It was a busy night at Copper Basin High School Friday, September 8, when the Cougars hosted the Titans from New Faith Christian Academy.
The Cougars welcomed the Recreation League players and coaches before the game and then the Copper Basin Alumni Association Legend of the Game was presented to long time Cougar player and coach Rusty Boggs. So, before the game ever kicked off, there was already some “juice” in the air, and the Cougars rode that excitement to a 39-22 win, their first of the season.
The Titans, however, threw the first punch of the night, scoring on the opening play of the game, a 51 yard run to go up 6-0, as the two-point conversion was no good.
Copper Basin responded with a five-play drive, highlighted by a 29 yard pass from junior quarterback Cade Dean to fellow junior wideout Mason Anderson. The two finished off the drive as Dean hit Anderson for a 12-yard touchdown to tie the game at 6-6 with 10:30 left in the first quarter.
After a Titan punt, Copper Basin took the lead with 5:52 left in the quarter, as Dean plunged into the end zone from two yards out, and after the two-point conversion was no good, Basin had a 12-6 lead.
After another New Faith punt, followed by a Cougar turnover, the Titans reclaimed the lead with 31 seconds left in the opening quarter, on a 10 yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion was good this time, giving them a 14-12 lead.
The Cougar’s next possession started on their own 38 yard line and Dean went right to work, hitting senior Avery Crowder for 33 yards and two plays later, Crowder caught a perfect Dean pass from 28 yards out to go back in front 20-14. Dean hit Nathan Spencer for the two-point conversion.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Cougars special teams recovered an onsides kick and took no time taking advantage, as Dean hit junior Harrison Brown for a 48-yard touchdown to extend the Basin lead to 26-14 with 8:43 left in the first half.
After the Titans turned the ball over on downs, the Cougars looked to put another score on the board, but after two penalties backed them up inside their own ten yard line, the Titans made a big play, sacking Dean in the end zone for a safety, cutting the Basin lead down to 26-16 with 3:30 left in the second quarter.
The second half started the same way the first one ended, with yellow flags flying every other play, keeping both teams from getting any kind of rhythm on offense, but Dean did connect with his receivers on two nice plays, one to Crowder for 28 yards, and another pass to Anderson for 11 yards.
After swapping possessions most of the third quarter and early fourth quarter, Copper Basin finally found the end zone again, as Dean found Crowder for the second time, this time from 20 yards out, but the extra point attempt was blocked, making the score 32-16 with 7:47 left in the football game.
The Titans didn’t go away, however, cutting into the Cougar lead with 4:22 left, on a six-yard touchdown run, making the score 32-22. After a fourth down incompletion, New Faith got the ball back looking to cut the lead even more. They drove the ball down to the Cougar 22 yard-line, but Brown broke their backs, picking off a pass in the end zone and blazing down the home sideline 100 yards for the pick-six, and putting the nail in the coffin, giving the Cougars a 38-22 lead with 18 seconds to go in the game. Brown also added the extra point, giving the Cougars a 39-22 lead, and eventual win over the pesky visitors from Riverdale, Georgia.
Head Coach Chad Grabowski was pleased with his young team’s effort and fight, overcoming an early deficit. “Very proud of the boys and how they responded to the early scoring deficit and kept fighting all night long against a much bigger and faster team than us. Happy to get out of the game with a good win and built a bunch of confidence for the games looking forward. This week’s game is going to be against a team that looks just like NFCA and I think that was good for us to have a good game against a team that was very similar.”
Several Cougars had big nights, led by Dean, who completed 11 passes for 206 yards and four touchdowns, adding another touchdown on the ground. Crowder had a great night receiving, hauling in six catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Anderson had a good night as well, catching four passes for 56 yards and a touchdown. Brown also had a big catch for a 48 yard touchdown, to go along with his 100 yard interception return.
On defense, Copper Basin was led by junior Zach Beach, who had eight tackles, while Dean had seven, to go along with a pass break-up. Anderson had four tackles and a pass break-up. Brown and senior Landon Allen had three tackles each and freshman Darrius Harris had a huge batted-down-pass in the fourth quarter. Junior Hayden Deal and Crowder had two tackles apiece, while younger brother Drew Crowder had two tackles as well. Logan Cochran, Kelly Shroth, Harris, sophomore Dalton Wray all had stops for the Cougars as well.
Next week, Copper Basin welcomes Chattanooga Prep to Jonathan Runion Field for their first district game of the season, Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
Scoring Summary:
1 2 3 4 - Final
NFCA 14 2 0 6 - 22
CBHS 12 14 0 13 - 39