In their final preseason action of the season, the Pulaski County Cougars were able to do just enough to earn a 10-7 victory over the visiting Radford Bobcats Friday night at Kenneth J. Dobson Stadium.
“We’ve still got a lot of things to clean up,” Cougar Head Coach Cam Akers said. “This was a good chance for us to go up against a speed team, and that’ll help us later in the season. It was also good to get all of our backups out there in the second half. We’re going to need those guys to continue to grow and improve.”
Pulaski County took the first possession and moved down the field until several penalties stalled their opening drive. Sophomore Bryant Nottingham, who spent the drive at quarterback, booted a 37-yard field goal with 4:12 remaining in the first quarter to put the Cougars up 3-0.
Radford answered quickly. With 3:27 remaining in the first quarter, a Bobcat back scampered 44 yards for the touchdown. The point after attempt put the Bobcats up 7-3.
With the Cougars rotating quarterbacks, senior Chris Gallimore came in for the second drive, but the Cougars turned it over and were forced to play defense on a short field. Pulaski County stood up to the test, stopping the Bobcats and taking possession back.
After both teams had trouble moving the ball through most of the second quarter, Gallimore and the Cougars began to move the ball behind a power offense that slowly at up yardage. A combination of runners took turn moving the ball four to six yards at a time until Chris Gallimore called his own number for a 3-yard dive into the endzone over several Bobcat defenders. Nottingham added the PAT to put the Cougars up 10-7 with 4:17 left in the half.
Radford quickly moved out of the shadow of their own endzone and were threatening to score, but the Cougar defense held, and the two teams went into the halftime break.
The second half, as agreed on earlier, was played with a running clock and by the backup players to prevent injuries to the starters. Both teams struggled to move the ball, but Radford threatened several times, including what would have been a score if the receiver hadn’t stepped out of bounds near midfield.
A frantic final minute of the game resulted in little movement, and the final buzzer sounded with the Cougars taking the 10-7 win.
The Cougars earned 10 first downs, compared to 12 by the Bobcats. Pulaski County ran the ball 45 times for 177 yards. Radford ran 20 times for 136 yards. Pulaski County completed four of seven pass attempts for 46 yards. Radford completed 8 of 19 pass attempts for 159 yards. The Cougars had 223 total yards. The Bobcats had 295 total yards.
Penalties were an issue for the Cougars, who committed 12 for 80 yards. Radford had six penalties for 40 yards.
Individually, junior Trevor Gallimore ran the ball 19 times for 81 yards. Chris Gallimore ran five times for 49 yards. Junior Chase Lawrence ran six times for 23 yards. Sophomore Savion Thompson ran six times for 12 yards. Freshman Brock Schneider came in to quarterback the second half, running twice for nine yards. Freshman Parker Price ran two times for six yards. Senior Tyler Underwood ran twice for five yards.
For the Bobcats, William Dehart-Lewis ran seven times for 51 yards. Landen Clark ran three times for 66 yards. Sincere Taylor ran six times for 15 yards. Bryant Weaver ran twice for three yards. JD Grubb ran twice for -4 yards.
Through the air, the Cougars had three passers. Nottingham completed two of three attempts for 22 yards. Gallimore completed one of two for eight yards. Schneider threw one incomplete pass.
Clark completed three of 10 pass attempts for the Bobcats, accounting for 78 yards. Taylor completed five of nine for 81 yards.
Senior Marcus Reed caught two passes for 18 yards for Pulaski County. Lawrence caught two for 28 yards.
Max Kanipe caught three passes for 78 yards for the Bobcats. Jaden Hendricks caught four for 81 yards.
“It was great to be out in front of that kind of crowd,” Coach Akers said. “Our community loves football and we love our kids. It was also good to see our starters out there on the sideline in the second half helping pump up their teammates. We need to take a hard look at the penalties. Those are not acceptable. With the schedule we have, those will cost us a game eventually. For now, we’ll relax a little tonight, then get started prepping for Northside. Next week it counts. We appreciate all of the Cougar fans and our school and school system administration and staff that come out tonight to pull for us. This felt good.”
The Cougars will travel to Roanoke next Friday for the opening game of the regular season against the Northside Vikings. Game time is set for 7 p.m.