“Freshman Sensation”-Freshman Darian Burns’
game winning TD with 21 seconds remaining.
THE AVENGERS
In a game eerily similar to the 2013 edition,
13 second half points, two Cougar
goal line stands for the ages and a furious
2 minute drive set the stage for a
Freshman nicknamed “BIG HERO 6” to
help these Seniors avenge their 2013 loss.
Weekly Newsletter
COUGARS 21 REDHAWKS 15 FINAL
The 2013 Dickson County Cougars are the only team to
suffer a loss to the Creek Wood Red Hawks, a point not
lost on Cougar Defensive line coach Jesse Darrow or the
current Cougar seniors. In 2013 coach Darrow was a
senior defensive lineman when the north siders took a lead
into half time, the third quarter saw the Cougars battle
back to an apparent tie before a celebration penalty led to
a missed extra point. After a fourth quarter filled with
shenanigans that Dickson County Coaches will never
forget and a failed two minute drive, Red Hawk nation
stormed the field and two years of darkness fell on
Cougar Defensive Line Coach Jesse Darrow.
Dickson County Football. Fast forward two years and it
certainly appeared that history was replaying the same
nightmare for this staff and their seniors. With quarterback
Jacob Murphree battling a stomach bug, and offensive
personnel nursing multiple injuries, an anemic Cougar
offense failed to tally a single point. Meanwhile, a
trickling Creek wood first quarter drive became a stream
when Ethan Griffin sliced through the Cougar defense for
a 30 yard touchdown run. The ensuing extra point featured
the first shenanigan of the evening when a botched extra
point turned into a 2-point conversion. The second bout
with tomfoolery came on the last drive of the half when
junior receiver Trey Weidman took a jet sweep 50 yards
for an “apparent” game tying touchdown. But, right on
que, 5 flags were thrown for a block in the back that
occurred at the 5 yard line and when the Cougar drive fell
short of the end zone, the home team took their obligatory
halftime lead 8-0.
Just like in 2013, the Cougar Defense stifled the Red
Hawk offense and when the Cougar offense got the ball
the senior laden offensive line imposed its will. Freshman
running back Darian Burns amassed more than 50 of his
116 yards on the drive before senior Collier Wolcott
capped off the drive with a 7 yard touchdown. When the 2
point conversion failed the Cougars trailed, just as they did
in 2013, only this time it was 8-6. The next possession saw
the Red Hawks march the length of the field, and when
Ethan Griffin once again scored a touchdown, the lead
grew to 9.
At the end of the third quarter and down 15-6, the
Cougar defense rose up, slamming the door on the red
hawks and giving the ball back to the Cougar offense at
the 10 yard line. On the first play of the drive sophomore
running back Demontez Coleman exploded through a
seam and raced 90 yards down the Creek Wood side line
for the longest touchdown of the series to date. Kicker
Chase Rampaul added the extra point and drew the
Cougars back within two, 15- 13.
After a series of misfires by both teams, the Creek
Wood offense began a drive at the Cougar 33 yard line
with 4 minutes to play. On first down Senior Quarterback
Peyton Gibbs raced 28 yards to the Cougar 5 yard line and
history seemed to be repeating. On first down, Collier
Wolcott, Tommy Cobb and Caleb Rozar combinedewdtyr
to drop Ethan Griffin for a 3 yard loss.
line, Quarterback Jacob Murphree rolled to his right and
found Trey Weidman for 16 yards and a Cougar first down
at the Red Hawk 22 with 51 remaining. 3 plays later
Darian Burns broke the collective heart of Creek Wood.
With 28 seconds left he slipped past a block by Trace
Pierce, broke 3 tackles and one hit sick shot, before
carrying a fifth defender airborne into the end zone for the
go ahead touchdown. Burns then ran for the 2-point
conversion to increase the Cougar lead to 21-15 with 21
seconds remaining. With the Red Hawks frantically
attempting to get the ball to midfield for an attempt at a
Hail Mary, Quarterback Peyton Gibbs was intercepted by
the freshman Burns to seal the victory for the Cougars.
Sophomore Running Back Demontez Coleman. Courtesy of Facebook N.Coleman
On second down junior linebacker Tyler Armstrong
knifed through the Red Hawk line and dropped Griffin for
a 4 yard loss. Senior Tommy Cobb forced Gibbs to throw
an incompletion on third down, and the Red Hawks were
forced to attempt a field goal that would be blocked by
junior free safety Peyton Witherspoon. For the second
time in the ball game, Cougar defensive coordinator
Randy Murphree and his unit, refused to yield a single
point in a goal to go situation from inside the 10. This set
the stage for a 2013 redux and a pulse pounding finish.
With little more than two minutes to play, the offensive
line of Trace Pierce, Ricky Holmes, William Gass, Wayne
Vaughn and Dylan Dunnagan, seized control of the game.
After 3 Coleman carries gained 13 yards and 3 Burns
carries yielded 26, 3 straight incomplete passes left the
Cougar offense stranded on the Red Hawk 38 with one
more shot to game 10 on 4th down. With the game on the
Cougar Head coach Troy Williams said, “we got whipped
up front early but, our defense kept us in it and when our
offensive line got going they controlled the game”. “I’m
so proud of the character our young men showed, to make
the plays when we needed it so a lot about the kind of
young men we have”. The 1-0 Cougars will host the
Columbia Central Lions (1-0) in the den this Friday night
at 7pm.