The HFL Youth C-Team battled the also unbeaten Jordan-Elbridge Eagles to a 13-13 tie in Jordan on Sunday. Both teams kept scoring in check by both registering shutouts in the second half of action on the day.

The Cougars managed to overcome a size disadvantage up on both lines through gritty play by their linemen and strong displays of speed and agility by their backs on both sides of the ball. J-E jumped on top quickly with a TD and extra point in the opening minute of play. The Cougars rallied right back with an impressive run by Patrick Lustyk to close the game 7-6 in the first quarter. The teams exchanged TD’s again in the second quarter, this time seeing J-E miss their extra point conversion and HFL making theirs on a long touchdown run by Lustyk with 1:29 left in the first half.

The story of the day was the aggressive play of both defenses. The pads were popping, as the teams took turns stuffing each other’s offensive game plans. The Cougars were led by some exceptionally hard-hitting defensive play by Preston Huff. Preston and the Cougars defense charged hard, consistently gang tackling J-E running backs. Just when it appeared that J-E might break the scoring drought in the second half on a tantalizing run, Peter Romig made an incredible strip of the ball carrier, and the Cougars recovered the timely fumble. Unfortunately, the Cougars offense was unable to convert the fumble into points. The Cougars would make one more amazing defensive stand, stranding the surging J-E offense just short of the end zone as time expired.  

Both teams remain unbeaten in their 2012 campaigns. The Cougars will look to muster the extra effort that will be required to topple a very strong J-E squad in their next meeting on home turf on Sunday, October 7^th.