(PCMS Cougar players celebrate after a last second stop against Blacksburg)
It wasn’t pretty. It was in fact ugly at times. The Pulaski County Middle School Cougar football team traveled to Blacksburg Wednesday and faced their toughest test to date. The Cougars made up for several key injuries and a constant barrage of yellow hankies by playing their worst three quarters of the season, but somehow still managed to defeat Blacksburg 20-15.
Both teams came out flat, with neither team moving the ball well and several punts. Blacksburg looked like they were gaining some offensive momentum when JD Grubb broke on a Bruins pass attempt and came down with the interception.
Later in the second quarter, Pulaski County finally broke the stalemate. Quarterback Tucker Williams tossed the ball to Kaleb Sartin, who broke loose and raced 73 yards for the touchdown. With 2:09 remaining in the half, the Cougars attempted a two-point conversion that failed, leaving the score at 6-0.
Blacksburg began to move the ball in the final two minutes of the half. With just 29 seconds remaining in the half, Blacksburg completed a 25-yard pass for the score. Their point after attempt was good, leaving the Bruins up 7-6.
Neither team was able to move the ball in the third quarter, but as the fourth quarter began, Blacksburg was threatening. With 6:03 remaining in the game, the Bruins scored on a two-yard run. They completed a two-point conversion pass to move their lead to 15-6.
Pulaski County didn’t panic. Blacksburg kicked off and the Cougars responded. Brock Schneider fielded the kick and broke through the heart of the Blacksburg kickoff team, racing down the Cougar sideline all the way to the Blacksburg three-yard line before getting dragged down. Two plays later, Caleb Cregger ran up the middle for the eight-yard score. Cregger topped the score off by adding the two-point conversion run, putting the Cougars behind 14-15 with 5:11 remaining.
The Blacksburg squad earned a few first downs, eating up valuable time. The Bruins drove deep into Cougar territory. With under two minutes remaining in the game, the Bruins went for it on a fourth down. During the timeout before the play, Head Coach Hunter Thomas told his team a very simple message.
“We are going to get this stop. We are going to get the ball back. We are going to win this game.”
The Bruins attempted a run and failed, giving the Cougars the ball and an opportunity.
Boone Blevins came in to complete two of four pass attempts. The first was a 27-yard strike to Cregger. Pulaski County continued to push the ball forward, but with 39 seconds remaining, Blevins connected with Cregger again, this time for a 26-yard scoring strike. The two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the Cougars up by a score of 20-15.
Blacksburg went to the air, driving the ball all the way to inside the Cougar 10-yard line. With one second remaining, the Bruins quarterback dropped back and launched his final pass attempt into the endzone, only to have it broken up by the Cougar defenders.
Cougars win, 20-15.
The win moves the PCMS Cougars to 5-0 on the season.
As a team, the Cougars earned nine first downs compared to 11 by Blacksburg. Pulaski County ran 27 times for 151 yards. Blacksburg ran 26 times for 130 yards. The Cougars completed two of four pass attempts for 53 yards. Blacksburg completed five of 12 pass attempts with one interception for 110 yards. The Cougars had 204 yards of total offense. The Bruins had 240 yards.
Each of the two teams were penalized 12 times for exactly 100 yards each.
Before going out with a possible collarbone injury, Kaleb Sartin ran the ball 16 times for 117 yards as well as playing a strong game on defense. Tucker Williams ran twice for eight yards. JD Grubb ran six times for 19 yards. Brock Schneider ran once for three yards.
Caleb Cregger ran twice for four yards and a touchdown. He also caught two passes for 53 yards and a touchdown.
The PCMS Cougars will be back in action Thursday, September 29, when they travel to Mitchell Stadium in Bluefield to take on the Graham G-Men.