The Copper Basin Cougars hit the road to Chattanooga for a Region 3-A battle with the 2-4 Lookout Valley Yellow Jackets Friday, October 2, and came back home with a solid 21-0 win to stay undefeated on the 2020 season. The Cougars had not had a game since their 56-14 win over Tellico Plains September 11, so they were excited to get back on the field for a meaningful game. Two games, a home game against Whitwell and a trip to George Walton Academy, were canceled because those teams were affected by COVID-19.
Copper Basin showed no signs of rust as it took less than four minutes to get on the scoreboard, as Bryson Grabowski connected with wideout Cadan Williams on a 38-yard-touchdown pass to put Basin up 6-0. Grabowski plowed in for the two-point conversion, and Basin had an 8-0 with 8:37 left in the opening quarter. The Cougars got the ball right back, and it didn’t take long to add to their lead. This time, workhorse tailback Sebastian Baliles bolted into the end zone from four yards out to make the score 14-0. Grabowski kicked the extra point, and the Cougars had a quick 15-0 advantage with five and a half minutes left in the first quarter. The Copper Basin defense helped set up their offense in the first half with a couple of fumble recoveries. Both defenses settled in by the time the second quarter rolled around, as neither team could muster up any points before the halftime break. Copper Basin stuffed the Yellow Jacket offense on fourth down with 1:47 to go before half but couldn’t turn it into points. The half ended with Copper Basin leading 15-0. As the third quarter got underway, both defenses were still in control, and once again, the offenses could not generate any points. In the fourth quarter, however, Junior quarterback Joe Boggs led the Cougars on a nice drive to put the football game away. Tim Jabaley raced into the end zone on a nifty 14-yard run, to put the Cougars up 21-0 with just under six minutes left in the game. Lookout Valley couldn’t score on the stingy Cougar defense, and Basin got back on the bus with a 21-0 win, staying perfect on the season at 7-0 overall and 3-0 in region play.
Copper Basin Head Coach Chad Grabowski was pleased with the win and was also proud of how his team responded after the long layoff. “I am extremely proud of the boys and how they responded to playing after three weeks of not playing. The defense came out and shut Lookout Valley out and did a great job all night with anything they tried against us. The offense started off strong and hit a little snag in the middle of the game, but found its stride at the end of the game with Sebastian running the ball and putting the ball in the end zone again with Jabaley.”
Cougar Offensive Coordinator Jeremy Locke was happy with the team as well, talking about the layoff between games. “Having not played in three weeks, I knew that we would be rusty. So, we ran the ball often, and quite well. Sebastian ended up with 160 yards against a defense that was trying its best to wear him out. They were so worried about him that it created a perfect opportunity for Timothy Jabaley’s touchdown run on a nicely executed reverse. Bryson had some huge gains on read keeps. In the passing game, Cadan Williams had a nice touchdown reception, and Dawson Worthy had an unbelievable catch and run to keep a drive going late. Finally, Joe Boggs, our backup quarterback, got a lot of playing time and settled in nicely by the fourth quarter.”
On offense, Copper Basin was led by Grabowski, who was one for two passing for 38 yards and a touchdown. He also added two rushes for 31 yards, plus the two-point conversion run. Baliles led the Cougars in rushing again, as he powered his way for 163 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Joe Boggs was one out of three passing for 18 yards and also had five rushes for 18 yards.
On defense, the Cougars had a ton of guys contribute to the shutout, led by Timmy Fair, who had 9.5 tackles, including two tackles for loss. Boggs had a good night on defense as well, as he accounted for 8.5 tackles. Larry Dye chipped in with 8 tackles, while Eli Patterson had 3.5 tackles, with two tackles for loss, as well as a fumble recovery. Grabowski had four stops, as did Joseph Johnson. Addison Hook was credited with 4.5 tackles to go along with a fumble recovery. Hunter Perry and Cade Foster each had three and a half tackles to help the Basin defensive line shut down the Yellow Jackets.
Next up for Copper Basin is a trip to face the McMinn Central Chargers, who won a close game last season in Copperhill. According to Coach Grabowski, the Cougars haven’t forgotten that game for one minute. “We are just looking at coming out this week and paying them back for last year’s loss. We owe them, and we remember how we lost, and it doesn’t feel good. So the boys have had this game as one of the games they are ready to play this year. We are going to have to be very disciplined on defense and our offense is going to have to execute and have a great running game this week.”
Kickoff in Etowah is set for 7:30 p.m.