Cougars Beat The Bruins Pulaski
County earned their first win of the season Friday night, as they shut out
the Blacksburg Bruins by a final score of 28-0 on a cold, windy, and rainy
night at Kenneth J. Dobson Stadium. "We're
just really proud of the kids" said Cougar Head Coach Todd Jones.
"They've fought all year through the adversity and the problems, and
to get that monkey off their back is a big relief. I think it shows the
kind of character these kids have. They never gave up, even when the wins
didn't come. They kept on fighting, and they kept on working. Now we've
got to get back to work and start gearing up for the Salem Spartans next
week." The
Cougars came out strong defensively, pushing Blacksburg back on each of
their first two plays. On third down, a Bruins snap went away from
quarterback Austin Hanks and Pulaski's Phoenix Ramsey was able to jump on
the ball in the end zone for the first score of the game. The Zack Akers
PAT put the Cougars ahead 7-0 with 10:24 still left on the clock in the
first quarter. The Cougars would end the first quarter with a second score
when Pierce Rigney rumbled six yards through the heart of the Blacksburg
defense and into the end zone with no time left on the clock. The PAT was
just wide, leaving Pulaski ahead 13-0. The
second quarter both teams battled not only each other, but the ever
increasing rain and wind. Pulaski turned the ball over early on in the
second quarter, but the defense continued to hold the Bruins in check. The
Cougars were able to add another score before the end of the first half,
when Marcus McClanahan took the handoff and went eleven yards into the
corner of the end zone. Cody Long took the two point conversion attempt up
the middle to move the Cougars ahead 21-0 going into halftime. The
third quarter found the weather continue to play against both teams, and
on their opening drive of the half the Cougars found themselves in a tough
spot with third and long in their own territory. Quarterback Marcus
Johnston faked the hand off, dropped back, and found newly converted tight
end Codie Blevins running down the hash wide open. Blevins caught the ball
and headed down field 64 yards before being caught by the Bruins defenders
inside the Bruins 5 yard line. With 10:21 on the clock, Rick Cobbs covered
the final four yards to the goal line, and the Akers PAT gave the Cougars
their final 28-0 score. Blacksburg
threatened later in the third quarter, but defensive back Brandon Brock
made a fine play on the ball and intercepted the Bruins pass in the end
zone to end that drive. That was actually the closest the Bruins got to
scoring on the night, as the Cougar defense dominated throughout the
contest. Blacksburg had 40 rushing attempts on the night for only 4 yards.
That's measures out to an average of somewhere around three inches per
carry. The Bruins were able to complete 3 of 12 pass attempts for 47 yards
and an interception, giving them a grand total of 51 yards on the night.
Pulaski rushed the ball 51 times for 306 yards, as well as going 1 for 7
passing for 64 yards, a total of 370 yards. Pulaski earned 14 first downs,
while Blacksburg was held to 8. The Cougars had six penalties for 65
yards; Blacksburg had two penalties for 10 yards. In
individual stats for the Cougars, Rick Cobbs led the rushing attack with
13 attempts for 126 yards. McClanahan was close behind with 11 attempts
for 93 yards, and Peirce Rigney had 16 attempts for 84 yards. Six other
Cougars carried the ball for Pulaski County tonight, as Coach Jones and
his staff tried to get their younger players some reps. "We
wanted to try to get Marcus (Johnston) some passes, but it was tough out
there tonight" said Coach Jones. "There were at least three or
four times when the passes were right on the money, but it's hard to make
those catches when everything is soaked. I think our young receivers had a
chance to get a good look tonight though, and hopefully that will give
them some confidence for next week." Jones
was also pleased with his team’s defensive effort. "I thought
overall our kids did a great job tonight. We really talked out there well
and were moving some guys around, keeping things mixed up. I thought we
had some great individual efforts as well. Gabe LeBlanc was all over the
place making plays, Brandon Brock had the interception, and Phoenix Ramsey
had the interception. On top of that we kept pressure on the quarterback
all night, and any time you hold a team to four yards rushing that shows
hustle. We're just really happy for the kids and really proud of their
effort tonight. Any time we take a loss, you've got to put that back on
me, but when you get a win like this it's because of the kids. They are
the ones that have to go out and make the plays on the field, and tonight
they did." The
Cougars will now start getting ready for the final regular season game, as
they will travel to face the Salem Spartans. The Cougars, now 1-8 on the
season, were still eligible for the playoffs going into tonight’s game
due in part to the strength of their schedule this season. Tonight’s
win, along with a loss by Carroll County against Marion, seem to have
certainly helped those chances. "We've told our kids all season long that they just need to keep working hard and good things will happen" said Jones. "I'll take these kids and play against anybody, and if we end up in the playoffs then we'll take that one game at a time. Right now all we are going to focus on is Salem, and we're hoping to go there and play as well as I think we can. If we do that, then things could get interesting."
Game Pictures
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