By Ike House
On Friday night the Cougars went into “Death Valley” looking for their first district win against Water Valley. The Cougars were unsuccessful in their findings as they lost to the Blue Devils 30-18. The Cougars have now fallen to 3-5 overall and 0-3 in the district.

“No matter what, Water Valley will always have a good offensive line,” Head Coach Derek King said “They are going to line up and play you well.”

The play of a Dandy Dozen was shown Friday night as Justin Conner was at his peak. After stopping Water Valley’s first drive, the Cougars got the ball and put it in the hands of their Dandy Dozen. After his first carry oof seven yards and a couple more first down runs, he finally broke loose streaking down the field for 60 yards and a touchdown. After a missed PAT the Cougars led 6-0.

After that scoring drive no one would score on the next four drives. That is until Water Valley scored on a one play drive. The score was tied after a 67 yard run on a quarterback draw. The Blue Devils missed the PAT that left the score at 6-6.

It did not take long for the Cougars to respond as they gave it back to Conner on a one play drive. The lead was increased after a huge run of 76 yards. After a failed two point conversion the score was 12-6.

After those two break out plays, the score was rapidly increasing and the defenses seemed to not playing to well. On the following drive, the Blue Devils had a big drive of 67 yards. On the first play Water Valley’s passing game gashed the Cougars secondary for 11 yards. After two short plays the Blue Devils went back to the air this time for 33 yards. After getting into the redzone it took only one play as they scored on a 18 yard run for a touchdown. After failing to get the two point conversion the score was tied at 12-12.

One thing that may have hurt the Cougars were getting turnovers and stops on defense, they were left with short fields but could not convert the opportunities into points. On the next defensive series for the Cougars, Conner came up with a key interception that put the ball on the 33 for the Cougars but they could score off of the mishap.

Before the half the Cougars decided to run  the clock out by letting Conner add on to his stats. On his first carry Conner was shoestring tackle away from putting six on the board with a 22 yard run. The could not break the game open with a possible touchdown and then receiving the ball out of the half.

Even with everything going for the Cougars, the Blue Devils would be the one taking the lead out of halftime. On a mythical drive Water Valley found the endzone after seeming to wear down the defense. Water Valley scored on a 28 yard run that put them up 18-12 with the failed two point conversion.

All night the game was up and down for both teams because the Cougars quickly responded with another Conner touchdown. He scored on a 41 yard run that helped put the game back at even with a 18-18 score with another failed two point conversion.

In the final minutes of the third quarter the Blue Devils were trying to put a drive together and seemed to work to perfection. After starting the fourth quarter it took two plays for the score as Water Valley went up 24-18 on a eight yard run.

Coming off the touchdown Water Valley squib kicked the ball and recovered it to be able run time off the clock. After two false start penalties and some busted plays Water Valley was forced to punt on fourth and 15. The punt rolled all the way down into the 10 yard mark and the drive for the Cougars would start on the five yard line.

“That bothered more than any other thing that happened tonight because we drill special teams every Thursday” King added “And because of the way they kick we had Wednesday and Thursday.”

After a heavy dosage of Conner, the Cougars brought in Trai Sanders and Ankeyvias Harris who had already had carries on the night. The duo could not put any significant yardage on the drive and forced the Cougars to punt with not much time left on the clock.
On the following drive for the Blue Devils, the Cougars stood their ground with a three and out. On the following drive the Cougars turned the ball over on the first play. The Blue Devils took advantage this time around with a dagger of a score on a 37 yard run for a touchdown. With a two point conversion failed the score was 30-18.

The Cougars tried to put a drive together hoping for a miracle but after some incomplete passes and not enough time, the Cougars fell short and took another loss.

Leading the Cougar offense was senior running back Conner who had 23 carries for 278 yards and three touchdowns.

“We have to find a way to make our receivers more available,” King said.

Others getting carries were Sanders with nine carries for 69 yards and three catches for 31 yards. Harris had five carries for 20 yards and two catches for 21 yards. KJ Jefferson went 5-of-15 for 52 yards and had a carry for four yards.

On defense Harris led the pack with 11 tackles. Stan Gross had 5 tackles, one tackle for a loss and .5 sack. Kiron Covington had five tackles. Korderial Preston had four tackles, a tackle for a loss and .5 sack. Montreal Conner, Sanders and Kevin Merrell had three tackles each.
Antowyne Rhodes had three tackles and one tackle for a loss. Lavonte Towns had three tackles and a pass deflection. Derrian Ferrell had two tackles. Justin  Conner had two tackles and an interception. Sylvonta Oliver had two tackles and one pass deflection. Jaccorious Walls,
Kennard Lyons, JJ Toliver, Jonathan Harris and Delvin Kimmons had one tackle each. Quan Lanten had a tackle and two pass deflections.