From The Bleachers 2002: Week Eight by Ardent Cougar
Series:
PC
leads 2-0.
Region
III District Standings
You can tell that this team is getting a better "feel" for itself. I sense a lot more togetherness, than earlier in the season. We no longer have certain players on the squad, who have left the team (by their own "choice" or not) for one reason or another. Back in 1990, Joel tossed off some players he felt were bad influences. The result was three straight wins, and a 2-5 record did not yield a losing season after all. After a horrible start this year, the Cougars are now 3-4 (3-2 in BRD play), and not just thinking of avoiding a losing season, but of having a winning one. The playoffs are a pipe dream, with many unlikely things having to fall into place. Still, finishing strong this year, and keeping the streak of non-losing seasons allive, would give this very young team momentum going into 2003. This week, the William Byrd Terriers (4-2, 3-2) come to town, determined to knock us off stride, and keep their more realistic playoff hopes alive. Once again, this team is a hard one to figure out. They struggled to beat lowly Staunton River (who just lost to Senior-less Hidden Valley (scroll down for the story)), and lost to Northside by 42, but last week upset Salem for the second year in a row. (By the way - Byrd plays Hidden Valley in the next-to-last game of their regular season.) The running backs Marcus English and Jerome Mann graduated in the spring, but the coach's son Jeff Highfill is back at QB. Coach Highfill seems to have teams that are not very consistent from week to week, but are opportunistic, creative and flexible. To confirm this, all you have to do is look at last year's playoff game, where they pulled out the old 'Polecat' formation, with some success. It would be a shame if, after stringing together a pair of good wins, the Cougars were to have a letdown this week, by taking the Terriers lightly. I am sure that Coach Hicks will not allow this. Especially since this could mean the 300th win of his illustrious coaching career! Newspaper Articles on William Byrd's games: A lot from Lott enough for Terriers Terriers no match for Curtis, Colonels Titans grab 1st win in school history (scroll down for William Byrd-Christiansburg) Saunders, Vikings run away from Byrd Terriers clamp down, don't let go Calmer Terriers rally in 2nd half
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For the second week in a row, the Cougars played a solid game, winning the battle of turnovers, and controlling the clock. Derrick Burks scored 3 times, just as he did the previous week against Salem. He amassed 196 yards rushing in his 34 carries, just missing the 200 yard mark for the second week in a row. Derrick is now averaging nearly 115 yards per game (and over 5 yards per carry), and needs less than 200 total in the final 3 games to reach the 1,000 mark! Britt Shumate was 2-for-3 passing, including a long gainer to Ernie Hodge that set up a John Hedge field goal. The defense played well against the Botetourt 'Run-and-Shoot'. After tying the game at 7-all, the Cavaliers never threatened again. On one possession in the third quarter, the Cougars got 3 consecutive QB sacks. Botetourt had no running game to supplement the passing attack, making it easier for the Cougar D to put on a rush. Driscoll himself "rushed" 10 times (out of 11 total for the Cavaliers), but most of those were not intended! On average, LB lost 2.6 yards on every carry! (In high school and college, sacks count against rushing totals.) Driscoll had decent passing numbers (17-29, 208), but did not hit many big plays. PC had a greater than 2-to-1 edge in time of possession. Steven Cobbs recovered a fumble in the 4th Quarter, the only turnover of the night. Aside from his field goal and good night punting (43 yard average), Hedge also got a first down late in the game, taking a bad punt snap and making the best of it. Jennings too much for Roanoke Catholic (scroll down for our game)
A lot from Lott enough for Terriers James
River takes to air to bring down Rockets (scroll for Hidden Valley and
Blacksburg-Alleghany)
Previous 2002 Articles: FTB
Week One - Tazewell
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