by Tim Smith
Two thousand five hundred and twenty.
It was Oct. 18, 2019 — 2,520 days since Cedar Creek defeated St. Frederick on the gridiron.
“But who’s counting?” sighed Cougars head coach Jacob Angevine. “It’s a great feeling, and especially to do it at home, in front of this crowd. I mean, it is just fantastic!” he continued. “Especially after the playoff game last year.”
The Cougars, led by a tenacious, unbreakable defense, wore down and wore out the Warriors from St. Fred, 32-10, in front of packed stands on both sides of the field.
“I don’t know if anyone else believed in us except the people right here at Cedar Creek, but man, what a game!”
The game certainly did not start the way the Cougars had hoped. The Cougars defense forced a punt on the Warriors’ first possession, but the home team’s offense sputtered on its first possession. Campbell Woodard’s punt sailed sharply out of bounds, giving St. Fred the ball at the Cougars 33. The defense stood firm once again, forcing the Warriors to settle for a 29-yard field goal.
Trouble struck again when the Cougars could not field the kickoff, turning the ball back over to the Warriors at the Cougars 22-yard line. This time, the Warriors capitalized on the turnover with an 8-yard run for a touchdown just four plays later, and the Cougars found themselves down 10-0 early. But the Warriors would not see the end zone again all night.
After the kickoff, Cougars quarterback Brett Bell kept the ball and escaped for a 78-yard touchdown, reviving the home crowd and stunning the St. Fred faithful. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the score pushed the point-after attempt back 15 yards, and the Cougars failed to convert.
10-6.
The Cougars defense held again, but when senior Hayden Durrett muffed a fair catch at his own 13, the Warriors looked poised to add to their lead. The Cedar Creek defense would have none of it, and St. Fred was forced to try another field goal, but this one missed left.
With time ticking down in the first half, the Cougars mounted their first sustained drive of the night. Bell hit Case Phillips on a 22-yard completion, then kept the ball and gained another 20. Running back Payton Harris and Bell were grinding out yardage, but time was running out.
With no timeouts remaining, Liam Durrett carried the ball to the goal line but came up about 3 centimeters short. Calls to Ann Arbor asking for one more second went unanswered, so the Cougars went to the locker room down 10-6.
“The message at the half is that everything they have, we gave right to them,” Angevine said. “But physically, we knew we were wearing them down, especially our defense.
“We felt like we had the better unit up front, and we had the opportunity to prove it. We believed in our game plan, in our scheme,” Angevine said. “We gave them field position three or four times inside the 20, and we were able to bow our neck and not break.”
The second half would belong to the Cougars.
Bell ran for 20 and kept the drive alive, then two plays later blasted around the left end and outran everyone to the end zone. A 58-yard touchdown run gave the home team the lead for the first time. The extra point was blocked, but the Cougars were up 12-10.
Bell would tally 185 yards on the ground and 25 through the air.
Phillips intercepted a Warriors pass at the 45 and returned it 55 yards for another Cougars touchdown. Woodard’s extra point gave the Cougars some breathing room. But more importantly, the momentum of the game and the mood on both sidelines had changed.
“Once we learned, hey, we are the more physical football team, it was pedal to the metal and full throttle from there,” Angevine said.
It was only a matter of time. You cannot keep “lightning in a bottle” bottled up for too long.
Cougars sophomore Payton Harris finally caused a little thunder in the third quarter. Harris, who is the workhorse for the Cougars ground game, peeled off runs of 7, 5 and 16 yards before punching through the Warriors defense for a 30-yard touchdown.
“Lightning” Harris would add another 22-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, giving him 169 yards and two touchdowns.
“He’s as quick as a hiccup,” Angevine laughed. “I hate to keep saying it, but he is lightning in a bottle.”
That name may just stick.
The Cougars will face Beekman Charter next Friday while celebrating homecoming at Cougars Stadium.
