The Pulaski County Cougars bring an impressive 2-0 River Ridge District record into this Friday nights contest against pre-season favorites the Blacksburg Bruins, but if anyone comes to this game expecting anything less than a war, they will be sadly mistaken.

Hello again Cougar Fans, and welcome back to another week at cougarfootball.net. Our Cougars once again found the right combination of passing and rushing to keep things in the win column this past week against the Cave Spring Knights. I guess to be honest, a person had to expect the Cougars to win last week, as the Knights are going through a pretty bad time as far as numbers and talent right now. Don’t take that as a slam on the Knights, because even with the knowledge that times are lean for them right now, they have lined up and made no excuses for their record. They went out and gave it their best last week, as they have each and every week. The Knights will be back, and when they make it back they will break some hearts, just as they have been known to do in the past.

This week, things are a little different. This week, all the hype is for real.

The Blacksburg Bruins have as much talent as any team in the District. Their quarterback is a third year starter, and he has another year to go after this one. They have a couple of running backs that any team would love to have. Offensively, they run a combination of running and passing that will leave a cornerback dizzy at times. Defensively, the Bruins have given up ten points or less in four of their seven games. They have a future hall of fame coach, and right at this moment they are angry and hungry.

The Bruins started off their season with a shocking 43 to 46, six overtime loss to the single A Giles Spartans. That game tied the VHSL record for the most overtimes ever, or at least as long as they’ve been keeping records of such things. The next week, they came out and beat what has turned out to be a pretty good Graham G-Men team 55 to 7. They followed that by beating Liberty at Liberty 35-6, Lord Botetourt 41-10, Northside 37-26, and Cave Spring 40-0. Last week as the Cougars were taking on Cave Spring, the Bruins were facing the Salem Spartans. Some said that the Giles loss was just one of those examples of any team being able to beat any other team on any given night. Apparently, Blacksburg has some form of “Spartanitus”, as they fell to the Salem Spartans 21-0 in what many expected to be tight game between what appeared to be two evenly matched teams.

Maybe just one night as the Pulaski Spartans…………ehhhh, naaaaaaaaaah. I think we’ll take our chances…..lol.

Pulaski County and Blacksburg are tied in their series at three games each. The Bruins won last seasons match up 21-7, but the Cougars did win the previous two games. Needless to say, there is a bit of a rivalry between the two teams. It’s a New River Valley thing, and I think it’s great.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is THE FINAL HOME GAME for the Pulaski County Cougars this season. The only thing that could change that would be if the Cougars win out for the rest of the season and somehow were to end up hosting a playoff game. This team isn’t looking that far ahead yet though. This team is looking at NOW.

We’ve got the cowbells going good now. They’ve sounded great all season, even in the rain. We’ve finally had the return of the “Cougar Growl” over the PA system, and it sounds GREAT!! The Cougar Crazies have been doing a pretty good job so far this season, but I’m going to go ahead and ask them to step it up even more. We need a much bigger human chain!! We need more signs, more horns, and for Pete’s sake (no, not you Pete Cougar, aka “Captain Awesome“……but your invited to make some more noise too!!) we need to fill up those stands!! It’s Friday night in Pulaski County in the fall…..that’s Cougar Football time!!

We’ve made the decision that we are going to continue on with the weekly highlight videos, as they seem to be pretty popular with everyone. Wanna be famous? We can do that…..just show up ready to get wild and make some noise for the team!! Cougar-Dude will be prowling around on the sidelines looking for the wildest and craziest fans he can find, and so will I. We want to see dressed up Cougar Crazies and pumped up fans. For those who didn’t know it, EVERYONE is invited to come down to the bottom of the steps when the team comes down. If you haven’t been there before, there is nothing quite like standing there when the Golden Cougar Marching Band strikes that first note of “2001”. The team gets to the top of the steps, the train horn starts to blow, and the Cougar Growl starts to sound from the PA system. Anyone who has ever walked down those steps on a Friday night knows the feeling these kids get in the pit of their stomach prior to coming out. Lets get out there and make this last home game a wild and loud one. Let’s show the visiting Bruins just what COUGAR PRIDE is all about!!

It’s River Ridge District action at Kenneth J. Dobson Stadium. The Cougars and Bruins will kick off on what will hopefully one day soon be “Joel Hicks Field” at 7:30. Be sure to listen in to Rick Watson on Big Dog Sports Talk from 3 to 6 pm on Supertalk 101.7, and then switch on over to 107.1 WPSK to listen in to live action as Rick calls the game for us.  If you’ve never been ask, let me be the first to invite you come out and experience the thrill of watching some fine high school football in one of….if not THE….best on campus high school football facilities in the State of Virginia. It’s Cougar Football time Pulaski County!!! Lets get out there and make some NOISE!!!

GO COUGARS!!!

BEAT THE BRUINS!!!