Cougars Hold Off Patriots
Game
Article The game started off
looking like it was going to see Pulaski County roll over the Patrick
Henry Patriots, but an enthusiastic Patriot team wasn't going to go down
easily as the Cougars had to fight to preserve a 35-26 win and move to 2-1
on the season. For anyone who got to the
high school early enough, it was interesting to watch the two individuals
who volunteered their time and helicopter to come out and spend some time
hovering over the still wet playing surface of Joel Hicks Field in an
attempt to help dry it out. It seemed to help out quite a bit,
as neither team seemed to have many problems with footing through the
game. Pulaski County scored on
their first drive of the game, driving the ball the length of the field
before Jolly Martin finally took the ball into the endzone from four yards
out. A successful Jared Bralley PAT put the score at 7-0
Pulaski. After shutting down the Patriots on their first drive, the
Cougars were moving the ball down the field again, when suddenly Randall
Cobbs broke free and took the ball 43 yards for another Cougar score.
Bralley's second PAT of the night put the score at 14-0 Pulaski. The
Patriots didn’t fold, however, and started to mix up their running
and passing game to move the ball. With 7:42 left in the half,
Brandon Terry took the ball in for the first Patrick Henry score of the
evening. The PAT was no good. Pulaski responded just over two
minutes later when Ramell Cobbs scored on a 2 yard run at the 5:03 mark.
The Patriots were able to put one more drive together in the first half,
and with just 6 seconds left Matt Woods passed the ball 11 yards to
Devontae Casey to bring the score to 21-12 in favor of the Cougars.
There was an unsuccessful 2 point attempt and after two failed pass
attempts both teams headed to the locker room for halftime. Patrick Henry struck first
in the second half, as Brandon Terry took the ball over from one yard out.
A successful 2-point attempt put the score at 21-20 in favor of the
Cougars, but the Patriots were fired up and had momentum going their way.
Pulaski put a little bit of that fire out about a minute later, when
Randall Cobbs broke free again and headed out for a 68 yard sprint to the
endzone for his second touchdown of the night. After Bralley’s PAT
put the score at 28-20, the Patriots answered back five minutes later with
a score of their own when Lee Roy Cooper went in from 1 yards out.
With the failed two-point conversion, the score was 28-26 with 2:19 left
in the third quarter, and the Patriots were looking to get the ball back
and try to take the lead. Both teams seemed to hold each other in
check for a time, until the Cougars were able to expand their lead with
7:29 left in the game. Ramell Cobbs took the ball in for his second
touchdown of the night, and Jared Bralley hit his 5th PAT of the night to
bring the final score to 35-26 in favor of the Cougars. While some will go away
from this game saying they expected to see Pulaski County run over the
Patriots, it's obvious that the Cougars still have some area's they can
improve on as they head into their off week this coming week. The
Cougars weren't the only team to find the opposition stiffer than expected
this week. Northside, which had looked to be the team to beat after
taking down Jefferson Forest and Pulaski in their first two contests, fell
to the Cave Spring Knights on a later field goal, with the final score
10-7 Cave Spring. Christiansburg scored a win over Carroll
County, Hidden Valley won over Magna Vista, and Salem won over Franklin
County to move the River Ridge District teams to a 14-2 overall.
Blacksburg had the week off. Be sure to check back next week for more information on the Cougars off week and any new news.
Game
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