Despite some big plays on both sides of the ball, the Patrick County High School Cougars couldn’t overcome penalties and Martinsville’s size and speed, falling on the road to the Bulldogs 14-47 in the August 29 matchup.
Following the game, Cougar head coach David Morrison felt that mistakes throughout the game hurt the team. “They’re too athletic, too physical, too fast for us to make the mistakes that we did. You can’t win a game having twelve penalties, so we’ve got to get that fixed.”
The Cougars’ opening drive started with great field position following a failed onside kick, but back to back false start penalties backed them up 10 yards, and they would punt three plays later.
A long kick by Cougar punter Christian Hylton forced Martinsville to start their first drive from inside their own 20-yard line. After holding the Bulldogs, the Cougars took over at their 19. Martinsville picked off a tipped pass and ran it in for the game’s first score. The Cougars blocked the extra point attempt, giving the Bulldogs a 0-6 lead with 6:34 to go in the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, the Bulldogs drove down the field and scored on a short pass. The two-point conversion was good, increasing their lead to 0-14.
Quarterback Avone Kidd got the Cougars going when he scrambled around the end for a twenty-yard gain. Two Bulldog 15-yard personal fouls on the run turned it into a 50-yard gain into Martinsville territory. The Cougars continued to move the ball, with Kidd scoring on a short run up the middle, to close the gap to 6-14 with 5:19 to go in the half.
Martinsville added two more touchdowns in the second quarter, taking a 6-28 lead into the half.
Patrick County started the second half with strong defensive play, forcing the Bulldogs back and ending with a safety to make the score 8-28 early in the second half.
In the fourth quarter, the Cougar offense moved the ball well on its final two drives. On the last drive of the game, they got in the red zone, with Jayden Corns scoring on an eight-yard run with time running out, for a 14-47 final score.
Morrison did like the way his offense moved the ball on the last few drives. “We see a little spark there. We’ve been looking at some of these different packages for the last few weeks trying to get a feel for what may work. So, what we’re hoping for is moving forward next week in practice.”
The Cougars will host North Surry on Friday, September 5, at 7:00p.m.
