The Copper Basin Cougars hosted the Bradley Knights for homecoming 2021 Friday, October 15. Copper Basin scored early and often and put the game completely out of reach on the way to a convincing 62-0 win.
The Knights won the toss and wanted the ball first, and they started on their own 35 yard line. Basin’s defense stuffed the visitors on the first three plays and on fourth down, the snap flew over the punter’s head, giving the Cougars great field position at the Knights’ five yard line. Sebastian Baliles started the scoring barrage with a five yard run as he went into the endzone untouched, giving Copper Basin a quick 6-0 lead. Quarterback Joe Boggs plowed in for the two-point conversion to make the score 8-0 with just over two minutes gone in the first quarter.
The Knights second possession didn’t turn out much better as they had to punt again and the Cougars made them pay by returning the punt down to the 15 yard line. Again, it was Baliles going into the end zone untouched, increasing the lead to 14-0 with 7:32 left in the opening period. The Cougar defense forced another punt and returned it down to the Knights' 41 yard line. For the third time, and on Basin’s third snap of the game, Baliles scampered in from 41 yards out to give the hosts a 20-0 lead with 5:28 to go in the first quarter. The extra point attempt was no good.
Bradley’s next possession began at the 50-yard line after the kickoff went out of bounds. The drive stalled, however, and the visitors were forced to punt for the fourth time in the quarter. Copper Basin started their drive at their own 25-yard line and Boggs got the drive off to a great start as he sprinted for 72 yards down to the Knights 7-yard line. Baliles added his fourth touchdown of the night on the next play with 2:38 to go. Tucker Rhodes added the extra point and the Cougars had a nice lead of 27-0.
The Knights woeful offensive night continued on the next drive, as they were forced to punt again. Cade Dean came in at quarterback and connected with Baliles on a 38-yard pass down to the visitor's 21-yard line on the last play of the opening quarter. On fourth and goal from the 2-yard line, Baliles found the end zone again with 10:26 left before halftime. The extra point was no good, but Copper Basin had a commanding 33-0 lead.
The night got worse for the Knights on their next possession as they fumbled at the 45- yard line, and Mason Anderson pounced on the loose ball to give the ball right back to Copper
Basin. Dean had a nifty nine yard run and on the next play, and Baliles found paydirt again from 36 yards out to give the homecoming crowd another touchdown. Another missed extra point left the score 39-0 with 8:21 left in the second quarter.
Bradley’s next drive started at their 44 yard line, but it ended the same way as it had the entire first half, with a punt. Basin set up shop at the enemy 40 yard line and it didn’t take long for the Cougars to light up the scoreboard again as Cadan Williams took a jet sweep and ripped off a 40 yard touchdown run with a little over five minutes to go in the opening half. Rhodes connected on the extra point this time and the Cougars had an insurmountable 46-0 lead. Copper Basin forced another Knight punt right before halftime, and Basin had time for one play, a pass from Dean to Isaac Deal, but the clock ran out and Basin took the huge lead to the locker room.
The second half was more of the same for the Cougar offense, as Dean found AJ Fitchett and Carder Lance on back-to-back pass plays, setting up the offense at the 25 yard line. Dean hooked up with Fitchett again from 11 yards out to increase the lead to 52-0. Dean squirted into the end zone for the two-point conversion to increase the lead to 54-0 with 4:23 left in the third quarter.
The Knights’ next drive started at their 22 yard line and on fourth down, they decided to reach into their bag of tricks and try a fake punt. However, the Copper Basin defense stuffed the attempt and took over at the 28 yard line of the Knights.
The fourth quarter started with a bang as Haden Deal galloped in from 28 yards out to add to the Basin lead. Dean converted the two-point conversion again and the Cougars had a 62-0 lead. The Knights had one more possession, but with a running clock in the second half, they couldn’t get a drive going and the game ended with the Basin defense getting an interception by Fitchett.
Head Coach Chad Grabowski was happy to get the win but was happier that he got to get many of his young players some experience. “Boys played hard last night and we got a chance to play a lot of young players last night and give them field experience so that was huge for the future of the program.”
Copper Basin travels to play the Whitwell Tigers for a Region 3-A battle, with both teams jockeying for playoff positioning. Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM.