Quarterfinal Matchup Sees Cougars in Lousia
Anna Grace Agee, staff writer
The Courtland Cougars from Spotsylvania County traveled to The Jungle to take on the Lions of Louisa County on Friday, Nov. 10. It was a 4A quarter finals game of the Region 4B playoffs. The night was blustery with the temperature dropping into the low twenties. The fans dressed in layers while the players wore hand-pouches and compressions to combat the cold.
Coming into the game, the Lions were ranked third in the region while the Cougars were ranked sixth. The Lions (10-0) were highly favored coming into the game, especially after already having beat Courtland in the season opener. The Cougars, at least during the first half, showed that no team can be overlooked when talking about high school football playoffs.
Louisa received the opening kickoff and converted on a fourth down in Cougar’s territory to set up a Job Whalen 2-yard touchdown run. Louisa place kicker Thomas Henley nailed the extra point to make it 7-0. Courtland answered right back with Zin White taking the ball 59 yards for a touchdown and Matt Lynch tying the game with the extra point.
It did not take long for the Cougars to put Louisa in a position that they had rarely faced during the regular season. With a pick six by defensive end Jaekob Vollbrecht, Courtland took a 13-7 advantage over the Lions. The score remained the same going into halftime.
The Lions owned the second half of the quarterfinal matchup and outscored the Cougars 28-0 making the final score 35-13. Malik Bell and Whalen were the playmakers for the Lions that night. The two seniors combined for 287 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
Courtland, who started their season 0-4 but rebounded the second half of the season going 6-0, fought hard and gave Louisa a wake-up call. They won the turnover margin (2:0). Their offense moved the ball well and quarterback Shyheem Lewis completed seven of twelve passes for 82 yards. Their rushing attack was strong too, with the Cougars gaining 143 yards on the ground.
Though the matchup was not close at the end, 35-13, it definitely proved to Louisa that playoff football is tenacious and that all pre-game odds can be thrown out the window. Louisa will now start preparing for the second ranked Monacan Chiefs; and they will be looking for revenge. The Chiefs ended Louisa’s season last Fall during the quarterfinals. On Friday, Nov. 17, Coach Fisher and Louisa will head down Interstate 64-West to Monacan High School to try and keep their season alive.
