By Dave Helmick
TuckerCountySports.Com
PARSONS – Tucker County hosted a first round playoff game against East Hardy on Thursday November 11th. After the Mt. Lions tied the game 6-6 in the third quarter the visiting Cougars rolled off 28 unanswered points to claim a 34-6 playoff win over Tucker County.
East Hardy got the ball to start the game and the Cougar offense went right to work. The East Hardy drive stalled in Tucker County territory to give the ball to the Mt. Lions. Tucker County could not sustain their first drive as East Hardy would get the ball back after a turnover on downs. Again, the Tucker County defense held the Cougars to get the ball back. The Mt. Lions were then forced to punt the ball back to East Hardy. The snap for the punt went over the Tucker County punter’s head and the Cougars got the ball back at the Mt. Lions 9 yard line. East Hardy then capitalized on the great field position as they scored on a 1 yard touchdown with 5:18 left in the first. The PAT kick was no good to make the score 6-0 Cougars after one quarter of play.
The second quarter was about the defenses as neither team would score in the second to keep the score at 6-0 East Hardy at the halftime intermission.
In the third quarter the Mt. Lions possessed the ball first. Tucker County then got an explosive play from their team as Ethan Rosenau connected with Maddox Anderson for a 65 yard touchdown catch and pass. The 2 point conversion failed for the Mt. Lions to make the score 6-6 East Hardy with 11:47 left in the third. The Cougars then regained the lead with a 15 yard touchdown run. East Hardy then made the PAT kick to put the score to 13-6 East Hardy with 4:15 left in the third. The remainder of the third quarter did not show either team scoring. The Mt. Lions did get an interception by Dom Mullenax with 1:11 left in the third. Tucker County would trail after three quarters 13-6.
Early in the fourth quarter Tucker County could not convert after the interception as East Hardy got the ball back. The Cougars then got a big play on a big 51 yard touchdown run with 9:39 left in the fourth. The PAT kick was good to extend the Cougars lead to 19-6. East Hardy then added another score with 5:38 left in the game on a 2 yard touchdown run. The PAT kick was good to make the score 27-6 Cougars. The last score of the night for East Hardy came on a 12 yard interception return for a touchdown. The extra point kick was good to increase the Cougars lead to 34-6 with 4:20 left in the game. Tucker County was not able to complete the comeback as the Mt. Lions fell to East Hardy by the final score of 34-6.
Ethan Rosenau led Tucker County with 11 of 25 passing for 132 yards and Maddox Anderson had 2 receptions for 67 yards. Racer Channel had 3 receptions for 47 yards for Tucker County. Jared Reall ended the night with 27 yards rushing on 9 carries. Dom Mullenax led Tucker County on defense with 6 tackles. Will McCallister and Racer Channel added 5 tackles each for the Mt. Lions in the loss.
Tucker County ended the season with a 9-2 record. For more info go to TuckerCountySports.Com.