Varsity Flag Football on the Road
The Cougars varsity Flag Football team had their first two away games. The first one was on March 14 at the Howard School.
The Cougars started the game on offense. Jackson Barnes and the Cougar’s offense started slowing with two incompletions. However, a 30-yard throw and catch from Jackson to Jack Kane for 30 yards on 3rd down gave the Cougars some momentum and a first down. The next play saw a gorgeous pass from Jackson to Maxwell Lagan for 40 yards and a touchdown! Colin Barlow made a good catch for a 2pt conversion.
Howard’s offense came out hot. The Cougars battled with tackles from Gabe Belden, Andrew Dorsey, and Alyssa Briggs but it was not enough to stop Howard from going down the field and tying the game.
The Cottage School offense ran into a wall the next few possessions. Nothing was going their way. Dropped passes, sacks, and interceptions halted the Cougars offense.
Howard took advantage and scored a couple touchdowns while the Cougar offense was having trouble. Davis Bradley, Weston Kershner, Andrew Dorsey, Alyssa Briggs, and Gabe Belden played hard making tackles and pass deflections. However, with the Cougars offense not moving the ball, the defense was on the field too much.
The offense did show a bunch of pride at the end of the game. With the clock going down and no chance really to win anymore, the Cougars decided they didn’t want to give up. The offense hit the field and started making some plays. Gabe Belden had a couple catches for 40 yards. Then the connection, that’s been there all season, Jackson to Jack Kane for 30 yards and a touchdown. The pride and effort given at the end of a game that was out of reach made me (the coach) extremely proud!
Cougars lose their first road game 14 to 28 to Howard School.
Stats:
Jackson Barnes 10 – 18 190 yards 2 TD 2 INT (14 pts)
Jack Kane 4 catches 80 yards 1 TD (6 pts)
Maxwell Lagan 1 Catch 40 yards 1 TD (6pts)
Colin Barlow 1 catch 5 yards 2 pt extra (2pts)
Gabe Belden 1 tackle 2 catches 40 yards
Andrew Dorsey 1 tackle 2 catches 25 yards
Alyssa Briggs 2 tackles
Weston Kershner 3 tackles
Davis Bradley 1 tackle
The 2nd road game was against Tapestry on March 20 at Silverback Park.
The Cottage School started with the ball and came out on fire with Jackson Barnes completing his first four throws. However, after a first down the Cougars stalled with a couple incomplete passes and a sack that led to a turnover on downs.
The Cougar defense stepped up with a tackle from Alyssa Briggs on first down. Then Weston Kershner twice and Colin Barlow once came up with big pass deflections to force Tapestry to turn the ball over on downs.
The offense came back on the field but shot themselves in the foot by throwing an interception that Tapestry returned for a touchdown.
With the Cougars down 6, the offense came back on the field ready to fight. The possession started with a sack and an incomplete pass. Jackson Barnes then scrambled and threw a ball to Weston for 35 yards and a first down. This led to another sack, but again Jackson didn’t let this get him down and found Alyssa for 10 yards on the next play. A couple of great catches by Colin led to a great catch and run by Andrew Dorsey for a touchdown. Alyssa Briggs made the 2 pt conversion to give the Cougars the 8 to 6 lead.
Tapestry offense came out hot again. Alyssa made a great tackle on first down but a big play on second down gave Tapestry back the lead. Tapestry leads the game now 14 to 8.
The Cougar’s offense came back on the field and Jackson Barnes started marching the team down the field with 4 completions in a row. Jack and Colin caught one each and Andrew had 2 of the receptions. This put the Cougars within striking distance right before halftime. With about 15 seconds left on the clock the Cougars took a timeout to discuss the game plan. They decided to go for a jump ball from Jackson to Jack Kane in the endzone. The throw from Jackson was nice and high. Jack Kane had a chance but with two defenders on him jumping for the ball too, he lost it while coming down to the ground. Great try from the Cougars offense but they went into halftime down to Tapestry 8 to 14.
Halftime
Tapestry started with the ball 2nd half and the Cougar defense knew they had to step up and make some plays. Seniors Andrew Dorsey and Weston Kershner took it upon themselves to step up and make big plays at the safety spot. On first down Weston jumped and made a great pass deflection to cause an incompletion. Then on second down Tapestry tried to go deep and Andrew came down with the interception. He then made a great run after the pick for a Cougar touchdown!!! Cottage then converts the extra point to go up 16 to 14 on Tapestry.
No rest for the defense as they go right back on the field after the pick 6. Gabe makes a great tackle on first down that was then followed by a pass deflection by Davis Bradley (that was almost an interception). On third and fourth down Tapestry tried two deep passes, but Andrew was there to force a Tapestry turnover on downs.
The Cottage offense hit the field ready to put the game out of reach. Colin Barlow comes up big with three straight catches to move the ball down field. Then Gabe Belden makes a catch to bring the Cougars five yards from the endzone. Jackson takes the snaps and bootlegs to the right. He sees Alyussa Briggs, who runs a great route to get wide open and make the catch for a Cougar touchdown! Jack Kane makes the 2 pt conversion to put the Cougars up 24 – 14.
The game was pretty much over, but Tapestry never gave up. They put pressure on Cottage by scoring another touchdown to make the game 24 to 20. However, there was not enough time on the clock and the Cougars ran the clock down to secure their 4th win and 1st road win of the season.
Cougars win 24 to 20 over Tapestry
Stats:
Jackson Barnes 19 – 28 250 yards 2 TD 2 INT
Andrew Dorsey 4 Catches 50 yards 2 INT 2 TDs
Jack Kane 3 catches 25 yards
Weston Kershner 3 catches 55 yards 1 INT
Alyssa Briggs 2 catches 15 yards 1 TD 2 pts 2 tackles
Colin Barlow 8 catches 95 yards
Gabe Belden 1 catch 10 yards 1 tackle
Way to go Cougars!!!
The Cottage School Varsity Flag Football team is 4 and 1 on the season now with the next game at home against Mill Springs on March 26 at 1:20.