The Pulaski County Cougars head down I-81 for their season opener against the Northside Vikings this Friday night, and the hopes are that the excitement from last weeks performance in the second half the of TD Classic and a large crowd will follow with them.

Hello again Cougar Fans, and welcome to week one of the 2007 football season, and another week here at cougarfootball.net. The Cougars are anxious to get things kicked off this year, and there is an air of excitement that hasn't been seen at the big practice area out by the cornfield in a few years.

Last week the Cougars saw their first true live action of the season in the 25th Annual Harvey's GM Touchdown Classic as they took on Rockbridge and Brookville. In the contest against Rockbridge, the Cougars looked a little out of synch. You can credit a lot of that to a fine Rockbridge team that was playing it’s second game of the evening. The Cougars managed one score on its opening drive, which covered a total of 65 yards. After that, however, the Cougars were only able to gain 29 additional yards in the contest, and lost to the Wildcats 12-7.

The coaches didn't miss a beat, and took the break between sessions to fine tune some blocking assignments. Apparently, they got it right because the Cougars came out and completely dominated the next game against the Brookville Bee’s, who up to that point had looked like the best team in the event. Pulaski County gained a total of 329 yards of offense against the Bee’s. They gained yards on the ground (166) and through the air (163). Yes, you read that correctly, Pulaski County had 163 passing yards in one half of football. Senior quarterback Shay Dunnigan was cool and calm, hitting 7 of 8 passes. The defense allowed one score at the start of the second period, but otherwise held the potent Brookville offense that had just scored 26 against Rockbridge in check. All in all, it was a fine Classic, and in the end you could sense that Pulaski County’s football team and coaches felt pretty good about things.

So now we look ahead to game one. Northside High School is in its second year under their new head coach. The Vikings are hungry to build a new tradition for themselves after a few disappointing seasons. They are a team on the rise, and they have the athletes, skill, speed, and strength to make things happen. Pulaski County leads the series with the Vikings 15-9, and they have won ten of the last 12 meetings. The Vikings, to their credit, did put an end to what could have been a perfect regular season in 2001, defeating the Cougars at Northside 34-24.

The Vikings have had it rough since then however, and as I wrote they are a team on the rise. Expect to see good passing, good blocking, and solid athletic players. The Cougars will be tested from the start this season, and an opening week win would certainly boost the moral of Coach Turner and his staff, as they continue to implement their new offensive scheme.

So here we are, roughly 72 hours before kickoff when I’m writing this, and we wonder how the season will go. Folks, I won't sit here and tell you that we’ll go undefeated and win a state title any more than I would sit here and tell you that we’ll lose every game we play. What I will say though is that the players and the coaches have worked hard enough to win, and that I truly believe that this years edition of “THE PRIDE OF PULASKI COUNTY” will go out on Friday nights and leave it all out on the field. I’m excited about this season, and I hope everyone else is too. Let's go out and get loud for the Cougars this week and every week as our Cougars take the field. IT’S COUGAR FOOTBALL TIME BABY!!

GO COUGARS!!

BEAT THE VIKINGS!!!