After three straight losses, the Cougar football team got back on the winning track last Friday evening at Cougar Stadium with a convincing, 35-14 win over the Greenwood Gators.
The win assured the Cougars of the third seed in Class 5A-District 2, which means they will play the second-seeded team from District 1 in the first round of the playoffs in the post-season. Currently Owensboro and Graves County are both 3-0 in their district. Those two teams play this Friday evening in Owensboro, and the Cougars will play the loser of that game on the road in the first round.
Against Greenwood, the Cougars were relentless putting up more than 400 yards of total offense, and limiting the Gators to 245 total yards, 84 of which came on two passing plays for the Gator touchdowns.
Cougar running back Q’Daryius McHenry had another huge night for the Cougars carrying the ball. He ran for 215 yards on 24 carries and scored three times. In all, the Cougars amassed 332 yards on the ground. Senior quarterback Noah Bullock threw just nine times in the game, but completed six of them for 58 yards and one touchdown. Bullock hit senior receiver Cameron Harris for an 18-yard touchdown at the end of the second period.
Neither team was able to move the ball on their first possessions and were forced to punt, but the Gators were able to break in and block Harris’ punt, taking over at the 50-yard line. The Gators picked up a first down at the Cougar 38, but the next three plays produced just three yards. Greenwood decided to go for it on fourth down, but on fourth-and-seven, Cooper Terry sacked quarterback John Morrison and the Cougars took over at their own 40.
From there it took seven plays and about two-and-a-half minutes for the Cougars to take the lead. Ethan Cates, whose normal position is at linebacker, carried in from the one to score the first TD of the game. Logan Raymer added the extra-point and with 2:34 left in the first period, the Cougars led 7-0.
Grayson County forced another punt on the next Greenwood possession and took over at their own 29-yard line with just seconds remaining in the first quarter. Three plays produced a first down at the Cougar 44, and on the next play, McHenry burst through a hole up the middle and carried all the way for a score. Raymer’s kick made it 14-0 at the 11:23 mark of the second period.
On the ensuing Gator possession, the Cougars’ Ryan Mode recovered a Gator fumble at the Greenwood 48. Grayson County then ran more than five minutes off the clock in a 12-play drive that was capped off by a nine-yard run by McHenry for another score to make it 21-0.
The Gators got on the board quickly on their next possession. On first down at the Gator 44, Morrison hit receiver Reed Slone with a little 10-yard slant pass, and Slone managed to weave his was through the entire Cougar secondary to score to make it 21-7.
The Cougars weren’t done scoring in the first half, though. Bullock, playing safety on defense, intercepted a Morrison pass at the Gator 29-yard line with 1:04 left. Bullock picked up a first down to the 19 before the Cougars bogged down. Following a timeout, facing a third-and-nine at the 18, Harris got behind the Gator defenders and Bullock hit him in stride to make it 28-7 at the half.
Any thoughts the Gators might have had about a second-half comeback were dashed as the Cougars took the second-half kickoff and moved methodically down the field for another score. Grayson County took just short of seven minutes off the clock in a 14-play, 80-yard drive. McHenry carried in from the 10 to complete the drive and Raymer’s extra-point made it 35-7 with 5:08 remaining in the third quarter.
The Gators put together a seven-play, 52-yard drive in the fourth quarter for their final score. Morrison hit Slone for 28 yards on the scoring play.
The Cougars (5-3) will travel to Glasgow this coming Friday to take on the Barren County Trojans (2-6) on their newly refurbished field at 7 p.m.
By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com
