By TROY SARVER
Patriot Publishing
Pulaski County’s Sammy Carrasco was named Homecoming King at halftime of Friday night’s game against Blacksburg. Unfortunately for the Cougars that was one of the few highlights on the night for the home team.
Blacksburg (4-4, 2-2) scored a touchdown on their opening possession, taking a lead they would never lose as they pulled away in the second half for a 48-22 win over the Cougars at Kenneth J. Dobson Stadium.
Pulaski County (2-5,1-2) lost their third straight game as the Cougars gave up 493 yards of total offense while the PC offense committed two key first half miscues that potentially cost them 11 points.
“We had a couple scoring opportunities in the first half, but you can’t win when you’re putting the ball on the ground and not making tackles,” Pulaski County head coach Cam Akers said.
Blacksburg started the contest by driving 52 yards in seven plays capped by a 13-yard touchdown run from quarterback Easton Holt to make it 6-0 at the 8:22 mark of the first quarter.
Pulaski County responded on their opening drive moving the ball all the way to the Blacksburg 3, but on a first-and-goal from the 3 a shotgun snap to PC quarterback Bryant Nottingham was low and rolled all the way to the 17-yard line where it was covered by the Cougars. Eventually Pulaski County would have to settle for a 32-yard field goal from Nottingham to make the score 6-3.
The Bruins extended their lead with 5:58 left in the second quarter when tight end Mitchell Linkous was left uncovered and caught a 32-yard TD reception from Holt to make it 13-3.
Pulaski County again responded quickly by moving the ball to the Blacksburg 10, but on a second down carry from the 10 Carrasco lost the ball on a rush and it was recovered by the Bruins’ defense.
The fumble seemed to be a backbreaker as the Bruins moved 88 yards in nine plays scoring on a 1-yard TD run by running back Luke Mann with two seconds left on the clock giving Blacksburg a 21-3 lead going into the break after a successful two-point conversion.
After halftime the Blacksburg offense was dominant, scoring touchdowns on all four of their second half possessions against a depleted Pulaski County defense.
“We had a lot of guys injured and a lot of guys out. We were putting guys out on the field that weren’t ready for varsity football,” Akers said.
A bright spot for the Cougars came from running back Maddox Thompson who finished the night with a team-high 161 rushing yards and two touchdowns. His two scores came 15 seconds apart in the fourth quarter after the Cougars recovered a Blacksburg fumble on the kickoff after his first score.
Carter Wilson also had a touchdown for Pulaski County on a 5-yard run in third quarter that cut the deficit to 28-10 with 3:34 left in the period.
Pulaski County will return to action on Friday when they head to Salem for their annual matchup with the Spartans. Salem (2-5, 2-1) is having a rare down season, but they will come into the game with Pulaski County on a 16-game winning streak against the Cougars, which includes a 56-40 victory last season in Salem.
Game time will be 7 p.m.
Blacksburg 6 15 14 13 48
Pulaski County 3 0 7 12 22
B- Holt 13 run (run failed)
PC – Nottingham 32 FG
B – Linkous 32 pass from Holt (Lowdermilk kick)
B – Mann 33 run (Means pass from Holt)
B – Mann 61 run (Lowdermilk kick)
PC – Wilson 5 run (Nottingham kick)
B – Sams 39 run (Lowdermilk kick)
B – Sams 28 run (pass failed)
PC – Thompson 17 run (kick failed)
PC – Thompson 23 run (run failed)
B – Hogan 4 run (Lowdermilk kick)
Blacksburg Pulaski County
First Downs 13 20
Yards Rushing 432 318
Passes C-A-I 4-5-0 4-11-0
Yards Passing 61 71
Penalties – Yards 5-45 6-34
Fumbles – lost 1-1 4-1
Punts – average 1-39 2-42.5
RUSHING – Blacksburg, Mann 15-198, Holt 12-137, Liu 6-26, Sams 3-67, Hogan 1-4, Pulaski County, Carrasco 9-35, Wilson 7-37, Nottingham 9-84, Squires 1-(-14), Thompson 23-161, Aviles 2-15
PASSING – Blacksburg, Holt 4-5-0-61, Pulaski County, Nottingham 4-11-0-71
RECEIVING – Blacksburg, Strahm 1-4, Howard 2-25, Linkous 1-32, Pulaski County, White 1-37, Wilson 1-14, Sweet 1-7, Lewis 1-13
