Junior Cougars hang tough

The Junior Cougars made forward strides Thursday night, in their meeting with Cedar Ridge in Rector.

Though the young Rector squad came up short on the 20-6 outcome, the game was one of those contests wherein the score is misleading.

Rector's first drive saw the Junior Cougars march all the way down the field only to come up short with a dropped pass in the end zone, resulting in a turnover-on-downs.

The two teams were scoreless going into the second quarter.

Cedar Ridge struck with just under five minutes left in the second frame, taking a 6-0 lead, which held true for the remainder of the half.

Getting the ball to start the second half, the guests broke free on a big run on just their third play of the drive, scoring the touchdown and adding the try for two to move ahead 14-0.

The Junior Cougars saw their deficit grow even more on the very next drive, as a Rector interception was brought back 35 yards for another Cedar Ridge touchdown, making it 20-0.

Rector spent the rest of the third making their way down the field. On the very first play of the fourth, quarterback Mitchell Weber scampered free from six yards out to put the Junior Cougars on the board, 20-6.

The Cougar defense halted Cedar Ridge and was able to get to the red zone, as time wound down and brought the game to a close.

"It was a better game than it appeared on the scoreboard," coach Nate Henderson said. "If we catch that dropped touchdown pass and don't throw that interception, then it's a tie ballgame."

Even though the outcome was not ideal, Henderson said his young team showed improvement in the loss.

"I thought we played a lot better, especially on defense. For the most part, we did a good job of containing Cedar Ridge. Once again, we were hurt by the big plays, but I liked our overall effort. We've just got to put it all together for four quarters."

The Junior Cougars will travel to Cherry Valley on Thursday to face Cross County.

"This is a big game for us," Henderson said. "I feel like we can go there and have a good chance to come out with the win. Defensively, we've got to stop the big play. I feel like if we can do that, then we can move the ball offensively and put ourselves in the position to win."