Patrick Henry Gets Death! by Pete Cougar Full
Story and Interviews
KENNETH J.
DOBSON STADIUM-- It wasn't until last night that the Pulaski County High School
football season completely came into focus for yours truly. Sure, Cougardave has
had his outstanding tailgates and his new hot dog ratings, Steven has been
taking his famous in-your-face photos, Jeff Wolfe has acted as an extra
cheerleader, and of course this writer has come out of his cave to once again
inform you all on our boys' progress every week. Still, nothing gets the feeling
back inside you like being in the stands at PCHS's Dobson Stadium, the Madison
Square Garden of all Cougar fans. As friends
socialized, food cooked, and the Golden Cougar Marching Band showcased their
unbelievable new uniforms for the first time, the Cougars stepped out onto the
field for the coin toss to begin their game against the Patrick Henry Patriots.
The latter won the toss and deferred to the second half, similar to last week's
William Fleming battle. Unlike last week, however, Pulaski actually did receive
first this time around. The tension built up slightly, along with both crowds'
psyched-up yelling, and the ball sailed into the air. Steven Cobbs got under it
and nabbed it while standing in the endzone for a touchback. Brandon
Anderson got things under way from the twenty yardline by immediately sneaking
right through the middle of Patrick Henry's line for an eleven-yard gain and a
first down. Anderson followed up with six more yards. This put Pulaski on the
thirty-seven yardline. It was now that Derrick Burks came into play, brushing
off Patriots for a long twenty-seven yards until he finally went down at the
Patrick Henry thirty-six. After a redundant first down that resulted, Burks took
the ball again, this time to the thirty. On the next play, this writer regrets
to admit that he missed the identity of the ball carrier. There was no gain,
though, so it didn't really matter. With the down third and four on the thirty,
Brandon Anderson pulled off what the announcer referred to as a "quick
fix," successfully reaching the eighteen yardline untouched for another
first down. Anderson got eight more directly afterward, landing the Cougars on
the ten yardline. After a clever sweep to the right, it was first and goal with
the Cougars on the six yardline. Brandon Anderson made quick work of this
situation, getting the handoff and immediately sidestepping the defenders for a
touchdown, the first of the game. Then, a new kicker, a sophomore named Luis
Piscura sent the ball soaring through the goalpost for the extra point. The
score was now, of course, 7-0 with 7:51 remaining in the first quarter. Jamie
Steger took over the kicking duties next, delivering the pigskin efficiently to
an anonymous Patriot returner who managed to dash to the twenty-eight before
Greg Sartin got the tackle. An incomplete pass followed, and then a successful
pass attempt saw the carrier struggling to stay on his feet before Brandon
Anderson brought him down to the grass like a magnet to metal. >From there,
the Patriots claimed the forty-one for a first down. A screen pass into Cougar
territory came next, bringing the action to the Cougar forty-three yardline
where Ryan Dean got the tackle. The following pass was completed effectively for
a gain of all of two yards. Patriot quarterback Allen Brown tried a keeper next,
reaching the thirty-five yardline before meeting S.G. Brown face-to-shoulder.
The next carry got two yards and was shut down by half the Cougar defense,
almost literally. This made the down forth and one on the Cougar thirty-three.
Bravely, the Patriots decided to go for it. This was where a junior lineman for
the Cougars named Kasey McCambridge came into play. Although it was unclear to
yours truly whether Kasey delivered a sack or a tackle, it was clear that
whoever was on the business end didn't ask for it. It was also clear that a
first down was prevented. This
little sequence of events saw the Cougars take possession on their own
thirty-three yardline. Brandon Anderson got the drive going by immediately
gunning to the thirty-seven, followed by Burks running to the forty-four for a
first down. Now if the home crowd wasn't fired up for this game by now, they
were going to be. Shumate handed off to Derrick Burks again, who managed to
slink through defenders of all shapes and sizes, running a staggering fifty
yards, landing the Cougars at Patrick Henry's six yardline! Directly
afterward Burks got the handoff again, outwitting the temporarily stupefied
defense for a touchdown. This new kicker, Luis Piscura, then stepped out to
deliver another well-done extra point attempt, updating the score to 14-0 with
3:11 left in the quarter. As before,
Jamie Steger made the following kickoff, which sailed to Patrick Henry's Artez
Foster, who successfully ran it up to the seventeen yardline. A short gain of
three yards began the drive, getting halted by Frank Baldwin. Patrick Henry then
ran the option, pitching left. The would-be receiver dropped the ball like a
caterer carting an unbalanced wedding cake. This put the Patriots right back on
the seventeen yardline. Brandon Anderson made the next tackle after allowing
only one yard of clearance, making the down fourth and nine on Patrick Henry's
own eighteen. Brandon
Anderson caught the punt from the Patriots, hopping, skipping, and jumping to
the forty-four yardline. Junior Chad Thompson got the handoff next, sadly
fumbling it after getting beaned. This called for a Patriot recovery and the end
of a very short Pulaski drive. In this
next part of the game, things started to look a little down for the Cougars.
With the down first and ten on the Patriots' forty-nine, the Cougars got nailed
with a personal foul of some sort. This gave the Patrick Henry swing a little
push, landing them on Pulaski's thirty-seven. They made it up to the thirty-four
as the first quarter dwindled down to a close. The second
quarter began with Patrick Henry quarterback Mike Young running a keeper up to
the twenty-seven yardline for a first down before Frank Baldwin and Ryan Dean
said hi. From there, he tried another pass. The ball soared swiftly through the
night air--and ricocheted right off the receiver's ankle, causing the Patriots a
very possible touchdown. Young ran a keeper next ("again?" I
wondered), and was stopped by Baldwin at the twenty-three. He then pitched left,
faking out everyone on the field--everyone, that is, except for Steven Cobbs.
Steven instantly saw where the ball was going and almost literally nailed the
carrier, allowing only a one yard gain. With the down fourth and five on the
twenty-two, the Patriots attempted a field goal, courtesy of kicker Muhamed
Spreco. This writer is no Patrick Henry emphasis, but that was one well-done
field goal. Beautiful form. Anyway, this put the Patriots on the board 14-3 with
9:59 remaining in the half. The
following kickoff again went into Brandon Anderson's arms in the endzone for a
touchback. From the twenty, Brandon sneaked left of the defenders for a decent
seven- yarder. Now at the twenty-seven, Pulaski got flagged again, this time for
a false start. After being pushed back five yards to the twenty-two, Anderson
almost nullified the foul with a six-yard gain. With the down third and two on
the twenty-eight, Derrick Burks got the handoff and made it to the thirty for a
well-needed first down. Anderson got four more yards in, but the referees, whom
this writer was now suspecting to be a little flag-happy, called Pulaski for
holding and pushed them back ten yards, much to the dismay of the home crowd,
who showered them with boos. Burks tried to make up for this but virtually
tripped over the defensive line for a minor one-yard gain. This next play
seriously made me want to go out onto the field and smack the referee across the
face a dozen times over. Steven Cobbs caught a long bomb from Shumate, running
it all the way in for a touchdown. Then, the flag-happy zebras called it back
for holding! This made the down second and twenty-eight. Ernie Hodge stepped
in with his famous criss-cross run, making it up to the twenty-five. Another
pass followed, this time to Anderson. He got knocked down on the thirty-nine.
This made the down fourth and two. Head coach Jack Turner chose to punt, rather
than risking an excellent field position for Patrick Henry. Jamie Steger
launched it all the way to the sixteen yardline where it stopped dead. Patrick
Henry started things off with a pass after which the receiver was hit hard by
Greg Sartin and Ryan Dean and dropped it. Another pass followed, going long and
out of bounds into the Patriots' sidelines. Ryan Dean and Frank Baldwin brought
the carrier down hard on the next play, after he reached the twenty-five. This
fell short of what the Patriots needed, however, and they punted with the down
fourth and two. The punt
sailed (or plummeted, however you want to say it) straight to the Pulaski
thirty-six yardline. Brandon Anderson began the drive with a dash to the
forty-four. Derrick Burks followed, running over an anonymous Patriot defender
to reach the Patrick Henry forty-nine. With the down first and ten, Britt
Shumate threw an interception, after which Patrick Henry was nabbed for holding. Despite
the penalty, the Patriots kept possession and began things with one of Mike
Young's famous quarterback keepers for eight yards. This was followed by a
series of incomplete passes, the first of which was almost intercepted by
Brandon Anderson. The second was overthrown (the announcer stated this very
avidly). After this, the Patriots were flagged (for once) for illegal
substitution and lost five yards. This made the down fourth and seven on their
own thirty and called for a punt, which sailed to Anderson who fumbled it on the
five yardline for another Patriot recovery. After a time out by Pulaski, Patrick
Henry made it up to the one yardline before being halted rather abruptly by Ryan
Dean and Greg Sartin. This time the Patriots called a time out, after which they
were flagged for a false start and lost five yards again. This failed to detain
them much, however, as directly afterward Young threw a completed touchdown
pass. The extra point was faked, and they went in again for the two-point
conversion. This changed the score to 14-11 with exactly 1:00 remaining in the
half. Brandon
Anderson caught the following kickoff again, running it very decently all the
way to the forty-five yardline. However, Pulaski was flagged yet again, I forget
what for. At this point, Jeff Wolfe said that the referees were suffering from
the unfortunate side effects of hunger. By some sort of magic, the penalty was
declined. Brandon Anderson made it to the forty next, and then to the thirty-one
before a time out. Derrick Burks ran an excellent carry to the thirteen,
bringing up a first down on the thirteen yardline. Brandon Anderson took well
advantage of this and ran the ball in next for another touchdown followed by
another successful extra point, making the score 21-11 with a mere 20.8 seconds
remaining in the half. At this point, the Golden Cougar Marching Band was absent
in the stands, preparing for their halftime show, and could not perform the
fight song. So Cougardave, Jeff Wolfe, myself, and numerous others stood up and
sang it. We did so well, even the cheerleaders down on the track joined in with
their motions. Someone (Scottcougar if I'm not mistaken) said I should mention
it in the article, so I jotted in my notes "I'M THE MAN!" The
following kickoff sailed to the carrier, who was almost literally wrestled to
the ground by junior Ian Montgomery. With the down first and ten on the ten,
Patrick Henry ran out the clock, whatever was left on the clock to begin with. Halftime
in Dobson Stadium was the usual zoo, with the Marching Band doing their
outstanding performances, the announcer declaring that the 50/50 prize was now
up to six hundred dollars (it would later elevate to $866), and in light of my
singing the fight song, a PCHS student that this writer recognized but did not
know personally invited me to join his rock band. I declined, admitting that I
can't play anything. As the
halftime clock ran out, the time came for Patrick Henry to receive the ball that
they deferred at the beginning of the game. This writer saw Jamie Steger going
out onto the field and the only thing that kept me from already saying in my
notes that it was going to be a touchback were the cheerleaders. I admit it.
Anyway, this writer was correct and yes, it was a touchback. Greg Sartin pushed
the carrier back one yard on the first play of the second half. Frank Baldwin
got in a quarterback sack that pushed them back five yards more after that.
After this play, Shaun Branscome was temporarily left lying on the field but was
able to walk away from it on his own power. The down was now third and sixteen
on the fourteen yardline. Patrick Henry desperately ran right and got fifteen
yards. With the down now fourth and one on the twenty-nine, the Patriots
cleverly decided to go for it, throwing an incomplete pass. This called for the
Cougars to automatically get the ball then and there. The down
was first and ten on the Patrick Henry thirty yardline. The patriots were
penalized for holding and the Cougars were boosted up to the seventeen. Derrick
Burks reached the fourteen next, and then on the next two plays, Anderson ran it
for four more yards to the ten. With the down fourth and three, Turner called
for a field goal but it failed to connect. Patrick
Henry began their next drive reaching the twenty-three before the entire right
side of the Cougar defensive line brought the carrier down. S.G. Brown brought
the carrier down after he claimed five more yards on the next play, and then the
carrier for the Patriots got only one yard before being shut down by Frank
Baldwin, S.G. Brown, and Kasey McCambridge. This called for another punt. Brandon
Anderson snagged the ball on the forty-one yardline. Derrick Burks took it from
there to the forty-nine, and then into "Patrick Henryville" for a
first down. Sadly, the Cougars were penalized--again--for some sort of illegal
motion and were forced back to their own forty-nine. This made little
difference, however, as Anderson weaved to the Patriots' forty-two for nine
yards. Burks ran it after that for a first down to the twenty-nine. From there,
Anderson got Shumate's handoff and reached the twelve for a second first down.
Anderson was left lying on the field with a cramp in his leg, but was up by
himself after a minute or so. Burks then took advantage of the excellent field
position and scored our boys another touchdown followed by one of Piscura's
extra points, making the score 28-11 with 3:40 remaining in the first half of
the second half. Jamie Steger followed up with yet another kickoff that led to a
touchback. This next
drive was relatively short compared to others. A pass was thrown to the
forty-three for a large gain, after which a player moved out from between Ernie
Hodge and Steven Cobbs, both of whom were running toward him. The end result saw
Cobbs going down courtesy of Hodge's shoulder. In spite of the huge gain made by
the Patriots, that sight made this writer laugh a little. Baldwin got the real
tackle in on that play but was down for a few seconds, walking away by himself.
This, of course, meant a first down on the forty-three. Patriot quarterback Mike
Young threw another pass, only for it to be intercepted by Derrick Burks, who
ran it up to the fifty before going down. Brandon
Anderson ran through the line to the forty-one, and then Burks got ten more
yards for an obvious first down. From the thirty-one, Anderson reached the
twenty-four. Burks ran it again, fumbled, and recovered it himself for a loss of
one yard. Anderson ran to the twenty-four again, getting that yard back. With
the down now fourth and three, Anderson failed to gain anything and the ball was
handed over to Patrick Henry. On the
last play of the third quarter, Patriot Mike Young carried another keeper but
got beat up like a pit bull's chew toy as the clock ran out. The fourth quarter
kicked off with Young throwing an incomplete pass. Another keeper from Young
followed, and he got to the thirty-nine for the first down just before meeting
face-to-shoulder with Shaun Branscome. Young released another pass next and was
hit hard immediately afterward. However, the fortunate carrier juked past Cougar
defenders to the endzone for a touchdown followed by a successful extra point,
making the score 28-18 with 11:03 left in the game. After the
kickoff landed the ball in the endzone for a touchback, Brandon Anderson took
the ball to the twenty-eight and was brought down by what the announcer called a
"host" of Patriots. He took it in for a first down directly afterward,
and then Derrick Burks carried it for a first down of his own. Anderson got the
handoff next for a gain of two, and then, from the forty-four, Burks claimed the
forty-seven. Next, he brought the Cougars another first down on the Patrick
Henry forty-eight. There, Burks got the handoff again for another first
down to the thirty-seven! It was obvious that the blocking on Pulaski's part was
great for almost the entire night. Brandon Anderson carried it again, reaching
the thirty-five yardline. Burks took it to the thirty-one, weaving through the
middle of the now-exhausted Patrick Henry defense. Brandon Anderson had a number
of Patriots ready for him this time, and only reached the thirty on the next
play. The down was now fourth and three on the thirty. After a time out by the
Cougars, Anderson carried it again for the first down and another leg cramp
before again getting up and walking it off. From the newly claimed nineteen,
Derrick Burks gave Anderson a rest by reaching the thirteen, then the four for
another first down, and then the one. After that, all he had to do was basically
skip into the endzone for the touchdown and extra point, changing the score to
35-18 with 3:39 remaining. Steger's
kickoff bounced up into the returner's hands and he actually made it up to the
Pulaski forty-eight before Britt Shumate himself got the tackle. The referees
flagged the Patriots on the next play (for what this writer doesn't recall) and
they were backed up five yards. They tried a reverse next and were flagged
again. The down was now first and seventeen on the thirty-five. Young passed the
ball to some guy who made it to the Pulaski forty-eight. From there, they gained
eight more. A very long pass followed, but sailed out of bounds onto the track.
From the forty, Young tried another long pass, connecting it this time all the
way to the six yardline, putting Patrick Henry in touchdown range again. Brandon
Anderson tipped the next pass, costing the Patriots a touchdown for sure. Steven
Cobbs repeated the maneuver, and that made it third and goal on the six. The
pass on this play hit the intended receiver directly in the head, but somehow PC
got called for pass interference. This automatically let the Patriots move up
half the distance to the three. A no-gainer followed, but then Young ran yet
another keeper into the endzone for the final touchdown and extra point of the
game, setting the score at 35-25 with 1:14 remaining. The
remaining kickoff was an onside kick intended to let Patrick Henry keep the
ball. It didn't work. Pulaski nabbed it on the fifty. The second stringers for
PC were the called out onto the field for some action, but much to the fans'
dismay, new quarterback Ryan Dean took a knee to run out the clock. Pulaski's
substitute team doctor, Rodell Cruise (Doctor Williams was out of town), told
this writer after the game that Brandon Anderson wasn't troubled by any injuries
that were serious enough to bench him. He did, however, say that Ernie Hodge got
beaned pretty good and will be going in for a precautionary CAT scan. Overall,
it was a great night for the Cougars and all of their fans. With that in mind,
I, Pete Cougar, invite you to join the staff of Cougarfootball.net in traveling
to Franklin County to face the Eagles. Until next time, this is Pete Cougar
signing off.
Full
Story and Interviews
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