Varsity Flag Football Beats Cumberland 20-0
2nd game of Varsity Flag Football (Cumberland @ Cottage)
The Cougars were ready to meet Cumberland on a gorgeous Thursday afternoon. Both teams came out ready to play and to take advantage of the weather. The Cougars started on offense.
Jackson Barnes came out with a quick throw to Jack Kane for a gain of 15 yards. A couple of incomplete passes after that put the Cougars in a 4th down situation. Jackson rolled out to his left behind a good block from Colin Barlow and made a strike to senior Andrew Dorsey for 15 yards. The catch gave the Cougars a first down. One play later Jackson connected with sophomore Maxwell Lagan for a big 35 yard touchdown throw and catch. The Cougars did not get the extra point but opened the game with a 6 nothing lead.
The Cougar defense came out hungry after a shutout the game before. Captain Weston Kershner lead the defense out on to the field with a new zone concept. First play on defense saw Davis Bradly with a pass deflection. Then Alyssa Briggs played tight defense to cause an incompletion. Cumberland made a first down throw on third down but Davis made a big tackle. Cumberland couldn’t get anything going after the first down. Colin Barlow had a pass deflection on first down, followed by a short gain and tackle by Alyssa Briggs on second down. Cumberland threw two incomplete passes and turned the ball over on downs.
Offense came back to the field with a completion on first down to Offensive Captain Jack Kane for 30 yards. The Cougars then had a penalty and two incompletions which led to a turnover on downs.
Defense came out strong with a tackle from Davis Bradly. Cumberland then lost a down from a bad snap and lost another down with an illegal pass penalty. Then a great defensive effort by Weston deflected a pass which made Cumberland turnover on downs.
The offense came back on the field hungry for a score. Jackson made a nice connection to Jack Kane on first down for 15 yards. An incomplete pass next play didn’t hold the Cougars back because on 3rd down Jackson connected with Jack Kane again for 10 yards. Then on 4th down Maxwell Lagan, who is dealing with an injury, stepped up big made a reception for 5 yards and the first down. This grit from Maxwell gave the Cougars some energy. On first down Jackson throws a 45 yard bomb to Jack Kane for a touchdown. The Cougars missed the extra but led Cumberland 12 to 0.
Cumberland got the ball one more time before half time. They started the drive with a couple completions but didn’t get many yards because Alyssa and Colin were there to make the tackles. On third down Cumberland makes a big play for the first down but Alyssa was there again to make the tackle to stop them from scoring. Cumberland had no choice but to go deep the next two plays. Weston was the defender on both attempts and both times he came up huge for his time with 2 pass deflections.
Halftime – Cougars Lead Cumberland 12 – 0.
Cumberland started with the ball second half. The Cougars played good defense all first half and second half began the same way. A short gain by Cumberland because of the tackling ability of Alyssa. Gabe Belden then rushed the quarterback, he didn’t get the sack but the pressure led to an incomplete pass. Andrew then made a big tackle on third down to keep Cumberland short of the first down. On 4th down the Cumberland QB missed his target. Turnover on downs and it was Cottage’s turn on offense.
The first offensive series for the Cougars in the second half didn’t go as planned. The first three plays were penalties, with 2 on Cottage and 1 on Cumberland. The Cougars got lucky with the Cumberland penalty, giving Cottage a new set of downs to work with. Jackson took advantage of the new set of downs with a big 30 yard completion to Jack Kane. However, the Cumberland defense didn’t give up and forced 3 incompletions. This led to a Cougars turnover on downs.
The defense of the Cougars knew they had to have a big series to keep the game out of reach for Cumberland. Davis Bradly made sure that Cumberland wouldn’t have a chance to get back in the game. Davis makes the tackle on first down. On second down Gabe pressured the QB to throw the ball earlier than he wanted and Davis deflected the pass before it got to the Cumberland receiver. Davis then came up big with another tackle on third down. 4th down saw Cumberland throw an incomplete pass which made them turn the ball over on downs.
The offense knew they had to make some plays to run the clock down and guarantee a Cottage win. The first two plays were incompletions. However, on third down Andrew Dorsey comes up with a great 30 yard catch over two defenders for a first down. A quick 5 yard catch by Colin Barlow on first down was followed by another big catch from Andrew for 35 yards and a Cougar Touchdown! Alyssa then stepped up and made a great catch for the two point conversion.
The Cougars now have a good 20 – 0 lead with about 2 minutes left in the game. Cumberland never gave up and moved the ball well in the last two minutes. However, tackles from Davis, Alyssa, and Weston kept Cumberland out of the end zone. Second game of the season and the second shut out for the Cottage defense. Great work defense!
Stats:
Jackson Barnes 13-24 for 280 yards 3 TD 1 Extra Point (20 pts)
Jack Kane 6 catches (led team) 145 yards 1 TD (6 pts)
Andrew Dorsey 3 catches 80 yards 1 TD 2 Tackles (6 pts)
Maxwell Lagan 2 catches 40 yards 1 TD (6 pts)
Alyssa Briggs 6 Tackles (led team) 1 catch 10 yards 2 pt extra pts (2 pts)
Colin Barlow 1 catch 5 yards
Davis Bradly 5 tackles
Weston Kershner 1 tackle