Game
Article It was ugly to
watch at times, and there were still far too many mistakes, but
for the first time in a long time the Pulaski County Cougars
have won a River Ridge District matchup as they defeated the
Hidden Valley Titans tonight in a 22-21 overtime thriller. Overtime....again.
After the game was over, and after the players had all gone
home, Pulaski County Head Coach Todd Jones was ask a very simple
question. "Coach, do you just like coaching in
overtime?" The question was ask in jest, of course,
in an attempt to lighten the mood after the Cougars had just
barely defeated the Titans. Jones was very pleased with
the win, but he still knows that there is a lot of work to be
done. "We're real
proud of the kids for getting the win, but we could have done
better" said Jones. "We've got to stop making
the same mistakes over and over again, and we've got to improve
in our blocking still. I know we've ask a lot of these
kids this season, having to learn an whole new system and
starting from scratch, but the mistakes we're making are the
simple ones. We've just got to cut those out and we can be
much better than we are now." Those mistakes
cost Pulaski several times throughout the game. The
Cougars were penalized 11 times for 85 yards, many of those
penalties at critical times when the offense was trying to put
together a drive. Other times, it would be a defensive
mistake that would advance the ball for the Titans when it
seemed like the Cougar defense had held. Pulaski still
needs to find the right combination on the offensive line as
well. Last week, Randall Cobbs was able to run the ball
for over 170 yards. This week he was held to just 2
yards on six carries, and the team was held to just 106 yards on
34 carries. If Pulaski County wants to be competitive,
they are going to have to step up on the offensive line and
allow the Cougars to have a solid running game. The Cougars did
get it done when it mattered though, and I do confess that I
questioned the decision to go for the two point conversion
before the Hidden Valley timeout. I had a mental flashback
of the triple overtime win in Roanoke against Patrick Henry.
I remember seeing the Patriot players, exhausted, laying on the
ground after the Cougars held them on their two point conversion
attempt. I remember the looks of disappointment in their
eyes, and I was truly afraid that's what we were going to see in
the faces of our Cougars. Cody Long took
the snap in the shotgun....just like he did many other times
tonight. The line blocked, Cody headed to the middle and
then cut it outside. After crossing the goal line,
he kept going. At last report, he is still running and may
be somewhere near Maryland by this point. Cody......you
need to get back before school on Monday. As I've said
before after the Cougars few wins, this victory does not make
Pulaski County "world beaters" by any means. The
Cougars defeated a very young Hidden Valley team tonight, a
Hidden Valley team that will certainly be much better next
season. It was a team with youth at all the spots you
don't want a young player. Pulaski County is not a
veteran team by any means at this point, and they still seem to
be putting some things together. With that said though,
the Cougars did get the job done and took home their third win
of the season. Things don't get
any easier for the Cougars this coming week, as they will travel
to Blacksburg to face a struggling Bruins team that would end up
shocking some folks before it's all over with this season.
The game is going to be at the new Bill Brown Stadium off of
Prices Fork road, and kickoff is set for 7:30. Let's
get out and support our kids and pack that stadium as our
Cougars look for a fourth win of the season. GO COUGARS!!!
Game Pictures
Game
Pictures
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