It was a rough night for the Patrick County High School Cougars when they visited the Bassett Bengals on September 6, leaving with a 51-0 loss.
Bassett opened the game with a long drive that saw them convert two fourth-and-one to keep the drive going. The drive ended with a short run by the Bengal quarterback to take the 7-0 lead.
“I thought we played pretty good defense all throughout the first drive,” said Cougar head coach David Morrison. “We didn’t get them off the field. They converted two fourth downs in the first drive. That’s huge for them. We just have to get them off the field.”
The Cougar’s first play on offense ended with a fumble in the backfield, giving the ball back to the Bengals, who increased their lead to 14-0 shortly after.
During the first half, Bassett moved the ball on most of their drives, keeping the ball away from the Cougars for long stretches. The half ended with the Bengals adding to their lead following a Cougar fumble on a kickoff return with 37 seconds to go. The Bengals scored on a run up the middle to take a 44-0 lead into the half.
The Cougars came out strong on their first drive of the second half. Following a nearly 40-yard kickoff return, the Cougars moved the ball, getting into Bengal territory for the first time. The drive stalled in the red zone with a field-goal attempt just missing wide left.
With 8:15 to go in the game, the Cougars came up with a big play, blocking a Bengal field goal attempt with pressure up the middle.
While the Cougars looked much better in the second half, they couldn’t make up any ground, falling to the Bengals 51-0.
Morrison said after the game, “we just made error after error. We’ve got to figure out a better way to get focused and get our minds right for the game from the start.”
Looking ahead, Morrison said, “we have to have a daily commitment to getting better. You’ve got a whole season to get better and we’ve got to do that as a team and as individuals as well.”
Leading the way for the Cougars on offense was Jayden Corns who rushed for 55 yards on 10 attempts.
On defense, Jackson Callahan led the way with 10 tackles with Paul Pascale, Cameron Collins, Glenn Stovall, Conner Goad and Eason Harris each chipping in 5.
The Cougars will host North Stokes on September 13 at 7 p.m.
