The Copper Basin Cougars kicked off their 2020 football season by hitting the road to defend their County Championship against long-time rival, the Polk County Wildcats, Friday, August 21. With the weather cooler than expected for a late August evening, and some off and on drizzle, the Cougars settled in and made it two in a row over the hosts, pulling away in the second half to win 29-18.
The Wildcats wasted no time after receiving the opening kickoff, as they threw the first punch by way of a 61 yard touchdown sprint on the first play from scrimmage. After a successful extra point, the hosts took an early 7-0 lead, only eight seconds into the ballgame. Copper Basin took over after the kickoff, and Sebastian Baliles ripped off a 28 yard run to get the offense rolling. However, on second down, a toss sweep ended up on the ground, and the Cats pounced on it at midfield. This time though, the Cougar defense bowed its back, and forced a Wildcat punt. The Basin offense started their next drive and mixed some run plays along with a few passes and marched down to the Polk five yard line. Senior quarterback Bryson Grabowski capped off the drive as he darted into the end zone from five yards out to get the visitors on the scoreboard. He then added the two-point conversion to give Copper Basin a lead they would never give up, 8-7, with 1:04 left in the opening quarter.
Copper Basin’s defense, led by middle linebacker Joe Boggs, and outside linebacker Timothy Fair, gave the ball right back to their offense. Two big plays on the drive, a 32 yard pass to Dawson Worthy followed by a 12 yard connection to A.J. MIles, put the Cougars in business again at the Polk 10 yard line. This time, Grabowski hit Worthy on a well executed slant route in the end zone from ten yards out to widen the lead with 8:19 left in the second quarter. Grabowski added another two-point conversion to make the score 16-7.
The Cats put together a drive and moved the ball to the Cougar 20 yard line, and on fourth down, lined up to attempt a 37 yard field goal. The kick was no good, but a penalty against Basin for roughing the kicker gave Polk new life and a new set of downs at the Basin 10 yard line. Fair had other ideas however, and blew through to get a huge sack on third down, forcing Polk to try another field goal right before halftime. This time, the kick was good, cutting into the Basin lead, making the score 16-10 at the break.
The second half got underway with Copper Basin receiving the kickoff, looking to expand their lead and give themselves some breathing room on the scoreboard. The key play on the drive was a 23 yard pass from Grabowski to Worthy, who led Basin with seven catches on the night for 123 yards. Another Grabowski touchdown run, this one from three yards out, made the score 22-10, and seemed to take the wind out of the Wildcat’s sails. This time, the two-point try was no good, and with 8:02 left in the third quarter, the Cougars had a 12 point lead and Polk seemed to have run out of answers. Head Coach Chad Grabowski said the opening drive of the second half was a point of emphasis at halftime, saying “yes we did” talk about it. Cougar Offensive Coordinator Jeremy Locke added, ”At halftime, we knew that Polk was struggling to stop the run. We told the offense to keep pounding them. I knew that eventually they’d give us the outside screen for a big gain. After it happened, we hit them hard for another touchdown run and began to pull away.”
Another big play happened on Polk’s next drive, when they coughed up a fumble on their own 41 yard line, which was recovered by Cade Foster, setting the Cougars up to blow the game wide open. After two Baliles runs gained 18 yards, Basin returned the favor to the hosts, and fumbled it right back at the Wildcat 14 yard line with 3:20 left in the third quarter.
The Cougars forced another punt on fourth down, and after a 19 yard effort by the Polk punter, Basin was in business at the Wildcat 37 yard line. Two straight runs by Baliles, who led the Basin rushing attack with 23 carries for 123 yards, set up the Basin offense at the Polk 21 yard line. Again, Grabowski sprinted in from 21 yards out on a shifty run right up the middle, to give the Cougars a commanding lead. This time, Grabowski kicked the extra point, giving his team a 29-10 lead with 11:51 left in the football game. The next Polk drive ended on fourth down as Fair broke up a short pass attempt. Two passes from Grabowski to Worthy had Copper Basin knocking at the door on the Cats’ 26 yard line, but another fumble stopped the drive and gave the ball back to the hosts. As the Cougars got some younger players some valuable experience, Polk County drove down and tacked on a five yard touchdown run with 2:07 left in the game, and the Cats made the two-point conversion. Polk went for an onsides kick, trying to get the ball back, but it was recovered by the Cougars at the Polk 40 yard line. On fourth and two, Grabowski plowed ahead for five yards to seal the deal and run out the clock. The Cougars left Polk with a 29-18 victory, making sure the County Championship stays in Copperhill for another year.
When asked how special it is beating the Wildcats two years in a row, Coach Grabowski said, “Yes it is, it’s been a long time, and it’s been a long time since Basin has won a game at Polk county as well. It’s also exciting to be able to win the 300th program win against a county rival like that. Very excited for these boys to be a part of something like that, and it will be something they will always have to talk about. I thought we played ok last night for a first game with no scrimmages, and I know we are only going to get better as the season goes on.”
On offense, Bryson Grabowski had a solid first night, completing 13 passes on 18 attempts for 190 yards, while adding 68 yards on the ground. He had three touchdowns on the ground, as well as one through the air. A.J. Miles had four catches for 40 yards, while Timothy Jabaley added two receptions for 26 yards.
Again, Baliles had a good night running the football, gaining 123 yards on 23 carries. The defense was led by Joe Boggs, who had a team-high 10 tackles, with two tackles for loss. Timothy Fair had nine stops to go along with a sack and a huge pass break up.
Addison Hook, Eli Patterson, and Cade Foster each had three tackles for the Cougars, with Foster also having the huge fumble recovery, while Larry Dye and Cadan Williams had two tackles each. Jonathan Johnson had one stop, as did defensive linemen Chance Rollins and Hunter Perry.
This week, Friday, August 28, the Cougars will open their 2020 home schedule with a visit from the Georgia Force. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.