Cougars Blast Bruins in Blacksburg’s Fumblefest! by Pete Cougar Full
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BLACKSBURG MIDDLE SCHOOL—Tonight was a bad night. Don’t confuse that with how the game went. The game went great. The night itself, however, was bad. A mist of a rain fell during virtually the entire game, making this writer’s note sheets (we’ve come to call them the “Joker Sheets” for no good reason at all) annoyingly damp. Other than that, though, tonight went pretty smoothly. For I think the second consecutive week, I failed to get who won the coin toss. That, fortunately, is not very important whatsoever. Either way it went, the Blacksburg Bruins (*cough*Indians*cough*) were to begin the game with possession of the ball. The kickoff return was run a decent distance up to Pulaski’s forty-nine yardline. The only thing Blacksburg failed to do on this first drive was score. The first two plays resulted in first downs and were both stopped by Steven Cobbs. After an incomplete pass that kept them on the eighteen yardline, cougar Brent Osborne stopped their carrier at the seventeen. Ryan Dean covered a second incomplete pass but Pulaski was nailed for pass interference, which saved the drive for the Ind—Um, Bruins. The down, which had been third and nine on the seventeen, ended up as first and goal on the eight. Senior runningback Matt Woods took the ball and was hurled out of bounds by Rashad Simmons at the five, and then Kevin Crouse stopped the next carrier right where he began for no gain. A would-be touchdown pass went incomplete (I just love rubbing in the fact that they would have scored if it connected), and then they made an unsuccessful field goal attempt before turning over the ball to the Cougars. As Pulaski’s offense made it onto the field, Kevin Crouse introduced himself to the Bruins for the first time, gaining seven yards straight off. Then two. Then five. That got our fellas a first down, and then Chad Thompson carried for the first time and got one yard himself. Crouse ran it again the next four times, getting two first downs in a row, five yards, and finally eleven for a third first down—going up through the middle of the line every time. This put Pulaski on Blacksburg’s twenty-nine yardline. Chad ran it again and got eight before Kevin claimed three more. Chad got two, and Kevin ran again but the Cougars were called for holding and lost ten yards. Now with eighteen yards to go before the next first down, Crouse ran the ball for twelve. He then ran it again for four more, and finally five. The down was now fourth and one on the ten yardline. Ryan Dean ran a quarterback keeper, made it to the one yardline—and fumbled for a Blacksburg recovery. The I—Bruins began from their own twenty, at first gaining nothing because of a huge rock cliff in their way named “Ernie Hodge and three other defenders.” An incomplete pass followed, but another pass interference call got them a first down on the thirty-five. Another incomplete pass attempt occurred, and another no-gainer ended the first quarter. After switching field positions, the two teams got back into it. Another flag was called on Pulaski, and Blacksburg got another first down, landing miraculously on Pulaski’s twenty-eight in the process. From there, the quarterback was nearly sacked but managed to complete a pass before Frank Baldwin pummeled the receiver. They followed up with yet another incomplete pass, and then got flagged with illegal motion on the next play. It should be noted that the angry away crowd visibly relaxed at the sight of this long-overdue penalty against Blacksburg. Another long-overdue moment in the game followed, which was a completed pass by them, putting them on the sixteen for a first down where they threw additional incomplete passes twice in a row. Blacksburg was called for delay of game, and with the down third and a long fifteen, Rashad Simmons sacked the quarterback. So that made the down fourth and twenty on the twenty-six. They attempted another field goal and the ball fell short. The Cougars took up the ball at their own twenty. Crouse ran the first four plays. First he got seven yards, then three twice, and finally eight for the first down on the Cougar forty-one. The time had evidently come for a pass. Quarterback Ryan Dean dropped back for a long pass to Steven Cobbs—and launched a real wounded duck of an attempt. Cougar fans were already booing and exclaiming “oh, man!” but then Steven, surrounded by defenders who for some reason were nowhere within fifteen feet of him, began tweaking his position under the ball at about the Blacksburg forty-five yardline and caught it in the crook of his elbow. Clearly no one on either side of the stands, sidelines, or line expected this, as Cobbs was off like a shot towards the endzone before anyone else had a chance to exclaim “holy crap!” This being said, he scored Pulaski’s first touchdown of the night and single-handedly snatched six points right out from under the Bruins’ noses like a cop at a Dunkin’ Doughnuts with the “hot” sign on. When asked about what went on with this, he stated, “Ryan Dean over there is my best friend, so we gotta look out for each other. I just moved under it, caught it, and as soon as my hands were on it I just knew somehow that I was gonna score.” Luis Piscura dotted the exclamation point with a trademark soccer-style extra point and literally kicked the score up to 7-0 with 6:29 left in the first quarter. The following kickoff saw the returner for the Bruins (*cough*indians!*) go down at the twenty-eight at the hands of Frank Baldwin. Some guy named Matthews gained eight yards off the bat, and then the quarterback released a pass. The receiver caught it and went down hard at the hands of Steven Cobbs for no gain. I will repeat that for you, if you so desire. A completed pass gained nothing. Blacksburg, I’m sorry, but that was flat-out funny to watch. Still on the thirty-six, another pass was attempted but Casey Turpin swatted it down like I would an annoying gnat. That thing flew straight for maybe five yards and then SCHMACK—no more pass. This made the Bruins punt for the first time, making the ball roll dead on the Cougar twenty-five. Kevin Crouse started off the drive by claiming the thirty yardline. For the next two carries, he took it to the thirty-two and then the thirty-four. Pulaski called their first timeout, and then they punted to a guy who caught it at the thirty-five and went down at the forty-six courtesy of a straight-up slam by Benji Poindexter. Blacksburg gained three yards but lost five after that on account of a flag. Pulaski was nailed for pass interference—again—to even it out. From the Cougars’ forty-one, they passed to senior wide receiver Tim Plemmons who caught it and claimed the thirty-two yardline. A second pass attempt went incomplete, and their quarterback ran a keeper for a first down on the twenty-eight. From there, he launched another pass that was batted down by Steven Cobbs in a way similar to Casey’s swat earlier on. Cobbs went on in the next play to nearly intercept another pass but barely missed. Pulaski called a second timeout, and Blacksburg threw a final incomplete pass before the turnover. The Cougars’ only play before the clock signaled halftime consisted of a flag that lost them five yards. Twenty minutes, a Snickers, and a hot chocolate later, the third quarter and final half began. Steven Cobbs snatched the ball out of the air during the kickoff and carried it all the way up to Blacksburg’s forty-seven yardline to give Pulaski an excellent starting field position. Crouse ran three times to get a total of seven yards during which a Bruin became injured and had to be assisted off the field. With the down fourth and three on the forty, our boys punted to see the ball overshoot the would-be receiver and nearly get recovered by Pulaski at the sixteen. Fortunately for Blacksburg, they got their hands on it first and started from that very line. One yard was claimed right off, and then they reached the twenty-six, the thirty-three, and then the forty-two. Two straight incomplete passes were launched, and a third was connected for a first down. From Pulaski’s forty-six, the ball carrier reached the thirty-four before someone—it had to be Steven Cobbs because no one else would be able to pull this stunt off—dove down in front of him and caused him to flip forward, head over heels, and land flat on his back. The game paused long enough for every single soul present to stop and either say or think “aww, sweet!” After that, play was resumed. Five more yards were gained and stopped by Ernie Hodge, and with the down now second and five Kevin Crouse recovered a fumble. From the thirty-five, Kevin got the handoff and took it to the forty-four and then the forty-six for a first down. He claimed three more after that and then, from the Pulaski forty-nine, found an opening in the line and scored his first touchdown of the night, getting hit the instant he crossed the line. Piscura’s extra point was successful, and the score went up 14-0 with 2:16 remaining in the third quarter. The following kickoff saw the returner, senior runningback Kevin Gregory, run it to the twenty-one yardline and get straight-up plowed down by junior cougar cornerback John McDaniel. Two more incomplete passes were tossed (is this QB going for some kind of record?!?!), and the Cougars were called offsides which made the down third and five on the twenty-six. Guess what? There was another incomplete pass here as well. This one was nearly intercepted like a few of the others, but Pulaski got a bonus that wasn’t there before: a flag against Blacksburg for an illegal chop block. It was declined, but seeing Blacksburg get nailed for a change was pleasing. Steven Cobbs caught the following punt at the twenty-eight yardline and scrambled maniacally before going down. Crouse ran twice for a total of five yards and Chad Thompson to the thirty-five for two of his own to finish off the third quarter. The final twelve minutes of the game began with a punt from the Cougars landing dead on the twenty yardline. I wondered if I could fib and write down that it was a touchback and not have anyone notice. I already said it, so I guess not. The Bruin(dian)s called a timeout to get that sixth man out of their line, and then completed a pass for a grand total of two yards before Steven Cobbs imprinted his shoulder pad into the receiver, sending him down hard. Runningback Matt Woods scrambled to thirty-eight for a first down, and on the next play they got five yards automatically because of an offsides call on the Cougars, after which they got five yards of their own for another first down. After that, they actually lost two yards. This was because of a relatively new force to be reckoned with on the Cougar line: a six-foot-four, three hundred fifty-five-pound sophomore defensive tackle who goes by the name of Jamar Lewis. This hit was so hard, it sort of hurt just to look at it. Seriously, this dude just put the smackdown on him. At the same time, however, it was highly cool. A pass was—surprise—completed to the Cougars’ thirty-four before Rashad Simmons snagged the receiver. Mike Bolt, a six-foot, three hundred-seven-pound junior defensive tackle took one more yard from the offense, and after that, passes went incomplete twice in a row. Finally, with the down fourth and eleven, they completed a pass to the twenty-eight which was tragically short of the first down marker. Pulaski got the turnover on the same line. Simmons ran the ball twice, getting nothing at first and then scraping the twenty-nine. Kevin Crouse got in one of his trademark plays next, running a staggering forty-nine yards to Blacksburg’s twenty-three yardline, and then back to the twenty-six. Simmons reached the nineteen, and Crouse took it from there to score his second touchdown of the evening. Luis’ extra point was blocked, but the score still went up 20-0 with 5:23 left in the game. The following kickoff saw Frank Baldwin tattoo the returner into the grass at the twenty-five. Crouse nearly intercepted their first pass attempt on this drive (incomplete), and then Jamar Lewis got another hard hit which led to another fumble and Pulaski recovery. Beginning at the thirty-five, nothing was gained at first. An anonymous carrier got one yard, and then Chad got one more to the thirty-three. Ryan Dean was sacked at the forty on the fourth down. The Cougars called another timeout, and then a pass by Blacksburg was completed only to be called back for illegal procedure against them and minus five yards. A no-gainer was run after that, along with two straight incomplete passes. The following punt went a grand total of eleven yards. From the Bruins’ forty-six, Simmons took the ball to the forty-four, and then the forty-one. Cain Montgomery got the handoff next, and moved to the thirty-eight. This made the down fourth and a short three, but it became fourth and a long eight on the forty-three after Pulaski was nailed for delay of game. This, however, did not seem to be a problem for sophomore tailback Benji Poindexter. Benji ran a solid forty-three yards for Pulaski’s final touchdown of the night with two seconds left on the clock. Piscura nailed the extra point to make the score 27-0 at literally the last instant. When asked about his first touchdown, Benji stated, “I just got the ball and actually stumbled a bit early on, but as soon as I got it back there, I knew it was six.” A crappy kickoff return stopped by Chad Thompson ended the game. I wish there was a way to elaborate on that, but there isn’t. When asked about beating Blacksburg for the first time since 2001 when they were still Indians, Jack Turner stated, “it was a big game for us. When you’re humiliated the way we were last week, it’s important to come back like that. We’ve got two games on them now, because we really took it to them tonight.” I couldn’t agree more. Next week, however, will be the real test: the Christiansburg Blue Demons. The undefeated Christiansburg Blue Demons. Sound familiar? Not to me, not at all. It’s going to get very interesting in Dobson Stadium next week, I’m certain of it… So come on down, there’s next to nothing else to do on a Friday night out here. Well, not for minors anyway. *Ahem * With that in mind, I guess I’ll close off for now. See you there next week!
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