By Stephen Henderson

The Patrick County High School football team traveled to Danville Friday night to play the George Washington Eagles.

The result was a lopsided victory for the Eagles—70-7. However, the Cougars did not give up at any point in the contest; they battled until the last whistle and held their heads high as they walked off the field.

To rephrase Coach Tony Mosley’s observation about GW’s junior varsity team—the varsity team was just as comparable—“a team of great size, speed and depth.”

The Eagles scored on all four possessions in the first quarter, leading 28-0 after 12 minutes of play.

The Cougars were unable to make a first down and were forced to punt on all four of their possessions in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Cougars picked up two first downs; unfortunately, they threw three interceptions which resulted in TDs for the Eagles. The score at the half was 56-0.

With the 35-second clock running in the second half, both teams hustled to make plays. GW received the opening kickoff of the half and ran it back for a score.

On the ensuing kickoff return, the Cougars took the ball on their own 35. Little advancement was made on the possession, and the Cougars were in punt formation on a fourth-and-seven. Punter Garrett Worley faked the punt and made it to the GW 40 yard line for a first down.

Several plays later Shemar Hill ricocheted into the end-zone on a 16-yard run for the Cougars’ lone score. Ethan Harkey’s PAT kick was good, making the score 63-7 with 1:55 left in the third quarter.

The Eagles scored their final TD with 5:45 left in the game on a five-yard run.

The final score was 70-7.

Leading the rushing for PC was Shemar Hill with 46 yards and one TD; Frankie Lacoma added 36 yards.

Leading tacklers included Bryson Fulcher, Hunter Kenyon, and Garrett Worley who each had five tackles.

The Cougars never gave up in the lopsided defeat Friday night. “We really started to come together and play as a team in the second half on both offense and defense,” said Coach David Morrison. “We controlled the clock and drove the ball down and scored on our opening possession in the third quarter, and defensively, we stopped the big play in the second half and made their offense drive the ball down the field,” he added.

“We were very proud of the way that our guys started to respond to the game. It would have been very easy for them to just roll over when they got down, but that’s not who we are; our boys were going to keep working and keep fighting,” Morrison said. “That is a testament to their mental and physical toughness,” he added. “So as coaches, it was really great for us to see these things that we’ve been teaching since day one coming to fruition,” Morrison said.

This week the Cougar football team has a bye. According to Coach Morrison, “This week we are going to work on getting healthy and getting better at executing on both sides of the ball.”

The Cougars play at Martinsville Friday, October 13.