Cougars win “Battle of the Bridge”
By RODNEY YOUNG
The Patriot
The “Battle of the Bridge” as some call it saw the homestanding Pulaski County Cougars come away with a 10-7 victory over the Radford Bobcats.
All the scoring came in the first half.
The Cougars drove the opening possession to the Bobcat 15 yard line. Bryant Nottingham would cap off the seven minute and 48 second drive with a 32-yard field goal.
Radford would answer quickly as QB Landen Clark took the snap, went off tackle and raced 44 yards to paydirt. Luciano Pugliese’s point after made it 7-3. The Bobcats had answered the Cougars’ long scoring drive with a touchdown in just 47 seconds.
The score remained 7-3 until quarterback Chris Gallimore sneaked in from three yards out and Nottingham’s kick saw the Cougars go up, 10-7 with 4:17 left in the first half.
Radford would drive to the Pulaski County 14 yard line, but Clark was downed on the next play at the Cougar 11 yard line as time ran out in the first half.
Both teams would use their second string and others for the second half with a continuous running clock.
The closest anyone came to scoring occurred with under four minutes left in the game.
Radford QB Sincere Taylor would hit Jalen Hendricks for a 60-yard touchdown, but the officials would rule Hendricks stepped out of bounds at the Cougar 35, and the drive ended a few plays later.
The Bobcats would once again drive with under one minute to go, but a Taylor to Hendricks pass would see Hendricks being tackled inside the Cougar 10 as the clock hit all zeros to end the game.
“We played an unbelievable first half,” said Cougar head coach Cam Akers. “The guys have worked hard all week and I’m proud of them, but we had too many penalties and that has to be cleaned up.”
The Cougars were called for 12 penalties for 80 yards.
Trevor Gallimore had 82 yards rushing on 18 carries. Chris Gallimore had 56 yards on six rushes. Marcus Reed and Chase Lawrence both caught two passes each. Lawrence for 28 yards and Reed for 17.
Radford head coach Michael Crist said, “We dropped too many passes and missed too many opportunities. Our young guys played a lot as they are learning. We didn’t execute tonight.”
Clark rushed for 66 yards on three carries and freshman William Dehart-Lewis had 46 yards on seven carries. Clark threw for 105 yards, while Max Kanipe caught three passes for 79 yards.
Pulaski County will open their season on the road next Friday as they travel to Northside, and Radford will host George Wythe.
Pulaski Co. – 3 7 0 0 =10
Radford – 7 0 0 0 =7
Rushing – PC – T. Gallimore – 18-82, C. Gallimore 6-56, Lawrence 5-23, Thompson 6-11, Schneider 2-8, Price 2-6, Underwood 2-5, Nottingham, 3 – (minus 1)
Rushing – Radford – Clark 3-66, Dehart-Lewis 7-46, Taylor 6-32, Ferguson 2-3, Grubb 2 -( minus 4)
PC – 44 rushes – 190 yds., Radford – 20-143 yds.
Passing – PC – Nottingham – 3 of 4- 37 yds., C. Gallimore – 1 of 2 – 8 yds., Schneider 0 for 1 – 0 yds.
Passing – Radford – Clark 4 of 10 – 105 yds., Taylor 5 of 9 – 81 yds.
Receiving – PC – Reed 2-17 yds., Lawrence 2-28 yds.
Receiving – Radford – Kanipe 3-79 yds., Hendricks 3-75, Woodard 1-26, Weaver 1-4, Young 1-2
First Downs – PC – 11, Radford 12
Penalties – PC – 12 -80 yds, Radford – 6-40 yds.
Fumbles/lost – PC 1/1, Radford 0/0
Total Turnovers – PC -1, Radford 0
Total Yds.- PC – 235, Radford – 329
