The Locker Room September 23, 2009

It's Homecoming week at Pulaski County High School, and the Cougars will have their hands full on Friday when the William Fleming Colonels come to Kenneth J. Dobson Stadium in what could be the most important game of the season for Pulaski County. 

Hello again Cougar fans, and welcome back to week five of the season and what looks to be a very exciting but very challenging Homecoming game.  It should go without saying that Pulaski County and William Fleming will be a physical game.  It should also go without saying that this game will feature some very talented athletes on the Fleming side, as they will be bringing their normal assortment of long, tall, and fast wide receivers and quick and powerful running backs.  Not to say that the Cougars don't have a few athletes of our own, but for sure the Colonels will be coming loaded for bear and looking to improve their record with a win over the Cougars. 

William Fleming comes into this game with a 3-0 record.  They defeated E.C. Glass in week one by a final score of 27-21.  They put up a better offensive effort the next week, and earned a 35-13 win over Magna Vista.  In a rematch with E.C. Glass last week, the Colonels showed more improvement as they won the game 35-18.  The Cougars lead the series with Fleming 19 wins to 14, but since 2000 the Colonels have held the upper hand in the series, winning 4 of the last 7, including the last two meetings between the two teams in 2005 and 2006.  The Colonels also won the three contests prior to that in 1997, 1998, and 1999.  The last two seasons were the only time since Pulaski County High School opened its doors in 1974 that the two teams did not play.

The Colonels are coming to the Cougar Den, and they are coming with hostile intentions. 

The Pulaski County Cougars can win this Friday night, but to do it they are going to have to do some things.  As I said at the start of this preview, this may be the most important football game the Cougars play this season.  A win against William Fleming will help not only the overall record, but it will give the Cougars some much needed confidence as they head into a very tough stretch of games.  If they go out and play Cougar football, then good things will happen.  The problem is that it seems like that's been lacking at times this season.  Now some of you may be asking "well not wait a minute, what do you mean by that?"  To understand it, you're going to have to go back to just what Cougar football is all about. 

Cougar football is about intensity.  It's playing every snap, every play, and every down at 100 miles per hour and giving it everything you've got.  It's about making your blocks and making the tackles.  It's holding on to the ball when you're on offense, and getting to the ball when you're on defense.  Being a Cougar football player is like being in a big family, and every other player is your brother.  You might go at it in practice, but when game time comes you bond together and fight the other guys till you don't have anything left in the tank.  Cougar football is about not being selfish.  It's about doing what's best for the team, and giving your all for the team.  It's about doing your job, not making mistakes, and playing to the best of your ability. 

Cougar football is also about enthusiasm.  Now that doesn't mean you have to go out and jump up and down like a fool before and after every play.  What it does mean though is that you have go to use your "want too".  With the schedule Pulaski County has this season being so tough, it's going to take a little bit more than just going out and playing well.  You're going to have to go out and want it.  We can't live off of the success the program has had in the past.  Too many times teams have fallen prey to thinking that just because they were successful before, that they will be again.  I'm sorry, but that's just not the way it is. 

The 2008 Cougar football team went 12-1, won the River Ridge District title, won the Region IV title, and gave Amherst County all they wanted before falling that cold Saturday last season.  This is not that team. 

To all the Cougar players who read this...it's time to prove yourself.  When you take the field on Friday, one of two things will happen.  You will step up or you will give up.  The William Fleming Colonels are coming to take a win home, and they want to celebrate on your field.  This Friday will be your chance to take that first step on your way to putting YOUR mark on the history of the Cougar football program.  You can be remembered as the team that took it personally, pulled together, and left it all out on the field...or you can be remembered as the team that had a chance.... but didn't. 

It only takes a few minutes to click on the history of this program and see some of the "Great Games" that were won by Cougar football teams that most people had written off or decided simply "weren't good enough".  A couple of those wins earned some hardware.   A couple of them earned Pulaski County a playoff spot.  Some of these wins, like the 1999 Cave Spring game or the 2005 Franklin County game, were for nothing more than PRIDE. 

Sometimes...PRIDE is enough. 

Let's get out and fill up the stadium this Friday as Pulaski County celebrates Homecoming Week for the 35th year.   The hotdogs will be ready; the Golden Cougar Marching Band BBQ will be too.  Let's go out and make some noise to support our team.  It's Friday night in Pulaski County, and I don't know of any place I'd rather be!!