By Stephen Henderson

In last week’s middle school football game against Laurel Park, the Patrick County Cougars saw very little defense from either team.

Three costly turnovers were the deciding factor in Patrick County’s first loss of the season. “Laurel Park had an advantage over the Cougars with team speed; they did a great job of spreading us out and mixing speed options, runs and deep passes,” said Coach Nathan Keen.

“We had a couple of players injured this week and had to shuffle some players around on defense and it really hurt us in the defensive secondary where we gave up four big passes over the top,” Keen said.

“We missed practice Monday because of the holiday, most of Tuesday because of lightning and had a normal shortened pre-game day practice Wednesday,” Keen explained. “We didn’t get many reps in this week and it showed on defense. Laurel Park made big plays and we were not prepared to stop them,” he added.

The rust showed on the offensive side also with two fumbled snaps and one interception. “We cannot win many games with that many turnovers. With 53 seconds remaining, we still had a chance to force the game into overtime, but a fumbled snap ended our final drive and our hopes of winning,” Keen said.

Quarterback Aidan Lacoma had another big game rushing 20 times for 178 yards and three TDs and passing for 22 yards. Fullback Jeffrey Moore rushed for 44 yards and one TD. Tailback Tycarious Yellock rushed for five yards and caught one 22-yard reception. Wingback Shawn Roman rushed for five yards.

“This loss really stings because we believe we should have won this one, but it is what it is,” Keen said. “We have to get ready to play better next Thursday in our home opener against Fieldale-Collinsville at 5 p.m. I expect another tough opponent, but I expect us to clean up some of our mistakes and play a better game at home,” said Keen.