South is a team that always gives the Cougars fits. Last year the Cougars snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the game's closing moments after dominating the statistics most of the night.
This year's game started out poorly for the Cougars, who looked totally confused for much of the first period. After an illegal block in the back on the opening kickoff negated a fine return by senior Blake Newton, the Cougars were forced to punt and turned the ball over at the Suns' 32. On the second play from scrimmage, Muhlenberg's senior tailback, Michael Boyd, ripped off a 54-yard run on a sweep, carrying it to the Cougar 11. Four plays later, the Suns were in the end zone when senior quarterback Clark Gwaltney ran in from two yards out.
The Cougars were able to move the ball a little better after that, but showed little fire on offense. That is until their third possession which came in the second quarter. Quarterback Kevin Phelps picked up eight yards on first down, then picked up a first down when the Suns were called for a face mask penalty. Then came the play that woke the Cougars up and got them excited to be playing. From the Suns' 38, Phelps dropped back to pass and found Newton wide open near the 20. Phelps' pass was high, but Newton was able to extend far enough to deflect the ball with his left hand, then as he was falling, he cradled the ball just as he hit the ground at the 18. It was a 20-yard completion, but more importantly, the Cougars were buzzing in the huddle and on the sidelines. Five plays later, sophomore Brian Sandlin carried over from a yard out and the game was tied at 7-7.
On the ensuing kickoff, Boyd got clear on the sideline and appeared to go 89 yards for another score, but a flag for a block in the back and an inadvertant whistle brought the play back, and the Cougar defense forced the Suns to punt it away a from their own 10, taking over at the Muhlenberg 41.
It took the Cougars just two plays and 51 seconds to take the lead for good. Phelps hit Gavin Logsdon with a pass that was good for seven yards, then Newton found a gaping hole on a counter play and ran the remaining 34 yards for the score. Logsdon's extra point was good and with 3:27 remaining, Grayson County led 14-7.
The Suns had the ball to begin the second half and had moved it into Grayson County territory, when Timmy Langley turned things around for the Cougars. The junior cornerback picked off a Gwaltney pass at about the Cougar 30 and returned it out to the 42. That set up a six-play, 58-yard drive that was capped off at the 8:01 mark when Sandlin carried in from eight yards out and put the Cougars in the driver's seat at 21-7.
The Suns weren't done yet though, as just before the end of the third quarter, they began a scoring drive following a Logsdon punt that rolled dead at the Suns' 23. Boyd ran for 26 yards on first down, then as the quarter ended, Gwaltney connected with Richard Braem down to the Cougar 36. From there it took six plays to cross the Cougar goal, with Jeff Phelps doing the honors from a yard away. This time, a bad snap thwarted the extra-point attempt and Grayson County led 21-13.
Neither team could move on their next possessions and traded punts. Phelps had been injured during the Cougars' possession and came out for a number of plays. He was back in the lineup, though, as the Suns lined up to punt from the Cougar 32-yard line. Phelps took the ball at the Cougar 30 and, crossing toward the Cougar sideline, faked a handoff to Newton. When he cleared the only man down on that side, he had clear sailing in front of the Cougar bench and picked up a convoy of blockers who escorted him into the end zone 70 yards away. Though the extra-point attempt failed, with just 4:27 left to play, that sealed the victory for the Cougars.
Next week, the Cougars play host to the Purple Flash from Lone Oak. The game is scheduled to be played at 8 p.m., but the Cougar coaching staff said they would try to move that start time up to 7:30. Look in Thursday's News-Gazette for a confirmation of that starting time.
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