The Pulaski County Cougar football team took a tough loss last week, but with two games remaining in the regular season, the playoffs are still well within reach if they can find a way to win.
The memory of what could have been last week is tough to look back on. The Cougars spotted the Graham G-Men 14 points to start the game, putting themselves in a hole against a talented and dangerous team. Pulaski County didn’t throw in the towel, however, and after regaining their composure, Trevor Gallimore put the ball into the endzone to make it a game again.
Trailing 14-7, the Cougars held Graham to a field goal on their next drive. Then Bryant Nottingham was good on a 27-yard field goal to make it 17-10 with 6:18 remaining in the first half.
Pulaski County was starting to gain some confidence, but then some bad things happened. The Cougars forced a Graham punt, but then fumbled the ball back to them on the next play. Two plays later, the G-Men scored. The Cougars got the ball back but were forced to punt. Graham added another first half touchdown to take a 31-10 lead with 2:37 remaining.
Once again, the Cougars went back to work. Nottingham found Taner Mace on a 25-yard pass, then connected with Chase Lawrence for another 11 yards. After two sacks, Nottingham sent the ball to Marcus Reed near the endzone. Reed made the jumping catch, then bulled his way into the endzone for the score with no time remaining on the clock. The PAT by Nottingham sent the teams to the locker room with Graham leading 31-17.
Pulaski County needed a defensive stop to open the second half, and they got it. If the Cougars wanted to have a chance to win, they needed to score. They did it on a 27-yard run by Lawrence. The kick made it 24-31, and the Cougars were right back in it.
Unfortunately, turnovers, penalties, and poor tackling led to score three more touchdowns to run away with the 52-24 win. The loss drops the Cougars to 2-6 on the season.
This week, the Cougars will face a more familiar opponent in the Hidden Valley Titans. The Cougars lead the series with Hidden Valley 11-9, and Pulaski County got the best of the Titans last season 41-7. Each team has a four-win run to their credit. The Cougars won four in a row from 2015-18. The Titans won four consecutive from 2011-14.
The Titans are led by Head Coach Scott Weaver. He is in his 15th season with the Titans and has an overall record of 59-85. The Titans have seen success over the years. In his initial season in 2009, the team went 7-4 before falling in the first round of the playoffs. In 2013 they finished 7-6 before falling 7-12 in the third round of the playoffs to Heritage-Lynchburg. In 2019 they finished 7-5 before falling to Lord Botetourt in the second round.
This season, the Titans come into the game with a record of 1-7. Their lone win of the season came against the Blacksburg Bruins, 30-6. They lost 32-0 to William Fleming, 47-7 to William Byrd, and 34-27 to Northside. They dropped a 49-13 decision to Glenvar then lost 51-0 to Salem. They fell to Cave spring 43-7, then lost 62-20 to Christiansburg.
“Hidden Valley has the potential to be a pretty good ball team,” Cougar Head Coach Cam Akers said. “They have some talented athletes and speed. They can throw the ball around and they have the guys to go up and get it. Nobody can overlook anybody at this point, especially us. Our performance last week was disappointing not just because we lost, but because we did a lot of it to ourselves. Five turnovers is tough to overcome. We have to be better than that.”
Several players have stood out for the Titans. Quarterback Brayden Moore completed 14-of-22 pass attempts last week against Blacksburg for 186 yards and a score, but also threw an interception. He threw for 269 yards against Christiansburg and 146 yards against Glenvar.
Running back Israel Guerrero ran 14 times for 155 yards and two touchdowns against Blacksburg. He scored twice against Christiansburg but had five carries for just 25 yards against Cave spring.
Jackson Getz caught two pass last week for 61 yards and had an interception. He had three catches for 45 yards against the Knights. He caught five for 85 yards and a score against Glenvar.
For the Cougars, a few players have stood out offensively. Trevor Gallimore currently has 212 carries for 1,219 yards and 21 touchdowns. His 5.89 yards per carry average is exactly what Pulaski County wants.
Other backs have carried the rock for the Cougars as well. Chase Lawrence has 36 carries for 239 yards, a 6.63 yard per carry average. Tyler Underwood has 17 carries for 191 yards. Isaiah O’Dell has 20 carries for 112 yards.
Bryant Nottingham has completed 12-of-22 pass attempts for 339 yards, a 28.25 average, with two interceptions.
Marcus Reed has been a favorite target for Cougar quarterbacks, with 19 catches for 541 yards, a 28.47 average, with four touchdowns.
Lawrence has seven catches for 126 yards. Mace has three catches for 90 yards.
The Pulaski County offense has not been an issue. The problems have come in mistakes and big plays, along with the poor tackling.
The Cougars have gained 142 first downs to this point, but the defense has allowed 100. The Cougars have rushed 391 times for 2,201 yards, a 5/62 average. They’ve given up 1,948 rushing yards on 218 attempts, an 8.93 average. The Cougars have 759 passing yards, while giving up 803 passing yards. The Cougars have 2,960 total yards. Their opponents have 2,751 total yards.
The Cougars have fumbled 17 times this season. That statistic alone explains a lot. Their opposition has fumbled seven times in eight games. Penalties have also been tough for the Cougars to overcome, with 44 for 371 yards. Many have been at critical times.
“It comes down to focus,” Coach Akers said. “If we don’t focus on the little things, we have no chance of taking care of the bigger issues. I said at the beginning of the season that it all comes down to blocking, tackling, and holding on to the ball. The teams that have beaten us don’t run fancy schemes. They run, tackle, and block. It really is just that simple. When we do those things, we’ll win ball games.”
Game time Friday is set for 7 p.m. at Dwight Bogle Field, located at Cave Spring Middle School in Roanoke.