The dry spell is over for the Copper Basin Cougars who picked up their first win of the season Friday night over the Mt. Bethel Christian Academy Eagles.
The Marietta, Georgia, school brought its unbeaten season record to the Copper Basin field only to be sent home with their first loss.
Copper Basin picked up the 22-0 win in front of their homecoming crowd.
Head Coach Brett Graves was quick to give credit to the offensive line who he said, “dominated all night.”
The Cougars gained 453 yards and picked up 24 first downs. Seven players contributed to that stat.
Two carried the ball for over 100 yards each. Cade Dean gained 121 yards, and Lucas Hughes picked up 110.
Hayden Deal picked up another 61 yards on the ground, Talon Smith added 58, Dawson Pittman had 21, and Donovan Holloway added 13.
Finishing out the offensive total was Carder Lance who caught three passes for 69 yards.
“It’s nice to move the ball around,” Graves said.
Hughes picked up the first eight points for the Cougars, crossing the goal line in the first quarter. He then added the two-point conversion.
Basin got close to another score but ran out of time right before the half ended.
“The coaches did a really good job of making adjustments at halftime,” Graves said. With the seniors on the field for homecoming, they only had about three minutes to communicate with the players before the third quarter started. “Our kids responded well,” Graves said.
The changes saw 14 more Cougar points go on the board before the game ended.
Dean picked up a touchdown in the third quarter when he carried the ball in from eight yards out on a fourth down play.
Deal picked up his six points on a run in the final stanza.
Smith caught a two-point conversion pass for the other Copper Basin points.
Lance led the defensive effort for the Cougars with nine solo tackles. He also caused a fumble and recorded a quarterback sack that put the Eagles back six yards.
Adding to the tackle totals were Nate Spencer with five solos, Dean had seven assists and one solo, Hughes and Zachary Beach had three solo tackles and one assist each, Darrius Harris added a pair of solo stops and an assist, and Logan Cochran, Pittman, Mason Anderson, Wyatt Holder and Cooper Floyd all had solo tackles.
“Mt. Bethel had a really good team...they moved the ball very well,” Graves said. “The kids are having fun,” he added.