After starting the season 2-0, the Durant Cougars dropped two in a row to Gaither and Armwood, being outscored 48-10 in that span. They traveled to Wharton Friday to take on the Wildcats.
The Cougars won the coin toss and elected to defer, so the home team got the ball first. The Cougars’ defense got off to a good start by forcing a 3 and out on Wharton.
Running back Emmanuel Lee had a nice carry for the first down, but a Cougars holding penalty negated it. An unnecessary hit by Wharton gave the Cougars a first down, putting them at the 35. Quarterback Michael Ryan kept it himself for a first-down run. Then a run by Lee put the Cougars in the red zone at the 11-yard line. After a short run by Lee, an offsides by Wharton made it 2nd and goal at the 5-yard line. After a short run, Ryan found wide receiver Jayden Cornelius Sr for a 4-yard gain before going out of bounds. It was 4th and 1, but before they ran the play, a water break was called with 5:16 left in the first. On 4th and goal, the Cougars were stopped due to a bad snap, which meant Wharton took over at their own 1-yard line with 5:11 left in the first.
After an incomplete pass on first down by Wharton, an 8-yard run by the running back made it 3rd and 2. The Cougars were ready for the run. They stuffed Wharton and forced another 3 and out.
On the punt, a personal foul on Wharton cost them 15 yards, putting the Cougars on the 25-yard line. Ryan found Damari Styles for a Cougars first down on the play action play. After Lee was stuffed at the line, Ryan ran it again, this time for 7 yards, which made it 3rd and 3. Lee walked it in for a wide-open Cougars touchdown, making it 7-0 with 3:02 left in the first.
Wharton took over for their third drive at the 21-yard line. They failed for a third straight drive to get a first down and theCougars took over at the 35-yard line.
Ryan kept it himself and ran it all the way to the 1-yard line. Ryan kept it again and ran it in for the second Cougars rushing touchdown. Wharton did block the extra point, making the score 13-0 with 1:30 left in the third. On the kickoff, Hunter Smith had a huge tackle, giving Wharton bad field possession as they took over at their 18-yard line. DB Cooper Watson had a nice pass breakup for the Cougars on first down. Wharton’s quarterback ran for 6 yards and made it 3rd and 4. Jayden Goddard had a big tackle for the Cougars which forced another 3 and out on Wharton. That ended the first quarter with the Cougars up 13-0.
To start the second, the Cougars had a short pass play, but then Lee had a good carry to make it 1st and goal at the 10-yard line. The Cougars struck again as Ryan found Damari Styles for the first passing touchdown of the game. Then Styles ran it in for a 2-point conversion, making the score 21-0 Cougars.
On Wharton’s first offensive drive of the second quarter, they got their first, first down of the game. On the next play, Hunter Smith popped the Wharton wide reciever, which made him cough up the ball and Jayden Cornelius picked it off for a Cougars pick 6! Another 2-point conversion made it 29-0 with 9:27 left in the half.
After 2 short runs, Wharton attempted a pass and Hale Sollmann broke it up, which forced the 4th 3 and out for the Wildcats.
After 2 short plays, Ryan ran it again for a Cougars first down. Styles ran it for another first down and made it first and goal at the 5. Cornelius scored his second touchdown of the game, this time on offense. After the extra point, it was 36-0 with 6:36 left in the half.
Wharton took over at the 20 after a touchback. A 5th Wharton 3 and out and the Cougars took over at Wharton’s 35-yard line. With 4:30 left in the half, Ryan threw it to Ajani Peavy on the screen for 8 yards. They tried running the same play, but this time it was for no gain. On third and short, Ryan scrambled for a while and then found Styles wide open for the Cougars’ first down, which made it first and goal at the 9. Running back Michael Gibson took it in for the Cougars touchdown on his first touch of the game. After the extra point, the score was 43-0 with the running clock now on.
Wharton was able to run one play before halftime. The score stood at 43-0 at the half.
Durant got the ball to start the third and OLB Hunter Smith was in at quarterback. A couple of runs led to 3rd and mid and Smith found Ryan Porter Jr on a screen for the Cougars first down. After two more short runs, Hunter Smith found Tyson Ramsey for the first down. Michael Gibson Jr had a big run for the Cougars, which put them in Wharton’s red zone. Three more runs in a row for the Cougars and they were short of the first down, so they opted for the field goal. The field goal was good making the score 46-0.
With the running clock, there remained 5:05 left in the third. A clock stop did happen before the kickoff for a water break. On Wharton’s first drive of the second half, they connected early with a 35-yard play, their biggest play of the game. Then on the next play, a Cougars pass interference put the Wildcats at the Cougars 43, the first time they’ve crossed midfield in the game. The Cougars stopped the momentum with Kairee Barnum getting an interception.
Prince Rivera Jr started the drive with the carry for the Cougars and that ended the quarter with the Cougars up 46-0.
To start the 4th, Rivera Jr got another carry, this one for 5 yards. Kristien Cook took the next handoff for a short carry. They gave it back to Cook and he got the first down for the Cougars. Rashad Joyner got a carry, then Rivera had a 15-yard run on the jet sweep, but a Wharton face mask added 15 more yards to the end of the play. The Cougars were now first and goal at the 9. Michael Gibson Jr got the next carry, this time for 8 yards, and made it 2nd and goal at the 2. A timeout was called with 8:24 remaining in the game. Gibson Jr got a 1-yard run after the timeout and it was 3rd and goal at the 1. Rivera Jr took the jet serpentine for the first touchdown of the second half. After the extra point, the score was 53-0 with 7 minutes left in the game.
A big return by Wharton got tackled at the 50-yard line. After two short runs, the home team, Wharton, finally got on the board with a 45-yard rushing touchdown. The extra point was missed making the score 53-6 with 3:30 left in the game.
The Cougars got the ball back and with the big lead and running clock, they just played it safe and killed the clock. The final score was 53-6.