The C-Team Cougars proved this Sunday that not only could they win in a Monsoon, but also in the equivalent of a Blast Furnace! Undeterred by the sweltering heat, the young Cougar squad took to the field at James Dollard Stadium to keep their undefeated season alive. After kicking off to the visiting Wayne Eagles, Conor Finn managed to strip the ball from the Wayne running back on the first play from scrimmage, setting the HFL Offense up to begin their first drive of the morning at the Eagles 25 yard line! It only took a couple of plays before Finn took the ball around the right side untouched for a 25 yard touchdown. A failed extra point attempt had the Cougars up 6-0 with less then a minute off the clock. Finn wasted no time taking the ball from the Wayne Offense for a second time by recovering a fumbled return on the ensuing kickoff. Almost as quickly as the first score, Holden Kamm hit a short pass underneath to Keaton Yates who scampered 12 yards for the second HFL score in as many minutes. A second failed extra point attempt left the score HFL 12, Wayne 0. The next two possessions saw the Eagles and the Cougars trade 8 and out drives. Wayne’s next drive ended abruptly as Brodie Hulbert recovered a fumble in the Eagles backfield to close out the first quarter. The second quarter began with a 4 and out stop by the Wayne Defense, but a muffed handoff followed by another Hulbert fumble recovery gave the ball right back to HFL on the Wayne 44 yard line. The Cougar Offense drove deep into Wayne territory, finding itself with a first and goal at the Wayne 8 yard line. Jackson Coon added an 8 yard touchdown on a naked bootleg to increase the HFL lead to 18-0, early in the 2nd quarter. Kamm then hit Yates in the end zone to convert the extra point and put the Cougar C-team up 19-0. The ensuing kickoff would end up once again with the Cougars falling on the loose ball, this time Gunner Vogel recovered the pigskin at the Wayne 32 yard line. On the second play following the fumble recovery, Yates took a handoff 30 yards around the right side, breaking tackles for the fourth and final Cougar touchdown of the half. The extra point attempt was no good and the score was 25-0 in favor of HFL. Once again, the Wayne squad was unable to hold onto the football during the kickoff. Yates stripped the ball as Hulbert pounced on it for his third fumble recovery of the afternoon and a 25-0 halftime lead!
The second half of play began with the Cougars receiving the kickoff and it was obvious what they intended to do … chew up clock, score and go home with their second win in as many games. Their first possession was nothing short of textbook “smash-mouth” football. Carson Meehan used his speed to take the ball outside for gains of 20 and 9 yards while Matthew Brassie worked inside getting the “hard yards” up the gut and wearing down the Wayne defenders. The drive culminated with a 7 yard TD rumble by Brassie as he ran over, through, and eventually dragged the Wayne Eagle Defense into the end zone! Brady Parker then pounded the ball over the goal line for the extra point to put the Cougars up on the visiting Eagle 32 – 0. Wayne’s fumbling woes weren’t over yet, as they muffed the ensuing kickoff and Finn recovered his third fumble of the game to give the HFL Offense the ball right back on the Wayne 44 yard line. Fumble-itis may have been catching as the Cougars gave the ball immediately back to Wayne to end the 3rd quarter, up 32-0. The 4th quarter was less action packed then the previous 3 as the Wayne squad decided to do a better job of protecting the ball, however they could not penetrate the HFL Defense … not even enough to reach the HFL side of the field. The Wayne Offense could only manage two “4 and outs” and coughed up the ball for the 8th time on their third possession of the quarter. Patrick Adair recovered the final fumble of the game and the HFL C-Team Cougars took a knee to notch their second win of the season over the visiting Wayne Eagles 32-0. The boys will take their unbeaten record on the road on September 11th when they will face the 1-1 Gananda Panthers.
With only a few inches of rain in the last 3 months … who would have expected to start the 2016 Youth Football season in a Monsoon? On Sunday August 21st, the HFL Youth Cougar C-Team did just that … and they did it decisively! On the very first play from scrimmage, Holden Kamm pitched the ball to Conor Finn, who took it around the right side of the line for a 60 yard TD. Kamm then fired a 3 yard strike to Keaton Yates in the end zone to tack on the extra point and take an early 7–0 lead. Following a 4 and out by Dundee and a 59 yard TD scamper by Yates (that was nullified by an illegal formation penalty), Finn once again raced down the sideline for a 64 yard TD on his second carry of the game. The extra point attempt was no good and the score was 13-0 in favor of the Cougars. On HFL’s next series of downs, they were pinned deep in their own end and fumbled on their own 4 yard line. The Dundee squad quickly turned that miscue into 6 points and a 13-6 score early in the 2nd quarter. However, Finn wasn’t done yet. He took yet a third handoff down the sideline for his third touchdown of the half … 66 yards later and a missed extra point made it 19-6 HFL … and the second quarter had barely begun. The Jr. Scots answered on the ensuing drive, taking the ball 60 yards and adding an extra point to cut the young Cougars lead to 6 … 19-13. Pinned deep in their own zone, following the Dundee kickoff, Finn once again fired up his engines and streaked 47 yards to set up the next HFL score. Two plays later, Yates took the ball into the middle of the line and shot out of the other side for a 29 yard touchdown. A missed extra point left the score at that point HFL 25, Dundee 13. On Dundee’s next offensive possession, Brady Parker launched into the backfield to sack the quarterback and force a fumble that was recovered by Gabe Wastowicz on the Jr. Scots 46 yard line. As quickly as they took the ball back, the young Cougar team scored again on a 46 yard bolt down the sideline by J.P. Gianforte. That would end the first half of football at Dundee High School with HFL leading the Jr. Scots 31-13.
The second half was a completely different contest, with torrential downpours leaving it hard to see, let alone play a football game! The 3rd quarter became a defensive slugfest, as the Dundee squad shut down the Cougars potent running attack and the score remained 31-13 … but not for long. After recovering an HFL fumble deep in their own territory, the Dundee offense wasted no time in scoring the longest TD of the game on their very first play of the 4th quarter … a 70 yard sweep to the right that caught HFL off guard. They then converted their second extra point of the contest to pull within 11 … 31-20. The Dundee defense then again rose to the occasion and stuffed the Cougars on 4 straight play for -19 yards … taking over deep in HFL territory with only 6 minutes remaining in the game. The young defensive squad would not however yield even a single first down this time as Parker and Nate Meacham combined to make a tackle for a loss on a crucial 4th and short with 3 minutes remaining. At that point, all the HFL offense needed to do was run out the clock. A clutch 14 yard run by Yates got them the extra set of downs they needed to take a knee and secure their first victory of the season … 31-20.