Game
Article A
strong performance by the Richlands Blue Tornado's in the first half
turned out to be the back breaker, but the Cougars fought hard and
continued to work towards an offensive identity in Fridays 28-21 loss. Richlands
turned out to be what most people expected them to be. They were big,
fast, and strong. The Blue's were well coached, and they had solid players
at some key positions. As for the Cougars, there was little ball movement
until late in the second quarter. Down 31-0, the Cougars kept their heads
up and began to move the ball. With 1:40 left in the half, Marcus
McClanahan got the ball on an inside reverse and went 65 yards to put the
Cougars on the board. The Zack Akers PAT left the Cougars with a 31-7
deficit going into halftime. In the
start of the third quarter, Pulaski held Richlands to a three and out and
again started to move the ball behind the running of McClanahan, Pierce
Rigney, and Cody Long. After a long and determined drive, Cody Long
finally took the ball into the endzone on a 21 yard scamper at 5:59 to
move the score to 31-13 after a botch PAT attempt. Richlands put the ball
back into the hands of their favorite target, and #44 took the ball to the
house from 65 yards out. Pulaski was able to score once more at the 1:28
mark of the third quarter, when McClanahan took the ball in from one yard
out. Long took the ball in for the two point conversion, giving us the
final score of 38-21. Those
who were there have to give credit to the Cougars center, Kevin Stassin,
who found out on Thursday that he was going to have to fill in for Tyler
Golden, who was out with an illness. Stassin stepped in and did what had
to be done, and he did a fine job at it. Long and Rigney looked good
carrying the ball, and with these two bulls in the mix giving McClanahan a
chance for a breath once in a while, I think it's safe to assume that we
can start to see an increase in the Cougars ground game production. This
was a good week for Pulaski rushing the ball, with 272 yards on the
ground. McClanahan finished with 168 yards, Rigney with 70. Long added in
44 yards, but to watch him run you could tell that he was only a half a
step away from gaining more on each carry. While
there were plenty of things that Richlands did right in the win, the
Cougars still have some things to work on as well. First of all the
penalties have to stop. The worse ones are the ones that could be avoided
by simply keeping quiet. Pulaski County has always been one of those
schools that seem to get no calls. Back talking refs and making
"showboat" moves during a game will not help. When you're down
31-0, it's not the time to wave your arms and jump around because the
other teams quarterback overthrew the receiver. Some folks might not like
to hear this, but when you're 0-4, the best thing to do is just play
football. No smack talk, no beating your chest.....just play football. To the
team, the real fans of Pulaski County football are going to show up and
support you in the good times and the bad. Things are tough right now, but
you need to keep your heads up. Do what's right, and leave it all out on
the field each week. If you do that, good things will happen. Check
back later in the week for a look at the 2011 Homecoming matchup with
Magna Vista. GO COUGARS!!
Game Pictures
|
