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Honeoye Falls-Lima Sports

B-Team Drops Tough Contest at Pal-Mac

By Dan Meacham, 09/13/15, 1:00AM EDT

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Cougars Hang Tough for 3 Quarters

Stealing a game from the Pal-Mac Red Raider B-Team is a feat that no-one has accomplished yet this year.  Unfortunately, the HFL Cougars would find themselves no closer to that elusive goal once all was said and done on a grey overcast Sunday at Pal-Mac High School.

Pal-Mac set the tone early in the game by taking the 3rd play from scrimmage 52 yards for the first TD of the game. After tacking on the extra point for a 7-0 early lead, the Cougar Offense took over at their own 42 yard line. Unable to find a rhythm, the ball was given back to the Pal-Mac squad after a quick 4-and-out. Big tackles by Charlie Kirby, James Killenbec, and Garrett Hall on the ensuing possession stopped the Pal-Mac Offense dead in their tracks. The HFL Offense used the 3-man running attack of Zac Meacham, Hayden Meehan, and Killenbec to punch the ball to what looked like a first down, however a great leap out of bounds (and well past the first down marker) by Killenbec went unrewarded by the officiating staff whose poor spot of the ball robbed the Cougars of a hard fought first down … enter the HFL Defense for a 3rd time. Following a nice Joe Rogers tackle, Chance Bears stripped the ball from the Red Raider Running Back and Meehan recovered it to give it right back to the Cougar Offense. With a chance to tie the game in the 2nd quarter, the Cougars tried again to get that elusive initial first-down of the game … to no avail. On its 4th Defensive stand of the game, the young squad stood its ground with big stops by Killenbec, Carson Joint, Nolan Smith and Ben Carson. The Cougars now had a chance to tie it up with one final drive of the 1st half, but unfortunately, the wheels came off with very little time remaining. After losing too many yards on consecutive plays, the Cougars were backed up to their own goal and suffered a safety with 50 seconds left … Pal-Mac 9, HFL 0. The following “free kick” from the HFL 20 yard-line was then returned for a 45 yard touchdown, and in the blink of an eye, the Cougar B-Team was going into the Half down 15 to 0.

There is no quit in this team, as was evident when 2 plays after having the ball intercepted by Pal-Mac at the start of the second half, Ben Carson stripped and recovered a Red Raider fumble to give the Offense another shot at the end-zone.  Killenbec broke a long 60 yard run into the end-zone on the very next play, only to have it nullified by a face-mask penalty … and then a false-start … and then Holding … 1st and 30 at the 20 yard line. Meacham would get most of that back on the next play with a 20 yard run to make it 2nd and a manageable 10 yards to go … now it was Killenbec’s turn.  As if to say “now we are even”, Killenbec ripped off another 60 yard touchdown run … NO FLAG ON THE PLAY! Brody Young then targeted a nice pass to Jack Vandenbush on the extra point conversion to bring the Cougars to within 8 of the Red Raiders … 15 to 7. With one quarter left to play, the Cougars would valiantly attempt to rally the troops and mount some sort of comeback. The Pal-Mac Offense would, however, eventually wear down the Cougar D and put another two touchdowns on the board before the final buzzer sounded … Pal-Mac 28 … HFL 7. The Youth Cougar B-Team will re-group and take on a formidable opponent, the Marcus Whitman Wildcats, next Sunday at home.