Staff writer
BROWNSVILLE - The Cougar football program reached new heights of frustration in last Friday night's Tobacco Bowl opener as Edmonson County scored on a fourth-and-seven play in the closing seconds to beat the Cougars 39-36.
The Cougars went on a roller-coaster ride of emotion in the game. After jumping out to a quick 16-0 lead, the Cougars hurt themselves with penalties and turnovers and had to watch as the Wildcats scored 33 straight points.
Cougar teams of the past would have been done at that point, but it was a mark of the grittiness of this team that they picked themselves up and reeled off the next 20 points to grab a 36-33 lead and reach a high of emotion once more.
After a fourth-quarter Wes Carwile interception, the third Grayson County pick of the night, the Cougars were on the verge of putting the clinching score on the board. However, another penalty hurt their chances and gave the Wildcats their final opportunity.
The Cougars got off to a quick start, scoring twice in the first quarter. Freshman Aaron Deviney gave the Cougars the first big break of the game, intercepting a Brent Smith pass near midfield and returning it to the Wildcat 41. On third down, junior Jacob Hicks connected with senior Lance Boone on a little swing pass and Boone rambled 40 yards for the first touchdown. Boone ran in the two-point conversion to put Grayson County up 8-0.
Grayson County held on the Wildcats' next possession and took over at their own 40 following a punt. It took the Cougars just four plays to move the 60 yards with Boone carrying the final 18 for the score. Hicks passed to senior Logan Clemons for another two-point conversion and the Cougars led 16-0 with 1:52 left in the first period.
Edmonson County got back into things on their next possession. They moved from their own 41 to the Cougar 25 where they faced a fourth-and-seven. Two consecutive offside calls against the Cougars gave Edmonson County a first down. As the second quarter began, the Wildcats moved inside the Cougar one, from where Smith kept on a sneak to put the Wildcats on the board. Smith then ran in for two to make it 16-8.
The Cougars moved into Wildcat territory and faced a fourth-and-inches at the 47, but they fumbled the handoff and Edmonson County took over at the Cougar 43. Six plays later Smith ran in from two yards out. A run failed and at the 6:53 mark the Cougars led 16-14.
Hicks was intercepted on the next Cougar possession by the Wildcats' Dustin Barbour, who returned the ball to the Cougar 38. An incomplete pass on a third & 12 play seemed to give the ball back to the Cougars, but they were called for defensive holding on the play and the Wildcats had another chance with a third & three. When the Cougars were flagged for being offside, the Wildcats had a gift first down.
With 2:01 left in the half, Brandon Poteet scored from 14 yards out to give Edmonson County its first lead of the game at 20-16. The Cougars then took over at their own 38 after the kickoff and moved to the Wildcat 19, but ran out of time.
Needing to come out at the beginning of the second half and make something of their first possession, the Cougars instead got a bad break. A pass to the sidelines was tipped twice by Cougar receivers, the second time setting it up for Barbour to come up with his second interception. The defensive back carried it back all the way to the Cougar five, and two plays later Poteet scored again. A pass for two points failed and the Wildcats led 26-16.
The Cougars just could not stop hurting themselves. On first down at their own 28, a pitchout went awry and the Wildcats pounced on the loose ball at the 13. Three plays later, fullback Cody Batteiger ran eight yards for another score. Travis Graham added a kicked extra point and at the 8:06 mark of the third quarter, Edmonson County had scored 33 straight points to lead 33-16.
That's when the game took another U-turn.
Boone returned the kickoff 28 yards to the Cougar 40. It took the Cougars eight plays to move sixty yards, with Hicks carrying the final 10 yards to score. Clemons ran it in for two points and the Cougars were back in the game at 33-24.
Senior Blake Newton then made a huge play for the Cougars, intercepting a Smith pass on second down and running it back 28 yards for another Grayson County touchdown. A run failed, but with 3:31 left in the third quarter, the Cougars trailed by just three, 33-30.
The Wildcats then moved the ball into Cougar territory, but the defense stiffened and forced a punt. Kent Rudnick fielded it at the five and returned to the 18 just before the end of the period. The Cougars then began a relentless, 10-play drive that consumed nearly four minutes. Hicks and Brian Grant both had big carries in the drive and Clemons earned a first down with a 13-yard run. Boone scored his third TD of the night at the 8:17 mark to give the Cougars the lead once again at 36-33.
Grayson County came up with another huge defensive play on the next Wildcat possession. On second down, the junior cornerback, Carwile, picked off a Smith pass, giving the Cougars the ball at their own 25. The offense then began giving the Wildcats big doses of Grant. Three straight carries by the big junior fullback moved the ball 20 yards, then a counter play to Clemons moved it into Wildcat territory at the 39.
Keeping it on the ground, the Cougars moved to the 15, where they faced a third & five. When a Wildcat player jumped on the snap count, a flag was thrown. Everyone on the Cougar sideline was sure it would be a first down for Grayson County, but the call went against them for illegal procedure and the ball moved back five yards. Two incomplete pass plays gave the Wildcats the ball at their own 20 with 2:15 left to play, just enough to break the hearts of the Cougars and their fans.
On second down, Smith threw a little pass over the middle to Graham, and several missed tackles later, the wide out was headed downfield into Cougar territory. before Carwile made a touchdown-saving tackle at the Cougar 24. The defense stiffened, making the Wildcats call a timeout with 35.8 seconds left in the game, facing a fourth & seven situation.
They came out with the perfect call to fool the Cougars. A handoff to Poteet caught the defense moving to the sideline to cut him off, and when Poteet handed the ball to Barbour on a reverse, there were too few defenders to stop him as Barbour ran it in for the game-winning touchdown with :26.5 showing on the clock.
The Cougars will try to recover this Friday when they travel to Morgantown to take on the Butler County Bears. Game time there is set for 7 p.m.
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