The Copper Basin Cougars hosted the Georgia Force Friday, August 28.
Both team’s defenses played well, but the Cougars were able to come away with the win in the second half after Bryson Grabowski intercepted a Georgia Force pass.
Copper Basin won the toss and elected to kickoff. After the kick, Georgia Force set up shop at their own 42-yard line. Addison Hook blew up the middle for a sack that pushed Georgia Force back to their own 32-yard line for a second and twenty.
The Georgia Force ran a swing pass on the next play, but Timothy Fair was able to read it and make the stop for a three yard loss to make it third and 23 at the 29-yard line.
The Georgia Force tried to go through the air for some quick yardage, but the Cougar defense forced an incomplete pass. After the punt, the Cougars offense set up shop at their own 28-yard line.
Sebastian Balilies was able to squeeze out three yards on a run, and Grabowski was able to move the chains on the next play with a quarterback keeper to the Cougars 41-yard line. The Cougars drive was halted however, as two incomplete passes and a fumble recovery by the Cougars set up fourth and 14 at their own 37-yard line.
Copper Basin went for the fake punt, with Fair running the ball, but the Georgia Force was able to stop him at the Cougars’ 45-yard line to force a turnover on downs.
The Georgia Force struggled to get rolling on offense, and after an incomplete pass and a high snap, the Force was in a third and long situation. The Force tried to gain yards through the air, but could not complete the passes on third and fourth down to give Copper Basin the ball back at their own 30-yard line with 5:59 to go in the first quarter.
After two run attempts that yielded no yards, The Cougars went to the air on third and 10 as Grabowski found Tim Jabaley for an 11-yard gain that put the Cougars at the 19-yard line for a fresh set of downs.
The Cougars were able to make it to the 18-yard line, but were unable to move the chains again as a failed fourth down attempt gave Georgia Force the ball at their own 18-yard line.
The Cougar defense held strong, however, and forced a three and out as the Force punted back to the Cougars. Fair returned the ball to the Georgia Force’s 43-yard line as the Cougars set up shop.
Balilies was able to find the hole on first down and break off a 14-yard run to the 29-yard line.
The Cougars were not able to move the chains again as the first quarter came to a close with a 0-0 tie.
The second quarter was like the first, with both team’s defenses coming up with big stops. The Cougars were able to get the ball and the momentum after Joe Boggs came up with a big stop to force the Georgia Force to punt. Copper Basin started on their own 30-yard line as Balilies broke off a big run to the Force’s 49 yard line. Grabowski then found Jabaley on a 16-yard pass to put the ball at the 33-yard line.
The Cougars made it to the 11-yard line as Graboski spiked the ball to stop the clock with .9 seconds left in the first half. The Cougars offensive line gave Grabowski all day to throw on the final play as Dawson Worthy was able to get open and score on an 11-yard touchdown pass. Grabowski’s extra point attempt was good as the Cougars took a 7-0 lead over Georgia Force at the half.
The Force rallied to start the third quarter, as they onside kicked the ball and was able to recover to give them position at Copper Basin’s 46-yard line.
The Force was able to string together some big plays and scored on a 15-yard touchdown pass with 11:03 to go in the third. The extra point attempt was no good as the Cougars clinged to a 7-6 lead.
Dawson Worthy fielded the kick for the Cougars as Copper Basin’s offense took over at their own 45-yard line.
Balilies started to find a rhythm as he broke off three big runs to get the Cougars to the Georgia Forces 26-yard line. Grabowski then darted up the middle for a 15-yard run on a quarterback keeper to put the Cougars in the red zone. Two penalties on Copper Basin pushed the Cougars back to the 26-yard line, as Balilies was able to rush for a yard. The Cougars were able to find paydirt however, as Grabowski threw a dart to Jabaley, who caught the ball between two defenders for a 25-yard touchdown pass.
After Grabowski’s good extra point, the Cougars led 14-6 over the Force with 6:48 to go in the third.
Both teams battled back and forth, with neither team scoring again in the third quarter. Georgia Force was able to find paydirt with 8:23 to go in the fourth on a four yard touchdown pass to trim the Cougar lead. An unsportsmanlike penalty on Georgia Force pushed the two-point conversion attempt back 15-yards and the Force were not able to convert as Worthy broke up a pass in the endzone to keep the Cougars in control 14-12.
The Cougars got the ball and tried to score again, but were unable to as they punted back to the Force with 4:23 to go in the game. The Force began moving the chains and gathering momentum until Grabowski was able to pull down a Force pass for the interception at the Cougars’ six yard line with 1:55 to go to seal the deal for the Cougars as they beat the Georgia Force 14-12. Copper Basin is now 2-0 on the season.
After the win, coach Grabowski was proud of his team saying, “I’m excited to get the win and how the boys played in a tight game. We just need to be more constant in all that we do so that we don’t let a team hang around for four quarters with a chance to win at the end, but overall I was happy with the way we fought throughout the game and never gave up and came out of a tight one with a victory.”
The Cougars will begin region play Friday, September 4, as they travel to Sale Creek to take on the Panthers. Kickoff is set to begin at 7:30 p.m.