Cougars close preseason with 16-3 win at Hancock County

The Grayson County Cougar football team closed the preseason with a 16-3 road win over Hancock County on Thursday evening.

It was the final test for the squad that saw them play multiple 7-on-7 games along with a pair of scrimmages.

“I think we are in a good spot,” head coach Bryan Jones said. “Hancock’s a great program, a good test for us. The last couple of times we’ve played them in the regular season, they were wars. I think it was a good test for us to get ready to roll into the season.”

The Cougars started with the ball. Starting quarterback Trigg Payne had consecutive incompletions before Kadin Hanshaw converted the third down with an 11-yard run. The opening drive would later stall following a mishandled exchange between Payne and Hanshaw, which resulted in a fumble recovered by the Hornets.

The defense wasted no time getting the ball back as Anthony Linton intercepted the first pass thrown to flip possession once again.

A slow and methodical drive would follow for the Cougar offense before an illegal formation penalty stalled the drive on the outskirts of the red zone. Senior kicker Evan Hasty would drill a 40-yard field goal to put the Orange and Blue on the board first.

FB: Grayson County 3 Hancock County 0 | 8:06 2nd

Evan Hasty hits a 40 yard field goal to put the Cougars up three. pic.twitter.com/cItggA5mcO

— Cougar Sports on K105 (@K105sports) August 14, 2026

Hancock County would close the first half with a field goal of their own to knot the score at the break.

The Hornets opened the second half with the ball, but Jack Bowman quickly ended the drive with a third-down sack.

“He’s a big kid, strong kid,” Jones said about Bowman. “He got a little chip on his shoulder. He’s a guy that I think has the right mentality for football. I think it suits him and his personality.”

The Cougars’ opening drive of the second half was ugly. A holding call started them behind the chains before being driven backwards on a Carson Long run, forcing the punt.

Hancock started with good field position and had a manageable fourth down near midfield. However, Eli Needy read the screen pass perfectly on that play to force a turnover on downs.

The jolt of energy carried over to offense as Long took the next play 59 yards to the house for a touchdown to put the Cougars up 10-3.

“I thought Eli Needy came out and did some good things,” Jones said. “Carson Long, you know, comes out and plays his butt off.”

The momentum continued for the Cougars. On Hancock’s next offensive play, Jamycen Buster intercepted a pass to give the ball right back to Grayson County.

With most of the younger players now in the game, the Cougars leaned into the run game with the duo of Long and Hunter Lee. Lee finished the drive with a two-yard touchdown run to close out the scoring at 16-3.

FB: Grayson County 16 Hancock County 3 | 4:21 | 4th

Hunter Lee scores a two yard rushing touchdown during the JV section. pic.twitter.com/uze7t1QAlT

— Cougar Sports on K105 (@K105sports) August 14, 2026

The defense forced another turnover on the next drive as Carson Miller intercepted a pass as the Hornets were trying to score late.

“I thought we fought hard, especially in these conditions; it’s hot and miserable,” Jones said. “We fought hard and played well, did some really good things at times, and I like where we are at.”

The Cougar offense didn’t show much of its identity during the preseason, which can make it hard to judge exactly where a team stands.

“We told the guys, it’s going to be effort, are you hustling between the whistles?” Jones said about judging how guys performed. “We’re not concerned about the mistakes. The mistakes are how you get better. I mean, you make a mistake, somebody coaches you, you get better. We were looking for effort, coachability, body language, attitude; those are the things that we want to see in the scrimmage.”

With only a week until the new season opens, Jones is hoping the team learned from the game experience and can translate it to the practice field as well.

“What I told them is there’s a little bit of a disconnect in what we saw tonight and what we saw Monday through Wednesday in practice out of some guys,” he said. “My message was, ‘Hey, you’ve got to practice the way you played, and when we see that on a consistent basis, that’s when you see the field more and more.'”

Grayson County will officially open the 2026 season on August 21 in the annual Tobacco Bowl against Edmonson County. Kickoff from Cougar Stadium is set for 7:00 pm and will be broadcast on K105 and the K105 YouTube channel.