The Hawks defeat the Cougars 45-2.
The Durant Cougars needed a win in Friday’s matchup as they dropped 2 in a row to the Plant City Raiders and the Gaither Cowboys by a combined score of 74-17. They faced off against the 3-0 Armwood Hawks.
The Cougars got the ball to start, and Prince Rivera took it out to the 23-yard line. Maurice Kenne took the opening handoff for a 1-yard gain, followed by Sam Themar passing it to Mason Newton for no gain, making it third and 9. Ben Hodnett had a catch, but they were forced to punt on 3 and out.
Armwood scored on the kick return, making it 7-0 Armwood with 9:00 minutes left in the first.
The Cougars started their second drive at the 20. Keene took the opening carry and lost 2 yards. Themar passed it to Keene for a short pass, bringing up third and long. Themar threw an incomplete pass, forcing the Cougars to punt for their second 3 and out in a row.
Armwood had another great punt return, starting their first offensive drive at the Cougars 26-yard line. Their first pass of the game was a 26-yard touchdown to a wide-open receiver in the left corner of the end zone. After the extra point, the away Hawks were up 14-0 with 6:44 left in the first.
The Cougars started the next drive at the 20. Themar started with a solid pass to King Rivera for 5 yards, followed by a timeout with 5:43 left in the first. After the timeout, Ben Hodnett took the handoff for a small loss, bringing up 3rd and 7 from the 23. Themar scrambled to the right and found Noah Patel for the first down. With a fresh set of downs near midfield, Themar had to throw it out of bounds. Themar kept it to himself on the read option and gained 2 yards, bringing up third and 8. A bad snap led to Themar chasing it, and he was sacked, resulting in a punt.
Armwood started the next drive at their own 39-yard line with 2:13 left in the first. A running back took his first carry of the game for a 15-yards. After a 5-yard gain by, they had an incomplete pass, bringing up third and 5. Armwood’s QB kept it to himself on a read option and picked up the first down and some bonus yards to put them in Cougars territory. A short Armwood run brought up second and long, and, after an incomplete pass, it was third and long. A holding penalty was called on Armwood, making it third and 18, ending the first quarter with the Cougars trailing 14-0.
The second quarter started with Armwood facing a third and 18. On the play, Armwood threw to the right side of the end zone for a touchdown to extend their lead to 21-0 with 11:52 left in the half.
Michael Gibson had a nice return for the Cougars, starting their first drive of the second quarter at the 29-yard line. The drive started with an incomplete pass from Themar to Ryan Porter. Themar kept it to himself on the read option for a 6-yard gain, bringing up third and 4. After another incomplete pass, the Cougars were forced to punt.
The punt had Armwood starting the drive at their own 22-yard line. The running game stayed good with a 15-yard run. The Hawks ran a no-huddle and instantly found a WR on a 5-yard slant play, putting them near midfield. Number 22 for the Hawks kept running hard as he picked up another first down, putting them on the Cougars’ side of the field. The Hawks had a wide-open receiver on a deep play, but it was incomplete. The Hawks picked up the first down on another run, getting to the Cougars 30-yard line.
Durant’s Michael Gibson got an interception for the Cougars and ran it back to midfield with 8:02 left in the half. Themar kept it to himself for an 8-yard run, and on the following play, the Hawks had an encroachment penalty, giving the Cougars a first down. Maurice Keene had a run of no gain, followed by an incomplete pass. On third and long, the Cougars attempted a running play for no yards. Down 21 with 5:40 left in the half, the Cougars lined up to go for it on fourth down at midfield. Themar was sacked by Armwood, and the Hawks took over at midfield with 5:18 left in the half.
Armwood stuck to running and picked up the first down to put them in Cougar territory. Armwood had a nice play action bringing up second and short, then an RB had a big run and was tackled at the Cougars 10-yard line. The Hawks ran a read option, and the QB kept it to himself for the touchdown. It was 28-0 with 3:51 left in the half.
The Cougars wasted no time in the drive as Themar threw a pass to Ryan Porter down to the Armwood 40-yard line. A small loss on the run brought up second and long with under 3 minutes left. Pass interference was called on Armwood, giving the Cougars an automatic first down at Armwood’s 27-yard line. An incomplete pass to the end zone brought up second and 10. Armwood intercepted the ball at their own 6-yard line with 1:53 left in the half.
A bad snap by Armwood resulted in a 2-yard loss to start the drive. Paul Dilley and Jeremy Cannon combined to get a safety, helping the Cougars get their first points of the game and the ball back with 1:08 left in the half. An incomplete pass was the result of the first play of that drive, followed by a short run. Armwood called a timeout with 39 seconds left in the half. After the timeout, the Cougars faced a third and long. They opted to run with no gain.
Armwood got the ball at midfield with 21 seconds left in the half. They got back-to-back first downs on a curl route and then a slant route. Armwood then called their final timeout of the half with 5 seconds left. They elected to go for the field goal to extend the lead to 31-2 at halftime.
Armwood started the second half with a nice return, starting the drive at their own 35-yard line. They started with the running game, getting a 7-yard run, followed by a run for no gain with a nice tackle by Jeh’Cire Hargrett, bringing up third and 3. A holding call on Armwood made it third and long. Landon Snapp forced a 3-and-out on the Hawks with a nice sack.
Durant took over at their own 43-yard line with 9:15 left in the third. A bad snap turned the ball over on the Cougars’ first offensive drive of the half.
Armwood took over at the Cougars 39-yard line with 9 minutes left in the third. The Hawks instantly got a first down with a nice play on the sideline. The play was followed up with a nice run of 5 yards, putting them at the 20-yard line. A short pass on a curl route made it third and 2 for the Hawks. They got the first down on the run, making it first and 10 at the 15. Armwood scored the first touchdown of the second half with a 15-yard run. After the extra point, it was 38-2 with 6 minutes left in the third.
With it now being a 35-point lead, the clock ran continually between plays unless a timeout was called. The Cougars started the drive at the 21-yard line. The first pass of the drive was incomplete on a slant route attempt, followed by a short run by Rivera, bringing up third and long. Themar found Ryan Porter for a nice gain, bringing up 4th and 1 at their own 30-yard line. The Cougars converted as Themar found King Rivera, putting them at the 40-yard line on a new set of downs. Keene had a one-yard carry, then an incomplete pass from Themar brought up third and 10 to end the third quarter with Armwood up 38-2.
An incomplete pass started the 4th for the Cougars, and they were forced to punt it. Armwood took over at midfield with 10:30 left in the game. Jeh’Cire Hargrett had another big play for Durant, this time sacking Armwood for a big loss. Armwood had a solid run to midfield, and a timeout was called for an injured player. Armwood picked up the first down to put them inside Cougar territory. After another solid run, it was 2nd and 5 with a timeout called by Armwood with 7:18 left in the game. A substitution infraction on Armwood backed them up 5 yards after the timeout, making it second and long. An incomplete pass brought up third and long for the Hawks. A short pass brought up 4th and long, and they lined up to go for it on 4th and 8. They picked up the first down on a QB scramble. A water break was called by the officials with 5:11 left in the game. Armwood kept the running game going as their RB got another first down, getting tackled at the Cougars 12-yard line. Armwood overthrew it, bringing up second and 10. Armwood’s QB kept it to himself and was tackled at the 5-yard line for a third and short. The QB tried running for the first down but was unsuccessful, making it 4th and short inside the Cougars’ 5-yard line. They ran it in again with 1:30 left in the game to extend the lead to 45-2. Due to the clock not stopping, the game ended with the final score 45-2 in favor of Armwood. Durant has now lost three straight and looks to bounce back Friday against Wharton.
Plant City defeated Riverview – 24-15
Strawberry Crest lost to Alonso 25-27
9/19
Plant City at home vs Steinbrenner
Strawberry Crest at home vs Robinson
