Cougars overwhelm Titans in downpour, move to 3-2
By MASON CLARK
The Patriot
It was a rainy, sloppy and cold night in Dobson Stadium. While this kept a lot of fans at home (and understandably so), there were still some fans present at the game. And those fans had the pleasure of watching Trevor Burton run for a new school-record 308 yards and 4 touchdowns, leading the way for a 41-7 Cougar win to move to 3-2 on the season. There have been a total of 537 games in Cougar football history, and this is just the second time a Cougar has rushed for over 300 yards. He joins Hunter Thomas who ran for 305 yards in 2016 against Franklin County.
The Titans had a hard time doing much of anything, and frankly, didn’t always seem to want to be there. They got the ball and got a couple first downs on their first drive, but ultimately would turn the ball over. The Cougars didn’t score on their first possession either. After another stop, Burton made a great heads-up play to keep running after Titan players thought he was down but he wasn’t. This was his first of four trips to the end zone on the night.
The Titans would move the ball with about a 50-yard run, but the drive would stall and Taner Mace made a good play to bat the ball down on fourth down. The first quarter ended, and then Burton popped free again, this time for a 35-yard score. The PAT was batted down, leaving the score at 13-0.
Another stop, another Burton score. It was a common theme throughout the night. This one would be his longest of the night and so far for the season, 81 yards for a third score. The Titans at least got on the board in the first half, throwing a long touchdown pass with just seconds remaining in the first half. At the break, the Cougars took a 20-7 lead into the much warmer and drier locker room.
The third quarter didn’t see much different. A remarkable effort by Burton and the offensive line drove the pile at least 7 yards forward into the end zone to make it 27-7 about midway through the third.
Shortly after this, possibly the play of the night occurred. The Hidden Valley quarterback dropped abck to pass, and as he threw it, senior Diego Turner took the ball from him and found his way into the end zone, similar to what he did his sophomore year against GW Danville in the playoffs. Pratt’s PAT made it 34-7. And then the final score of the night was quarterback Chris Gallimore’s 45-yard run down the right sideline to put a mark on it, 41-7 Cougar win.
The Cougars ran the ball 53 times for 482 yards and threw it twice, not completing either. Burton ran for a new school mark of 308 yards on 28 rushes, quite the bounce back from his quiet night last Saturday. Gallimore had a pretty stat line himself with 10 tries for 118 yards and a score. Brett Jones chipped in well with 34 yards on 5 runs, not including a 50+ yard scoring run he had that was negated by a penalty. Taner Mace ran twice for 11 yards, Zach Parker once for 2, and then after the result wasn’t in question, Cole Boone, Bryant Nottingham and KJ Robinson all chipped in rushing the ball. Hidden Valley totaled just 40 yards on 28 tries and were unable to throw the ball like they love to do. They fall to 2-4, while we move to 3-2.
