thirty-three for a moderate seven-yard gain. After a one-yard gain by someone this writer failed to catch, Harrison got the first down for the Spartans.

Many consider what happened next to be the turning point for the entire game. It was first and ten on the Salem thirty-six, when a wide pass was suddenly intercepted by none other than Brandon Anderson with nothing more than 53 seconds left in the third quarter. "Yeah, it was a turning point. It was real big. We ended up scoring on that drive, which makes it feel really good."

With the tide turned and a fresh drive to execute, Pulaski once again unleashed their power in Derrick Burks, running to the forty for a four-yard gain. Burks then went up the middle again for the first down to the Salem forty yardline. This marked the end of the third quarter with the score still even at 14-14.

To begin the final quarter, Derrick Burks took the ball and got three more yards, making the down second and seven on the Spartan forty-five yardline. With three yards to go, Derrick went that extra mile and got four more for the first down. With a fresh drive starting at the thirty-seven, Burks decided to go ahead and finish it with a huge thirty-seven-yard touchdown. An unsuccessful extra point kept the score at 20-14 with 10:34 remaining in the game.

The kickoff was another typical John Hedge beauty, soaring right into the arms of the receiver who was down at the twenty-two. Matt Tilley and Ernie Hodge made the stop on the next play, getting the carrier down on the twenty-five yardline. After two failed pass attempts which were messed up by John Harmon, Steven Cobbs, Andrew Hodges with the rush on the first one, and on the second one, Shaun Branscome. Once again, on the fourth down, Salem had to punt.

This marked the beginning of a very long drive by Pulaski. As always, it had "Derrick Burks" written all over it. From the PC forty-three, Burks carried the ball to the forty-seven, then the Salem forty-seven, and finally the forty-five before Pulaski got nailed for illegal procedure and lost five yards automatically. After that, Brandon Anderson stepped in again to reach the Salem forty-three from the fifty, and then the thirty-eight yardline from there. After another flag that cost the Cougars five more, Burks claimed the thirty-nine at the same time Salem got busted for unsportsmanlike conduct and boosted PC up fifteen yards. Brandon then continued his journey downfield to the eighteen yardline for a decent six-yard gain. Burks assisted with a three-yard gain of his own, and then two more yards. The, out of the blue, Burks runs thirteen yards for the touchdown, and no extra point because they had ten yards taken for holding, making the score 26-14 with 4:25 remaining in the game.

John Hedge was called onto the front line again for the kickoff. Again, it sailed straight into the endzone, actually bouncing off of the goalpost itself. From the twenty, Salem's QB tried more passes. The first was dropped and the second was overthrown so far as to have had a chance at hitting passerby's out on Cougar Trail Road. The third was actually completed--to a friend of this writer, a PC waterboy named Jason Dobbins. With that, another punt was at hand with minutes left in the contest.

The punt went almost straight up in the air and slammed the ground right at the Cougar forty-eight yardline. Anderson moved it to the forty-nine, and then Burks to the Salem forty-seven. After a first down, Derrick picked right back up where he left off with a seven-yard gain, and finally a one-yard and 10-yard gain before the clock hit triple zero to end an outstanding albeit bitter game. derrick Burks, the guy who almost single-handedly slaughtered the Spartans, actually had 209 running yards, if this writer is anywhere near correct. Either way, he did one shocker of a job that night and had this to say about his yardage: "It's mainly because the offensive line's really been stepping up. We had a bad week last week, but if we finish the season strong, we just might end up in the playoffs."

Cory Bentley was asked how the blocking on the team had improved since the week before. "The team wasn't disciplined enough, we had a real hard week, and we just went in there and put it to them best we could."

Lastly, when Kelly Stoots was asked his thoughts on the offensive line, he simply said with a grin, "We just cranked it up."

Well, this writer hopes you are as excited as he was when he saw the outcome and all the big plays. With that, this writer would like to wish the best of luck to the Cougars against Lord Botetourt next week.