Coming into the game, the Bears had already played four games. They had won all four and were coming off a 12-0 thrashing of district foe Russellville. They had given up only two goals in those four games while scoring 23.
The Bears had 24 players on the sidelines to the Cougars' 11. Grayson County had just one player to substitute with and on a day of high heat and humidity, that would take its toll on the players. Add to that having to play on the Bears' home turf, and the Cougars had too many obstacles to overcome.
From the start, the Bears showed speed and quickness to the ball the Cougars could not match. The majority of the play was held in the Cougars' end of the field. Grayson County had just a few shots during the game and none of them threatened the goal seriously.
The Bears got their first goal on a Cougar mistake. In the ninth minute of play, the Bears made a rush down the right side and put a shot on goal. Cougar goalie Aaron Nielsen was able to halt the ball's progress toward the goal, but he could not control it. The Bears' A. J. DeWeese got a foot on the loose ball and knocked it in for the score.
Butler County got another goal in the 16th minute when Nathan Neighbors was taken down in the penalty area. He set up for the penalty kick and beat Nielsen with a high shot to the left corner to make it 2-0.
The Bears made it 3-0 in the 26th minute. Neighbors made a long advance down the right side, then put a crossing shot in front of the net. Landon Hampton was able to take the pass and put the ball past Nielsen for the goal.
The Cougars had a spurt of positive action in the closing minutes of the first half. In the 31st minute, Chad Smith put a long shot wide to the right. Amadeus Tarrence got behind the Bear defense in the 34th minute, but his left-footer went wide of the net. Finally, in the 36th minute Smith took a nice pass that beat the defense and bore straight down on the goal while being checked from behind. Smith's shot went high and sailed over the goal harmlessly and the half ended at 3-0.
Any hopes the Cougars may have had of getting back in the game were quickly dashed as the Bears scored a pair of goals in the first four minutes of play. In the second minute, the Bears sent a long pass into the right corner. Hampton was the first player to the ball and he sent a perfect crossing pass right onto the foot of DeWeese who put the ball into the goal to make it 4-0.
A couple minutes later, Nielsen came out to try to take a crossing pass in front of the net, but once more he could not control the ball. The ball fell right at the feet of Butler County's Jacob Martin, who fanned on his first attempt to score, but connected a second time to make it 5-0.
The Bears made a mass substitution at the 15-minute mark, putting fresh legs on the field. Meanwhile, the Cougars lost Andrew Skaggs to a shoulder injury and the players on the field knew they had to finish the game.
The Bears lost a goal in the 33rd minute on an offside call, but they scored once more in the 38th minute. Neighbors took a loose ball just out side the penalty area, dribbled past a couple of Cougar defenders and put a sharply struck ball past Nielsen for the final score of the game.
To their credit, the Cougars never stopped playing as hard as they were able. Freshman Haley Hamilton impressed with her gutsy play. At 5' 1" and only 93 pounds, Hamilton consistently marked players twice her size but never shied away. Instead, she charged ahead with only the ball in her mind.
In a game that featured some rough play, junior Nick Gilkey gave as good as he got. That gave the Bear strikers something to think about when they came charging down to the Cougars' end of the field.
The Cougars will be at home on Tuesday, Sept. 2 to play Warren Central. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m.
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