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Photos by Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Pulaski County football coach Jack Turner (center) congratulates Robert Cobbs (9) after his fourth-quarter interception Friday night.

Pulaski County's E.J. Dobbins (4) lunges for a 4-yard touchdown run in the second quarter of the Cougars' 42-0 win over Blacksburg in Friday's Region IV semifinal.

DUBLIN -- Unbeaten Pulaski County put on another Peak performance.

The Cougars changed the script slightly, however.

Senior Nubian Peak, whose ability to run the football has earned him a scholarship from Virginia Tech, played defense for the first time this season and intercepted two passes Friday night to lift Pulaski to a 42-0 victory over Blacksburg in a Region IV Division 4 semifinal.

Peak picked off a first-quarter pass by Blacksburg quarterback Trey Gresh to set up Pulaski's second touchdown and added another interception in the second half as the Cougars (11-0) posted their second shutout of the season.

"I've been wanting to play defense this year, but the coaches thought it would be better to let me save my energy for offense," Peak said.

Expect more of Peak in the Pulaski secondary next Friday when Pulaski hosts Salem for the regional title in a rematch of the game the Cougars won 34-24 last week to earn the River Ridge District title.

"I'm going to have to do work hard on my conditioning next week," Peak said. "You could see me bending over out there a little bit."

Pulaski's defense -- coached by former Blacksburg assistant Vaughn Phipps -- never bent in holding the Bruins (6-5) to 78 total yards while forcing four turnovers.

Two came on back-to-back plays in the first quarter.

Pulaski took a 7-0 lead on Seth Parris' 1-yard touchdown at the 6:09 mark to cap the Cougars' opening drive. On Blacksburg's ensuing play from scrimmage, Gresh lost the handle while dropping back to pass and senior end Brandon Hazzard recovered on the Bruins' 25.

"I just saw the ball on the ground and my eyes got real big," Hazzard said.

So did Pulaski's lead on the scoreboard. Fullback E.J. Dobbins blew in from 16 yards out to put the Cougars up 13-0.

Blacksburg's next possession was equally problematic. Receiver Eric Houff couldn't handle Gresh's short pass. The ball bounced toward Peak, who swallowed it one-handed and returned it to the Blacksburg 21.

"It came right to me and I got my hands on it, well, my hand on it," Peak said.

Two Pulaski snaps and Peak was in the end zone after a 12-yard run for a TD and a 21-0 lead with 4:39 left in the quarter.

Blacksburg's chances at an upset were gone in 90 seconds.

"You certainly can't afford to have those things happen against a team like Pulaski," Blacksburg coach David Crist said.

Pulaski's offense got the job done whether it had beneficial field position or not. The Cougars had a 93-yard touchdown drive that ended with Dobbins' 2-yard TD run for a 28-0 lead. Pulaski added a 4-yard TD run by Parris just before halftime.

A 35-0 lead at the break was not what Pulaski coach Jack Turner envisioned before kickoff.

"Gosh no, we had prepared for a dogfight," Turner said. "Stupid penalties and turnovers will get you beat. Unfortunately for Blacksburg, they gave us a couple of turnovers there."

Backup Trey Smith scored Pulaski's final touchdown on a 9-yard run as the clock ran continuously during the second half under VHSL rules that take effect when a team has a 35-point lead after halftime.

Pulaski finished with 330 yards rushing as Peak had 98 on 11 first-half carries. Jolly Martin added 79 yards on nine carries as the Cougars' offensive line was dominant.

It was a bitter end for Blacksburg, which returned the fewest starters of any team in the district. Gresh had a tough final game with four turnovers and just 22 yards through the air, but he finished his four-year career as the school's career leader in passing yardage and No. 2 on the all-time Timesland list.

"It's always painful when it's your last game whether it's Week 10 or in the playoffs," Crist said. "We had 20 seniors who gave us great leadership. They had a lot of doubters and proved some people wrong."

Blacksburg 0 0 0 0--0

Pulaski County 21 14 0 7--42

PC -- Parris 1 run (Songer kick)

PC -- Dobbins 16 run (kick failed)

PC -- N. Peak 12 run (Peak run)

PC -- Dobbins 2 run (Songer kick)

PC -- Parris 4 run (Songer kick)

PC -- Smith 9 run (Songer kick)

BL PC

First downs 7 19

Yards rushing 18-56 49-330

Passes C-A-I 4-15-3 1-5-0

Yards passing 22 14

Penalties-yards 0-0 3-32

Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0

Punts-average 3-36 2-55

Individual statistics

RUSHING -- Blacksburg; Bales 8-44, Gresh 6-5, Violette 1-5, Jennings 3-2. Pulaski; N. Peak 11-98, Martin 9-79, Dobbins 7-66, Parris 12-61, Smith 5-27, T. Wojcik 1-3, Edney 2-1, Watson 2-(-5)

PASSING -- Blacksburg; Gresh 4-15-3 22. Pulaski; Watson 1-5-0 14

RECEIVING -- Blacksburg; Violette 2-3, Forney 1-12, Sowers 1-7. Pulaski; Smith 1-14.