14|Cougars down Glasgow 16-14 in overtime

It was a titanic struggle between two unbeaten eighth-grade football teams and, as should be expected, it went right down to the wire in overtime before Grayson County emerged with a 16-14 victory over the Glasgow Scotties Thursday evening at GCMS.

Both defenses were dominant, especially in a scoreless first half, and the regulation ended in an 8-8 tie following back-to-back touchdowns in the early third quarter.

In the overtime, the Cougars won the toss, but elected to go on defense first so they would know exactly what they would need to win or to tie the game again.

In overtimes, each team is given four downs from the 10-yard line to score, either by a touchdown and extra-point, or by a field goal.

The Scotties took the ball and did what they had been doing with proficiency all evening - ran the ball up the middle. Three carries by running back Cameron Garmon gave Glasgow a 14-8 lead.

The Scotties then tried throwing for a two-point conversion, but quarterback Josh Durham’s throw fell incomplete and the door was left wide open for the Cougars to walk right through.

And that’s just what they did. Dalton Logsdon carried on a run on first down, but the Scotties stopped it for just a yard gain. But on second down, the Cougars went to the air. Quarterback Ryan Heaverin faded right and threw a little jump-pass that was hauled in by tight end Nathan Clemons in the end zone for a touchdown that tied the game at 14-14.

The Cougars decided to try a run on the conversion attempt and Logsdon took a handoff from Heaverin and followed a convoy of blockers on a sweep of the right side, falling across the goal line for the points that gave the Cougars the win.

Neither team threatened the goal line in the first half. The Cougars forced three punts, but gave up the ball on downs twice and were intercepted on another possession.

But the Cougars got on the board with their first possession of the second half following a seven-play, 50-yard drive. Logsdon had a 13-yard carry to convert on third-and-five situation, and Kordell Cornwell carried 13 yards on another third-down play to set up the Cougars with a first down at the Scottie’s 16.

Alex Kerr then took a handoff and broke tackle after tackle and didn’t stop until he was in the end zone. Kerr carried again on a successful extra-point attempt, and at the 4:47 mark of the third quarter, Grayson County led 8-0.

The Scotties wasted no time answering that score. They moved from their own 28 to the 49, where they faced a third-and-one. Running back Michael Poore then took a handoff on a misdirection play and burst through a hole over left tackle, carring 51 yards for the TD. Durham hit Clay Thistlethwaite with a pass in the end zone to tie things at 8-8 with 2:30 left in the period.

That was all the scoring until the overtime. The Scotties picked off three more passes to thwart Cougar drives, while the Cougars forced another punt, then took over on downs on the final Scottie possession.

The undefeated Cougars will be back in action Tuesday at GCMS when they host Hancock County. That game will follow the seventh-grade game slated to begin at 5:30 p.m.