The Kickoff Classic pitted the Cougars and Indians in preseason play.
Friday night lights are back! August 16 was the first of many high school football games set to be featured for the next few months, so stay tuned to the Plant City Observer. It started with a preseason game, the Kickoff Classic, where the Durant Cougars hosted the East Bay Indians. The preseason allows both teams the chance to work out some kinks and try out new things before the regular season.
The game started with the Cougars kicking off to the Indians. It was a perfect first drive for the Cougars defense. They tackled the Indians for a loss on the first play of the game, which was a run, followed by a false start by the Indians, then Cougars DB, senior Cooper Watson, got an interception, causing a roar from the home crowd.
The Cougars opening offensive drive was a good sign for the upcoming season. It did start with an incompletion but was followed up with a solid run, and then quarterback, senior Michael Ryan, found wide receiver senior Ajani Peavy for the first down. After that, Emmanuel Lee rushed for the first down, putting the Cougars in the red zone. The drive was capped off as Michael Ryan found senior wide receiver Chris Lankford for the touchdown. The extra point was good, and the Cougars were up 7-0 with 7:07 remaining in the first.
The Indians got the ball and started the drive with back-to-back runs, which forced a third and short. The quarterback decided to keep it himself, rushing for 10+ yards, and getting the first down. The Indians had a nice run, crossing the 50-yard line and getting into Cougars territory for the first time in the game. A wide receiver screen went for a solid gain, bringing East Bay outside the Cougars red zone. On the next play, the Indians tied it up with a receiving touchdown, making it 7-7 with 3:34 left in the first.
The Cougars wasted no time, returning the kickoff for a touchdown, regaining the lead, now up 14-7. The momentum was clearly with the home team after such a big play and it didn’t stop there as the Cougars recovered a fumble, setting themselves up nicely on the Indians side of the field. Although the offense did have a three-and-out, senior kicker Isaiah Sawyer kicked a 41-yard field goal to extend the Cougars lead, as they went up 17-7 with 2:10 left in the first.
The Indians struggled to get anything going on the following drive as a penalty backed them up a couple of yards, which led to their first three and out of the game. Senior wide receiver Damari Styles had a 5-yard play for the Cougars, resulting in the end of the first quarter, with the Cougars ahead 17-7.
The Cougars started the second quarter off nicely with a couple of good plays, featuring a nice balance of running and passing, but the drive was halted as East Bay got an interception.
East Bay started their first offensive drive of the quarter with 11:08 remaining in the half. The offense started showing some life as they picked up back-to-back first downs. The first was a run-pass option, then hitting the wide receiver crossing midfield as a result. The Indians drove into the Cougars red zone where they faced a fourth and short. They opted for a play action and on what should have been an easy first down for the Indians, resulted in a turnover on downs as the receiver dropped a wide open throw.
Durant took over with 8:16 left in the half. Senior running back, Kristien Cook, checked in for the Cougars at running back and quickly picked up a first down for them. After two straight incompletions, the Cougars were forced to punt after Ryan was sacked by the Indians. With 6:30 remaining in the half, the Cougars went for the punt, but the Indians ran into the punter, drawing a flag, resulting in a first down. After getting a fresh start on the drive, the Cougars still could not get anything going.
A nice punt put the Indians at their own 16-yard line. The Indians started the drive with a small run that got them nowhere, but it did set up a short pass where the Indians wide receiver got a good amount of yards after catch, getting them the first down. Then the Indians fumbled for the second time with the Cougars recovering again, this time at the Indians 35-yard line.
With 2:39 remaining in the half, the Cougars started the drive going for it all, as the first play of the drive was incomplete in the endzone. A small reception made it third and long, but quarterback Michael Ryan ran for the first down. Plays from Ajani Peavy and Emmanuel Lee put the Cougars inside the 5-yard line, where Ryan found Lankford again for another touchdown, their second time connecting in the endzone. The Cougars were up 24-7 with 22 seconds remaining in the half. The half ended with multiple Cougars hounding the Indians quarterback for a sack. The score was 24-7 at the half.
The Cougars got the ball first to start the third and they were gifted field possession at midfield, thanks to a bad kickoff from the Indians. The Cougars pounded the rock early in the second half as they picked up the first down after three runs. They ultimately turned the ball over on downs at the Indians 35-yard line.
With 8:26 remaining in the third, the Indians looked to get their comeback started. The Indians started nicely with back-to-back nice runs, which brought them to midfield. The Indians faced a fourth down and they opted to go for it. Their wide receiver did catch the pass, but he was ruled out of bounds, resulting in a turnover on downs. The score remained 24-7 with 6:03 left in the third quarter.
The Cougars stuck to their second-half plan of running and it worked as Kristien Cook ran for back-to-back first downs. Maurice Key checked in for the first time in the game and made an instant impact, ripping off two nice runs which put the Cougars at first and goal at the Indians 5 5-yard line. Cook checked back in and scored the touchdown, extending the Cougars lead to 30-7 with 3:32 left in the third. East Bay didn’t do much on offense after scoring in the first drive of the game, but they did get three solid plays getting them to midfield to end the third quarter, where the home team Cougars led 30-7.
The fourth quarter started with the Indians getting relatively lucky as they faced a third down, fumbling the ball, recovering, and gaining a first down. They didn’t waste their opportunity as they connected for a passing touchdown, making the score 30-13 after a failed 2-point conversion with 10:45 left in the game.
The Cougars ran three straight times on their first offensive possession of the fourth, having to punt it after a three and out.
The Indians took over with 9:40 left in the game and started the drive with a pair of solid runs. Once they reached midfield, the Cougars got a big sack by the duo of Darius Vaughn and Colton Knitz.
The Cougars got the ball back and continued to run the ball and chew the clock, resulting in them punting it back to the Indians.
The Indians struggled to get anything going, getting no yards on this drive, forcing them to punt the ball back to the Cougars.
With the Cougars continuing to chew the clock, they punted it off to the Indians for one more attempt. With the game essentially out of reach, the Indians had one more opportunity to get something going, but failed, resulting in another turnover on downs.
The Cougars once again killed the clock and won the kickoff classic 30-13. While it doesn’t affect Durant’s record, it’s certainly a good sign for the upcoming season.
