By Jason Queen
Hard rain filled the skies over Copper Basin High School stadium Friday night, August 22. Having to restart multiple times due to delays, the Cougars came up short against the Towers High School Titans 41-0. However, Head Coach Brett Graves said the season kicked off with positive gains both offensively and defensively.
Given three turnovers in the first half and being put in difficult situations where Towers started multiple offensive drives in Cougar territory, Graves said the defense got better, and Basin had just one turnover in the second half.
Graves said the Cougar defensive effort was anchored by solid play from sophomore defensive end A.J. Pero, He led the Cougars with 14 tackles. Sophomore inside linebacker Nick Bird had 10 tackles, sophomore outside linebacker Thomas Seabolt and senior middle linebacker Drew Crowder had nine each. Freshman tackle Dylan Beaver had eight. Senior tackle Cooper Floyd reached the Towers quarterback for a sack.
“We told him (Pero) if we were going to have a chance in this game, it would be on him to contain, and he did that really well, and gave us a chance,” said Graves.
The Cougars had two fumbles inside their own 30 yard line, but continued to play tough. “The defense did give us a chance to play,” said Graves. The halftime score was 20-0. Towers ran the ball on the outside mainly. The quarterback and running back were fast, said Graves. “Most of the time, they would run a toss sweep. They didn’t like to run the ball in between the tackles. They ran a boot leg out of the backfield, and it hurt us once. We had to keep that contained at all times.” He added that they will see a lot of this same formation later in regional games. Graves said junior linebackers Bird and Seabolt filled in those gaps very well and have improved since the spring practices.
With early struggles, Graves said the offense gain traction throughout the game. He said quarterback Crowder is the pillar of consistency and Cougar receivers senior Nathan Spencer, and sophomore Dawson Pittman and Donovan Holloway did a great job. “That’s where I see the biggest improvement offensively. They are receivers who are willing to get in front of them and stay in front of them.”
Freshman halfback and free safety Easton Dockery improved a lot this game, said Graves. “Defensively, we can put him anywhere on the field. He’s getting better running the ball.”
Offensively, Dockery had seven carries for seven total yards, but some of those were dropped balls on the ground he just fell on. “He had a strong run up the gut for eight yards. He’s getting better. He’s just got to lower his pad level.”
Next week, the Cougars travel to Marietta, Georgia to take on Mt. Bethel Christian Academy at 5 pm.
“Mt. Bethel is a team that we rushed 380 yards on the ground last year. I’m sure they are going to be talking about it all week. We’ve got to make sure our offensive line is the focus of this week. And try to replicate the same success we had on them last year.”
They are a spread offensive team that throws the ball, said Grimes. “Our secondary has to be focused the entire game. They can take any play to the house.” The secondary and linebackers have to be on their game. “The defensive line has to get a pass rush.”
Graves said this young team has promise and he feels “good about the coming season and years.”