The Copper Basin Cougars, who do not have their starting quarterback, backup quarterback, starting running back and starting linebacker battled against the North Georgia Falcons Friday, October 15.
The Cougars offense was able to tack on 12 points as their defense played outstandingly, giving Copper Basin a 12-7 win over the Falcons.
The Falcons won the toss and elected to defer as the Cougars prepared to return the kickoff. The Cougar offense led by quarterback Dawson Worthy trotted out on the field at their own 30-yard line. Jonathan Johnson was able to get two yards on two carries, but an incomplete pass on third and eight halted the Cougar drive.
The Falcons took over after the punt from their own 21-yard line, but went three and out after big stops by Timothy Fair, Cade Foster and Eli Patterson. The Falcons’ punt went out of bounds at their own 37-yard line as the Cougars offense took back over. The Cougars began moving the chains as Johnson broke off a run from the 11-yard line to the one. Johnson went on to score on a one-yard run on the next play to give the Cougars the lead. After the missed extra point, Copper Basin led 6-0 with 6:23 to go in the first quarter.
The Cougars kicked off, and the Falcons took over at their own 41-yard line. Eli Patterson stopped the Falcons from moving the chains on third down with great pass coverage. The Falcons went for it on fourth down and could not convert as the Cougars took over at the Falcons 44-yard line. The Cougars could not generate anything offensively as they punted back to North Georgia.
The Cougar defense held true, however, as Joseph Johnson came up with a big stop to force a punt. The Cougars took over at the Falcon 27-yard line as Jonathan Johnson broke off a 4-yard run to the 23-yard line.
The Falcons defense bowed its back, forcing a fourth and long situation. The Cougars elected to go for it from the Falcons 30-yard line, but the Cougar pass fell incomplete as North Georgia took over.
Addison Hook, Timothy Jabaley and Fair had big plays on defense to stop the Falcons and force a punt.
Copper Basin took over at their own 45-yard line, but the Cougars could not produce points as they went for it on fourth down and could not convert. A few more back and forth possessions between the Cougars and Falcons yielded no results as the Cougars entered halftime with a 6-0 lead.
The Cougars tried to onside kick to start the third quarter, but the Falcons recovered the ball at their own 33-yard line.
The Falcons went four and out as Copper Basin forced a turnover on downs to take over at the Falcons’ 42-yard line. The Cougars then got the ground game going as Johnson and Worthy ran to the 29-yard line. After a run for loss, the Cougars were in a third down situation from the Falcons’ 34-yard line as Worthy dropped back to find AJ Miles on a 34-yard touchdown strike. After the failed two point conversion ,the Cougars led 12-0 with 8:36 to go in the third.
The Cougars kicked off to the Falcons, but the Cougar defense forced a stop as North Georgia punted back to the Cougars.
A few plays later the Falcons would find paydirt on a pick six to slice into the Cougars lead. After the extra point, the Cougars led 12-7 with 2:44 to end the third quarter.
The fourth quarter was a defensive battle for both teams, as they went back and forth until the quarter started to wind down. Patterson came up big for the Cougars as he stuffed a run and stopped a fourth-down conversion attempt to give the ball back to Copper Basin with little time remaining.
The Cougars needed a first down to be able to get into victory formation and bleed the clock, and that is just what they did as Johnson muscled a 5-yard run and Worthy trucked a defender to give the Cougars a first down and ultimately seal the win as the Cougars topped the Falcons 12-7.
Head Coach Chad Grabowski was proud of his team, saying, “I’m very proud of how the team responded to the loss last week and how we played. We played with a lot of players out of position and they all played well.”