The Pulaski County Cougars hit the road this week, as they travel to Amherst County for a matchup with the Lancers in what will prove to be a huge game for the winner, whoever that may be. 

Hey Cougar fans....how 'bout them Cougars!  It wasn't the prettiest win in the history of the program by any means, but it was a win.  It was a win in Roanoke, and it was a win against William Fleming.  Those three things alone make it a pretty good week in Cougar Country, but then you can also add in the fact that we have now done something that we haven't been able to do since the 2008 season:  Pulaski County has won two games in a row. 

In the first quarter of the game at Fleming, it looked like Pulaski might just run away with it, but then the Colonels made a few adjustments and started putting some things together.  Their defense tightened up, and their offense began to move the ball.   You have to give them credit for effort, because the Colonels never gave up.  Fortunately, neither did the Cougars.   The offense fought tooth and nail and earned a few first downs when they absolutely had too, and ate up some clock.   Even though the defense spent what seemed like most of the second half on the field, they held strong when they had too.  That grit and determination we saw in the final minutes is something that I think a lot of Cougar fans have been missing for a while. 

The Cougars did what they had to do, and now they sit at 2-2 on the season.  In years past that might have been scoffed at, but right now it feels pretty good.  There are a couple of other things that feel pretty good about this season so far too.  I don't think anyone will disagree that the hiring of Head Coach Todd Jones was a solid choice.  You can certainly see a difference in the locker room between now and the day this spring when the team found out they were going to be sanctioned by the VHSL.  The kids seem to truly like Coach Jones, and they seem to be coming together.  Right now, that's the one thing that is going to carry them through.  Right now, coming together is the one thing that is going to help this team build this program back up to where they want to be.  Some folks are saying that Pulaski County may not win another game this season, but if they continue to show the effort that they showed this past week then I'm going to find that hard to believe. 

So with the first four games in the books, the Cougars now look ahead to this weeks game on the road against a team that we are certainly no strangers too.  Amherst County has a fine football team and a fine tradition.  The Lancers have a couple of state championships in their trophy case, as well as some state runners up trophies.  One of those trophies came after beating what some feel like may have been one of the better Pulaski County teams to ever put on a gold helmet in 2008.  The sight of the Amherst defender making that incredible leap to intercept Luke Watson's pass intended for a wide open Brandon Hazzard is still burned into my brain.  Up until that point it had been a true dogfight, and the Cougars had been backed into the corner most of the night.  The Lancer defense had held the Cougars deep in their own territory for the entire game, and the pass play intended for Hazzard was about two inches away from flipping that field position and giving the Cougars a chance to finally expand on their 7-6 lead.  It wasn't to be though, and Amherst drove the ball down the short field to score what would be the winning touchdown with little time left on the clock. 

The Cougars actually lead the series with the Lancers four games to three, but the Lancers have won the past three games.   The Lancers have had a tougher time this season than normal, and are currently sitting at 2-2 also with wins over Tabb (31-0) and Heritage (14-6).  They have lost their past two games to G.W. Danville (7-34) and then last week to Liberty (0-27).  Make no mistakes by those losses though, this is a dangerous team.  Currently they are hurting from injuries at the quarterback spot, and it's unsure when or if their planned starter is going to be able to return to action in that role.  He was also one of their better defenders, leaving a hole on that side of the ball.  A team like Amherst wont look back for long though, and they will get someone ready for action quickly.  The Lancers are a good sized team, and they have very good team speed. 

With that said, the Cougars CAN beat Amherst.  In order for that to happen, they are going to have to cut out some of the mistakes.  We cannot have first down and 15 every other first down.  The motion penalties and false start penalties will have to go away.  The tackling looked better this past week, but it's going to have to continue to get better each week.   The offensive line is also going to have to work harder on opening up the holes for the backs.  Having under 100 yards rushing in a game is something you really never expected from the Cougars, but it's been like that for many of our games this season.  In order to open up the passing game, we have got to be able to run the ball effectively. 

As much as we have things to work on though, the Cougars have shown plenty of good things this season.  The heart and the "want too" has been the biggest thing though.  Pulaski County fans may be spoiled by the past, and we want a win in every game for sure, but we can also respect effort and heart.  Keep up the hard work Cougars, and know that the fans are right there behind you. 

Everybody have a safe trip up.  If you need directions to the school, the address is 139 Lancer Lane  Amherst, VA 24521.   There are a couple of places to eat in the area, but if you want to make sure you don't get caught in the crowd you may want to stop before getting there to get something to eat.  I know it's a good distance to drive, but it would be great if we could fill up that visitor side to show our kids how much we support them.

GO COUGARS!!   BEAT THE LANCERS!!!