Saturday, October 13, 2007
Pulaski County pops Titans
The Cougars pull away in the second half to open River Ridge play with a road victory.
When refurbished Bogle Stadium was finally opened for football a few weeks ago, the celebration reverberated throughout Southwest Roanoke County.
The carpet was immaculate. The paint pristine. The stadium seemed primed to entertain visitors.
It was ready for company -- almost too pretty to play on.
Over the last two weeks, the hosts have carried that feeling to an extreme.
On Oct. 5, Cave Spring lost its homecoming contest to William Byrd, 42-0.
Friday night, Bogle's other home team, Hidden Valley, met a similar fate.
Visiting Pulaski County drilled the Titans 42-14 in the River Ridge District opener for both teams.
Like Cave Spring, Hidden Valley (3-3, 0-1) was treated rudely by its guests.
"This was Homecoming week," Hidden Valley coach J.R. Edwards said. "I feel like our players were focusing on things other than football."
The Titans got off to a strong start.
Pulaski County runners were thrown for losses on their first two plays from scrimmage.
Cougar quarterback Shay Dunnigan fumbled on the second play, and Hidden Valley's Greg Coots recovered the ball and advanced it to the Pulaski 5.
On the next play, David Turner scored on 5-yard run, to put HV up 6-0.
Then Pulaski County (5-1, 1-0) caught its breath. The Cougars opened up their offense, running wide sweeps from sideline to sideline.
It was a strategy for which the Titans had no answer.
Pulaski County ball-carriers Nubian Peak, Seth Parris and Demetrious Brown ran the Titans ragged, combining for most of the team's 255 rushing yards.
Peak gained 139 yards and scored two touchdowns on 16 carries, while Parris ran 21 times for 90 yards and three touchdowns.
After Hidden Valley's opening score, Pulaski County outscored the Titans 42-8 the rest of the way.
Pulaski County coach Jack Turner was not gloating, however.
"I thought Hidden Valley played really well out of the gate," he said. "They are a very physical team."
But after their shaky start, the Cougars rolled.
"There's no let up," Turner said, apparently not content with his team's four-touchdown win. "Next week, we've got Cave Spring. That's the way it is in the River Ridge. A tough opponent every week."
After the Cougars' ground game opened up the defense, Dunnigan seemed more comfortable with his passing game finishing 7-for-9 for 118 yards.
The Titans were led by Turner's 69 rushing yards. Quarterback Alan Castro completed 7-of-17 passes for 82 yards.
"Pulaski handled our first score and rebounded well," Edwards said. "They seemed to take it in stride."
Pulaski County 14 7 14 7--42
Hidden Valley 6 8 0 0--14
HV -- Turner 5 run (kick failed)
PC -- Parris 2 run (Buckland kick)
PC -- Peak 33 run (Buckland kick)
HV -- Aiken 5 pass from Castro (Aiken run)
PC -- Dunnigan 5 run (Buckland kick)
PC -- Parris 10 run (Buckland kick)
PC -- Peak 36 run (Buckland kick)
PC -- Parris 14 run (Buckland kick)
PC HV
First downs 19 10
Yards rushing 255 95
Passes C-A-I 7-9-0 7-18-1
Yards passing 118 82
Penalties-yards 8-60 2-17
Fumbles-lost 1-1 4-1
Punts-average 3-32.0 2-27.0
Individual statistics
RUSHING -- Pulaski County, Parris 21-90, Peak 16-139, Brown 9-24, Dobbins 1-3, Dunnigan 2-(minus 1). Hidden Valley, Turner 13-69, Kite 3-17, Greenway 2-7, Aiken 2-4, Castro 2-(minus 2).
PASSING -- Pulaski County, Dunnigan 7-9-0-118. Hidden Valley, Castro 7-17-1-82, Williams 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING -- Pulaski County, Peak 2-47, Brown 3-24, White 1-41, Parris 1-6. Hidden Valley, Musselman 3-55, Aiken 3-31, Turner 1-minus 4.
