Game
Article The Pulaski County Cougar
football team reminded us all what COUGAR PRIDE is all about Friday night,
as they defeated the visiting Salem Spartans by a final score of 21-13.
The win moves the Cougars to 5-5 on the season, and will propel the
Cougars into the 2011 season in style. PRIDE. Five letters, one syllable.
It's not a very big word, but it's a word that means a whole lot to some
folks. Tonight against the Spartans, the young men in those
gold helmets played for pride and nothing else. There would be no
playoffs. Win or lose, tonight was the end of the season.
There would be no trophy presentation, there would be no trips to the
County Board of Supervisors meeting for a proclamation. The only
thing that our kids walked down those 63 steps tonight for was pride and
the love of the game and each other. Obviously, that was enough. The Cougars fell behind
early, after Salem came out hot and scored on a one yard run with just
over eight minutes left in the first quarter. I've been told that
there were a lot of fans who decided to go ahead and pack it in early
after that. It was pretty cold, after all. For the ones
that stayed, the show was just getting started. Pulaski County
started doing something they've had a problem doing this year. They
started moving the ball on the ground. In fact, had it not been for
the apparent flag throwing contest that seemed to be going on out on the
field, the Cougars may have been able to move the ball into scoring
position quicker, but they didn't. The half ended with the Spartans
up 7-0, but you could feel that Pulaski was gaining confidence. The second half started
with Pulaski moving the ball. After going round and round with the
flag monster again and playing some solid defense, the Cougars were
finally able to get on the board with just over three minutes left in the
third quarter when Cody Long took the ball in from four yards out.
Zach Akers added the extra point to tie the game at 7 each. Salem
came out in the fourth quarter and struck pay dirt on another short run
after a quick drive. The extra point was no good, leaving the
Spartans ahead 13-7. That was about the time the
Cougars decided to stand up. With 5:49 left in the game,
Chad Perry sent the ball 37 yards to a wide open Chase Cook, who fought
through an attempted tackle to get into the endzone. The extra point
attempt was called no good, leaving the teams tied at 13-13.
Salem came out and stared to move the ball, but then Joey Trigg came up
big for the Cougars when he intercepted a tipped pass and took it back far
enough to put the Cougars in good field position again. The wheels
started to come off for the Spartans, who seemed to start to self
destruct. With 2:39 left on the clock, senior quarterback Chad Perry
called his own number one last time, and took the ball into the endzone
from 6 yards out. The crowd (the ones that WERE still there....that
is), went absolutely wild. Taking no chances, Cougar Head Coach Todd
Jones sent in the jumbo package, and Cody Long took the ball in for the
two pointer giving the Cougars the 21-13 lead. Salem had a last
chance to put a drive together, but the Pulaski defense rose to the
occasion and sent the Spartans home with their third River Ridge District
loss of the season. Special note to the VHSL
Executive Committee and Director Ken Tilley: Shame on you all. There's a lot that could
and should be said right now, but I'm going to leave it until next weeks
article so that I can go enjoy things for a little bit right now.
It's been a long and satisfying day, and for right now all that needs to
be said is that the young men on the Pulaski County Cougar football team
have made us proud. Cougar fans, you can walk around with your heads
a little higher this week. The PRIDE is back. After the game, I was
taking the stats to Coach Jones and found him talking with Chad Perry and
his mother. I told Chad that he had passed for 84 yards and rushed
for another 102 yards. He smiled, pointed at the dry erase board
hanging in the locker room that had the final score written on it, and
said "That's the only stat that matters to me. We got the win.
We went out and we did it." Congratulations to the
Cougar players and coaches on a fine showing in the 2010 season!! At
the beginning you said "We Can...We Will". Now you can say
"WE CAN!! WE DID!!" GO COUGARS!!!!
Game Pictures
Game
Pictures
|
