CougarDave Corner E.C. Glass Preview by CougarDave
Cougars
Hope For Happy Homecoming
The Pulaski County Cougars go into
Homecoming Week 2005 with a much improved 2-2 record, but the toughest test to
date may be this coming week as E.C. Glass roles into Dobson Stadium looking to
avenge last years overtime defeat at the hands of the Cougars. Hello again Cougar Fans, and welcome back
to another week with Cougarfootball.net. It E.C. Glass holds the honor of being one of the few schools that actually have a lead in their series against the Cougars, boasting 8 wins to 5 losses and 1 tie. The only time either team has won more than two games in a row came between the years of 1994 and 1995, when the Hilltoppers managed to top the Cougars two times in each season, once in regular season play and once in the playoffs each year. There have been plenty of close games between these two teams too, with 5 games being decided by 4 points or less, one tie, and then there was last years overtime thriller to bring us to this years game. The Hilltoppers come into this contest with a nice 3-1 record, with wins over Franklin County, Heritage, and Jefferson Forest, suffering only one loss to powerful Amherst last week. No doubt about it, this is a very strong and very fast team. If you had to name one thing that has hurt the Cougars this season more than anything, it would be speed. E.C. Glass will bring plenty of that to Dobson Stadium this coming Friday night. So with all that said, what will the Cougars have to do to win this game? Without question the running game is going to have to have another great night. Watching Kevin Crouse and Benji Poindexter tag team the Jefferson Forest Cavaliers last week was an awesome sight to behold. Benji is really coming along as a key player in the Cougar offense. The offensive line will also have to have another Herculean night, opening up the holes for these guys to run through. On top of that, the Cougars are going to have to eventually find a way to get the ball into the hands of Casey Turpin and a couple of other receivers to keep these defenses honest. On the other side of the ball, the Cougars need to continue to improve on defense. There have been some pretty big improvements in defensive play since game one of the season, and if Pulaski can continue to make those improvements and stay healthy then I think we can expect some good things from the Cougars over the next few weeks. So here we are. Game day is coming. Homecoming game!! Last year the Cougars got a big surprise in the form of a 31-6 loss at the hands of the Hidden Valley Titans on Homecoming night. Coach Turner has commented that last year, there were a lot of people worried about “what tuxedo will I wear” or “who should I ask to the dance” and “I wonder who’s going to end up King and Queen”. Don’t expect to see that mistake repeated this year. You can expect a focused, well prepared, and for the most part healthy Cougar team to walk down those steps on Friday night, and you can expect to see a healthy, motivated team coming out of the visitors side as well. Folks, I’d advise you to get there early and have a few hotdogs, because this could be one of those games where we end up making a lot of noise. Bring out your cowbells, bring out your noisemakers, and bring out your flags and posters!! It's COUGAR FOOTBALL TIME in Pulaski County baby!!! GO COUGARS!!! BEAT THE HILLTOPPERS
Cougars
by the Numbers
Friday, September 30 - E.C. Glass Hilltoppers (Homecoming): Series: E.C.
Glass leads 8-5-1.
LINKS Roanoke Times High School Sports Page (These links go into the archives after about a week) Southwest Times Sports Page (Check early and often - the stories disappear quickly, and are not archived.) Virginia Preps AA Message Board Matt
Gilliam's Ratings (Full access requires a subscription to VirginiaPreps.com.)
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