The C-Team Cougars used a combination of a steady ground game on offense and a suffocating team defense to win on the road in Rushville on a cold, wet Sunday morning. The opening Marcus Whitman drive served as a preview of things to come, with MW being pushed backwards and eventually coughing up the ball on a fumble recovery by HFL’s Patrick Lustyk at the MW 28 yard line.

The Cougars went on the offensive quickly and never looked back. Peter Romig tallied the first TD on the day, scoring on a run and then executing a perfect halfback pass to a wide open Jason Hoffman for the extra point. HFL’s defense continued to shut down the MW attack through the first quarter led by some big hitting by Nolan Yates and Jake Easton. Following a critical first down conversion run by Hayden Meehan, HFL got back onto the board early in the second on a Mason Wanzenreid keeper, putting HFL up 13-0.

On the very next MW possession, Peter Romig masterfully stripped the ball carrier, which resulted in another key fumble recovery for the Cougars. Unfortunately, HFL would fumble the ball right back to MW on the next series. Marcus Whitman seemed to be taking advantage of this change in momentum, as they started moving the ball effectively for the first time on the day. Taking the ball deep into HFL territory, MW eventually ran into a wall of HFL defenders, including Robert Greer and Liam Strong, who managed to stall out the drive and get the ball back on downs.

A stiffening MW defense would not give up easily, forcing HFL into converting a critical long first down conversion by Jake Easton to sustain their drive. With time running down in the half, Mason Wanzenreid was able to move the Cougars down the field on keepers and a pass play to Peter Romig. Executing the two minute offense with precision, and with help in the form of great blocking by Nolan Yates, Patrick Lustyk finally took a handoff down the sideline for a long TD run with only 3.8 seconds left on the clock before halftime.

Following another long Peter Romig TD run, the second half saw the “Lightning” unit score its first TD of the year, with Benjamin Carson, Andrew Childs, and Hayden Meehan all running effectively. Carson eventually punched it in for the score, putting the Cougars up 32-0 in the third. The stout Cougar defense held through the third, thanks to some notable stops by Louie Laviani, and a timely interception by Peter Romig.

The fourth quarter saw the Cougars continue to dominate the line of scrimmage through exceptional line play by Nathan Ross, Justin Blodgett, and Mitchell Greer. The stiff HFL defense continued to be led by big plays by Riley Wall, Patrick Lustyk, Jake Easton, and Colt Green. Marcus Whitman finally scored with 6:08 left in the contest, which would end with a 32-6 Cougar victory in hand.

The Cougars will host Jordan-Elbridge for a rematch of their intense tie game from earlier in the season on October 7, 11:00AM at HF-L High School.