By TROY SARVER
Patriot Publishing
BLACKSBURG – Pulaski County dominated in time of possession, but Blacksburg was dominant where it mattered the most on the scoreboard on Friday night.
Blacksburg quarterback Sam Szefc ran for 146 yards and three touchdowns while also throwing a touchdown pass as the Bruins defeated Pulaski County, 35-14, in a River Ridge District contest at Bill Brown Stadium.
Pulaski County came into the game with a strategy of keeping the ball away from Szefc and the Bruins’ offense and it was successful early on. The Cougars took the opening possession, and they held the ball for nearly half of the first quarter.
Pulaski County drove down to the Blacksburg 22 on 10 running plays to start the game. On a 4th-and-2 from the 22, however, Pulaski County running back Maddox Thompson was limited to one yard on a run up the middle ending the scoring threat.
Once Blacksburg got the ball the Bruins moved 79 yards in five plays capped by Szefc’s first scoring run of the night on a 32-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 with 4:21 left in the first quarter.
Pulaski County (0-7, 0-3) had another time-consuming possession in the second quarter driving to the Blacksburg 33 in 11 plays. Again, facing a fourth down the Cougars were stuffed as running back Jackson Squires lost two yards on a 4th-and-5 play to end the drive.
“Anytime you’re playing a team as athletic as Blacksburg we want to hold on to the ball,” Pulaski County head coach Cam Akers said afterward.
After the fourth down stop at the 33, Blacksburg (5-3, 3-1) wasted little time getting back in the end zone as Szefc broke loose on the first play of the ensuing drive on a 70-yard TD run to double the Bruins’ advantage to 14-0 with 6:54 left in the second quarter.
The score remained unchanged for the rest of the half, but the Bruins struck quickly coming out of the break scoring on just the second play of the third quarter as Szefc ran in from 14 yards out to make it 21-0.
The final blow that seemed to put the game away came with 7:37 left in the third. With the Bruins backed up at their own 10-yard line, Szefc found tight end Mack Strahm wide open over the middle. Straham would scamper 90 yards down the field outrunning the PC defense and making the score 28-0.
“We got to continue to work on getting better defensively,” Akers said of his defensive squad who have now given up 30 or more points in five of the Cougars’ seven losses.
Pulaski County finally got on the board midway through the third quarter when Jayden Aviles broke loose up the middle on a 20-yard touchdown run to make it 28-7 with 5:03 left in the period.
After another Blacksburg touchdown, the Cougars did close the scoring when quarterback Dorrion Long connected with Squires on a 10-yard touchdown pass with 3:03 left on the clock.
Pulaski County returns to Dublin next Friday night for their final home game of the season as they take on the Salem Spartans on Senior Night.
Game time at Kenneth J. Dobson Stadium will be 7 p.m.
Pulaski County 0 0 7 7 14
Blacksburg 7 7 14 7 35
B – Szefc 32 run (Lowdermilk kick)
B – Szefc 70 run (Lowdermilk kick)
B – Szefc 14 run (Lowdermilk kick)
B – Strahm 90 pass from Szefc (Lowdermilk kick)
PC – Aviles 20 run (Akers kick)
B – Strahm 1 run (Lowdermilk kick)
PC – Squires 10 pass from Long (Akers kick)
Pulaski County Blacksburg
First Downs 17 9
Yards Rushing 229 336
Passes C-A-I 4-12-2 5-8-0
Yards Passing 70 128
Penalties-Yards 8-70 5-60
Fumbles-lost 3-0 3-0
Punts-average 3-34 3-34
RUSHING – Pulaski County, Thompson 19-68, Aviles 6-55, Long 14-34, Squires 12-66, Akers 1-6, Blacksburg, Szefc 12-146, Mann 7-111, Via 4-78, Strahm 1-1, Hogan 1-0
PASSING – Pulaski County, Long 4-12-2-70, Blacksburg, Szefc 5-8-0-128
RECEIVING – Pulaski County, Thompson 1-42, Price 2-18, Squires 1-10, Blacksburg, Hilmandolar 1-5, Holt 1-8, Strahm 3-115
