Blacksburg Creams Cougars by Pete Cougar Full
Story and Interviews
KENNETH
J. DOBSON STADIUM-- Tonight was cold. Very cold. It was the first time in the
season that the guys at the snack bar sold hot chocolate. On top of the biting
chill, there was also a slight fog that settled in more and more throughout the
night. To some, this should have been a sign. To others, a mere coincidence.
Either way, we all should have known that tonight's game against the Blacksburg
Bruins was going to be a brawl. Things
started off relatively different when Blacksburg won the coin toss and deferred
to the second half. The opening kickoff went into the arms of Brandon Anderson,
who went down at about the twenty-one yardline. Derrick Burks carried the ball
to the twenty-five, and then Brandon took it for one more. The down was now
third and five on the twenty-six yardline. Britt Shumate stepped out into the
spotlight when he launched a pass to Brandon Anderson who managed to take it up
to the thirty-five for the first first down of the night. Burks then took it
through the middle to the Blacksburg forty-three for the second firs down of the
night. Burks carried the ball next, but was predicted and lost a yard when the
defense nailed him. He managed to make up for the loss by reaching the
forty-two, but it was Anderson who highlighted the drive by receiving a pass
from Shumate and running it in all the way for a touchdown. Sadly, the extra
point went wide and left the score at 6-0 with 7:41 left in the first quarter. The
following kickoff from kicker Jamie Steger sailed down to the twenty-one. The
carrier on the first play of the drive ran an option pass and went down at the
twenty-five at the hands of Steven Cobbs. From there, wide receiver Shane Owen
received a pass and landed at the thirty-one for the first down. Next, the
anonymous carrier got a second consecutive first down on the Cougar
thirty-eight. Quarterback David Houff ran a keeper but got no yardage
whatsoever. He tried to compensate with a pass but it failed to connect. The
down was third and nine on the thirty-eight. A first down was claimed after an
anonymous gain to the twenty-five, and then after that Greg Sartin carried the
ball carrier out of bounds. This put them back on the twenty-six, with the down
second and twelve. David Houff barely had time to pass on the next play before
Ernie Hodge slammed him down. The pass was incomplete, which probably came as
small consolation for Houff. With the down third and twelve, Derrick Burks
stepped in with a quarterback sack. This made the down fourth and nineteen.
Houff went for another pass and got another incompletion. The
Cougars took possession of the ball on Blacksburg's thirty-four. Derrick Burks
ran a no-gainer, and then Brandon Anderson clipped in the backfield for a
two-yard loss. From the thirty-two, Anderson got pushed back two more. The down
was now fourth and thirteen on the thirty yardline. The Cougars moved to punt,
but a bad snap sent the ball sailing over Jamie Steger's head. The Bruins
capitalized on the live ball and ran it all the way in for their first touchdown
of the night. Their extra point attempt was blocked by Shaun Branscome with 1:59
left in the quarter and the score deadlocked at 6-6. The
following kickoff sailed through the air (which was starting to fog up,
partially because of the steam rising from the players' heads) and right out of
bounds. Naturally, the ball went on the thirty-five to begin things. Derrick
Burks got one yard, and then Shumate fired a huge pass attempt to Will White
that tragically went incomplete. Blacksburg was nailed for roughing the passer,
but moving up to the Bruins' forty-eight hardly made up for the touchdown that
surely would have been. With an automatic first down under their belts, the
Cougars sent Burks through to the forty-seven. Brandon Anderson reached the
forty-one just as the clock signaled the end of the first quarter. The
second quarter began with a first down from Derrick Burks from the forty-one to
the thirty-six. He followed up with one more yard, and then Anderson got two of
his own. Shumate threw an incomplete pass, making the down fourth and seven.
After a time out, the Cougars had decided to go for it. Shumate launched another
incomplete pass, turning the ball over to Blacksburg. The
Bruins wasted no time in getting the ball to the Cougars' sixteen yardline
before recovering their own fumble. Derrick Burks and S.G. Brown stopped the
carrier at the ten next, and with the down second and two, David Houff ran
another keeper for the first down with Frank Baldwin getting the tackle. If was
first and goal on the six. Running back Shane Bennett butted heads with Matt
Hall at the four yardline, and then Hodge prevented Houff from getting any more
yardage with another keeper. Still on the four, the carrier ran into Frank
Baldwin who pushed him back and limited the gain to only one yard. With the down
fourth and goal on the three, Blacksburg attempted a field goal and got it,
changing the score to 6-9 with 6:31 left in the half. As
the ominous fog continued to descend from the sky, Blacksburg's returning
kickoff again landed out of bounds. Beginning from the thirty-five again, Burks
made it to the thirty-six. Shumate threw a pass intended for Steven Cobbs that
was incomplete, and then, with the down third and nine and the home crowd
getting frustrated, Ernie Hodge stepped in with the infamous criss-cross play,
which saw him scrambling up to the Bruins' forty-nine yardline for the first
down. Anderson took it to the forty-seven from there, and then Burks to the
forty-five. With the down third and five, Burks ran it for another first down to
the thirty-nine. He claimed the thirty-seven next, where Shumate tried to pass
to Anderson but failed. Hodge criss-crossed again, and a measurement revealed
that a first down had been achieved on the twenty-eight "by an entire
football length" according to the brother of this writer. Derrick Burks
brought the action to the twenty-four. Brandon Anderson claimed all the credit
for the next play, which saw him scrambling through Bruins left and right and
reaching the six yardline. Derrick Burks followed up by claiming the five, and
Britt Shumate ran a keeper but slipped at the seven for a loss of two. After an
official's time out on account of an injured Blacksburg player and a Pulaski
time out, Anderson attempted a halfback pass but ended up running to about the
one-half yardline on his own. The down was now fourth and goal with about a foot
and a half to go. It was too crowded to see who scored for Pulaski, but somebody
scored for Pulaski. A successful two-point conversion followed, updating the
scoreboard to read 14-9 in Pulaski's favor with a mere 25.8 seconds remaining in
the half. The
kickoff went from Steger's foot to the arms of Blacksburg running back Anthony
Wise, who went down at the three yardline. Quarterback David Houff then took a
knee to run out the clock. Unlike Indians, bears don't die for their tribe. After
having some of the stadium's wonderful hot chocolate during the halftime break,
I sat back down as the players stepped back out onto the field. The opening
kickoff for the second half went from Jamie Steger's foot to the arms of another
anonymous returner, who managed to run the ball to the seventeen before meeting
Greg Sartin. The nineteen was claimed next, and the carrier was mauled by Frank
Baldwin. David Houff launched a pass next, with the down second and eight, and
it connected--with the receiver out of bounds. Somehow, the Bruins got a first
down out of it all. From the thirty-three, Shane Bennett took it out over the
thirty-five. From the thirty-six, the carrier was pushed so far and so hard out
of bounds that it pushed the maroon bench in front of the home stands and made
it fall down, along with some Cougars on the sidelines. This made the down third
and one on the forty-one yardline. Houff kept it and got to the forty-five for
the first down. Bennett took it to what appeared to be the forty eight--it was
very foggy now, so even the away stands were almost impossible to see--and Shaun
Branscome got the tackle. Brandon Anderson pushed the carrier back two yards
next, and made the down third and nine. Houff launched a long bomb well into
Cougar territory, and Ryan Dean almost intercepted but ended up just betting it
down instead. After a time out by Blacksburg, they decided to punt. It stopped
dead on the sixteen yardline in Cougar territory. Derrick
Burks began the drive as usual, and also as usual--for tonight anyway--he only
got one yard. Brandon Anderson carried the ball next, but failed to gain. Also
on this play, for the first but definitely not last time of the night, the
Bruins got away with blatantly trying to instigate a fight Cougar players by
tackling after the play was over. Ernie Hodge tried a criss-cross next, but lost
two yards. The down was now fourth and a long eleven on the Cougars' fifteen
yardline. What happened next was, in many people's opinions, the beginning of
the end for our boys. Trying to punt, the ball was blocked and Steger was hit
hard enough for any living creature to receive a concussion. Blacksburg got the
ball and ran it all the way in for a touchdown. They ran a successful two-point
conversion next, taking the lead over the Cougars 17-14 with 6:05 remaining in
the quarter. Brandon
Anderson received the following kickoff and ran it up to the twenty-seven
yardline. Again, Blacksburg got away with instigating a fight, or trying to.
After an anonymous no-gainer, Shumate launched a pass for Anderson but it went
incomplete. Next, Shumate himself was forced out of bounds for a loss of two.
With the down fourth and twelve, the Cougars punted--again--and the returner
made it up to the Bruins' forty-six before Chad Thompson made the stop. A
two-yard gain began the drive for Blacksburg, followed by a pass from Houff to
Wide receiver Allen Reynolds, who went down at the Cougar thirty-eight courtesy
of Steven Cobbs. From there, Blacksburg's ball carrier ran it all the way to the
one yardline before Anderson made the stop. The fog, in which the away stands
now were impossible to see, confused some and made them think the Bruins
scored, but it was established after all that they didn't. On the next play,
however, they did. The extra point was good, and the score was changed to 24-14
Blacksburg. Steven
Cobbs snatched the following kickoff out of the air and took the ball to the
thirty-two yardline. Derrick Burks made it only to the thirty-three, and then
things started looking up for our boys. Shumate pitched to Anderson for a first
down on the forty-three yardline. The home crowd roared, seeing a ray of hope
emerge. Derrick Burks took the ball to the forty-nine next for a gain of six
yards, his best in quite awhile for the night. From there, he carried the ball
again, this time reaching the Blacksburg forty-four for another first down just
in time for the third quarter to draw to a close. The
final quarter of the night began first and ten on the Bruins' forty-four
yardline. Brandon Anderson made his personal highlight of the night on this
carry, taking it a grand total of forty yards straight to the four yardline for
the most obvious first down in a long time. The home crowd around me was now
completely fired up with the cheerleaders partying down on the track and Jeff
Wolfe continuously improvising cheers for the crowd to shout out. Burks ran a
no-gainer on the next play, but ran another carry after that, going straight
through the middle and thus faking out every Bruin on the field for a
well-needed touchdown. The two-point conversion that followed was successful,
narrowing the score margin to 30-22 in Blacksburg's favor with 11:00 remaining
in the game. Steger's
kickoff went to the carrier, who took it to the thirty-yardline before Greg
Sartin and Kevin Crouse knocked whatever indian was still there out of him.
Sadly, as the clock continued to dwindle down, so did our boys' morale it
seemed. After a six-yarder was stopped by Ryan Dean, the Bruins went straight
through the defense to reach the Cougar five yardline where Dean got the stop
again. Ernie Hodge stopped the carrier at the two next, but then Blacksburg
scored again right after that. One good thing about the play was that Blacksburg
was finally--FINALLY --penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct. This set
them back fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage to the seventeen where they
tried and got the extra point. This changed the score to 37-22. Fortunately, the
scoreboard was still working because now the only part of it that was visible in
the fog was the lighted numbers. The
following kickoff was returned by Steven Cobbs, who ran it up to the twenty-two.
Derrick Burks took it to the twenty-five, and then to the thirty. He also
claimed a first down on the thirty-eight directly afterward. Brandon Anderson
lost a yard on the thirty-seven, and then Ernie Hodge took that yard right back
with that criss-cross play that everyone loves. Burks ran a no-gainer, and then
the Cougars punted with the down fourth and ten. The
ball went from the Cougar thirty-eight to the Bruins' twenty-one. David Houff
kept it and ran all the way back down the field to the Cougar one yardline.
Then, to end the shortest drive of the night, Blacksburg scored again and kicked
an extra point again to update the score to 44-22 with 4:13 remaining. Steven
Cobbs returned the following kickoff to the twenty seven, and then Chad Thompson
lost two yards and landed at the twenty-five. He immediately made up for it by
reaching the thirty-eight, and then an anonymous carrier got the first down on
the forty-eight. Thompson ran it to the opposite forty-eight, and then to the
forty-five. Junior running back Cain Montgomery failed to gain anything, and
then Chad took it to the forty-three. The down on that play, however, was fourth
and three. Blacksburg automatically took possession and ran out the clock by
taking two knees in a row to run out the clock. Tonight
was truly the saddest night in a long time for the Cougars and the Cougar loyal.
Not to worry though, as next week we will host the Christiansburg Blue Demons at
the same venue, Dobson Stadium. With that brighter note in mind, this is Pete
Cougar on behalf of everyone here at Cougarfootball.net inviting you to see the
action. Till then, as always, this is Pete Cougar signing off.
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