The Copper Basin Cougars jumped back into Region 3-A play Friday, September 30, as they hit the road to Chattanooga to take on the Lookout Valley Yellow Jackets. The Cougars played well, staying within striking distance of the Jackets for most of the night, but Valley pulled away in the second half, earning a tough 44-14 win over the Cougars.
The Yellow Jackets took an early lead as they drove the ball down on their opening possession, a five-play drive that culminated with a six yard touchdown run with 9:24 to go in the opening quarter. After the extra point was good, the Jackets had a 7-0 lead.
On the Cougar’s first drive, they were forced to punt from inside their ten yard line, and Lookout Valley capitalized, returning the Cougar punt down to the five yard line. On the next play, the Yellow Jackets ran in for their second touchdown in the quarter, and took a 14-0 lead after the extra point.
The Cougars were very sharp on their next possession, starting at their own 46 yard line, as quarterback Cade Dean found AJ Fitchett for 17 yards and Talon Smith for five more. From the Yellow Jacket 28 yard line, Dean connected with wideout Isaac Deal for a touchdown with 3:41 left in the first quarter, to cut the lead to 14-6, after the two point try was no good.
Copper Basin’s defense came up with a big play on the next Lookout Valley drive as Isaac Deal recovered a Jacket fumble at the 50 yard line, but on fourth down, the Cougars had an incomplete pass to stop the drive.
On the next Jacket possession, Addison Hook dropped a Jacket runner for a five yard loss, setting the Cougars up at the Valley 35 yard line. Dean picked up 18 yards and Avery Crowder ran for eight more on the drive, but a huge sack on third down and an incomplete pass on fourth down ended the drive for Basin.
Lookout Valley then capped a five-play drive with a 38 yard touchdown run with 2:28 left in the first half to take a 21-6 lead.
Isaac Deal set up the Cougars with great field position on the next drive, returning the kickoff 40 yards down to the Yellow Jacket 30 yard line. Fitchett carried the ball for two yards, Dean for six, and Crowder for eight more, moving the ball inside the Jacket five yard line. With 29 seconds left before halftime, Dean scooted into the end zone. Hook plowed his way in for the two-point conversion, cutting the Valley lead down to 21-14.
The Yellow Jackets defense forced a big play of their own to start the third quarter, picking off a Dean pass at the Cougar 45 yard line. On the fourth play of the drive, the Jackets found the end zone from 13 yards out with 9:05 to go in the quarter. After a successful two-point try, they extended their lead to 29-14.
The Cougars tried to get another drive going as Dean found Fitchett twice for 15 yards, but an incomplete pass on fourth down ended the possession.
Lookout Valley took advantage again, scoring a touchdown to extend their lead to 36-14 on the first play of the fourth quarter.
After a Basin turnover, the Jackets scored again on a 29 yard touchdown pass with 6:45 left in the football game, making the final score 44-14. Copper Basin couldn’t get on the scoreboard again, but fought hard again, as they do each week.
Head Coach Chad Grabowski was again proud of his team’s effort and fight. “The boys played hard but we just haven’t put together a full game yet and with missing some key guys for some key positions, it really hurt, but we are going to regroup and get ready for a home game against Meigs.”
Copper Basin will be at home Friday, October 8, as they host the Meigs County Tigers. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Copper Basin High School.
Scoring Summary:
1 2 3 4 - Final
CBHS 6 8 0 0 - 14
LVHS 14 7 8 15 - 44
BY JOHN SPARGO