(Sammy Carrasco breaks through the Franklin County defense for the first score of the night.)
The Pulaski County Cougars hosted the Franklin County Eagles Friday night in a VHSL Foundation Game at Kenneth J. Dobson Stadium/Joel Hicks Field. It was the final preseason action for both teams, with Pulaski County coming away with the 17-14 win.
Senior Sammy Carrasco capped off the opening drive for Pulaski County with a short touchdown run in the first quarter. The point after kick by senior Bryant Nottingham was good, giving the Cougars the 7-0 lead.
Franklin County answered with a drive of their own, scoring on a touchdown run of their own after driving the length of the field.
Tied at 7-7, the two teams swapped possessions until just before the halftime break. Nottingham attempted a long field goal and came up short, but an offsides penalty by the Eagles gave him a second shot from five yards closer. This time, his kick was true, giving Pulaski County the 10-7 lead heading into the halftime break.
The two teams played with the backups in the second half on a running clock. Franklin County added a touchdown to take the 14-0 lead, but the Cougars weren’t through. A bad snap resulted in a fumble recovery for the Cougars deep in Eagle territory. Dorian Long scored on a quarterback keeper a few plays later. The PAT by Nottingham gave the Cougars the 17-14 final margin of victory.
“I thought we showed some improvement from last week, but we all know we’ve still got work to do,” Cougar Head Coach Cam Akers said. “This team needs to continue improving each week. I’m happy with their effort and I’m happy with some of the other things we saw out there tonight. This was a good night of work for our guys, and we may see some things change up after looking at the film. It’s good to get a win, but next week it’s for real. Next week they start to count.”
The Cougars will open the regular season next Friday when they travel to Roanoke to take on the Northside Vikings. Game time is set for 7 p.m.