Friday night’s football game between Cave Spring and Pulaski County scheduled for the Cougar Den in Dublin had to be moved to Dwight Bogle Stadium because of swamp-like conditions on the Cougar field.
Pulaski County must have felt they got swamped again in Southwest County.
Taking advantage of key Pulaski mistakes in the first half, Cave Spring jumped out to a 25-19 halftime lead and held on down the stretch to pull out a hard-fought, and hard-hitting, 33-26 River Ridge win.
“There were some licks passed out tonight,” Cave Spring head coach Tim Fulton noted of the numerous blocks and tackles that drew oohs and aahs from the sizable crowd.
“it was hard-nosed River Ridge football,” Knight senior Zac Foutz said. “Both teams were hitting hard. We knew Pulaski County was not going to lay down.”
“It was a heck of a football game,” Fulton added. “We bent but we didn’t break.”
Cave Spring wasted no time getting on the scoreboard.
The Knights took the opening kickoff and drove into Cougar territory where senior Ty Albritton hauled in a 39-yard touchdown pass from Cave Spring quarterback Alex Emery.
After Pulaski County went three-and-out, Cave Spring drove to the Cougar 12-yard line where Emery threaded the needle on a pass to Foutz that put the Knights up 12-0.
Pulaski County scored at the 3:16 mark of the first quarter after Cougar quarterback Jesse Draper scored from two yards out to make it 12-7.
The Knights answered early in the second quarter. Aided by a third down circus catch by Foutz, and later facing a third down at the Pulaski 18, Albritton made a catch of a short swing pass. Two Cougar defenders, having Albritton stopped well short of the first down, went for the strip only to see their prey slip away and into the end zone for a 18-7 Knight lead.
Pulaski County handed the Knights a gift on its next possession. With a first down on the Cave Spring 1-yard line, the Cougars fumbled on the next play with the Knights recovering in the end zone.
Cave Spring used two big plays to move to the Pulaski 39 where the drive stalled. Foutz followed with a punt downed at the Cougar 1-yard line that looked to have the Knights set after Pulaski dodged a pair of bullets on their next two plays.
But, Pulaski pulled the rabbit out of the hat on third down when Malik Evans used a crafty crossing pattern to catch a Draper lob in stride, taking it 99 yards to the house to cut the Cave Spring lead to 18-13.
“They were the three craziest plays I’ve ever seen,” Foutz said. “On first down I thought we had a safety. On second down, they fumbled, but someone scooped it up and got out of the end zone back to the one. Then, a 99-yard touchdown.”
Cave Spring came right back when junior Tyler Rice raced 59 yards to pay dirt with 3:04 left in the second quarter for a 25-13 Knight advantage.
Pulaski then answered with 1:20 left on an Eanes 13-yard TD catch that sent the teams to a much-needed halftime break with Cave Spring hanging on to the 25-19 lead.
Pulaski took its first lead of the game late in the third quarter on a 12-yard Marcus Payne touchdown run that forged a 26-25 Cougar lead.
Again Cave Spring responded in championship fashion when the Knights drove to the Pulaski 2 before Rice took it in with 6:33 left to secure the final margin.
“That was huge,” Fulton noted of the ground game on the winning drive. “Our offensive line stepped up and we drove it in.”
Pulaski saw its final chance fall short when a fourth-down pass fell just out of the reach of a Cougar receiver deep in Knight territory.
Rice led Cave Spring with 195 yards on 29 carries, while Emery threw for 142 yards. Thomas Hunter paced Pulaski County with 188 rushing yards with Eanes adding 162 in passing yards.
“I’m really proud of the way we fought back,” Pulaski head coach Stephen James said at midfield afterward., “You can’t make that many mistakes in the first half against a team like Cave Spring.”
Bill Turner
