Game Pictures by Steven Marcus

DOBSON STADIUM—Tonight was a good game.  You know if it’s a good game when trash-talk is somehow transported between the schools during school hours.  If teachers give homework passes to students simply for attending a certain game, it might be a good game.  Lastly, if you find yourself tired and your voice hoarse from all the cheering and booing and it’s not even the second quarter yet, it just might be a good game. 

            All of the above occurred at tonight’s festivities.  There was a buzz in the air about this one.  Earlier this week—heck, late last week, there was a buzz about this one.  This completely unprofessional and slightly weird journalist heard through the grapevine that the Cougars now up against a team whom they had lost to for the past two years in a row.  Never in school history had that gone on for three years with any school our boys have played.  As you no doubt have figured out from my happy tone, it still hasn’t. 

            Let’s not lie or use any false modesty here:  Cougars rule.

            Tonight’s at-home festivities began with a stirring (and it really was stirring) performance by the Golden Cougar Marching Band.  After some relatively uneventful socializing, it came time for the coin toss.  It was here that things began to get sort of interesting—yes, the coin toss.  You read right.  At this time, only Fleming’s cheerleaders, fans, and coaches were visible.  The same was true for our boys, the Pulaski County Cougars.  A lone figure, Cougar quarterback Ryan Dean, walked down the stadium steps and out onto midfield, somewhat resembling the only soldier in an army he knew would still fight.  Dean stepped up to come face-to-face with no less than four Fleming players as the coin determined the sides for the first half.  The Cougars won and deferred to the second half.  It was only then that the two teams came out from their respective locker rooms, somewhat resembling two gangs about to rumble in a movie like Colors or West Side Story.  It was here that William Fleming’s trademark psychological warfare (yes, we are on to you fellas) kicked in for the first time.  While the band formed the trademark path for our boys to run through,  the whole Fleming team came up inches behind the band, obviously talking trash.  Just in time for the entire home crowd to start booing them, our boys ran through that path and through three well-prepared banners.  If they weren’t fired up to take on such “tough” opponents, they sure were now. 

            Luis Piscura kicked off the kickoff of the game with a kickoff that sailed into the endzone for a touchback.  From their own twenty yardline, Fleming quarterback Hicks (can’t remember his first name) pitched the ball to their number seven guy who made a two-yard gain before getting pummeled by Ernie Hodge.  From there, Hicks pitched again, and the guy who got it was straight-up slammed by Steven Cobbs.  He didn’t even gain anything.  Hicks dropped back for a pass next, and was instead run out of bounds.  Somehow, Pulaski was flagged, and the Colonels nabbed a first down.  This put them on Pulaski’s forty-nine yardline.  Pulaski was flagged again and that landed them on our thirty-seven.  (I noticed right then that every time the Cougars play these fellas, they get penalized with technicalities all through the first quarter.  Coincidence?)  From there, their number two man gained one more.  Hicks ran a keeper through the middle and gained two before Rashad Simmons introduced him to his shoulder pad.  Some anonymous dude ran the ball after that and reached the twenty-four yardline after rushing through the middle.  They then wrestled the ball to the twenty yardline, followed by a gain of nothing courtesy of Kasey McCambridge.  Hicks pitched the ball again after that only for the carrier to be practically gutted by Steven Cobbs upon catching it.  The down now was fourth and fourteen on the Cougars’ eighteen yardline.  William Fleming tried for a fancy field goal and it sailed pretty much straight into the endzone.  This turned the ball over to the Cougars. 

            The Pulaski County Cougars got started with a fumbled snap.  Still stuck on our own twenty, Kevin Crouse first jumped into the fray and gained five yards right off the bat.  From there, Chad Thompson caught Dean’s pitch and gained a very respectable fifteen yards to the forty.  Crouse took it again, running to the forty-one before getting flattened by defense and nearly fumbling.  From there, Steven Cobbs ran deep and caught a long bomb from Ryan Dean, actually making it into the endzone only for the Cougars to get called for holding.  So, everyone moved back to their original spot.  Also, there was an official’s timeout that followed.  After some discussion, they proceeded to throw Rashad Simmons off the field because of the dreadlocks sticking out of his helmet!  According to them, it was some kind of hazard.  So, Simmons walked off the field and spent the next few plays getting his dreads up under his helmet.  (By the way, FLEMING, we are not stupid.  You fellows pulled the same stunt last year with a cougar player that had an untucked shirt.  Did he get thrown out of the game last year?  No.  Did Rashad have to permanently leave the game this year? No again.  Mind games don’t work with officials.  Get the hint and give it up.)  Anyway, an anonymous carry put our boys on the thirty-eight yardline where Dean took off to reach the forty-three immediately after.  Sadly, the down was now fourth and seven.  Luis Piscura came out and punted the ball—long and low—and forced the Colonels to start from their own eleven yardline. 

            To begin the drive, the Fleming carrier got the handoff and absolutely no yardage because of a large truck in his way named Kasey McCambridge.  Directly after this, the ball carrier was all but walled up on the next play by Cain Montgomery and maybe four others for a loss of two yards.  After another officials’ timeout, Hicks launched a long pass intended for whoever wears number thirty on that team but, largely in part to Kevin Crouse who covered it, it was incomplete.  With the down now fourth and seven on the thirteen, the Colonels punted. 

            Ryan Dean, always aiming to please, returned the punt all the way to Fleming’s twenty-nine yardline.  The next handoff was a cross pattern (not a criss-cross, like with Ernie Hodge, but a normal cross) to Kevin Crouse who got a first down on the fourteen with it.  Rashad Simmons made his triumphant return onto the field and into the game by scraping the twelve.  Ryan Dean carried the ball himself after that but got pummeled in the backfield for a loss of four, putting our boys on the sixteen.  After a Cougar timeout, Simmons got the handoff and reached the six for what came very close to a first down.  The down was now fourth and two.  Pulaski called another timeout, and then Crouse proudly escorted the ball into the endzone for the first touchdown of the night.  Luis’ extra point was good as usual and the scoreboard lit up 7-0 with 10:32 remaining. 

            The kickoff that followed sailed into the arms of Fleming's Mijuan Curtis, who single-handedly embarrassed the home fellows by running across the field, weaving through the defenders, and all the way to Pulaski’s twenty-six yardline before embarrassing himself by falling down.  Short gains of three and two, in that order, followed.  After that, however, Hicks pitched the ball left.  Steven Cobbs dove and grazed him, still leaving him standing and free to waltz into the Cougar endzone for a touchdown of their own.  The extra point was good and the score was even at 7-7 with 8:33 left on the clock. 

            Steven Cobbs ran the kickoff return to about the twenty-six yardline and then went down at the hands of some colonel named Harrison.  In case you’re wondering, I didn’t have a Fleming roster sheet with me tonight.  Crouse gained two yards, and then Dean launched an incomplete pass intended for Chad Thompson.  Pulaski called a timeout, and Dean threw again, this time for Crouse but it came up short.  With the down fourth and eight, our fellas punted. 

            The ball rolled dead at the Colonels’ twenty yardline.  Hicks began the drive by dropping back for a pass, wondering what to do while he tip-toed all over the backfield looking around frantically, and then threw a pathetic shot out of bounds.  Wisely, he decided to take matters into his own hands next and ran a keeper to about the thirty-one for a first down before Cain Montgomery stopped him.  Hicks passed to his number twelve guy, who then took it over the fifty to the Cougars’ forty-seven where Dean laid him to rest.  Cougar defenders Brent Osborne, Ernie Hodge, and Kasey McCambridge straight-up bullrushed the ball carrier on the next play and prevented a gain completely.  The next play was a run that can only be described as pitiful, or at least that’s what the form made it look like.  It got them a first down, so it couldn’t have been all bad for them.  From the thirty-two, Hicks launched a long pass that failed to connect.  On the next play, loss of one thanks to Ryan Dean.  With the down third and eleven, Frank Baldwin got in a hefty quarterback sack that made the down fourth and a mere (snort!) sixteen.  They punted.  It was a real fancy punt, too.  The ball soared almost straight up.  This unprofessional and slightly weird journalist’s opinion is that they did that to… hold up, why did they do that?  That seems kind of strange, come to think of it.

            For whatever reason they punted that way, it rolled dead on the eighteen yardline where Rashad Simmons took it to the twenty-four.  Simmons got a first down next when he crossed the twenty-nine.  He was taken down by three Fleming defenders, all of whom he carried for about two or three yards.  It wasn’t until then that I realized for sure what Fleming was trying to accomplish by whining about his hair.  They didn’t want to have to use their energy on trying to tackle a sturdy fellow like him.  Anyway, Crouse carried to the thirty-four.  After that, William Fleming was called offsides and Pulaski moved up to the thirty-nine where Crouse got another first down by crossing the forty-seven.  Ryan Dean threw an incomplete pass to Chad Thompson and then handed off to him on the next play.  Chad reached the forty-eight and slipped.  With the down third and nine, Kevin Crouse dashed across the fifty to William Fleming’s thirty yardline. Needless to say, first down.  With the clock winding down towards halftime, Luis Piscura attempted a field goal and it was no good, being too wide to the right. 

            After the decent halftime festivities, It was time for the coin toss’ decision to come into effect.  It was time for the Cougars to receive the ball that they so enthusiastically deferred at the beginning of the game.  Steven Cobbs got the kickoff and returned it up to the forty yardline.  Kevin Crouse and Chad Thompson carried the ball on the next two plays, to the forty-two and to the forty-six.  Chad surprised everybody on the following play by romping right into the endzone with a criss-cross pattern—no slipping involved—and scoring a touchdown.  Luis kicked an extra point into extra point status and the score was 14-7 with 10:05 left in the first half of the last half. 

            The following kickoff went into the arms of Mijuan Curtis who made it pretty far but was penalized for illegal use of hands, making his run less amazing where it counted.  In other words, Fleming was stuck with first and ten on their own ten yardline.  Their ball carrier made it to the twenty-five for another first down before Ernie Hodge got the stop.  This was a bit of a funny moment, because the announcer, whoever he is, had seen Ernie pretty close to the guy and you could barely hear him on the box going, “Ernie Ernie Ernie Ernie… tackle made by Ernie Hodge!”  Hicks ran a keeper as the action got serious again, and gained five yards.  From the thirty, they reached the forty-one and then across the fifty to Pulaski’s forty-five.  Ernie Hodge, apparently motivated by the announcer’s classic pep talk, got in another good hit on their number two fellow (whom I think is Curtis) and refused any yardage.  Hicks attempted to pass to Curtis next, but Curtis more or less tipped it away from himself.  On the next play, I confess I don’t really know what the heck happened.  All I know is that it resulted in a personal foul against the Cougars for a late hit and, although the Colonels were on third and ten at the time, the foul gave them fifteen yards and a first down.  Now on the twenty-five yardline, Fleming tried to fake to the left.  Ernie wasn’t fooled.  That poor carrier only gained a yard.  Curtis ran again after that and was pushed back two yards by Ernie Hodge and Steven Cobbs.  Next, Hicks ran a keeper but was definitely jumpy before getting pulverized by Kasey McCambridge.  He did, however, manage to gain eight yards in the process.  A pass to Curtis was completed and then Hicks ran another keeper.  He reached the six yardline and Kevin Crouse got a cramp and went down for a moment or two before limping off the field for a play or two.  Hicks threw a pass that got William Fleming another touchdown after all that was said and done.  Fortunately, however, Steven Cobbs was able to dive down in front of the ball and block the extra point.  That made the score an uneven 14-13. 

            Frank Baldwin received and returned the following kickoff up to the forty yardline.  Chad Thompson reached the forty-one and Ernie went down with a cramp of his own.  Rashad Simmons took the handoff and gained four more yards for our boys, and from there Ryan Dean threw an incomplete pass to Baldwin.  With the down now fourth and five, Luis stepped up for the punt which sailed to an unfortunate guy who made it to the ten yardline and was mobbed by a gold-and-cardinal line. 

            Two yards were gained right off the bat n this drive.  Four more followed before McCambridge knocked the carrier down like a sack of potatoes.  The down was now third and four on their sixteen yardline.  Curtis got in a heck of a run to about the Pulaski forty-five but Fleming was called again for illegal use of hands.  So, everybody who had been covering him, chasing him, or whatever walked all the way back to where everyone else was, which was the Fleming thirty-one.  Rashad Simmons stopped the carrier on the forty-three, where a pass was completed to Curtis.  This landed the Colonels on Pulaski’s thirty-four yardline.  Curtis also ran the ball after that but didn’t gain anything.  Right about here is where the fourth quarter ended. 

            The final part of the game began with William Fleming scoring a thirty-four-yard touchdown followed by a failed two-point conversion attempt, compliments of Matt Robertson.  The score was 14-19 with 11:52 remaining in the game. 

            The kickoff into Cougar territory landed out-of-bounds for a foul on Fleming’s part, so Pulaski began on their thirty-five.  Simmons immediately wrestled his way over to the thirty-nine, and then Ryan Dean got knocked down for a three-yard loss.  This was the part where Ernie Hodge did his lovable little criss-cross thing again and scraped the forty-five yardline with it.  Rashad took it to the forty-eight, and then Chad Thompson carried again and went down back on the forty-six.  With the down third and nine, Ryan Dean threw an interception. 

            Hicks began this impromptu drive by launching a pass to Curtis which he dropped.  Hicks tried running it himself and lost a yard for his dedication.  Another really long bomb of  pass failed to connect and then, with the down fourth and eleven, they decided to punt. 

            The ball rolled dead on the twenty-three yardline (by this time, Fleming was intentionally skimming their punts with the hope of making them shorter. Either that or their punter is just sorry.) where Hodge took it one less to the twenty-two.  Pulaski was called for holding, and this put them on the twelve.  Thompson tried with the ball again and went down at the fourteen.  Dean threw another pass to Cobbs and it went down incomplete again.  With the down third and nineteen, Dean threw another interception. 

            By now, Pulaski fans were beginning to get up and leave.  There was about 1:47 left to go, all we needed was six points—no extra point or two-point conversion, mind you, just the touchdown—and people were leaving.  Not right.  Anyway, This drive was long and agonizing for the home crowd.  Short gains followed by a first down were signs of Cougar distress as the Colonels neared the endzone.  From the twenty-five, Curtis gained a few more short gains until the down was fourth and five on the twenty-one.  A pass was completed by him literally about two inches short of another first down. 

            Ladies and germs, this was the turning point.  The home crowd, yours truly included, seemed to have found their soul.  We began cheering our throats hoarse again and such.  From the Cougars’ sixteen yardline, Ryan Dean scrambled up to the twenty-nine for a first down.  He spiked the ball next to stop the clock, and then Chad Thompson reached up to the thirty-four yardline.  With the down third and five, Chad received a pass and got another first down on the thirty-nine.  There was now less than a minute left.  With the end of every play, Cougar Head Coach Jack Turner was calling a timeout.  Chad inched up to the forty-eight next, zipping right through all the defenders.  As rapidly as the home crowd’s souls were finding their fire, Fleming’s were losing theirs.  The down was second and two.  Kevin Crouse got another first down by dashing to the Colonels’ forty-one.  Crouse scrambled again to the twenty-eight for another first down.  There were now about sixteen seconds left on the clock.  Dean spiked the ball again.  After that, he dropped back for a pass and launched it straight into the arms of a waiting and excited Kevin Crouse.  He then ran the last seven or eight yards into the very tip of the endzone.  The home crowd, who had been sort of holding their breath as the ball flew towards his arms, exploded and seniors, myself included, began to run out onto the track as the clock dwindled down to triple zero.  Pulaski was allowed to keep the points but was called for unsportsmanlike conduct.  They attempted an extra point and missed it, and three seconds were added to the clock to give Fleming a pretty pointless kickoff return opportunity.  They got the ball and basically played hot potato with it to keep away from the rejuvenated Cougar defense until one of them fell down and the game was over.  The students who were already out on the track—again, myself included—stormed the field and got into what we like to call a “mosh pit” with the players.  Even our lovely cheerleaders came out and joined in. 

            Kevin was all smiles back in the locker room, as was everyone else.  “You can never have too many touchdowns,” he said.  “You never get enough.”

            This journalist also spoke with Rashad Simmons about the first quarter, in which the Fleming coaches whined about his hair.  Having long hair myself, I felt a personal resentment toward their doing that.  When asked what kept Rashad going in the face of such discrimination, he said, “victory.  You gotta keep on fighting, man.”

            Chad Thompson was feeling very smiley himself when asked about his first touchdown of the season.  “I’m just so glad I got in that one good hit, ‘cause this week we worked harder than any other team in this nation!”

            Happiest of all, the downright jolly Coach Turner, who was as surprised by the game’s outcome as any fan.  “It was a heck of a game.  The defense held, and we got the ball and just held on no matter how much or how little time was left on the clock. 

            “These kids have got something special,” he went on. “I can’t put my finger on it.  We had so many opportunities to just quit tonight, but I don’t think it even crossed any of their minds.”

            If the head coach says something like that in the locker room after the night’s over, it just might have been a good game. 

            Well, This was definitely a show not to be missed.  We booed, we cheered, we cried, we jeered.  Okay, maybe not cried, but it sounded good.  Anyway, next week our boys head out on the road for the first time this season to go head-to-head against Patrick Henry.  Well, I know I’ll be there.  I, as always, am personally inviting all of you to come and hang out.  For I know not course what others may take, but as for me, give me chili dogs or give me death!

Game Pictures
by Steven Marcus

 

Full Story and Interviews
by Pete Cougar

BOX SCORE

Game Pictures by Steven Marcus

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