The Shadow
One word can only describe last nights Brackman Cup Game played between the Alleghany Mountaineers and the Covington Cougars.
Exciting!
For the fourth year (season) in a row, the Cougars brought home the Brackman Cup.
In what was one of the most thrilling finishes in Brackman Cup history, the Cougars rallied multiple times, including a tying overtime touchdown and game winning extra point to defeat the Mountaineers 20-19.
After regulation ended with the score tied at 13-13, the Mountaineers won the coin toss and received the ball first.
It took Matthew Howell two rushing plays from 10 yards out to give the Mountaineers a touchdown lead at 19-13. The Mountaineers though did miss the extra point.
Then it was the Cougars turn.
After three rushing plays to Purcell Turner that resulted in 9.9999 (embellish a little) yards, the Cougars were down to their final play of the game on the goal line with just centimeters to go. Senior quarterback, Javier Yancey ran a quarterback keeper up the middle and snuck his way into the endzone for the tying score.
With the score tied at 19-19, it came down to the extra point. Chadwick Tacy, calm and cool, with minimal pressure, kicked it straight through the uprights on the goal post for the game winning extra point to seal the 20-19 victory for the Cougars.
The crowd was sent into a roar from the Cougars side of the field as the students and family members came running onto the field in celebration of the teams thrilling victory.
Speaking with a very excited Yancey after the game, “Feeling great. It was a big touchdown at the end. Big touchdown. I’m excited.”
I have seen many high school football games and I can honestly say, that was one of the most exciting finishes to a football game that I have ever seen and unfortunately, in a game like last nights, there had to be a winner and there had to be a loser.
The Brackman Cup Game itself already has the excitement factor to it.
But when you add in a very competitive game that had the entire Boodie Albert Stadium rocking, it becomes very exciting.
One spectator in the stand was all to familiar with being on the winning side of this rival game, Shaun Smith, Jr.
Smith, Jr., was a part of three victories in the Brackman Cup game for Covington. “It’s crazy. This has to be the best finish to this game that I’ve seen in a while.”
The thrilling finish though, almost never happened.
With just over two minutes to go in the game, the Cougars were starring at a fourth down play with seven yards to go at the Mountaineers 17 yard line.
The ball was snapped into Yancey’s hands and he took a few quick steps to his left and found Turner open for 17 yard touchdown.
Tacy’s extra point was good, which tied the game at 13-13.
Cougars Head Coach, Chris Jones on his teams performance, “The team showed a lot of heart out there. They played tough. You can’t measure the heart of our team after that.”
Big plays could derail a defense.
The Cougars gave up 343 yards of total offense with 126 of those yards coming on two plays alone. A 71 yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter by junior, Garrett Via, and a 55 yard touchdown pass from sophomore Kole Caldwell to senior Dylan Nicely. Both touchdowns came in the second quarter.
But those big plays were hard to come by in the second half for the Mountaineers as the Cougars defense stepped up and held them to zero points in the third and fourth quarters. The defense gave up 161 total yards, with 81 of the yards being on kick returns of 39 and 42 yards.
Clock management helped the Cougars keep the Mountaineers offense off the field. The Cougars had possession of the ball for a total of 29 minutes and 39 seconds, not including overtime which had no game clock.
In the loss, Via led all rushers with 129 yards in the game on eight attempts. Howell added 50 yards rushing on 12 attempts and a touchdown.
Cougars running back, Dontai Samuels led his team with 93 yards rushing, but did commit two fumbles. Turner chipped in with 31 yards rushing and had two touchdowns.
In the win, the Cougars improved to 2-1 on the season. The team hosts James River (Buchanan) next Friday.
For the Mountaineers, they fell to 1-1 on the seasons and will be back on the road next Friday against Cave Spring.
Let’s recap the scoring plays from last nights game.
With no points put on the scoreboard in the first quarter, the Cougars needed all of five seconds in the second quarter to get on the scoreboard after a two yard rushing touchdown from Turner. Tacy missed the extra point.
All of 55 seconds later and the Mountaineers answered back with a 71 yard rushing touchdown from Via. The extra point was good, giving the Mountaineers a 7-6 lead.
On the Cougars next possession that included a 10-play drive, Tacy missed a field goal from 44 yards out.
Five plays later, the Mountaineers grabbed their second touchdown of the game, coming on a 55 yard pass from Caldwell to Nicely. The extra point was no good, keeping the score at 13-6.
Much like the first quarter, the third quarter was the same with no points from either team.
In the fourth quarter, the Cougars grabbed a 17 yard passing touchdown from Yancey to Turner. The Cougars added the extra point to tie the game at 13-13 with 2:41 to go in the game.
In overtime, Howell rushed for a three yard touchdown. The extra point was no good, keeping the game 19-13.
On the Cougars following drive, Yancey scored the game-tying touchdown. The extra point followed from Tacy to give the Cougars a 20-19 overtime victory.
With the two schools consolidating in 2023, next season will be the final Brackman Cup Game. That game will take place at Alleghany.
As much as the Mountaineers wanted to steal this victory from the Cougars on their home turf, with how the game ended, the Cougars were destined to keep the trophy for at least one more year inside the building of Covington High School.
Team Quarter/Score/Total
AHS 0 13 0 0 6 – 19
CHS 0 6 0 7 7 – 20
Team Statistics
AHS
Passing Yards – 69
Rushing Yards – 178
Receiving Yards – 69
Punt Return Yards – /
Kick Return Yards – 95
Total Yards – 343
Turnovers – 0
First Downs – 6
Flags – 2
T.O.P. – 18:21
CHS
Passing Yards – 126
Rushing Yards – 232
Receiving Yards – 126
Punt Return Yards – /
Kick Return Yards – 19
Total Yards – 377
Turnovers – 2
First Downs – 19
Flags – 6
T.O.P. – 29:39
