The Sunshine State didn’t bless local high schools with good weather for their season openers. The start of the Durant game was delayed due to weather and it rained the entire first quarter, but following that, it was good football weather.
The Cougars won the coin toss and deferred to Lake Gibson. The Braves started the game very slow with a run of no gain, followed by a false start, tackle for loss and Cougars DB Cooper Watson almost got an interception. Lake Gibson was forced to punt after a three-and-out.
The Cougars started their first drive at Lake Gibson’s 35-yard line. The team started sloppy with two offensive penalties backing them up, but they got into the red zone thanks to a wheel route by RB Emmanuel Lee on the nice lob throw by QB Michael Ryan. The drive ended in a missed field goal attempt for the Cougars and Lake Gibson took over with 8:10 left in the first.
The following drive was much the same for Lake Gibson, as the offense was looking lost with the weather conditions, making it another three and out.
The Cougars second drive of the game was led by back-to-back runs by RB Michael Gibson. After the water break, Ryan took matters into his own hands and ran for the first down. They stayed with the run game and Emmanuel Lee ripped a nice run to get the Cougars to midfield. Lee decided he wanted to run it back, and he did, this time with a 45-yard rushing touchdown and the Cougars got on the board first, up 7-0 at this point in the game.
The Braves running game was non-existent in the first, but a big pass play on second down brought them inside the Cougars 30-yard line. Paul Dilley got a sack for a 3-yard loss on the next play, but then the Braves QB ran for a first down on the following play. After an offsides call on the Cougars, Lake Gibson got into the red zone for the first time in the game. Lake Gibson tied it up with their QB once again running the ball. The game was tied at this point 7-7 with 41.5 seconds left in the first.
The Cougars got the ball back and after a small run by Emmanuel Lee, ended the first quarter.
The second started with another run by the Cougars, but the drive ended on a three-and-out after they attempted a similar wheel route as in the first quarter. A punt by the Cougars had the Braves starting their first drive of the quarter at their own 25-yard line with 10:50 left in the half. Gibson went for it on the first play but the ball was dropped. They reverted to what was working on the last drive and had a solid run by the QB. On 3rd and 6, the Cougars Cooper Watson got an interception, but it was negated by a Cougars roughing the passer call, giving Lake Gibson the first down. The chance at redemption didn’t work for the Braves, as a false start backed them up and they could not get past midfield, forcing them to punt.
A holding on the Cougars punt return backed them up to their own 9-yard line with 8:42 left in the half. WR Damari Styles got his first catch of the game, and it was a small gain, but a targeting call by Gibson moved the Cougars up to the 31-yard line. Chris Lankford got a solid catch, but on the next play, WR Jayden Cornelius caught a pass in the middle of the field and turned on the jets, getting tackled at the Braves 36-yard line. QB Michael Ryan got a big run for the Cougars, bringing them to their first goal line opportunity. After two short runs by Durant, Lake Gibson called a timeout with 5:15 remaining in the half. Fresh off the timeout, Durant ran it in for the score, followed by a 2-point conversion by Ryan. The Cougars were up 15-7 with 5:03 left in the half.
Gibson’s offense started to figure it out, as they tried two QB runs in a row, both for small gains. LB Hunter Smith got the sack for the Cougars and forced a three-and-out. The punt by the Braves put the Cougars on Lake Gibson’s 30-yard line.
The drive started with a short run by Emmanuel Lee, but the next play QB Michael Ryan connected with Ajani Peavy for a Cougars TD on a 25-yard play. Another 2-point conversion from Michael Ryan and the Cougars were now up 23-7 with 2:36 remaining in the half.
Now down two possessions, the home team Braves needed to get some offense going, especially with Durant getting the ball to start the second half. A short run, followed by two incomplete passes, resulted in another three and out.
With 1:19 remaining in the half, Durant started the drive with back-to-back plays from Damari Styles. Michael Ryan ran for a TD, extending the Cougars lead to 30-7 with 27 seconds left in the half. The Braves got the ball back and kneeled, which sent it to halftime.
The Cougars started the second half with a 23-point lead and ball. RB Michael Gibson had two short runs, followed by a small completion to Chris Lankford, but the Cougars had to punt it after the three and out. Lake Gibson gets their first drive of the half, starting at the 25-yard line. They stuck with their QB running on first down, but Hunter Smith got him for a tackle for loss on the following play. On third and manageable, the Braves QB kept the ball for a first down. LB Hale Sollmann got a nice tackle for loss for the Cougars on the following play. The Braves followed with two offensive penalties backing them up even more, but once again, their QB made a play on his feet. He ran the entire field, which gave the Braves a first and goal at the Cougars 5-yard line. A timeout was called with 6:23 remaining in the third. After the timeout, the Cougars defense had a pass interference, moving the Braves to the 2-yard line, giving the Braves a fresh set of downs. Lake Gibson’s QB did all the work that drive and rewarded himself, running it in for the TD, making the score 30-13 with 6:07 left in the third.
The Cougars wasted no time silencing the Braves home crowd as they were trying to enjoy that TD, but Jayden Cornelius took that kick return to the Braves 10-yard line. Ryan once again connected with WR Ajani Peavy for another Cougars TD, making it 37-13 with 4:17 left in the third.
Lake Gibson started the following drive at their 30-yard line and went with back-to-back rush attempts by their QB. They were faced with a third and long, but the Cougars got the stop as DB Kairee Barnum had a nice open-field tackle.
The Cougars started the next drive at the 35-yard line and RB Kristien Cook had a small run to start the drive. WR Chris Lankford had a solid catch on a curl route, followed by another nice run by Cook, which got the Cougars to midfield. That ended the third quarter with the Cougars up 37-13.
The Cougars drew a pass interference on Lake Gibson, giving them a fresh set of downs. Kristien Cook stayed in at RB and had a nice run, getting tackled at the 27-yard line. Durant had a slight scare on the following play when they fumbled the ball but recovered. Damari Styles had back-to-back catches for the Cougars, but it was now 3rd down at the 20. Lake Gibson sent the blitz and Ryan had to throw it out of bounds. The Cougars settled for the field goal, making the score 40-13 with 9:13 remaining in the game.
Lake Gibson’s offense had a false start to start their first drive of the fourth, followed by two throws out of bounds, resulting in a common theme of three and out for the offense. But the Cougars ran into the punter and gave Lake Gibson the ball back due to the penalty. A Cougars sideline interference penalty moved the Braves up to midfield. A pass by the Braves QB found his slot WR for a Braves first down, then a Cougars offsides moved the home team to the 34 yard line. LB Jeremy Cannon had a nice pass breakup on the following play. The Braves called a timeout as their next two plays were incomplete passes, making it fourth down with 6:58 left in the game. The timeout was worth it and the Braves got inside the Cougars 20 yard line. Lake Gibson had a completion on a nice out route, which put them at first and goal at the 3-yard line. They were brought back 5 due to a false start, but their QB did it again with his feet, rushing for the Lake Gibson TD. They missed the extra point and the game was now 40-19 with 4:54 remaining. The Cougars started the drive at midfield and a run, quickly got them to the 43-yard line. The Cougars, with a three-possession lead, are running the clock and they eventually punt it.
The Braves got the ball back with 2:15 remaining. Lake Gibson had some success driving down the field but could not get any points to show for it. The final score was 40-19 and the Cougars got their first win of the season.
“It’s always tougher to play in the rain,” Coach Varnum said of the first quarter. “Our defense set the tone right away and gave our offense great field position to start. Winning the field position battle in bad weather is crucial.”
“Winning the season opener period is a big deal,” he added. “You want your guys to start off confident and not on their heels. It’s even better when you can go into a hostile environment and steal one from a historically good team. Really proud of the focus and effort from our guys.”
As for next week’s matchup against the Plant City Raiders for the Redman Cup, “Beating your rival is always important. There are more than bragging rights on the table in this one. Looking forward to a great match up with the team up the road.”