Ohio County downs Cougars on Senior Night, 40-31

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Hoping to make Senior Night a special one, the Cougars were disappointed when the visiting Ohio County Eagles took home a 40-31 win last Friday night at Cougar Field.

The Eagles quarterback Brett Hoskins was the difference in the game as the sophomore threw for 274 yards and four touchdowns.

The Cougars ran the ball 43 times for 194 yards and three scores. Senior Hunter Gibson ran for 101 yards on 15 carries and scored twice.

Senior Jakob Kerr led the defense with nine tackles, while senior Cooper Terry had six.

Neither team could move on their first possessions, with the Eagles being forced to punt at the Cougars 45. Senior Logan Kopp took the kick at his own 13 and raced 87 yards for the first score of the evening. The extra-point try failed and the Cougars led 6-0 at the 7:21 mark of the first period.

The Eagles then got their act together and drove 55 yards in eight plays to take a 7-6 lead.

Grayson County then moved 59 yards in 10 plays, but the drive stalled at the Eagle four-yard line. Senior Ryan Coates came out to try a 21-yard field goal and his kick just cleared the cross-bar to put the Cougars in front 9-7.

The Eagles then had a 49-yard touchdown pass from Hoskins to Kaleb Humphrey disallowed because the receiver ran out of bounds and was the first player to touch the ball.

Ohio County got that score back a few minutes later when Q’Daryius Jennings completed a 46-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run to put the Eagles back on top 13-9 after the extra-point try was blocked.

On the ensuing kickoff, Kopp nearly had another touchdown return, racing 78 yards before being brought down at the Eagle 11. Two plays later Gibson ran it in from the seven to put the Cougars in front 17-13 with 2:59 left in the half following a successful two-point conversion.

The Eagles responded with a 56-yard drive in four plays with Hoskins hooking up with Shane Frady on a 37-yard pass play to make the score at the half 21-17 following a two-point conversion.

The Cougars retook the lead on their first possession of the second half, driving 46 yards in 11 plays with Kopp scoring from the one with 5:23 left in the third quarter. The extra point try failed making it 23-21.

But the Eagles answered with a 61-yard drive in 10 plays, with Hoskins throwing 18 yards to Frady for the score that put the Eagles in front 28-23.

Grayson County answered right back, moving 75 yards in 13 plays, taking nearly six minutes off the board. Gibson capped off the long drive with a three-yard run. Again, the extra-point try failed, but the Cougars led 31-28 with 7:19 left in the game.

The Eagles followed with a quick, 70-yard, three-play scoring drive, capped off by a 36-yard run by Jennings with 6:18 left to play to make it 34-31..

On the next Cougar possession, facing a first-and-15 at their own 27-yard line, the Cougars fumbled the ball and Ohio covered it at the 18. Four plays later the Eagles were in the end zone again on a 15-yard pass from Hoskins to Humphrey. The extra-point try failed, but the Eagles had all they would need at 40-31.

Grayson County (6-2; 2-2) will be on the road this Friday when they travel to Owensboro to take on the Owensboro Red Devils, (7-1; 4-0). That game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.