The Locker Room November 12, 2004

KENNETH J. DOBSON STADIUM—Tonight was not a good night. Tonight was not a good night for the Pulaski County High School football team. Tonight was not a good night for Pulaski County fans. Tonight was not necessarily a good night for anyone in Pulaski County. As a matter of fact, for pretty much everyone in and out of the county who cares enough about the Cougars to read these unprofessional articles, tonight was a very, very bad night. Also, staying true to the form of Cougar loss nights, tonight was very cold, and the rainy drizzles and mists that persisted the entire night only added to the chill.

It was set to be the most electrifying game in River Ridge District football history. Both teams going into the fray 8-1, with each team’s loss having been totally unpredicted. On top of that, this was the game that would determine the River Ridge District Championship. The estimated attendance was between ten and fourteen thousand, and word got across PCHS that game tickets were in fact selling very well at Salem High School itself. Tonight was supposed to blow everyone away.

Instead, it was a massacre.

One good thing about the evening was the day-long tailgate which began when school let out. I'd like to thank the 12^th-grade (and a few eleventh-grade) fanatics who call themselves the “Cougar Crazies” for putting that on. Other pre-game happenings included the recognition of PCHS seniors who have been active in football, cheerleading, and the Golden Cougar Marching Band, and the other pre-game highlight saw the Cougar Crazies storming the track from the student section and walking the track to the area in front of the Salem fans, brandishing a bright gold flag with a maroon Cougar paw.

The coin toss, which finally occurred after most of the hype calmed down, saw Salem winning the toss and deferring to the second half. Pulaski was to start with the ball first. The opening kickoff went into Kevin Crouse’s arms and he crash-landed on the thirty-one yardline. He went on to run the first three plays of the drive to reach the forty yardline before Luis Piscura finished it off with a punt rolling dead to the Spartans’ sixteen yardline.

Salem began their first possession with a fumble which they recovered. This lost them two yards, and the defensive linemen for the Cougars only allowed one of them to be gained back on the following play. Steven Cobbs covered an incomplete pass attempt, and then the punt went to Ryan Dean who ran it up to the Salem thirty-eight.

Kevin Crouse ran a no-gainer to begin this drive. Chad Thompson gained nine, and Crouse got the first down on the twenty-seven.  The next two plays were identical: Crouse got the handoff and the yardage was called back for two consecutive chop blocks. This made the down second and twenty-something. Dean dropped back for a pass but was run out of bounds. With the down third and thirty, he threw an interception.

This catch put the Spartans on their own nineteen. From there, they reached the twenty-four, and then Spartan Andre Harrison ran a marathon down to the Pulaski nineteen yardline where Matt Robertson got him. A would-have-been touchdown pass flew incomplete, covered by Dean, and Salem got two yards next to make up for it. A flag against Pulaski gained five yards for them. With the down third and three, their number twenty guy (too lazy to look up his name) reached the ten, where Crouse and Hodge slammed him. There was now only one yard to go. Salem got nailed for delay of game and lost five. The following field goal attempt put them on the board, 3-0 with 36.3 seconds left in the first quarter.

Steven Cobbs returned the kickoff to the twenty yardline. This ended the first quarter, so the teams switched sides. Ryan Dean’s long pass attempt for Cobbs went overthrown, Chad Thompson gained twenty yards to reach the forty-three, Crouse gained one, and then Chad gained two more to claim the forty-six. Hodge criss-crossed to Salem’s thirty-seven. This got our boys a first down. A fumble by Thompson went into the hands of a Spartan and he ran sixty-five yards to the endzone for a touchdown. A successful extra point attempt saw the board go up 10-0 for the Spartans with 9:16 left in the half. Cobbs got the kickoff return to the twenty-eight, and Thompson reached the thirty-four. Crouse snagged two more, and after a Cougar timeout Crouse gained eight more to reach the forty-four. After a no-gainer by the same carrier, Salem snagged another cougar fumble to gain possession.

Austin Twine saw the Spartans begin from the Cougars’ forty yardline and kept them there by nailing the ball carrier. However, Ryan Dean was unable to do the same until the carrier on the next play had reached the nineteen. Three yards were gained in the next two plays, and a pass was completed to the six. Salem trotted right into the endzone again for another touchdown and extra point. The score was 17-0 with 3:44 till halftime.

Chad Thompson got the kickoff and landed it on the twenty-seven yardline. Crouse cut to the right instead of the middle for once and got run out of bounds at the thirty-two yardline. Chad gained one more, and Dean dropped back for a pass. He got sacked. Luis Piscura’s punt went to their number nineteen fellow who made it to the forty-two before going down hard at the hands (but more notably a shoulder) of Steven Cobbs.

Salem gained one yard and then halftime began. Continuously shivering, (having stood out in muddy grass for the duration of the tailgate and now sporting soaked shoes and socks in this horrible weather) I walked around the stadium to try to stretch my legs and warm myself. My attempt failed miserably. As the second half began, I wiped off my damp notesheets, got back under my umbrella, and carried on.

Luis Piscura’s kickoff ended in a fair catch by Salem on their thirty yardline. Ernie Hodge and Brent Osborne prevented a gain straight off, and then Ryan Dean covered a long pass which was caught but dropped. André Harrison reached the twenty-six where the Spartans punted. Thankfully, Hodge and Osborne blocked it.

In their best field position of the night at this point, Pulaski began their possession from the Spartans’ twenty-four yardline. Kevin Crouse ran three plays and then Chad ran three. Crouse gained five yards, three more, and then a first down on the thirteen. Chad lost one, gained four, and then went nowhere. The down was fourth and eight on the ten. Pulaski got flagged for delay of game, backed up to the fifteen, and nailed a field goal attempt, killing Salem’s hopes for a shut out. The score was 17-3 with 6:05 left in the quarter. Piscura’s kickoff went into the endzone for a touchback.

From their own twenty, Salem sent Harrison to the forty-four where he was chased out of bounds. Three more yards were gained before the whole center of the d-line stopped it, and then a quarterback sneak got only one yard thanks to a slam by Rashad Simmons. Casey Turpin only allowed Harrison to reach the forty-nine before they were forced to punt again, this time seeing the ball roll dead on the Cougar sixteen yardline.

Kevin Crouse gained thirteen yards right off the bat. Chad gained two, and on the next play Salem recovered another fumble for a touchdown of theirs. After the extra point, the score was 24-3 with 2:36 left in the quarter. Cobbs returned the kickoff up to the forty-eight, Crouse claimed the forty-six, and then the Cougars gave a fumble to Salem again.

Ernie Hodge shared his feelings on the night’s festivities with a huge quarterback sack. This took the Spartans from the forty-five to the forty. Harrison gained one yard in return, but then caught a pass at about the Pulaski forty-five. The following punt went to Ryan Dean who landed at the twenty-one yardline. He apparently got some mud stuck in his eyes, as he had to go to the sidelines for a few plays while in the meantime Austin Twine served as quarterback. Under this new leadership, Crouse swept the twenty-five yardline. This saw the beginning of the fourth quarter.

After that, Pulaski fumbled again for yet another Salem recovery.  This made the fifth—count them, the fifth Cougar fumble of the night, all of which were scooped up by Salem. 

From Pulaski’s thirty-seven, they scraped the thirty-five.  Ryan Dean forced the ball carrier on the next play out of bounds, and then Salem got nothing at all after that.  However, Andre Harrison bit back with another touchdown followed by an unsuccessful extra point attempt.  This rounded the score up to 30-3 with 8:14 left in the game.  Steven Cobbs returned the following kickoff to the twenty-five yardline.

Pulaski’s next—and final—drive began with another chop block call against the Cougars.  Dean kept the ball and ran to the nineteen from the eleven, and then Crouse to the thirty-one.  Dean kept the ball again for the first down, and from the thirty-six Chad Thompson got the ball and stayed there.  Kevin Crouse reached the forty-three next—solely because he was able to literally jump over a Spartan who was diving for him—but then on the next play the Cougars were hit with illegal motion.  The down was third and twelve on the thirty-eight.  Ryan Dean dropped back for a pass—and saw no openings.  He did, however, see the entire Spartan defense coming for him.  So, he ran outside, juked a little, ran back inside, juked a little more, and before he knew it had claimed nine yards and a first down on the forty-seven before landing.  Crouse reached the fifty, Chad’s next carry was called back for illegal procedure, and then Crouse got five more.  Dean ran two more for a total of twenty-one yards, and with the first down an anonymous ball carrier got five more.  Alas, this marked the end of the game as the time had then run out.  The final score was Salem 30, Pulaski 3.

I was too late in getting to the Cougars’ locker room to do interviews.  The door was locked.  Common sense told me that leaving the damage alone was the smarter thing to do, so I did.  I knew my friends would be in no mood to answer questions anyway.

Amherst defeated Heritage 20-0, which means that Pulaski’s shot at the playoffs is gone.  That being said, I have one thing more to add:

A FAREWELL—This will be my final article.  Having only worked three seasons as writer for cougarfootball.net, it surprises me how nearly choked up I am in writing this.  When I began, I was a money-hungry sophomore who was more than willing to sacrifice his dateless (at the time) Friday nights to give all of you, the cougar loyals, the results to the Pulaski football games.  Tonight I am sitting here at home writing these final words as an eighteen-year-old senior who has finally managed to snag a job at the Wal-Mart in Fairlawn.  No more money from this job is needed.  More importantly, though, my homies here at the site have noticed a significant upward change in article quality since I started, largely because I have been a student at PCHS during my time here.  It’s clear they would rather have a current student do these articles.  A graduate can only know so much, weather it’s the rules of the game or the players in the game.  A student can know both.  With that in mind, I invite any student who is wise in the game of football, a decent writer, and interested in the job for next year to holler at Jeff Wolfe or Ardent Cougar.  This job is purely unprofessional, requires no resume, and needs no uniform.  The drawbacks are that it sacrifices Friday nights in the fall, and that it’s seasonal work, so if you’re just in it for the money you’ll quit quickly.  These, however, are minimal setbacks compared to how much fun I’ve had doing it.  How else would I ever get myself a birthday card from the entire varsity cheerleading squad?  Some things you just can’t put a price on.

Lastly, before I retire and finally get to sleep on Friday nights in the fall, I have a list of thank-yous: 

PETE COUGAR THANKS:  The Cougar Crazies for the laughs, the cheerleaders for talking to me in public, CougarDave for the unforgettable tailgates, Jack for the wisecracks, The marching band for the cool performances, the Touchdown Club for making the Stadium continuously look cool, and the coaching staff for letting me in the locker room even after losses.

SPECIAL THANKS:  Jeff Wolfe,  Ardent Cougar, Steven Marcus, and anyone I forgot who also runs cougarfootball.net for the unforgettable job.  Fran Shelton for the rides to the away games, Dad for paying for the halftime snacks, my brother Tommy (prefers Thomas, but no one calls him that) for keeping me up-to-date on information that escapes my research, Mom for being Mom, the Cougar football team for the unbelievable story material, and lastly, (you knew this was coming because it’s so overused) every single fan out there who has kept up with these articles over the past three football seasons.  In other words, (your name here), thank you too.

Well, it’s been a long and wild ride.  It’s been extremely fun during the games, and extremely tedious in front of the computer.  I will miss it.  So, one final time, for all of us here at cougarfootball.net, this is Peter N. Jackson, aka “Pete Cougar,” signing off.