By TROY SARVER
Patriot Publishing
ROANOKE – The best thing you could say about Pulaski County’s season after Friday night’s result is that it is over.
Hidden Valley quarterback Tanner Bishop connected with receiver Jydn Sykes on a two-point conversion midway through the fourth quarter that proved to be the difference as the Titans took a 22-21 victory over Pulaski County in a battle of winless squads at Bogle Field.
Pulaski County (0-10, 0-6) finished the season without a win for the first time since 1975, which was just the program’s second year.
For Hidden Valley, the win snapped a 31-game losing streak.
Things looked positive for the Cougars when running back Jackson Squires scored a touchdown on a 14-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter to give Pulaski County a 21-14 lead.
Hidden Valley (1-9, 1-5), however, responded to the Pulaski County score with a 10-play, 70-yard drive capped by a one-yard quarterback sneak by Bishop to make the score 21-20 at the 7:23 mark of the fourth.
The Titans, who missed an extra point earlier in the game due to a bad snap, decided to go for two and the lead on the ensuing play. Bishop found Sykes in the corner of the end zone for the score and a 22-21 advantage.
The Cougars would have two chances to re-take the lead. The first drive ended when running back Rahmyene Jones lost a fumble at the Hidden Valley 42 with 3:01 on the clock.
Pulaski County got the ball back with 1:42 left at their own 26, but the Cougars were held without a first down to ice the game for the Titans.
The result was a disappointing ending for Pulaski County, but especially for the seniors who Pulaski head coach Cam Akers has worked with since their middle school days.
“I just hate it for our seniors. I try to tell every senior group that they will be bonded through football. I just hate that it ended like this,” Akers said. “I hate it for our kids and our community.”
The Cougars got on the scoreboard first taking their opening offensive possession 68 yards in six plays. Jayden Aviles finished things off with a 5-yard TD run to make it 7-0 with 8:09 left in the first quarter.
The Titans reached the end zone on the first play of the second quarter when running back RJ Heard scored from two yards out to make it 7-6. The bad snap on the extra point happened on the next play, though, keeping the Cougars in the lead.
Just before halftime the Cougars extended their lead to 14-6 when Squires scored on a 5-yard touchdown run with 20 seconds left before the break. The run was set up on the previous play when quarterback Preston Marshall hit receiver Dorrion Long on a 49-yard pass down to the HV 5-yard line.
The third quarter was mostly a defensive battle before Hidden Valley broke through with 1:32 left in the period when Bishop and Skyes connected on a 41-yard scoring strike. Bishop then hit tight end Eli Fitzgerald on the ensuing two-point play to tie things up 14-14 setting up the dramatic fourth quarter.
Squires wound up being the game’s leading rusher accumulating 138 yards on a game-high 23 carries. Aviles also contributed 91 yards on the ground for the Cougars.
After going 1-15 in their last 16 games, the Cougars will now have to wait until next August for their next chance to get back in the win column.
“We’ll take a couple weeks and then we’ll get to work to do what we need to do to get better,” Akers said.
Pulaski County 7 7 0 7 21
Hidden Valley 0 6 8 8 22
PC – Aviles 5 run (Flores kick)
HV – Heard 2 run (kick failed)
PC – Squires 5 run (Flores kick)
HV – Sykes 41 pass from Bishop (Fitzgerald pass from Bishop)
PC – Squires 14 run (Flores kick)
HV – Bishop 1 run (Sykes pass from Bishop)
Pulaski County Hidden Valley
First Downs 12 14
Yards Rushing 230 93
Passes C-A-I 1-9-0 12-32-1
Yards Passing 49 174
Penalties-Yards 5-55 7-65
Fumbles-lost 2-2 0-0
Punts-average 3-38.0 4-34.3
RUSHING – Pulaski County, Squires 23-138, Aviles 12-91, Marshall 1-(-10), Jones 3-10, Akers 1-(-3), Long 1-4, Hidden Valley, Johnson 5-19, Harris 9-15, Hall 1-8, Heard 5-16, Bishop 8-30, Sykes 1-5
PASSING – Pulaski County, Marshall 1-9-0-49, Hidden Valley, Bishop 12-32-1-174
RECEIVING – Pulaski County, Long 1-49, Hidden Valley, Sykes 6-112, Heard 1-9, Fitzgerald 1-19, Lichenstein 2-24, Hall 1-8, Johnson 1-2
