Cougars battle T-Birds in hard-fought loss

Friday night's game between the Cougars and the visiting Cross County Thunderbirds was the very definition of a gridiron battle. There was a distinct fall chill to the air as the two teams met on a muddy Temerian Field.

The teams played three scoreless quarters before Cross County crossed the goal line early in the final frame. T-Bird running back Blake Veasley scored the first of his two touchdowns from one yard out with 10:15 remaining in the quarter. Cross County connected on a halfback pass to score on the two-point conversion.

The Cougars appeared poised to answer back, as Seth Parsley carried on two consecutive plays for gains of 19 and 12 yards. Clinton Haley chewed up another two yards through the middle, but Rector coughed up the ball on a fumble on second down.

After the Cougar defense forced Cross County to punt on a three-and-out, the special teams of Rector came up big, blocking the punt. Cory Hager recovered the loose ball at the Rector 28-yard-line.

Rector managed to scrape their way down to the 10, but back-to-back false start and holding penalties pushed them back to the 24-yard-line. On third and long, Cross County intercepted a pass, stopping the drive.

Veasley ran like a cheap pair of socks on the second play of the visitors' ensuing possession, breaking free for an 83 yard touchdown carry. After a failed try for two, the score stood at 14-0 in favor of the guests with just 3:01 left to play.

Rector put together a pretty solid drive, but the ticking clock led to an urgency which saw the Cougars turn the ball over on fourth down at one-yard-line with only 17 seconds to play.

"That's one we let get away," Cougar head coach Bob Alberson said. "We matched up well with them and were right there for pretty much the whole game. (If) one or two plays go our way or we don't turn the ball over late and we have a good chance to win the game."

Veasley had a strong game for the Thunderbirds. He finished with 182 yards on 26 carries.

Parsley paced Rector with 145 yards on 24 carries. Haley tallied 35 yards on nine carries. With the loss, the Cougars fall to 1-5 on the season.

Up next, Rector will travel to Lepanto to face conference foe EPC on Friday. EPC was downed by Salem, 28-0, last week and has a 2-3 record.