Graham too much for Pulaski County, 51-13
By TROY SARVER
Patriot Publishing
BLUEFIELD – It’s been a tough 12 months for Pulaski County football, but the Cougars may have reached their lowest point on Saturday afternoon.
Graham played an almost perfect first half building a 44-0 halftime lead as the G-Men cruised over Pulaski, 51-13, on a blustery raw day at Graham High School.
With the defeat the Cougars dropped to 0-6 on the season and suffered their 11th loss in their last 12 games.
The forecasted rain held off but both teams were greeted with strong gusty winds for Graham’s Homecoming. The G-Men, however, did not seem effected by the weather conditions as they took the opening drive 72 yards in just six plays capping it with a 4-yard touchdown run from Gage Palmer to make it 7-0 with 9:37 left in the first quarter.
For the rest of the first half Graham (5-1) scored touchdowns on six of their seven offensive possessions. The only time they were held without points was when G-Men placekicker Lucas Mash missed a 31-yard field goal at the 11:02 mark of the second quarter.
“I think you have to have some courage when you’re playing a team as big and physical as Graham is. I didn’t think we played with enough courage from a tackling standpoint,” Pulaski County head coach Cam Akers said.
The Pulaski County offense wasn’t much better over the game’s first 24 minutes. The Cougars were held without a first down in the half and only collected two for the game.
Even special teams had their struggles.
Down 14-0 in the final minute of the first quarter, the Cougars failed to field a Graham kickoff with the G-Men picking up the ball at the PC 11 eventually leading to another Graham touchdown. Also, Cougar punter Zach Chrisley had a snap go between his legs all the way to the back of the end zone for a safety early in the second period.
“It’s been a tough season. Our message to the kids this week was they have to turn away from the storm. There will be a light at the end,” Akers said.
With a running clock in the second half, the Cougars did show some fight putting a pair of touchdowns on the board.
Running back Jackson Squires ended the shutout when he broke free down the G-Men sideline on an 80-yard TD run midway through the third quarter to make it 51-6 after a missed extra point.
On Pulaski County’s final possession of the day Rahmyene Jones found the end zone on a 31-yard touchdown run to put the final score at 51-13.
Squires and Jones were in for starting running back Maddox Thompson who left the game for a second straight week with an apparent ankle injury in the second quarter.
Pulaski County returns to River Ridge District play Friday night when they travel to Montgomery County to take on Blacksburg. Last season the Bruins traveled to Pulaski County and knocked off the Cougars, 48-22.
Game time at Bill Brown Stadium will be 7 p.m.
Pulaski County 0 0 6 7 13
Graham 21 23 7 0 51
G – Gage Palmer 4 run (Nash kick)
G – Bradshaw 18 pass from Garrett Palmer (Nash kick)
G – Javon Lane 4 run (Nash kick)
G – Safety fumble out of end zone
G – Fix 30 pass from Garrett Palmer (Nash kick)
G – Juran Lane 35 pass from Garrett Palmer (Nash kick)
G – Gage Palmer 10 run (Nash kick)
G – Javon Lane 23 run (Nash kick)
PC – Squires 80 run (kick failed)
PC – Jones 31 run (Flores kick)
Pulaski County Graham
First Downs 2 14
Yards Rushing 140 220
Passes C-A-I 1-4-0 12-17-0
Yards Passing 11 181
Penalties-Yards 4-40 5-35
Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0
Punts-average 5-26.8 1-28
RUSHING – Pulaski County, Thompson 5-7, Long 3-2, Aviles 3-(-2), Chrisley 1-(-14), Jones 6-54, Squires 5-87, Akers 2-6, Graham, Bradshaw 1-22, Gage Palmer 12-94, Garrett Palmer 2-9, Javon Lane 5-65, Cecil 2-6, Gauger 1-13, Graves 1-2, Lancaster 1-6, Nine 3-3
PASSING – Pulaski County, Long 1-4-0-11, Graham, Garrett Palmer 11-15-0-157, Lancaster 1-2-0-1
RECEIVING – Pulaski County Jones 1-11, Graham, Walton 3-11, Bradshaw 2-26, Fi 2-34, Jaron Lane 1-35, Graves 2-52, Gage Palmer 1-17, Quick 1-6