Cougars fall hard to Cave Spring, 36-0
By TROY SARVER
Patriot Publishing
Unfortunately for Pulaski County the start of River Ridge District play did not provide the Cougars with any relief from their early season struggles.
Cave Spring avenged a loss from last season to Pulaski County by shutting out the Cougars, 36-0, at Kenneth J. Dobson Stadium on Friday night.
With the defeat, Pulaski Co. (0-4, 0-1) has now lost nine of their last 10 games since a 26-13 victory over the Knights last year in Roanoke.
“They were the more physical team. It’s really that simple,” Pulaski County head coach Cam Akers said. “They do a lot of stuff that we used to do.”
Things started going downhill for Pulaski County on the Cougars’ first offensive play when quarterback Preston Marshall had his arm hit by a Knight defender as he attempted a pass. The ball wound up floating in the air and was picked off by Cave linebacker Landon Patterson at the PC 44-yard line.
Cave Spring took advantage of the turnover by driving 44 yards in 12 plays. Facing a 4th-and-5 on the 7-yard line, the Knights gave the ball to running back Nick Matthews who ran around the right end for a 7-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 with 4:25 left in the first quarter.
The Knights doubled their lead on their next possession when tight end Liam Nugue took his only carry of the game one yard into the end zone for a touchdown capping an 8-play, 62-yard drive to make it 14-0 at the 7:01 mark of the second quarter.
Pulaski County had a bad break on the ensuing kickoff when a squib kick hit one of the Cougar up men and was recovered by Cave at the PC 48. Five plays later, the Knights extended the lead to 21-0 on a 10-yard TD run by Tristan Nowocin with 4:09 left in the quarter.
Facing a 21-point halftime deficit, Pulaski County came out strong in the third quarter, taking their opening possession of the half down the field to the Cave Spring 23. On a 4th-and-1 play from the 23, however, running back Jackson Squires was stuffed for a two-yard loss on a run up the middle ending the threat.
“We felt like we were in a position where we needed to go for it and keep our defense off the field. We just didn’t execute,” Akers said.
Once Cave Spring had the ball back, they were able to run the remaining time off the clock in the third before scoring on the first play of the fourth quarter when quarterback Jaden Hollins hit a wide-open Cael Flanary down the middle of the field for a 40-yard touchdown pass to make it 27-0.
The Knights’ defense got in on the scoring later in the fourth when they forced a Marshall fumble that went out of the end zone for a safety. Along with the safety Cave held the Cougars’ offense to just 82 total yards in the game.
The Cougars’ chances were hampered by the loss of running back Maddox Thompson who was out after suffering a bad ankle sprain in last week’s loss to Staunton River.
Pulaski County will once again look to pick up their first victory of the season this Friday when they host Christiansburg for Homecoming. In 2025 the Blue Demons kicked a 19-yard field goal on the final play of the game to defeat Pulaski County 34-31 at Christiansburg.
Game time on Friday is 7 p.m.
Cave Spring 7 14 0 15 36
Pulaski County 0 0 0 0 0
CS – Matthews 7 run (Flanary kick)
CS – Nugue 1 run (Flanary kick)
CS – Nowocin 10 run (Flanary kick)
CS – Flanary 40 pass from Hollins (kick failed)
CS – Safety PC fumbled out of end zone
CS – Albert 10 run (Flanary kick)
Cave Spring Pulaski County
First Downs 14 7
Yards Rushing 225 83
Passes C-A-I 2-4-0 1-3-1
Yards Passing 49 -1
Penalties-Yards 7-85 8-55
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0
Punts-average 2-29.5 0-0
RUSHING – Cave Spring, Wiley 11-52, Albert 10-61, Harris 4-12, Matthews10-63, Hollins 4-13, Nugue 1-1, Nowocin 4-23, Pulaski County, Squires 16-46, Aviles 6-34, Dearaujo 2-7, Marshall 2-(-21), Jones 4-17
PASSING – Cave Spring, Hollins 2-4-0-49, Pulaski County, Marshall 1-3-1-(-1)
RECEIVING – Cave Spring, Flanary 2-49, Pulaski County, Aviles 1-(-1)