Patrick Henry holds on to beat the Cougars, 24-7
Pulaski County defensive back Bryant Nottingham holds on to this Patrick Henry Patriot ballcarrier to bring him down.
By TROY SARVER
Patriot Publishing
DUBLIN – Pulaski County quarterback Bryant Nottingham returned to the starting lineup on Friday night, but that was still not enough to help the Cougars end their winless streak to start the season.
Patrick Henry jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead and then held off a feisty Pulaski County squad the remainder of the way to take a 24-7 win over the Cougars in a River Ridge District clash at Kenneth J. Dobson Stadium.
With the loss Pulaski County dropped to 0-5 for the season and 0-2 in River Ridge District play. PH improved to .500 at 3-3.
“We’ve got a ton of sophomores on the field right now and they are learning. We have a team that hadn’t played a complete game this season, but they played hard tonight for four quarters. I’m proud of my young guys,” Pulaski County head coach Cam Akers said.
It looked like it would be another long night for the Cougars early on as the Patriots scored touchdowns on their first two possessions to jump out to a 14-0 lead at the 4:28 mark of the first quarter.
The Cougars, however, turned the momentum around early in the second quarter thanks to Nottingham, who returned to the field Friday after
missing the Cougars’ previous game against Christiansburg while recovering from a concussion.
With 9:44 left in the first half and the Cougars starting a drive on their own 15-yard line, Nottingham completed a pass over the middle to Taner Mace. Mace had gotten behind the PH secondary after catching the ball he proceeded to outrun the Patriots’ defense to the end zone for an 85-yard TD strike to cut the deficit to 14-7.
The Cougars looked to carry the momentum into halftime, but PH had other ideas as the Patriots drove 64 yards on and 11-play drive just before the break. Patrick Henry running back Damarion Perdue capped the possession off with a 3-yard touchdown run with just 20 seconds on the clock to increase the PH lead to 21-7 after two quarters.
The only scoring in the third quarter came off the foot of PH placekicker Samuel Dowdy who connected on a 25-yard field goal with 3:53 left in the period to make it 24-7.
The Cougars made one last push in the fourth quarter putting together a 13-play drive that moved the ball to the PH 29-yard line, but on a 4th-and-2 from the 29 Cougar running back Trevor Gallimore was held to just one yard on a run up the middle ending the possession.
“The touchdown before the half hurt us, but our defense came out in the second half and responded holding them to just three points. We just didn’t sustain drives that we needed,” Akers said.
Nottingham was 3-for-12 in his return behind center throwing for 100 yards and the one touchdown. The junior also punted five times for an average of just over 40 yards a kick.
Along with 100 passing yards, the Cougars compiled 196 yards on the ground with junior Sam Carrasco leading the way with 75 yards on 11 carries. Chase Lawrence provided 67 rushing yards and Gallimore finished with 58 yards.
Each team lost one fumble while the Cougars were flagged six times for 37 yards. PH was called for just three penalties on the night.
Pulaski County returns to action this Friday as they renew their rivalry with Salem. The Spartans lead the all-time series with a 32-19 advantage, which includes a streak of 15 straight wins. Last year Salem defeated the Cougars 49-13 in Dublin.
Salem (4-2) comes into the contest on a three-game winning streak, which includes a 56-6 victory over Hidden Valley last Thursday night.
Kickoff in Salem is set for 7 p.m.
