The Cougars pounced to the lead on the opening drive and managed to keep Tucker County in check for most of the game before blunders were amplified in the muddy conditions late in the game enabling the Mountain Lions to claw out a 21-12 victory in Parsons last Friday.
“We played some of our best football tonight. We have been waiting a long time to see that. We knew the talent was there and we finally got the effort. I thought we had them. The boys really deserved to win,” East Hardy Coach Devon Orndorff remarked.
“Make no mistakes, that is a great football team over there and they beat us fair and square. I am proud of a lot of guys for their attitudes and work ethic. We had some tough games down the stretch. It was hard for them to not let that affect their play, we told them to just go out and play to the best of your abilities and let the pieces fall into place. We have beaten teams better than us before and we need to get back to that, just by the intensity and being in there right place. The mud helped them more as they are a downhill running team. In the second and third quarters we stepped up and filled gaps. The 10 percent we weren’t in the right coverage, they made the right call. I can live with the interception at the goal line, but I can’t live with the penalties. We were in the red zone three times and found ourselves going back 20-30 yards. Nobody is going to give you a participation trophy for being close to the end zone. I have to do a better job coaching and find something to bridge the gap.”
East Hardy’s Austin Alt took the kickoff to the 35-yard line to commence the game, then added a five-carry on the first possession and was stopped by Tucker County’s Raine McCauley and Byron Gidley.
Facing third down, East Hardy quarterback Aden Funkhouser went to the air finding Chance Dove in stride for a 60-yard touchdown strike and the extra point attempt went awry for a 6-nil lead at the 10:35 mark.
Mountain Lions (6-1) started at their own 39-yard line as the kickoff was short and out of bounds, then Cole Rapp hurdled a defender prior to being tracked down by Funkhouser on a first down carry of 19 yards to the Cougars 42-yard line.
Tucker County quarterback William Hood was tackled for no gain by a pride of Cougars (0-6) led by Aaron Fishel followed by Logan Whetzel, William Strawderman and Jeffrey Mills.
Alt and Ryan Rogers combined for a double dose of tackles for minimal gain leading to a Mountain Lions punt which bounced out at the nine yard line.
East Hardy’s Adam Larson caught a pass and dodged several tackles before being chased down by Rapp and Hunter Collar on a gain of seven yards.
Funkhouser didn’t gain anything to the outside, then Dove caught a pass for a four yards before the Cougars punted.
Tucker County started at the 47-yard line and burned six minutes off the clock on a 15-play scoring drive to take the lead.
East Hardy’s Erik Flynn joined Strawderman and Alt in tackling Tucker County’s Ben Callaway on a one yard pickup.
Calloway snatched a first down pass from Hood for 14 yards with Funkhouser making the tackle.
After a false start, Rapp added six yards and was stopped by Fishel.
Tucker County’s Ben Cromer made a sideline catch stepping out with the ball dropping, but it was ruled good for another seven yards.
The Mountain Lions converted third down on an East Hardy offsides penalty.
Rapp was stopped on a two-yard run by Alt, then failed to get past the line of scrimmage on a tackle by Whetzel and Rogers.
East Hardy’s Andrew Tharp tackled Cromer on a three yard catch forcing fourth down at the edge of the red zone, but Tucker County eluded the coverage with Callaway making the catch for a first down and was taken down by Mills and Alex Miller at the 15-yard line.
Miller tripped up Callaway for a two-yard loss in the backfield, then a false start pushed the Mountain Lions back before Gariet Pennington caught a pass for five yards.
On fourth down, Hood connected with Jeffrey Snyder for a 17-yard touchdown pass with nine seconds remaining in the first quarter and Callaway nailed the extra point to give Tucker County a 7-6 lead.
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Mills made a solid return to the 43-yard line, then Alt dove through the line for a five yard gain to end the frame.
Tucker County’s Raine McCauley slammed Funkhouser during a pitch which Alt caught and was stopped for no gain by Callaway.
Funkhouser broke free of a couple tackles before being dragged down by Pennington on a short gain, then a false start on fourth down and two forced a punt.
The Mountain Lions only had the ball for 52 seconds as Cromer slipped in the mud, Whetzel wrapped Rapp for no gain and Larson played tight coverage on a low pass intended for Callaway leading to a punt.
East Hardy started at the 45-yard line and held possession for a minute before a punt as two passes were incomplete sandwiching a four yard run by Funkhouser as the Cougars sent the punt team in again.
Tharp made a diving attempt and nearly hauled in the interception, but struggled to grasp the ball with the cast.
Tucker County’s Jeffrey Snyder made a dive for the ball, but Funkhouser knocked the ball out of his hands.
After a pass went too deep with Larson on coverage, the Mountain Lions punted away.
The Cougars started at the 46-yard line and backed up on a penalty, then Dove rushed for two yards and Alt made a diving catch to reach the 49-yard line.
Dove dodged tackles on a third down conversion catch with Calloway recording the stop at the 43-yard line of the Mountain Lions.
Funkhouser added one yard before a low pass was nearly caught on a dive by Dove.
A pass interference call on Tucker County placed the ball on the 28-yard line for a first down.
Alt was tripped up by Gidley for a one-yard loss, then a bad snap was hard to grasp in the mud as Funkhouser missed it and Fishel managed to cover the loose ball and to make matters worse a penalty was called on the Cougars moving the ball back to midfield.
The next pass went too high for East Hardy’s Cole Pusl and the Cougars had to punt on 4th-and-30.
Tucker County’s Ben Callaway dodged a few special teams players before being tackled by Larson at the 37-yard line during the punt return.
Hood threw two incomplete passes, one of which was nearly picked off as Alt made the diving attempt with the ball ricocheting out.
Miller garnered a sack for the Cougars leading to Tucker County’s punt on the 43-second three-and-out possession.
East Hardy started at its own 20-yard line and Dove was tacked for a loss by Gidley and a pack of Mountain Lions, then caught a pass over the middle and dashed outside for a nine yard advancement.
Larson made a diving catch along the sidelines for a first down on a 16-yard play to the 43-yard line.
Mills made nice catch, but a holding infraction negated the play backing the line to the 27-yard line and the next pass sailed high.
Mills caught a screen pass, but was caught behind the line of scrimmage at the 25-yard line.
Funkhouser delivered the ball to Larson, who was wide open racing down the field with Snyder making the stop after a 40-yard play to the Mountain Lions 35-yard line.
East Hardy’s Christian Dove caught the ball tip-toe on the sidelines for a four yard gain, but the next throw was intercepted by Cromer to deny a scoring opportunity with 42 seconds left in the first half as Tucker County held on to a 7-6 edge at halftime.
The second half kickoff was fumbled by the Mountain Lions’ Rapp, but recovered just in time by Calloway at the 33-yard line.
Alt joined Mills in stopping Rapp for no gain, then Pennington was kneeling on a lateral pass marking a two-yard loss.
Tharp and Chance Dove applied tight coverage on an incompletion forcing a punt.
East Hardy started at the 35-yard line and a motion penalty was assessed, the Christian Dove caught a 13-yard pass on the edge of the sidelines.
Funkhouser picked up a first down on a four yard run and was tackled by McCauley.
Alt was chased out of bounds just across midfield.
Funkhouser connected with Christian Dove with a clear field, except a referee was in the way as Dove hurdled him and stumbled to regain balance as Callaway and Pennington dashed over to save a potential touchdown at the seven yard line.
Back-to-back red zone penalties pushed the Cougars out to the 26-yard line and a deep pass in the end zone was intercepted by Callaway and taken out to the five yard line.
Calloway eluded defenders on the first play from scrimmage going 39 yards before Funkhouser made the saving tackle.
Hood grabbed a first down in East Hardy territory and was met by Larson and Chance Dove at the 47.
Facing third down at the 41-yard line, Hood went deep as Pennington bobbled the ball and snatched the carom on a dive at the five yard line with Tharp making the tackle.
Two plays later, Hood punched the ball in the end zone on a one-yard keeper and Callaway added the extra point to put the Mountain Lions up 14-6 at the 5:28 mark of the third quarter.
On third down, East Hardy’s Austin Alt made a 24-yard reception for a first down at the Tucker County 35-yard line.
Funkhouser was tripped on the next play by Rapp and lost the ball, but was ruled down in the mud.
A holding call was made on the Cougars moments later.
Christian Dove caught a pass, but it was jarred loose on a hit by Tucker County’ s Hunter Collar as the Cougars remained at the 46-yard line.
Funkhouser thread the needle to Christian Dove reaching the 25-yard line with a stop by Cromer, but the play was negated on a holding penalty.
Mills made an eight yard catch to reach midfield, then the Cougars punted.
Tucker County took over on its own 21-yard line after a big hit by Fishel on the kick coverage.
Alt and Tharp tackled Ben Callaway on an eight yard gain with Casey Sine coming crashing in to assist at the last second.
Rapp hurdled Chance Dove, but was tracked down by Tharp at the 42-yard line on the 12-yard carry.
Josh Calloway added one yard to close the third quarter for the Mountain Lions maintaining a 14-6 advantage.
“This is two weeks in a row with Pendleton County last week and they ended up on top. Their field was a mess, but our field gets so slick. Our kids just just bear down and made some plays. Our Callaway kid came up big for us. All of our kids played well tonight, even my son Cole. Give East Hardy credit, everyone is talking about how they are 0-5. My message to my boys all week long was not to take that for granted, because they played some of the best teams in the state. We were lucky to come out on top,” Tucker County coach A.J. Rapp commented.
Tucker County went three-and-out punting to begin the fourth quarter as Cougars defenders Funkhouser, Mills and Whetzel played good coverage for only two yards advancement plus Larson got a partial block on the kick landing at the 34-yard line.
After a small setback, East Hardy’s Christian Dove caught 41-yard pass dodging tackles before slipping in the mud with Ben Callaway on his heels at the Mountain Lions 28-yard line.
A false start and intentional grounding moved the Cougars back to midfield.
Funkhouser made a nine yard run, then Alt caught a pass and plowed over the defense for a 30-yard play into the red zone before being wrestled down by Pennington at the 10-yard line.
Funkhouser stretched for four yards with McCauley in tow, then added three more yards down to the three-yard line with Josh Calloway getting the stop.
A low targeted throw was snatched by Christian Dove for an East Hardy touchdown with 7:50 remaining, then the Cougars attempted to tie the game on a two-point conversion.
Funkhouser tossed over to Christian Dove, who launched the ball toward Mills who had slipped in the mud on his knees with Collar blocking his path on the incompletion keeping Tucker County ahead 14-12.
The onside kick attempt failed and the Mountain Lions started on their own 33-yard line.
Mills and company wrapped up Rapp at the 43-yard line, then Rogers dropped Callaway in the backfield.
Larson made a leap to deflect the ball, then the next Tucker County pass landed without a receiver nearby and a punt ensued giving the Cougars possession with 6:19 left.
East Hardy had to burn a timeout being in the huddle too long as the time dwindled down for the snap.
Funkhouser picked up two yards, then a pass to Chance Dove along the sidelines was ruled out of bounds.
Mills attempted to make a diving catch, but it was ruled incomplete as contact on the ground was made during the trap forcing the Cougars to punt on the one-minute drive.
Facing 2nd-and-15, Cromer caught a 25-yard pass for first down at the East Hardy 45-yard line.
Two plays later, Tucker County’s Ben Callaway made a 41-yard touchdown run and added the extra point was blocked initially with the continuation causing contact with the kicker creating a roughing penalty with the retry going through to extend the advantage to 21-12 with 3:13 to go.
Funkhouser had two errant passes before connecting with Chance Dove for a 31-yard play with Callaway making the saving tackle at the 32-yard line.
The next pass was dropped and Callaway got a piece of the next one to fall incomplete.
On third down, Cromer made an interception with the pass intended for Christian Dove at the eight yard line with 2:17 remaining.
Tucker County went with three rushing plays with no gain and the Cougars were ready with timeouts and an all-attack sequence with tackles by Whetzel, Mills, Alt and Rogers forcing a punt with 1:16 left.
East Hardy didn’t have a punt returner as all defenders rushed, then the punt took a Mountain Lions roll to the 40-yard line.
Rapp sacked Funkhouser for an 11-yard loss on the first play, then a short pass was incomplete as the receiver slipped and fell.
Mills caught the next pass to erase the negative yardage on a 14-yard play, then stepped out of bounds at the 43-yard line.
A pass near the sidelines was deemed out of bounds on fourth down and the Mountain Lions took over to end the game with the 21-12 win.
The Cougars visit Moorefield for the annual Hardy Bowl this Friday.
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